Effect of austenite on mechanical properties in high manganese austenitic stainless steel with two phase of martensite and austenite

The effect of the austenite phase on mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steels was investigated using specimens with different volume fractions of retained and reversed austenite. Stainless steels with dual-phase coexisting martensite and austenite were successfully synthesized by deformation and reverse transformation treatment in the cold-rolled high manganese austenitic stainless steel and the ultrafine reverse austenite with less than 0.5 µm in size was formed by reverse transformation treatment in the temperature range of 500–750 °C for various times. With the increase of deformation degree, the volume fraction of retained austenite decreased, while that of the reversed austenite increased as the annealing time increased. From the results of the mechanical properties, it was obvious that as the volume fraction of retained and reversed austenite increased, hardness and strength rapidly decreased, while elongation increased. With regard to each austenite, reversed austenite indicated higher value of hardness and strength, while elongation suggested a lower value because of strengthening owing to grain refinement.