Anisotropic Electroplastic Effects on the Mechanical Properties of a Nano-Lamellar Austenitic Stainless Steel

Effects of electropulsing treatment (EPT) on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a cold-rolled 316L austenitic stainless steel with nano-lamellar structure were investigated. The EPT experiments were carried out with the electric current direction along the rolling direction (RD) and the transverse direction (TD) of the samples, respectively. Significant anisotropic electroplastic effects for the RD and TD specimens, i.e., reduced hardness/strength and enhanced ductility, were obtained owing to the different recrystallization behaviors of the RD and TD specimens during EPT. The RD specimens after EPT with larger recrystallized grain size and higher volume fraction of recrystallization show lower strength and higher elongation than that of the TD specimens. The main reason might be attributed to the change of the current direction in the two kinds of samples, which results in the different sensitivity of the microstructures to thermal and athermal effects during EPT.