Interaction Between Second-Phase Particle Dissolution and Abnormal Grain Growth in an Austenitic Stainless Steel

Abstract

The continuing development of stainless steels has resulted in complex steel compositions with substantial amounts of alloying elements. The benefits of such additions invariably come attached to unavoidable disadvantages. One of the most critical item is the potential microstructural instability of the material. Alloying elements may be in a supersaturated solid solution, in which the precipitation of carbides, nitrides, borides and intermetallic phases occurs in a wide range of temperatures. In order to dissolve the mentioned precipitates, solution annealing is commonly performed. However, at the temperature range in which this treatment is carried out, the onset of abnormal grain growth can occur. The interaction between the dissolution of these second-phase particles and the occurrence of abnormal grain growth is investigated in this work. This study also shows that the thermodynamics and the kinetics of dissolution of precipitates may be used to predict whether abnormal grain growth takes place

Effect of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Nitrogen-Alloyed High-Mn Austenitic Hot Work Die Steel

“…Grain growth highly depends on the grain boundary migration and the atomic diffusion. Moreover, the dissolution/coarsening of precipitates occurs at higher temperatures [22,23]. Furthermore, the solute drag effect of alloying elements is not effective enough at very high As shown in Figure 8a, the precipitates were not completely dissolved at 1170 • C, which is consistent with thermodynamic calculation using Thermo-Calc software.…”

“…Grain growth highly depends on the grain boundary migration and the atomic diffusion. Moreover, the dissolution/coarsening of precipitates occurs at higher temperatures [22,23]. Furthermore, the solute drag effect of alloying elements is not effective enough at very high temperatures due to their higher frequency of vibration and mobility [24].…”

Heterogeneous Austenite Grain Growth in ASTM A213–T91 Steel

“…Austenite grain growth in presence of pinning particles is a complex phenomenon that has deserved extensive research. Just to mention a few examples, studies have been done about the role of the Nb carbonitride precipitation on abnormal grain growth in Nb added case hardening steels, 19) the interaction between second-phase particle dissolution and abnormal grain growth in austenitic stainless steels 20) and the effect of a non-uniform distribution of carbonitride particles on prior austenite grain size in the simulated coarse-grained HAZ of thermomechanical processed steels. 21) The first key result of the present work is to show a "window" of laboratory austenitizing conditions under which heterogeneous austenite grain growth can be developed at temperatures as low as 1 060°C-usual in industrial practice-in the ASTM A213 T91 steel.…”

A Short review on wrought austenitic stainless steels at high temperatures: processing, microstructure, properties and performance

“…The ASSs are generally supplied in the solution annealed condition, performed in the temperature range of 1000 to 1120 °C 1 . In the case of the stabilized steels, which are more prone to secondary recrystallization or abnormal grain growth 18,19 , as compared to the nonstabilized steels, the solution annealing temperature range should be at a lower level 1 . As previously mentioned, the most common steels such as AISI 304L, 316L, 321 and 347 are supplied in the solution annealed condition.…”