TEM investigations of the surface influence on mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steel.

A relation between surface characteristics and mechanical properties of an austenistic stainless steel is a topic of this work. Transmission electron microscopy has been utilised to characterise microstructure of the surface layers and core of the samples of 316 - type austenistic stainless steel subjected to various treatments. It has been found that mechanical polishing of the surface changes its character to a degree which brings about noticeable alteration in mechanical properties. An attempt is made to correlate the influence of surface layers on mechanical properties with their microstructure and dislocation density in the volume of analysed samples.