Effects of grain size on tensile property and fracture morphology of 316L stainless steel

Abstract

The aim of this work is to understand the relationship among average grain size, dimple size and tensile properties of 316L stainless steel via directly experimental results. We have successfully prepared samples with the average grain size from a few microns to tens of microns through cold rolling and annealing processes. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed to confirm the Hall-Petch relationship between the grain size and yield strength. In order to uncover the grain size dependence of ductility, the fracture morphologies in details were observed. It revealed that the dimple size is positively related to the value of D1/2 (D is the average diameter of grain size). A larger grain size was believed to result in a larger dimple so as to achieve a higher ductility (uniform elongation).