Effect of the Rate of Shock-Wave Loading on the Structural and Phase Transformations of a Cr–Mn Nitrogen-Containing Austenitic Steel

Abstract

Optical metallography, transmission electron microscopy, and EBSD analysis have been used to study the structural and phase transformations at various rates of shock-wave loading in the 0.4N–20Сr–6Ni–11Mn–2Mo–V–Nb (Kh20N6G11М2AFB) austenitic stainless steel. The shock deformation of the investigated steel at a rate of 471 m/s resulted in an increase in the density of dislocations to 8 × 10¹⁰ cm^–2 and in the formation of ε martensite with a hcp lattice. An increase in the loading rate from 471 to 904 m/s at the initial room temperature led to a heating of austenitic steel samples without the formation of recrystallized grains but caused a reverse ε → γ transformation with inheritance of dislocations.