Effect of aging and oxidation on strain hardening behaviour of a nickel-free high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

Effect of aging and oxidation on strain hardening behaviour of a nickel-free high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel has been investigated using room temperature tensile tests and TEM. The alloy in both oxidised and unoxidised conditions exhibits a transition in flow behaviour that can be described best by the Ludwigson flow relationship as evident from the lowest values of the sum of residual squares, χ 2, of the fit. The transition in macroscopic flow behaviour with strain has been correlated to change in deformation mechanism from planar slip in the low strain regime (LSR) to deformation twinning and slip in the high strain regime (HSR) in solution treated (ST) condition of the alloy. However, the LSR of the alloy aged for longer times (>100 h) is characterized by the formation of dislocation tangles, while the HSR is marked by the formation of well-defined finer dislocation cell structure. This difference in deformation sub-structures in low and high strain regimes between ST and long term aged samples has been correlated to the change in stacking fault energy due to the precipitation of Cr2N and σ-phases. Further, the alloy in ST condition exhibits the highest strain hardening rate, which then progressively decreases with aging time.