Enhanced mechanical behaviors of gradient nano-grained austenite stainless steel by means of ultrasonic impact treatment

Abstract

The gradient nano-grained (GNG) structure was formed on the top layer of AISI 304 in the presence of coarse grains (CG) by means of ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT). The impact velocity was 5 m/s and the coverage changed from 3000% to 9000% in order to obtain the microstructure GNG/CG materials. The tensile test and small punch test (SPT) were further carried out in order to investigate the mechanical behaviors of the GNG/CG 304 at the different stress states. The results indicated that the yield strength of GNG/CG 304 obtained by tensile test and SPT increased at the small expense of ductility. The stress triaxiality T played an important role in the deformation behavior of GNG/CG 304. An increased T-value in the region of biaxial stretching of small punch specimen (T = 2/3) led to an improved ductility compared with that noted in the case of uniaxial tensile specimen. The strain rate sensitivity m of GNG/CG 304 was 0.0468 that was estimated to be 25-fold greater than the coarse material. The yield strength of GNG/CG 304 at 400 °C was 1.6-fold greater than the coarse material at ambient temperature due to the thermal stability of the GNG layer. Thus, the GNG structure could improve the comprehensive mechanical performances of AISI 304 with a balance of strength and ductility. Keywords: GNG structure, Mechanical behaviors, Small punch test, Ultrasonic impact treatment, Austenite stainless steel