Strain direction dependency of martensitic transformation in austenitic stainless steels: The effect of γ-texture

Uniaxial tensile tests on both a non-textured and a highly textured, fully austenitic stainless steel were performed in both the rolling and the transverse directions. Both materials show mechanically induced phase transformation from the austenitic FCC to the martensitic BCC phase. Differences in overall transformation behavior are observed between the two steels. No direction-dependent transformation behavior is present during deformation of the non-textured steel. However, when a strong texture is present, differences in transformation behavior during deformation in different directions can be observed clearly. The ‘stress induced transformation’ theory, in combination with the austenite texture measured before deformation, is used to explain and model the transformation behavior when straining in different directions. The theoretical results of the stress-induced transformation theory compare well with the measured austenitic textures after deformation and the recorded stress vs martensite fraction curves.