Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2020, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (6): 789-798.DOI: 10.1007/s40195-020-01000-8

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Application of Grain Boundary Engineering to Improve Intergranular Corrosion Resistance in a Fe–Cr–Mn–Mo–N High-Nitrogen and Nickel-Free Austenitic Stainless Steel

Feng Shi1, Ruo-Han Gao1, Xian-Jun Guan1, Chun-Ming Liu2, Xiao-Wu Li1,2()   

  1. 1Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China
    2Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China
  • Received:2019-09-06 Revised:2019-11-07 Online:2020-06-10 Published:2020-06-17
  • Contact: Xiao-Wu Li

Abstract:

Optimization of grain boundary engineering (GBE) process is explored in a Fe-20Cr-19Mn-2Mo-0.82 N high-nitrogen and nickel-free austenitic stainless steel, and its intergranular corrosion (IGC) property after GBE treatment is experimentally evaluated. The proportion of low Σ coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries reaches 79.4% in the sample processed with 5% cold rolling and annealing at 1423 K for 72 h; there is an increase of 32.1% compared with the solution-treated sample. After grain boundary character distribution optimization, IGC performance is noticeably improved. Only Σ3 boundaries in the special boundaries are resistant to IGC under the experimental condition. The size of grain cluster enlarges with increasing fraction of low ΣCSL boundaries, and the amount of Σ3 boundaries interrupting the random boundary network increases during growth of the clusters, which is the essential reason for the improvement of IGC resistance.

Key words: High-nitrogen and nickel-free austenitic stainless steel, Grain boundary engineering, Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), Low Σ coincidence site lattice boundary, Intergranular corrosion