Time-dependent ratcheting behavior of SS304 stainless steel under uniaxial cyclic loading at room temperature

The uniaxial time-dependent strain cyclic characteristics and ratcheting behavior of SS304 stainless steel were studied by cyclic loading experiments at room temperature. The effects of strain and stress rates, hold time and loading chart on cyclic softening/hardening feature and ratcheting were discussed. It is shown that the SS304 stainless steel presents remarkable time-dependent characteristics even at room temperature, the cyclic deformation behaviors, especially for ratcheting, depend significantly on strain and stress rates, holding time and loading charts. Some significant conclusions are obtained, which is useful to establish a constitutive model describing the time-dependent cyclic deformation of the material.