Influence of phase transformations on the mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steels

The martensitic transformation in austenitic stainless steels type 18-10 ca n be induced by plastic deformation at room and low temperatures. In this s tudy we conducted a systematic series of experiments to assess the influenc e of both temperature and stress state type on kinetics of martensitic tran sformation. An attempt has been made to correlate the mechanical properties with the microstructural changes. The results of present studies make it p ossible to estimate the effect of stress state type on martensitic transfor mation kinetics in metastable chromium-nickel steels under isothermal loadi ng. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.