The microstructure, mechanical response, and deformation mechanism of 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) in solution‐treated, H 1/4‐hardened, and H 1/2‐hardened conditions were investigated. Microstructure characterization demonstrated that the prehardening treatment leads to a significant increase in dislocation density and the formation of a high proportion of low‐angle grain boundaries and substructures, as well as a small amount of strain‐induced α ′‐martensite. Uniaxial tensile test results revealed that prehardening treatment significantly enhances the mechanical properties of 304 ASS. The H 1/2‐hardened sample achieved a yield strength of 936 MPa and an ultimate tensile strength of 1043 MPa, while maintaining an elongation of 24.1%, indicating a desirable strength–ductility synergy. Moreover, the crystallographic texture and Schmid factor distribution suggested a strong variant selectivity of strain‐induced martensitic transformation, resulting in pronounced orientation differences between the austenitic and martensitic phases after deformation. Prehardening treatment induced a transition in the slip mechanism from inhomogeneous slip to wavy slip, accompanied by a change in the fracture mode from ductile to brittle fracture. Based on the analysis of microstructure evolution and strain hardening behavior with different initial characteristics during subsequent deformation, dislocation strengthening was identified as the dominant strengthening mechanism.
Liu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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