Deformation induced martensite in AISI 316 stainless steel

The forming process leads to a considerable differentiation of the strain field within the billet, and finally causes the non-uniform distribution of the total strain, microstrusture and properties of the material over the product cross-section. This paper focus on the influence of stress states on the deformation-induced a' martensitic transformation in AISI Type 316 austenitic stainless steel. The formation of deformation-induced martensite is related to the austenite (gamma) instability at temperatures close or below room temperature. The structural transformation susceptibility is correlated to the stacking fault energy (SFE), which is a function not only of the chemical composition, but also of the testing temperature. Austenitic stainless steels possess high plasticity and can be easily cold formed. However, during cold processing the hardening phenomena always occurs. Nevertheless, the deformation-induced martensite transformation may enhance the rate of work-hardening and it may or may not be in favour of further material processing. Due to their high corrosion resistance and versatile mechanical properties the austenitic stainless steels are used in pressing of heat exchanger plates. However, this corrosion resistance is influenced by the amount of martensite formed during processing. In order to establish the links between total plastic strain, and martensitic transformation, the experimental tests were followed by numerical simulation.