Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Nano/Ultrafine-Grained N-Bearing, Low-Ni Austenitic Stainless Steels

The nitrogen (N)-bearing austenitic stainless steels are new materials with interesting mechanical properties such as high strength and ductility, desirable toughness and work hardening, and good corrosion resistance. This work attempted to investigate the effect of N addition from 0.08 to 0.35 wt.% on grain refinement of the 201L austenitic stainless steel using the martensite thermomechanical process. This process was composed of cold rolling up to the thickness reduction of 90 % followed by reversion annealing at 800 °C for 60 and 1800 s. It was found that increasing N content resulted in an increase in the austenite grain size for short annealing duration (e.g. 60 s), but caused a decrease in the austenite grain size for long annealing duration (e.g. 1800 s). The smallest austenite grain size of about 150 nm was achieved for the 201L steel containing 0.08 wt.% N after reversion annealing at 800 °C for 60 s. The mechanical properties of the reversion-annealed N-bearing steels were enhanced due to both N alloying and grain refinement.