Influence of high hydrostatic pressure annealing on the recrystallization of nanostructured austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate recrystallization in 316LVM nanostructured austenitic stainless steel annealed under high hydrostatic pressure. The nanostructured austenitic stainless steel was obtained by caliber rolling to a total strain of 3.4. This process resulted in a microstructure consisting of nanotwins and elongated bands. Nanostructured austenitic stainless steel is thermally stable up to 700 °C and shows a measurable “hardening by annealing” effect after annealing at 500 °C. The deformed samples were annealed at 900 °C for 10 min under atmospheric or hydrostatic pressures of 2 and 6 GPa. The resulting microstructures were examined using transmission scanning electron microscopy techniques. Moreover, the development of the texture during annealing was analyzed by means of orientation distribution functions. It was established that, apart from promoting the appearance of new texture components, annealing under hydrostatic pressure supports the nucleation of precipitates.