A sheet-shaped austenitic stainless steel (ASS) was processed by one ECASE pass. In this way, larger deformations were introduced close to the sheet edge vicinities, while the middle zone remained less affected by the deformation. The heterogeneous deformation produced larger amounts of deformation induced martensite (DIM) at the sheet edges, resulting in a heterogeneous structure along the sheet thickness. Tensile tests revealed that after the deformation process the material increased its yield strength more than 3 times from 200 MPa in its initial state to ~690 MPa after one ECASE pass. Tensile tests for the processed material in different zones of sheet thickness revealed the existence of two types of materials, one more resistant and less ductile (near the edges) and other more ductile, but less resistant (in the middle zone). Because of the heterogeneity, higher dislocation densities were found in the edges than in the middle of the sheet, giving rise to a plastic deformation gradient in which the region near the edge is capable of withstanding greater plastic deformations by generating a plastic instability as soon as the deformation starts. Through a rule of mixtures, it was found that the greatest strength contribution of the heterogeneous material came from the dislocations on the bcc martensite developed near the sheet edges.

一次ECASE通过处理了片状奥氏体不锈钢（ASS）。这样，在靠近板边缘的地方引入了较大的变形，而中间区域受变形的影响较小。异质变形在板边缘产生大量的变形诱发马氏体（DIM），从而导致沿板厚度的异质结构。拉伸测试表明，在变形过程之后，材料的屈服强度从一次状态的200 MPa增加到一次ECASE通过后的〜690 MPa超过3倍。在不同的板材厚度区域中对加工后的材料进行的拉伸测试表明，存在两种类型的材料，一种类型的材料具有更高的强度和更低的延展性（靠近边缘），而另一种类型的材料却具有更高的延展性，但是更低的韧性（在中间区域）。由于异质性，在边缘处发现的位错密度高于板中部，从而产生塑性变形梯度，其中边缘附近的区域通过尽快产生塑性不稳定性而能够承受更大的塑性变形。变形开始。通过混合规则，发现异质材料的最大强度贡献来自于板边缘附近发展的密实立方马氏体上的位错。