The influence of heat treatment parameters in grain boundary engineering on the microstructure and properties of stainless steel 316L

Abstract

 In this research, the authors used the grain boundary engineering technique as a technological solution to improve the corrosion resistance of stainless steel 316L. The steel sample, after being processed using the grain boundary engineering technique, generates a significant amount of twin boundaries (a typical form of small-angle grain boundaries), which effectively enhances the intergranular corrosion resistance of stainless steel 316L. With a selected deformation amount of 10%, the experimental results indicated that at a temperature of 1150 °C and a holding time of 30 minutes, the processed steel sample exhibited better corrosion resistance compared to the untreated steel sample. Additionally, it showed the highest corrosion resistance among the experimentally processed samples under different parameter conditions.