The main objective of this work was to study the Delayed Cracking Phenomenon in metastable austenitic stainless steels when they were significantly deformed by deep drawing. During the forming operations, the austenite of these steels has transformed substantially to martensite. The volume fraction of this phase has changed with the cup height and chemical composition. Copper is an alloying element able to turn the steels less prone to the cracking by inhibiting the martensitic transformation. Martensite gradients throughout the drawn and redrawn cups wall were determined for one conventional and a copper-added austenitic stainless steel and their effects on the Delayed Cracking Phenomenon were evaluated.
Delayed Cracking Phenomenon; deep drawing; austenitic stainless steels; strain induced martensite
