Cryogenic spatiotemporal characteristics and microevolution of 316LN discontinuous plastic flow
摘要
Alloys exhibit discontinuous plastic flow (DPF) at cryogenic temperatures; however, the mechanism is not fully understood. The DPF on 316LN stainless steel is investigated via the digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Serrated plastic flow was accompanied by the formation of slip bands with widths of 1–2 mm and showing both downward and upward split propagation. According to the DIC results, localized microscopic observations revealed that the occurrence of slip bands was accompanied by a change in texture and the expansion of the dislocation blocks; this produced deformation twins and caused recrystallization of the α′-martensite nanocrystals in a short time. The temperature rise caused by the slip bands was ~10 K, and the heat effect suppresses the propagation of the slip bands. These findings provide new concepts for material structure design in engineering applications at cryogenic temperatures.