Strength of ultrafine-grained corrosion-resistant steels after severe plastic deformation

It is shown that severe plastic deformation of corrosion resistant Cr-Ni austenitic steels leads to formation of the nano and submicrocrystalline structure. After high-pressure torsion average grain size of about 50 nm is obtained, after equal channel angular pressing-generally oriented structure with separated grains (100-250 nm in size). The severe plastic deformation by both high-pressure torsion and equal channel angular pressing methods promotes the martensitic transformation. Structure of Cr-Ni austenitic steels obtained by severe plastic deformation exhibits a substantial strain hardening. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.