Effect of Cold-Rolling and Annealing Treatments on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AISI 309S Austenitic Stainless Steel

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties of a cold-rolled 309S austenitic stainless steel were investigated after reversion annealing in the temperature ranges of 700-1000°C for 3-20 min. The specimen was first cold-rolled at room temperature to 90% thickness reduction. The microstructure was analyzed by optical and SEM methods and the mechanical behavior was studied by tensile tests and hardness measurement. The results depicted that negligible strain-induced ά-martensite was formed after cold-rolling. In addition, elongated austenite grains were observed after deformation followed by annealing below 700°C which was a signature of the recovery process. The recrystallization of the deformed austenite was dominant above 800°C, while recrystallization followed by grain growth were seen at 900°C. Moreover, the significant grain growth was observed at 1000°C. The optimum annealing temperature and time for achievement of a uniform recrystallized grain were at 800°C for 3 min which resulted in considerable grain refinement. The grain refinement led to improvement of mechanical properties of investigated austenitic stainless steel. The hardness value of refined austenite grains was 195% greater than that of the as-received steel. Finally, current work can shed some light on the effect of grain refinement on the control of microstructural and mechanical property of austenitic stainless steels.

Keywords


[1]    J.A. Lichtenfeld, C.J. Van Tyne, M.C. Mataya, Effect of strain rate on stress-strain behavior of alloy 309 and 304L austenitic stainless steel, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 37(1) (2006) 147-161.
[2]    W. Ye, Y. Li, F. Wang, Effects of nanocrystallization on the corrosion behavior of 309 stainless steel, Electrochimica Acta, 51(21) (2006) 4426-4432.
[3]    R. Singh, S. Goel, R. Verma, R. Jayaganthan, A. Kumar, Mechanical behaviour of 304 austenitic stainless steel processed by room temperature rolling, Materials Science and Engineering, 330(1) (2018) 012017.
[4]    H. Kotan, K.A. Darling, A study of microstructural evolution of Fe-18Cr-8Ni, Fe-17Cr-12Ni, and Fe-20Cr-25Ni stainless steels after mechanical alloying and annealing, Materials Characterization, 138 (2018) 186-194.
[5]    A.A. Tiamiyu, J.A. Szpunar, A.G. Odeshi, I. Oguocha, M. Eskandari, Development of ultra-fine-grained structure in AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 48(12) (2017) 5990-6012.
[6]    M. Karimi, A. Najafizadeh, A. Kermanpur, M. Eskandari, Effect of martensite to austenite reversion on the formation of nano/submicron grained AISI 301 stainless steel, Materials Characterization, 60(11) (2009) 1220-1223.
[7]    A. Rezaei, A. Najafizadeh, A. Kermanpur, M. Moalemi, Analysis of microstructural evolution of AISI 201L stainless steel, during advanced thermomechanical processing, Steel Symposium 89, Isfahan Steel Company, Isfahan, Iran, (2011).
[8]    M. Eskandari, A. Najafizadeh, A. Kermanpur, Effect of strain-induced martensite on the formation of nanocrystalline 316L stainless steel after cold rolling and annealing, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 519(1-2) (2009) 46-50
[9]    D.M. Xu, G.Q. Li, X.L. Wan, R.D.K. Misra, X.G. Zhang, G. Xu, K.M. Wu, The effect of annealing on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties in phase reversed 316LN austenitic stainless steel, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 720 (2018) 36-48.
[10]  R.D.K. Misra, J.S. Shah, S. Mali, P.K.C. Venkata Surya, M.C. Somani, L.P. Karjalainen, Phase reversion induced nanograined austenitic stainless steels: microstructure, reversion and deformation mechanisms, Materials Science and Technology, 29(10) (2013) 1185-1192.
[11]   P. Behjati, A. Kermanpur, A. Najafizadeh, H.S. Baghbadorani, Effect of annealing temperature on nano/ultrafine grain of Ni-free austenitic stainless steel, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 592 (2014) 77-82.
[12]  ASTM E112-96, Standard test methods for determining average grain size, ASTM International, 2004.
[13]  Z. Wang, A.M. Beese, Effect of chemistry on martensitic phase transformation kinetics and resulting properties of additively manufactured stainless steel, Acta Materialia, 131 (2017) 410-422.
[14]  R. Song, D. Ponge, D. Raabe, J.G. Speer, D.K. Matlock, Overview of processing, microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrafine grained bcc steels, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 441(1-2) (2006) 1-17.
[15]  C. Donadille, R. Valle, P. Dervin, R. Penelle, Development of texture and microstructure during cold-rolling and annealing of FCC alloys: example of an austenitic stainless steel, Acta Metallurgica, 37(6) (1989) 1547-1571.
[16]  S.W. Yang, J.E. Spruiell, Cold-worked state and annealing behaviour of austenitic stainless steel, Journal of Materials Science, 17(3) (1982) 677-690.
[17]  A. Belyakov, T. Sakai, H. Miura, R. Kaibyshev, K. Tsuzaki, Continuous recrystallization in austenitic stainless steel after large strain deformation, Acta Materialia, 50(6) (2002) 1547-1557.
[18]  B.R. Kumar, S.K. Das, B. Mahato, A. Das, S.G. Chowdhury, Effect of large strains on grain boundary character distribution in AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 454 (2007) 239-244.
[19]  F.J. Humphreys, M. Hatherly, Recrystallization and related annealing phenomena, Elsevier, 2012.
[20]  S.G. Chowdhury, S. Das, B. Ravikumar, P.K. De, Twinning-induced sluggish evolution of texture during recrystallization in AISI 316L stainless steel after cold rolling, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 37(8) (2006) 2349-2359.
[21]  X.H. Chen, J. Lu, L. Lu, K. Lu, Tensile properties of a nanocrystalline 316L austenitic stainless steel, Scripta Materialia, 52(10) (2005) 1039-1044.
[22]  M. Eskandari, A. Zarei-Hanzaki, H.R. Abedi, An investigation into the room temperature mechanical properties of nanocrystalline austenitic stainless steels, Materials & Design, 45 (2013) 674-681. 
[23]  I. Shakhova, V. Dudkoa, A. Belyakova, K. Tsuzaki, R. Kaibyshev, Effect of large strain cold rolling and subsequent annealing on microstructure and mechanical properties of an austenitic stainless steel, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 545 (2012) 176-186.
[24]  M.J.N.V. Prasad, M.W. Reiterer, K.S. Kumar, Microstructure and mechanical behavior of annealed MP35N alloy wire, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 636 (2015) 340-351.
[25]  Y.Z. Zhang, J.J. Wang, N.R. Taoa, Tensile ductility and deformation mechanisms of a nanotwinned 316L austenitic stainless steel, Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 36 (2020) 65-69.