Can stainless steel be hardened?

Stainless steels will work harden to some extent when subject to deformation i.e. bending, drawing, pressing. When hardened, the yield strength and tensile strength will increase, along with the hardness, whilst the elongation and impact toughness will decrease. This phenomenon can be usefully exploited, for instance, to generate far higher strength levels in fasteners when drawn down from a larger diameter bar.

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