Optimization of cold and warm workability in 304 stainless steel using instability maps

Abstract

The deformation characteristics of stainless steel type AISI 304 under compression in the temperature range 20°C to 600°C and strain-rate range 0.001 to 100 s^-1 have been studied with a view to characterizing the flow instabilities occurring in the microstructure. At strain rates less than 5 s^-1, 304 stainless steel exhibits flow localization, whereas dynamic strain aging occurs at intermediate temperatures and below 0.5 s^-1. At room temperatures and strain rates less than 10 s^-1, martensite formation is observed. To avoid the preceding microstructural instabilities, cold and warm working should be carried out at strain rates greater than 5 s^-1. The continuum criterion, developed on the basis of the principles of maximum rate of entropy production and separability of the dissipation function, predicts accurately all the preceding instability features.