By means of surface mechanical attrition (SMA), a nanostructured surface layer was formed on a 0Cr18Ni9Ti austenite stainless steel plate. A strain-induced martensite transformation was observed during SMA treatment, and a single magnetic martensite phase layer with thickness of about 30 μm was gotten. The grain growth and phase transformations in the nanocrystalline layer are investigated during heating. The grain growth exponent for nanocrystalline polycrystalline steel is estimated. The kinetics mechanism governing the grain growth in the nanocrystalline layer is discussed. The martensite in the surface layer is quite stable and the temperature at which the reverse transformation of martensite to austenite starts during heating is about 500 ℃.