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Materials with submicron to nanometer-sized grains by virtue of their high grain boundary area to grain size ratio provide valuable tools for studying deformation behavior in ultrafine-grained structures. In this regard, the well-known strain-induced martensite transformation and its reversal to the parent austenite phase were used to produce nanograins/ultrafine grains via controlled annealing of heavily cold-worked metastable austenite. The results of the electron microscopy study of phase-reversion-induced microstructure and deformation behavior of nanograined/ultrafine-grained (NG/UFG) austenitic stainless steel during tensile straining are described here. The phase-reversion-induced structure was observed to depend on the cold rolling reduction and temperature-time annealing cycle. The optimized structure consisted of nanocrystalline (d < 100 nm), ultrafine (d % 100 to 500 nm), and submicron (d % 500 to 1000 nm) grains and was characterized by a high yield strength (800 to 1000 MPa)-high ductility (30 to 40 pct) combination. Austenite nucleation during phase-reversion annealing occurred in the form of thin plates or as equiaxed grains along the martensite laths. Twinning and dislocation glide were identified as the primary deformation mechanisms, where twinning had a varied character. However, the high elongation seems to be associated with the gradual transformation of metastable austenite, with twinning having only a minor contribution.

The isothermal and nonisothermal tempering of martensite in dual-phase (DP) steels was investigated mainly by analytical transmission electron microscopy, and the effect on softening behavior was studied. The isothermal tempering resulted in coarsening and spheroidization of cementite and complete recovery of laths. However, nonisothermal tempering manifested fine quasi-spherical intralath and platelike interlath cementite, decomposition of retained austenite, and partial recovery of laths. The distinct characteristic of nonisothermal tempering was primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of delay in cementite precipitation and insufficient time for diffusion of carbon due to rapid heating that delays the third stage of tempering. The finer size and platelike morphology of cementite coupled with partial recovery of lath resulted in reduced softening in nonisothermal tempering compared to severe softening in isothermal tempering due to large spheroidized cementite and complete recovery of lath substructure. The substitutional content of precipitated cementite in nonisothermal tempering was correlated to the richness of particular steel chemistry. Softening resistance during nonisothermal tempering was related to DP steel chemistry, i.e., Cr and Mn content. Fine cementite and less decomposed martensite in rich chemistry confer high resistance to softening compared to leaner chemistries, which indicated severe decomposition of martensite with coarser cementite.

We describe here an electron microscopy study of shear reversion-induced nanograined/ultrafine-grained (NG/UFG) structure and evolution of tensile strained microstructure in metastable type 301 austenitic stainless steel. The NG/UFG structure with grain size in the range of 200 to 500 nm was obtained by severe cold deformation and controlled annealing in the narrow temperature range of 973 to 1073 K (700 to 800°C). The different stages of annealing involve the following: (a) transformation of strain-induced martensite to highly dislocated lath-type austenite, (b) formation of dislocation-cell structure and transformation to recovered austenite structure with defect-free subgrains, and (c) coalescence of subgrains to form a NG/UFG structure concomitant with a completely recrystallized structure, and consistent with martensitic shear-type phase reversion mechanism. The optimized cold working and annealing treatment resulted in NG/UFG material with a high yield strength (~1000 MPa) and high ductility (~30 pct) combination. Multiple deformation mechanisms were identified from postmortem electron microscopy examination of tensile strained NG/UFG 301 austenitic stainless steel and include dislocation glide and twinning. The evidence of heterogeneous nucleation of overlapping stacking faults and partial dislocations points toward deformation

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