Effect of warm deformation on microstructure and mechanical properties of a layered and nanostructured 304 stainless steel

A layered and nanostructured (LN) stainless steel was fabricated by surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) combined with warm co-rolling (WCR) in order to improve the low ductility of nanostructured metallic materials. The influences of rolling temperature and strain on the microstructure are investigated. The microstructure of LN steel is characterized by methods of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results reveal that the microstructure of LN steels presents a periodic distribution of nanocrystalline layer, ultra-fine grained layer and coarse grained layer with graded transition of grain size. The integrated effects of SMAT and WCR on the refinement of grain size, involving in dislocation subdivision, twinning and dynamic recrystallization, are discussed. The tensile properties of LN steels exhibit both high strength and good ductility resulting from good work hardening behavior. The strengthening mechanisms by grain size refinement, α′-martensite transformation and twinning are explored.