Microstructure Investigations of Phase Transformation in Cold Working AISI 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel

Abstract Development of high temperature and corrosion-resistant materials is one of the key issues for the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors and also to accommodate the problem that occurred in the conventional reactor as the lesson-learned from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor power plant accident. One of the high performance materials for that purpose is austenitic stainless steel such as AISI 316L that widely used for power plant. In this study we investigate the characteristics of AISI 316L austenitic phase transformation if cold working is applied. In general, during the cold working process the mechanical characteristic and the phase of the austenitic steel will change. It is expected that the characteristic of AISI 316L austenitic steel will be improved by optimum cold working mechanism. Cold working of AISI 316L austenitic steel at various percentage reduction of 5%, 15%, 25% and 38% have been done. Afterward, the sample was characterized using X-Ray Diffraction and Optical Microscope to analyze the microstructure characteristics and phase transformation. The results showed that the phase transformation in AISI 316L austenitic steel occurred from austenite – gamma (FCC: Face-Centered Cubic lattice) to martensite – alpha prime (BCC: Body Centered Cubic lattice). The percentage of martensite phase was increasingly growth related to the increasing of the percentage of cold working value i.e. 8.3%, 21.6%, 29.6% and 37.1%, respectively. The hardness of AISI 316L austenitic steel increased with the increasing of the cold working percentage. AISI 316L double phases which covers of austenite-martensite intermix phase structure with higher hardness mechanical properties has been successfully developed.