Austenitic stainless steels can form strain-induced martensites when deformed. The mechanical properties as the formability, depend on morphology, distribution and volumetric fractions of phases generated, epsilon-martensite, with a close-packed hexagonal structure, and alpha-prime martensite, which possesses a body-centered cubic structure. Tensile tests were carried out in temperatures in the range of -50 to 20ºC with true strains ranging from 0.03 to 0.12, in order to obtain different volumetric fractions of epsilon and alpha-prime martensites. The amount of alpha-prime martensite was measured by using a ferritoscope indicating that the alpha-prime martensite fraction increases with strain for a constant temperature and decreases with the temperature for a constant strain. The epsilon and alpha-prime martensites reversion was observed in the temperature range of 50 to 200ºC and 500 to 800ºC, respectively, by dilatometer tests. The epsilon martensite volumetric fraction first rises with the strain and, at higher deformations, drops from a maximum value, which depends on the deformation temperature. The epsilon martensite occurs before alpha-prime martensite and its amount decreases with the increase on the volumetric fraction of alpha-prime martensite.
strain-induced martensite; austenitic stainless steel; dilatometry
