Optimization of grain boundary character distribution in Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.63N high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel

Grain boundary engineering (GBE) is a practice of improving resistance to grain boundary failure of the material through increasing the proportion of low Σ coincidence site lattice (CSL) grain boundaries (special grain boundaries) in the grain boundary character distribution (GBCD). The GBCD in a cold rolled and annealed Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.63N high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel was analyzed by electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD). The results show that the optimization process of GBE in the conventional austenitic stainless steel cannot be well applied to this high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel. The percentage of low ΣCSL grain boundaries could increase from 47.3% for the solid solution treated high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel specimen to 82.0% for the specimen after 5% cold rolling reduction and then annealing at 1423 K for 10 min. These special boundaries of high proportion effectively interrupt the connectivity of conventional high angle grain boundary network and thus achieve the GBCD optimization for the high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel.