Cyclic Deformation Behavior of Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.63N Nickel-Free High-Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel

Cyclic deformation and damage behavior of a Ni-free high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel with a composition of Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.63N (weight pct) were studied, and the internal stress and effective stress were estimated by partitioning the hysteresis loop during cyclic straining at total strain amplitudes ranging from 3.0 × 10⁻³ to 1.0 × 10⁻². It is found that immediate cyclic softening takes place at all strain amplitudes and subsequently a saturation or quasi-saturation state develops and occupies the main part of the whole fatigue life. The internal stress increases with increasing strain amplitude, while the variation of effective stress with strain amplitude is somewhat complicated. Such a phenomenon is discussed in terms of dislocation structures and the short-range ordering caused by the interaction between nitrogen atoms and substitutional atoms. The relationship of fatigue life vs plastic strain amplitude (N _f−Δε _pl/2) follows a bilinear Coffin–Manson rule, resulting from the variation in slip deformation mode with the applied strain amplitude. At the low strain amplitude, cracks initiate along slip bands, and planar slip dislocation configurations dominate the major characteristic of internal microstructures. At high strain amplitudes, intergranular (mostly along grain boundaries and few along twin boundaries) cracks are generally found, and the deformation microstructures are mainly composed of dislocation cells, stacking faults and a small amount of deformation twins, in addition to planar slip dislocation structures.