Property evolution on annealing deformed 304 austenitic stainless steel

Property changes and microstructural evolution of deformed and subsequently annealed austenitic stainless steel are investigated. SUS304 samples were deformed by high pressure torsion to obtain 100 % α′ volume fraction. When plastically deformed SUS304 is annealed in the temperature range of 200–600 °C for 1 h, peak maxima in hardness, electrical resistivity, and saturation magnetization appears at 400 °C. In this study, SUS304 containing 100 % α′ was investigated on the basis of changes in microstructure and mechanical properties after annealing at the temperature of 400 °C for up to 500 h. The observed property changes are attributed to solute segregation, strain relaxation, and G phase precipitation.