Recrystallization Kinetics of the ECAP processed stainless steel 316L

Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in different industries because of their attractive mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance. while different works have been focused on the severe plastic deformation of austenitic stainless steels, recrystallization kinetics of these alloys after the imposition of severe plastic deformation has remained less studied. the aim of this work is to study the recrystallization kinetics of austenitic stainless steel 316l after the imposition of severe plastic deformation using equal channel angular pressing. for this purpose, the alloy is processed by unecaped, 1, 2, and 4 passes of the mentioned process at 310 ºc by route bc. afterward, the processed specimens are subjected to annealing at 800 ºc for 9 to 30 min. during this procedure, the kinetics of recrystallization is studied using optical microscopy while the optical microscopy results are analyzed by the mip5 image analyzing software. also, the volume fraction of recrystallization is interpreted using the jmak model. results show that the volume fraction of recrystallization for 2 and 4 pass specimens completed in 30 min. and equiaxed microstructure with a grain size less than 10μm can be obtained. the exponent of recrystallization duration in the jmak model is between 3 and 4. this indicates the three-dimensional growth of the recrystallized grains and the decrease in the nucleation rate of the grains. the mechanism probably involving these phenomena is discussed.