Microstructural Characterization of SS304 upon Various Shot Peening Treatments

Plastic deformation was introduced to the austenitic (${\gamma}$) stainless steel of SS304 by air blast shot peening, ultrasonic shot peening, and ultrasonic nanocrystalline surface modification. Various deformation structures were formed. The hardness, the deformation structure and the underlying grain refinement mechanism were investigated. In the deformed region, planar dislocation arrays and deformation twin (DT), the DT-DT intersection and ${\varepsilon}$-martensite structures, and ${\alpha}^{\prime}$-martensite were formed in the respective regions of low, medium, and high strain. The grain refinement mechanism is found to be closely related to the 1) sub-division of coarse grains by DT, shear bands and their intersection, and 2) formation of nano-sized ${\alpha}^{\prime}$-martensite due to the high plastic deformation.