Superior strength-ductility synergy in a low-Ni Cr–Mn austenitic stainless steel by combining nitrogen alloying and TRIP effect
摘要
The low-Ni N-containing Cr-Mn X5CrMnN17-8 austenitic stainless steel with different average grain sizes was processed via cold rolling and reversion/recrystallization annealing, and the mechanical properties and transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) effect were systematically investigated. Compared with the conventional stainless steels, the Hall-Petch plot for the X5CrMnN17-8 alloy showed a higher friction stress, which was explained according to the high nitrogen content in the latter and supported by the JMatPro predictions. Tensile testing results revealed that the best combination of strength and ductility can be achieved in a sample with a moderate average grain size of ~ 12.5 μm with ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1.24 GPa and total elongation of 65.7%, approaching the product of strength and elongation of 80GPa.%, which outperforms many advanced high-strength steels (AHSSs). These remarkable properties were related to the strengthening effect of nitrogen as well as the strong TRIP effect via strain-induced martensite formation, where the latter was rationalized by introducing two new parameters of “work-hardening by TRIP effect” and “TRIP domain”.