A Novel Austenitic Stainless Steel Made from 17-4PH Stainless Steel Powder Using Gas Nitriding and SPS Processing Technique
摘要
A novel high-nitrogen stainless steel was synthesized through spark plasma sintering (SPS) using nitrogen-enriched 17-4PH powder. Introducing an optimal nitrogen concentration resulted in a fully austenitic microstructure. As the nitrogen content increases, the matrix evolves from the α phase to the γ phase and back to the α phase, while the precipitate size and volume fraction steadily increase. At approximately 1 weight percent nitrogen, the matrix is almost entirely γ-phase austenite, with a substantial fraction of nitrogen in solid solution. This condition promotes the extensive formation of nitrogen-rich austenite and suppresses the formation of chromium-nitrogen precipitates. Only sparse, rod-like NbN and CrN nanoscale precipitates are observed at the grain boundaries. The high-nitrogen austenitic steel exhibits superior strength and corrosion resistance.