THERMOMECHANICALLY TREATED TYPE-18-10 STEELS - STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES,AND CORROSION-RESISTANCE

The strength characteristics of stainless steels can be enhanced by a form of alloying (in particular, with nitrogen) that hardens the solid solution, by dispersion hardening, and by the formation of an austeni tic-ferritic or martensitic structure. All of such methods, except sol id-solution hardening, entail the formation of a heterogeneous structu re and will sometimes reduce the corrosion resistance of the steel. On the other hand, austenitic stainless steel can be strengthened withou t polymorphic transformations by thermomechanical treatment (TMT). As applied to stainless steels, this involves controlled rolling with pre cisely specified temperature range, strain rate, amount of strain, and cooling rate at the end of deformation. This study was concerned with the influence of various TMT schedules on the mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, structure, and weldability of 08Kh18N10T and 03K h18N11 steels produced in the laboratory and commercially.