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Acta Metall Sin  2025, Vol. 61 Issue (12): 1884-1894    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00093
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Mechanical Behavior of Cryogenic Rolling Processed High Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel with High Strength and Good Toughness
ZHAO Jintao1, SUN Lifang1, HE Zhufeng1(), LIU Yujie1, MA Xiaobai2, SHEN Yongfeng3, JIA Nan1()
1 Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
2 Institute of Nuclear Physics, China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing 102413, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
Cite this article: 

ZHAO Jintao, SUN Lifang, HE Zhufeng, LIU Yujie, MA Xiaobai, SHEN Yongfeng, JIA Nan. Mechanical Behavior of Cryogenic Rolling Processed High Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel with High Strength and Good Toughness. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(12): 1884-1894.

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Abstract  

High nitrogen austenitic stainless steels have emerged as crucial materials in the steel industry due to their excellent comprehensive properties and their cost-effective and ecofriendly characteristics. However, the yield strength of those alloys at room temperature is limited and fails to meet the requirements for high stress loads. Therefore, high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels having high strength and good ductility are urgently needed. This study focuses on a high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel with a nominal composition of Fe-18.87Cr-10.09Mn-1.12Ni-0.53N-0.18Si-0.04C (mass fraction, %). The steel plate was subjected to cryogenic rolling at the liquid nitrogen temperature with a thickness reduction of 10%, achieving exceptional comprehensive mechanical properties, including a yield strength of 947 MPa, a tensile strength of 1051 MPa, and a uniform elongation of 36%. These results are comparable to the optimal strength and ductility obtained by traditional thermomechanical processes including cold rolling and its subsequent annealing. The substantial enhancement in yield strength, which is 1.86 times than that of the homogenized state, is primarily attributed to the dense dislocation substructures and complex lamellar structures composed of ε-martensite laths, the deformation twins, and local chemical order lath structures introduced during the cryogenic rolling process. The structures induce a synergistic effect of multiple strengthening mechanisms. Moreover, the material maintains good uniform elongation and work hardening ability, which can be attributed to dislocation slip and the significant twinning-induced plasticity effect during plastic deformation. The cryogenic rolling technique demonstrated offers remarkable advantages in cost-savings, process simplification, and efficiency improvement in the preparation and production of the high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel.

Key words:  high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel      cryogenic rolling      mechanical property      microstructure evolution      strengthening and toughening mechanism     
Received:  25 March 2024     
ZTFLH:  TG142.71  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52301135)
Corresponding Authors:  HE Zhufeng, Tel: 13234016811, E-mail: hezf@smm.neu.edu.cn; JIA Nan, professor, Tel: 13591492980, E-mail: jian@atm.neu.edu.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00093     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I12/1884

Fig.1  Schematic of processing routes for the high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel (HNASS) hot-rolled plate (CR—cold rolling, CRR—cryogenic rolling)
Fig.2  Egineering stress-strain curves (a), true stress-strain curves (b), work hardening rate vs true strain curves (c) of the A750, A850, A950, HOMO, and CRR10% materials at various states
SteelYield strength / MPaUltimate tensile strength / MPaUniform elongation / %
A7501284 ± 51325 ± 58 ± 3
A850875 ± 31130 ± 335 ± 2
A950840 ± 21100 ± 237 ± 2
HOMO509 ± 3865 ± 360 ± 3
CRR10%947 ± 41051 ± 436 ± 2
Table 1  Mechanical properties of the A750, A850, A950, HOMO, and CRR10% materials
Fig.3  SEM-BSE images of the HOMO (a), A850 (b), and CRR10% (c-f) materials (RD—rolling direction, ND—normal direction)
Fig.4  TEM images and the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns (insets) of the CRR10% material before tensile testing
(a) bright-field TEM image and SAED pattern (inset) (b-d) dark-field TEM images of the fcc austenitic matrix (b), hcp ε-martensite laths (c), and fcc deformation twins (d) corresponding to Fig.4a (e) deformation twins and stacking faults, and the corresponding SAED pattern (inset)
Fig.5  TEM image and SAED pattern (inset) of the local chemical order lath structures (LCO-laths) inside the CRR10% material before tensile testing
(a) TEM image of the LCO-laths and SAED pattern (inset)
(b) dark-field TEM image of the rectangular area in Fig.5a
(c) closed-up view of the rectangular area in Fig.5b (The LCO domains located inside LCO-laths, as shown in Figs.5b and c)
Fig.6  XRD spectra of the HOMO, A850, and CRR10% materials before (a) and after (b) tensile testing
Fig.7  SEM images showing the fracture morphologies of the HOMO (a), A850 (b), and CRR10% (c) materials
Fig.8  Bright-field (a) and dark-field (b) TEM images of the region close to fracture surface of the CRR10% material after tensile testing (Inset in Fig.8a is the SAED pattern)
Fig.9  Neutron diffraction spectra (a) and modified Williamson-Hall (MWH) curves (b) of the HOMO, A850, and CRR10% materials (K = 2sinθ / λ,ΔKhkl = 2cosθθ) / λ, λ—waverlength, Δθ—full width of half maximum,hkl —average dislocation contrast factor)
Fig.10  Strengthening contributions to yield strength of the HOMO, A850, and CRR10% materials (σD—dislocation strengthening, σG—grain boundary strengthening, σS—solid solution strengthening, σP—precipitation strengthening, σε-martensiteε-martensite strengthening,σdeformation twin boundary—deformation twin boundary strengthening, σLCO-lath—LCO-lath strengthening)
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