Effect of Texture and Temperature on Strain-Induced Martensitic Transformation in 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel

The austenitic stainless steel's remarkable mechanical properties are caused by twinning-induced plasticity and transformation-induced plasticity mechanisms. Numerous studies focus on stacking fault energy's effect, which is affected by various factors, to interpret and control these mechanisms. However, crystallographic orientation is also an important parameter for mechanical properties in metals. This study compares the mechanical properties and microstructural features of 304 austenitic stainless steel, focusing on the effect of initial texture and deformation temperature. Microstructural characterization is identified by an interrupted tensile test based on strain, tensile direction, and temperature conditions, and X-ray diffraction and electron back-scattered diffraction analysis are performed. The results show that the mechanical features and strain-induced martensitic transformation rate depend on the tensile directions. In addition, this trend is maintained irrespective of the temperature conditions. The attribute reason is that the difference in the Taylor factor and the formation rate of the deformed band structure is induced by the initial crystallographic orientations. Moreover, a decrease in temperature significantly increases the dislocation densities and abundant twins and transformed martensites formation. Furthermore, the yield and tensile strengths are enhanced while the elongation decreased with the tensile strains.