The corrosion resistance of martensitic stainless steels (MSS) depends strongly on the chemical composition and the applied heat treatment. Both determines the distribution of the alloying elements in the microstructure and the resulting material properties. The addition of nitrogen is known to be beneficial for the pitting corrosion resistance of stainless steels. In case of MSS this effect is not only connected to nitrogen itself because nitrogen can be used to substitute carbon which also influences the result of the heat treatment process. This paper shows the effect of nitrogen on the corrosion resistance in relation to the hardening process of MSS. Therefore the effects of austenitization duration, austenitization temperature and cooling rate on microstructure, hardness and corrosion resistance were studied on the MSS X30CrMoN15 1 and X50CrMoV15. The effect of different cooling rates was studied in the range of > 100 K/s down to 1 K/s using the jominy end quench test. The changes in corrosion resistance were detected with electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation (EPR) and by the determination of critical pitting potentials. Besides this experimental approach thermodynamic calculations with the software thermocalc will be presented and used for the interpretation of the effect of nitrogen on the corrosion resistance of MSS.
Nickel-free, nitrogen alloyed austenitic stainless-steels, with about 19 wt.-% Mn and 0,8 wt. % N, are an interesting alternative to classic CrNi austenitic stainless steels due to their superior mechanical properties (Rm > 900 MPa, A5 > 50 %, Av > 350 J) in the solution annealed condition. The formation of chromium-rich nitrides during suboptimal heat treatment, processing or application leads to an inhomogeneous distribution of alloying elements in the microstructure, which reduces the corrosion resistance. Consequently, an accurate knowledge of the sensitization behavior is indispensable for the use of nickel-free, high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steels. The relationship between artificial aging, phase formation and corrosion resistance was investigated on the alloys X8CrMnN18-19 (1.3815) and X8CrMnMoN18-19-2 (1.4456), both alloyed with 0,8 wt.-% Nitrogen, in the present work. The microstructural evolution was studied by LM and SEM while the corrosion resistance was characterized with the electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation (EPR) and the KorroPad indicator-test. Both alloys showed increased corrosion susceptibility within critical aging parameters. Finally, a sensitization diagram was described successfully for both alloys showing the positive effect of molybdenum.
Die Korrosionsbeständigkeit martensitischer nichtrostender Stähle (MNS) wird wesentlich von der chemischen Zusammensetzung und dem Wärmebehandlungszustand beeinflusst. Beides bestimmt die Verteilung der Legierungselemente im Gefüge und die daraus resultierenden Werkstoffeigenschaften. Das Legieren mit Stickstoff bewirkt im Allgemeinen eine Verbesserung der Lochkorrosionsbeständigkeit von nichtrostenden Stählen. Bei martensitischen nichtrostenden Stählen ist dieser Effekt nicht nur auf den Stickstoffgehalt selbst zurückzuführen, sondern auch auf den gleichzeitig verringerten Kohlenstoffgehalt, der ebenfalls das Ergebnis der Wärmebehandlung beeinflusst. In dieser Arbeit wird der Einfluss von Stickstoff auf die Korrosionsbeständigkeit in Bezug zum Härtungsprozess von MNS dargestellt. Dazu wird vergleichend der Effekt von Austenitisierungsdauer, -temperatur und Abkühlgeschwindigkeit auf Gefüge, Härte und Korrosionsbeständigkeit der MNS X50CrMoV15 und X30CrMoN15 1 untersucht. Die Abkühlgeschwindigkeit wurde mit dem Stirnabschreckversuch gezielt variiert, um den Einfluss von Abkühlgeschwindigkeiten von > 100 K/s bis 1 K/s zu charakterisieren. Die Veränderungen der Korrosionsbeständigkeit werden durch die elektrochemisch potentiodynamische Reaktivierung (EPR) und durch die Bestimmung kritischer Lochkorrosionspotentiale dokumentiert. Neben diesem experimentellen Ansatz werden auch die Ergebnisse von thermodynamischen Berechnungen mit der Software Thermocalc vorgestellt und abschließend auch zur Interpretation des Einflusses von Stickstoff auf die Korrosionsbeständigkeit martensitischer nichtrostender Stähle genutzt.
Hardness and pitting corrosion resistance are the major quality criteria of cutlery. Both are achieved by the heat treatment (austenitization, quenching and tempering) of the normally used martensitic stainless steels. The established quality control method regarding the pitting corrosion resistance is an alternating immersion test in 1 % NaCl solution at 60 °C according to DIN EN ISO 8442. This standard test shows a high deviation, which limits any optimization of the heat treatment process. New approaches for corrosion testing of martensitic stainless-steels were developed and used in the last years to connect the weak pitting corrosion resistance of martensitic stainless-steels with the phenomenon of chromium depletion. The tempering temperatures used in the industrial heat treatment of cutlery are too low to explain the appearance of chromium depletion. For this reason, a systematic investigation of three heat treatment parameters (austenitization time, cooling speed and tempering temperature) were performed on the martensitic stainless-steels X50CrMoV15 (1.4116) to detect their contribution to chromium depletion. The electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation (EPR), which is very sensitive to any change of the microstructure, was used to quantify the degree of chromium depletion. The KorroPad indicator-test was applied to correlate low pitting corrosion resistance to the presence of chromium depletion. The results of all investigations allow conclusions about the very small process window, which is necessary to achieve cutlery with high pitting corrosion resistance.