Experimental study of electroplastic effect on stainless steel wire 304L

The influence of current pulses (approximately 103 A·mm−2 for about 20 μs) with different frequencies applied to the drawing process of stainless steel 304L was investigated in this paper. Compared with the conventional process, the tensile strength and the resistivity of the wire have decreased and the plasticity of the wire has been improved with the excitement of the current, which lead to a considerable reduction of the drawing force. Such phenomenon named the electroplastic effect (EPE) is important for the improvement of product efficiency and the decrease of production cost. Meanwhile, the surface quality of the wire has been improved with the introduction of current pulses. The optimum drawing coefficient of 304L stainless steel wire has been proposed and the mechanism of EPE has been discussed in this paper simultaneously.