Anomalous Property Evolution during Annealing in HPTed SUS 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel

Abstract

SUS 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) was deformed by high pressure torsion (HPT) to obtain 100% volume fraction of martensite (α') from a fully austenitic (γ) matrix. Deformation caused an increase in hardness (Hv) from 1.6 GPa in the as annealed state to 6.4 GPa after HPT. Deformed samples were then annealed in the range 200 – 600oC and peak hardness of 7.8 GPa was observed after annealing at 400oC for 1 hour. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electrical resistivity tests showed that the deformed alloy undergoes a two stage phase transformation on heating from room temperature up to 700oC. The first stage of transformation was associated with hardening behavior while the second one which is reverse α' → γ transformation resulted in a reduction in hardness. Annealing at 400oC after deformation was found to increase the magnetization saturation (Msat) values.