Stainless Steels

Stainless steels are selected for their excellent resistance to corrosion. All
true stainless steels contain a minimum of about 11% Cr, which permits a
thin, protective surface layer of chromium oxide to form when the steel is
exposed to oxygen.
The chromium is also a ferrite stabilizing element. Figure 4.6(a)
illustrates the effect of chromium on the iron-carbon phase diagram.
Chromium causes the austenite region to shrink;, while the ferrite region
increases in size. For high-chromium, low-carbon compositions, ferrite is
present as a single phase up to the solidus temperature.

There are several categories of stainless steels based on crystal structure

and strengthening mechanism. Typical properties are included in (table
4.2).

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Figure 4.6 (a) The effect of 17% chromium on the iron-carbon phase
diagram. At low-carbon contents, ferrite is stable at all temperatures. (b)
A section of the iron-chromium-nickel-carbon phase diagram at a constant
18% Cr-8% Ni. At low-carbon contents, austenite is stable at room
temperatures.

Table 4-2 Typical compositions and properties of stainless steels

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Ferritic Stainless Steels ferritic stainless steels contain up to 30%
Cr and less than 0.12% C.
Because of the BCC structure, the ferritic stainless steels have good
strengths and moderate ductilities derived from solid solution
strengthening and strain hardening.
Ferritic stainless steels are magnetic. They are not heat treatable.(not
hardened by heat treatment but moderately hardened by cold working).
They have excellent corrosion resistance, moderate formability and are
relatively inexpensive.
In the annealed condition the strength of these steels is 50% higher than
that of carbon steels, and are superior to martensitic stainless steels in
corrosion resistance machinability.
Since ferritic stainless may be cold-formed easily, they are used
extensively for deep-drawing parts as vessels for chemical and food
industries.
The only heat treatment applied to truly ferritic steels is annealing, this
treatment serves primarily to relieve welding or cold-working stresses.

Martensitic Stainless Steels From Figure 4.6(a), we find that a

17%Cr-0.5%C alloy heated to 1200C forms 100% austenite, which
transforms to martensite on quenching in oil. The martensite is then
tempered (usually above 580C) to produce high strengths and hardnesses
[Figure 4.7(a)]. The higher tempering temperatures will cause some
precipitation of carbides with a subsequent reduction in corrosion
resistance.

The chromium content is usually less than 17%Cr; otherwise the

austenite field becomes so small that very stringent control over both
austenitizing temperature and carbon content is required. Lower
chromium contents also permit the carbon content to vary from about
0.1% to 1.0%, allowing martensites of different hardnesses to be
produced. The combination of hardness, strength, and corrosion
resistance makes the alloys attractive for applications such as high quality
knives, ball bearings, and valves.

Martensitic stainless steels as a group are much more difficult to machine

than plain carbon steel. The use of small amount of (S) in types 416 and
selenium in 416Se improves the machinability considerably.

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Austenitic Stainless Steels Nickel, which is an austenite stabilizing
element, increases the size of the austenite field, while nearly eliminating
ferrite from the iron-chromium-carbon alloys [Figure 4.6(b)]. If the
carbon content is below about 0.03% such as (304L), the carbides do not
form and the steel is virtually all austenite at room temperature [Figure
4.7(b)].

Figure 4.7 (a) Martensitic stainless steel containing large primary

carbides and small carbides formed during tempering ( 350). (b)
Austenitic stainless steel ( 500). (From ASM Handbook, Vols. 7 and
8, (1972, 1973), ASM International, Materials Park, OH 44073.)

The FCC austenitic stainless steels have excellent ductility, formability,

and corrosion resistance.
Strength is obtained by extensive solid solution strengthening, and the
austenitic stainless steels may be cold-worked to higher strengths than the
ferritic stainless steels.
These are nonmagnetic, which is an advantage for many applications. For
example, cardiovascular stents are often made from 316 stainless steels.
The steels have excellent low-temperature impact properties, since they
have no transition temperature. Furthermore, the austenitic stainless steels
are not ferromagnetic. Unfortunately, the high nickel and chromium
contents make the alloys expensive.

The 304 alloy containing 18%Cr and 8% nickel (also known as 18-8
stainless) is the most widely used grade of stainless steel. Although
stainless, this alloy can undergo sensitization. When heated to a
temperature of ~480-860C, chromium carbides precipitate along grain
boundaries rather than within grains. This causes chromium depletion in
the interior of the grains and this will cause the stainless steel to corrode
very easily. This is known as sensitization.

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Precipitation-Hardening (PH) Stainless Steels
The precipitation-hardening (or PH) stainless steels such as (17-7PH)
contain Al, Nb, or Ta and derive their properties from solid-solution
strengthening, strain hardening, age hardening, and the martensitic
reaction.

The steel is first heated and quenched to permit the austenite to transform
to martensite. Reheating (aging) permits precipitates such as Ni3Al to
form from the martensite. High mechanical properties are obtained even
with low carbon contents.

17-4PH alloy:

Solution-treated at ~1000C followed by air cooling, the austenite

transforms to martensite.

Aging (reheating) to 470-600C) to obtain tempered martensite .

Duplex Stainfess Steels In some cases, mixtures of phases are

deliberately introduced into the stainless steel structure. By appropriate
control of the composition and heat treatment, a duplex stainless steel
containing approximately 50% ferrite and 50% austenite can be produced.
This combination provides a set of mechanical properties, corrosion
resistance, formability, and weldability not obtained in any one of the
usual stainless steels.

Most stainless steels are recyclable and the following example shows how
differences in properties can be used to separate different types stainless
steels.

Example :Design of a Test to Separate Stainless Steels.

In order to efficiently recycle stainless steel scrap, we wish to separate the

high-nickel stainless steel from the low-nickel stainless steel. Design a
method for doing this.

Solution:

Performing a chemical analysis on each piece of scrap is tedious and

expensive. Sorting based on hardness might be less expensive; however,

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because of the different types of treatmentssuch as annealing, cold
working, or quench and temperingthe hardness may not be related to
the steel composition.

The high-nickel stainless steels are ordinarily austenitic, whereas the low-
nickel alloys are ferritic or martensitic. An ordinary magnet will be
attracted to the low-nickel ferritic and martensitic steels, but will not be
attracted to the high-nickel austenitic steel. We might specify this simple
and inexpensive magnetic test for our separation process.

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