Effects of Cyclic and Monotonic Deformations on Nonlinear Ultrasonic Response of Austenitic Stainless Steel: A Comparative Study

The effect of plastic deformations on the nonlinear ultrasonic response in austenite stainless steel was investigated under the tensile, asymmetric cyclic, and symmetric cyclic loadings. Nonlinear ultrasonic wave measurement was performed on the interrupted specimens. Results show that cyclic and monotonic plastic deformations lead to the significantly different acoustic nonlinear response. The increase of dislocation density and martensite transformation causes the increase of acoustic nonlinearity. By contrast, the well-developed cell structures decrease the acoustic nonlinear response. Under the asymmetric cyclic loading condition, the lightly decrease of acoustic nonlinearity is caused by the development of cell structures, while the slight increase of acoustic nonlinearity should be attributed to the increase of martensite transformation. Comparatively, the severe increase of acoustic nonlinearity during the first stage under symmetric cyclic loading is ascribed to the fast generation of dislocation structures and martensite transformation.