Enhanced work hardening in ferrite and austenite of duplex stainless steel at 200 K; neutron diffraction study

Yamashita, Takayuki*; Koga, Norimitsu*; Mao, W.*; Gong, W.   ; Kawasaki, Takuro   ; Harjo, S.   ; Fujii, Hidetoshi*; Umezawa, Osamu*

Ferrite-austenite duplex stainless steels offer excellent strength and ductility, making them suitable for extreme environments. In this study, neutron diffraction during tensile testing at 293 K and 200 K was used to investigate stress partitioning and phase-specific deformation. Phase stress was calculated using a texture-compensated method. At both temperatures, ferrite showed higher phase stress than austenite, acting as the harder phase. At 200 K, both phases exhibited increased strength and work hardening. Austenite showed significant stacking fault formation alongside dislocation migration, while ferrite retained its dislocation-based deformation mode, becoming more effective. Stress contributions from both phases were comparable. No martensitic transformation occurred. Strengthening and enhanced work hardening in both phases led to high strength at 200 K, with ductility similar to that at 293 K.