Continuous cooling sensitization and its evaluation in austenitic stainless steel EN 1.4310

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>Sensitization in stainless steels is caused by chromium delpleted zones near grain boundaries which can lead to intergranular corrosion and intergranular stress corrosion cracking in service. A lot of work has been done in the past to understand sensitization behaviour under isothermal conditions. However, this study aims at studying the sensitization behaviour in continuous cooling, which is of more practical importance in steel production and in heat treatments such as welding. Conditions for sensitization were determined using experiments (Double-loop Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation tests (DL-EPR) and compared with DICTRA simulations. Using these conditions a continuous cooling sensitization (CCS) diagram is determined for EN 1.4310 (301) austentic stainless steel. DICTRA is a CALPHAD based simulation software used for diffusion related studies in multicomponent alloys. Solvus temperature for M₂₃C₆ is determined 959°C.</p></div>