Résumé
The aim of the present study is first to describe an original process, the so called duplex process, whose feature is the coupling between the well-known SMAT (Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment) and the traditional co-rolling. The first step of this process consists of SMA-Treatment of 316L stainless steel sheets to generate nanocrystalline layers on their top surfaces according to the grain refinement mechanism of austenitic steels which is well described in the literature. During the second step, three treated sheets are co-rolled at 550°C to obtain a semi-massive nanocrystallised multilayer structure with improved mechanical strength alternating nanocrystalline, transition and coarse grain layers. The second part of this work deals with the mechanical and the microstructural characterization of the as-obtained structures. Thus, sharp nanoindentation tests performed over the cross section of the laminates coupled with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) confirm the presence of nanograins after the thermomechanical treatment. In addition, the enhanced yield strength demonstrated by tensile tests correlate well with the theoretical volume fractions of nanoand transition layers. The interface cohesion between the sheets is tested by three-point bending tests and the interface bonding is evaluated by microstructural observations.