Tensile and compressive properties of AISI 304L stainless steel subjected to equal channel angular pressing

The present work investigated the compressive and tensile properties of AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel subjected to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at high temperature (700 °C). Tensile and compressive strength, elongation, Vickers hardness and fracture mode of annealed and ECAPed material were systematically compared. It is found that with increasing the number of ECAP passes the tensile strength and hardness increase, however, the elongation and strain hardening rate decrease. The compressive yield strength and strain hardening rate displayed obvious anisotropy when the ECAPed austenitic stainless steel was compressed along different orientations. The tensile fracture mode was changed from the ductile to brittle feature with increasing the number of ECAP passes. Accordingly, the ECAPed steel exhibited apparent asymmetry in tensile and compressive properties. Besides, the relationship between strength and Vickers hardness was established. Based on the results above, the corresponding deformation and fracture mechanisms were discussed.