The evolution of strain induced martensite in austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 was investigated in a rolling contact on a two-discs-tribometer. The effects of surface roughness, slip and normal force as well as the number of load cycles were examined. In comparison to the investigations of martensitic phase transformation during cold rolling, the applied stresses are considerably lower. The formation of strain induced martensite was detected in-situ by means of a FERITSCOPE MP30 and ex-situ by optical microscopy after etching with Kane etchant. Both number of load cycles and magnitude of normal force appeared to be the main influencing factors regarding strain induced martensitic evolution in low stress rolling contacts.
In the automotive industry a strong effort has been undertaken to reduce the weight of modern vehicles. In order to reduce the energy consumption and to improve the environmental sustainability, the importance of weight reduction activities is even growing faster. As lightweight designing is becoming more and more expensive and show less potential savings, new approaches are needed. One promising technology could be the use of shape memory elements. In the last years a lot of potential application possibilities were presented, demonstrating the benefit of these functional elements in automotive design solutions: they often reduce complexity, weight and design space of an actuation device and enable new functions. In addition they work silently and are therefore ideally suitable for comfort applications in the passenger cabin. Because of the current trend to electric vehicle the hitherto existing drawback of a high electrical energy consumption of shape memory actuators in some design proposals is not given any more.
Pitting susceptibility of metastable austenitic stainless steels as a function of surface conditions
(2019)
The influence of surface roughness and local defects on pitting susceptibility of type 304 (UNS S30400) and type 301 (UNS S30100) in chloride solution were investigated. Because the mechanical properties can be regarded as decisive for the achieved surface quality, different properties of the base material were obtained by cold rolling the metastable austenites. This was done before the surfaces were finished. Therefor the surfaces were treated by different grinding parameters to generate different surface conditions and different defects. As a reference, different standardised surface finishes were used.
By using and comparing different methods for the characterization of surface roughness and surface texture, it is possible to find a relationship between the quantity and characteristics of local defects on the one hand and pitting susceptibility on the other hand. For the machining parameters used, a ranking of the influencing factors on the corrosion resistance achieved could be determined.
The automated application of software-based solutions for estimating the pitting susceptibility of machined surfaces and components will be discussed using concrete examples.
Magnetic effects on austenitic stainless steels, formed during a low temperature carburizing depending on the alloy composition are discussed in this paper. Samples of different austenitic stainless steel alloys have been subjected to a multiple low-temperature carburization. Layer characteriszation with light microscope and hardness profiles show a growth of the layer thickness. The formation of an expanded austenite layer (lattice expansion) could be detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Feritscope was used to determine the magnetizability, whereby not all austenitic alloys form a magnetizability after treatment. Furthermore, test procedures were developed to visualize the magnetizability. For this purpose, magnetic force microscope measurements and investigations with ferrofluid were carried out and a fir tree ferromagnetic layer strucure could be proven.
This paper compares the surface morphology of differently finished austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L, also in combination with low temperature carburization. Milled and tumbled surfaces were analyzed by means of corrosion resistance and surface morphology. The results of potentiodynamic measurements show that professional grinding operations with SiC and Al2O3 always lead to a better corrosion resistance of low temperature carburized surfaces compared to the untreated reference in the used acidified chloride solution. Big influence on the corrosion resistance of vibratory ground or tumbled surfaces has the amount of plastic deformation while machining, that has to be kept low for austenitic stainless steels. Due to the high ductility, plastic deformation can lead to the formation of meta stable pits that can be initiation points of corrosion. The formation of meta stable pits can be aggravated by low temperature diffusion processes.
Improving the tribological properties of Stainless Steels by low-temperature surface hardening
(2022)
Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) allows the production of complex components geometry. Generally, a high quality of the components is achieved due to the well managed composition of the metal powder and the non-isotropic properties. If a duplex stainless steel is produced, a heat treatment after the HIP-process is necessary to remove precipitations like carbides, nitrides and intermetallic phases. In a new process, the sintering step should be combined with the heat treatment. In this case a high cooling rate is necessary to avoid precipitations in duplex stainless steels. In this work, the influence of the HIP-temperature and the wall thickness on corrosion resistance, microstructure and impact strength were investigated. The results should help to optimize the process parameters like temperature and cooling rate. For the investigation, two HIP-temperatures were tested in a classical HIP-process step with a defined cooling rate. An additional heat treatment was not conducted. The specimens were cut from different sectors of the HIP-block. For investigation of the corrosion resistance, the critical pitting temperature was determined with electrochemical method according to EN ISO 17864. An impact test was used to determine the impact transition temperature. Metallographic investigations show the microstructure in the different sectors of the HIP-block.