2021 Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 648-656
In situ neutron diffraction measurements of two low-alloy steels and a 304-type stainless steel during tensile and creep tests were performed at room temperature. Changes in the diffraction pattern, the integrated peak intensities of austenite (γ), and the peak positions of γ were analyzed and discussed to elucidate the relationship between intergranular stress in γ and the occurrence of martensitic transformation during deformation. Tensile loading experiments revealed that the susceptibility to martensitic transformation depended on the γ-(hkl) grains, where γ-(111) grains underwent martensitic transformation at the latest. The volume fractions of γ were found to decrease under an applied load but to remain almost unchanged under constant load in creep tests, where the lattice strains of γ-(hkl) grains were mostly unchanged. The γ-hkl dependence of the susceptibility to martensitic transformation was found to be controlled by the shear stress levels in γ-(hkl) grains, which were affected by the intergranular stress partitioning during deformation.
