The generation of intergranular strains in 309H stainless steel under uniaxial loading

The generation of intergranular strains in 309H austenitic steel has been m easured in situ up to 13.0% deformation by neutron diffraction. Experimenta l data have been obtained in the directions parallel and perpendicular to t he tensile axis. Large tensile strains are observed for the (002) reflectio n along the tensile axis while the other reflections show relatively small intergranular effects. Both texture and residual strain states of the as-re ceived and deformed samples have also been measured. The number of grains w ith [111] parallel to the tensile axis increases from x2 to x4 random textu re and is coupled with a depletion of [220] grains in the same direction. T he in situ experiments have been simulated with the EPSC model of Turner an d Tomb. The model tends to overestimate the intergranular strains in the di rections perpendicular to the tensile axis. (C) 2000 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.