A novel thermomechanical processing technique for the synthesis of bul
k submicron grain (grain size approximate to 200 nm) 304 stainless ste
el is reported. This ingot-metallurgical technique requires a total de
formation of only 95%, and the key steps to this processing technique
involve (i) formation of ultrafine dislocation cell structure, and (ii
) the conversion of dislocation cells into grains with medium to high
misorientation by grain boundary sliding.