Phase and structural transformations in corrosion-resistant steels upon high-pressure torsion and heating

High-pressure torsion (HPT) at a pressure of 6 GPa and room temperature is found to form a nanocrystalline structure in corrosion-resistant austenitic 05Kh15N9D2TAMF and 08Kh18N10T steels and a submicrocrystalline structure in corrosion-resistant ferritic 08Kh18T1 steel and armco iron. X-ray diffraction analysis of both austenitic steels reveals the γ → α and γ→ ɛ→ α martensitic transformations during HPT at room temperature. After HPT, the strain hardening in the austenitic and ferritic steels is approximately the same and mainly determined by nano- and submicrocrystalline structures, and the role of alloying and phase composition weakens. The thermal stability of the hardening in the austenitic and ferritic steels is almost the same, ∼400°C. As a result of HPT, the austenitic 08Kh18N10T and ferritic 08Kh18T1 steels acquire an axial texture with the predominant 〈211〉 γ direction in austenite and the 〈110〉 α and 〈311〉 α directions in martensite and ferrite, respectively. The axial texture is retained in both steels up to a heating temperature of 750°C.