Thermal stability and tensile property of 316L stainless steel with heterogeneous lamella structure

A 316L stainless steel with heterogeneous lamella structures (HLS) was fabricated through 80% cold rolling (CR) and subsequent annealing at 720 °C for 20 min, which exhibits a relativity high yield strength of >1050 MPa companied with an uniform elongation of >4%. HLS was consisted of lamella coarse grains (LCGs) sandwiched by ultrafine grains (UFGs) and nano-twin bundles (NTs). The thermal stability of HLS 316L stainless steel was studied at the temperature ranged from 200 to 700 °C, and its tensile property was also explored. The results show that nearly no change of its microstructure and tensile property was observed when annealed at 650 °C for 12 h, indicating a good thermal resistance for its industrial application.