Enhancement of Strength in 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel for Hydrogen Storage Pressure Vessels via Electropulsing‐Induced High‐Density Dislocations

316L austenitic stainless steel (ASS) is employed in hydrogen storage pressure vessels because its exceptional resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Nevertheless, the relatively low yield strength (YS) of solution 316L ASS restricts its widespread application in high‐pressure environments. In this study, an electro‐assisted pretensile (EAPT) strategy is proposed to tailor the microstructure of 316L ASS. The results reveal that at 15% pretensile, the YS of the EAPT specimen reached 531.7 MPa, representing a 16.7% increase compared to the room temperature pretensile (PT) specimen (455.7 MPa), while the yield ratio remained below 0.8. During the EAPT process, the electropulsing effect elevates the stacking fault energy (SFE) of the 316L ASS, effectively suppressing the occurrence of deformation twinning and martensitic transformation. Simultaneously, electropulsing lowers the activation energy for dislocations, thereby facilitating dislocation motion. Moreover, it promotes atomic mobility and reduces the recrystallization nucleation barrier, thereby accelerating the localized recrystallization of austenite grains. The findings enhance the YS of austenitic stainless steel, providing a practical basis for its application in hydrogen‐containing pressure vessels.