The effect of cold rolling regime on microstructure and mechanical properties of AISI 304L stainless steel

In this paper, the effect of different thickness reductions by cold rolling on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel were investigated. The hot rolled steel strips were subjected to cold rolling at 0 °C from 10 to 90% thickness reduction. Microstructures, strain-induced martensitic transformation and mechanical properties of the cold-rolled specimens were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Feritscope measurements, optical metallography, hardness and tensile tests. The resulting transformation curve showed a sigmoidal shape with the saturation value of strain-induced martensite of approximately 100%. A good agreement was found between the experimental results and the Olsen–Cohen model. The results indicated that formation of strain-induced martensite clearly resulted in a significant strengthening of the steel.