Preparation of high-performance ultrafine-grained AISI 304L stainless steel under high temperature and pressure

Abstract Bulk ultra-fine grained (UFG) AISI 304L stainless steel with excellent mechanical properties was prepared by a high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) method using nanocrystalline AISI 304L stainless steel powders obtained from ball milling. Samples were sintered in high-pressure conditions using the highest martensite content of AISI 304L stainless steel powders milled for 25 h. Analyses of phase composition and grain size were accomplished by X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement. By comparing the reverse martensite transformation under vacuum and HTHP treat, we consider that pressure can effectively promote the change in the process of transformation. Compared with the solid-solution-treated 304L, the hardness and yield strength of the samples sintered under HTHP are considerably higher. This method of preparation of UFG bulk stainless steel may be widely popularised and used to obtain UFG metallic materials with good comprehensive performance.