PRECIPITATIONHARDENINGPMSTAINLESSSTEELS.pdfVIP

PRECIPITATION HARDENING P/M STAINLESS STEELS Chris Schade, Pat Stears Hoeganaes Corporation Cinnaminson, NJ 08077 Alan Lawley, Roger Doherty Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 19104 ABSTRACT Applications requiring high strength stainless steels are growing rapidally. Precipitation- hardening stainless steels have seen limited use in powder metallurgy despite their high strength. Strengthening of these alloys is achieved by adding elements such as copper and niobium, which form intermetallic precipitates during aging. The precipitation-hardening grades exhibit corrosion resistance levels comparable with those of the chromium-nickel (300 series) grades. The physical properties and microstructures of two precipitation hardening PM stainless powders are presented: 17-4 PH, a high-chromium, martensitic precipitation hardening stainless steel, has been optimized for use in PM applications; and a new low chromium (12 w/o) alloy that utilizes copper in the precipitation reaction. This alloy (410LCu), is considered to be a cost-effective alternative in applications that require high strength and moderate corrosion resistance. INTRODUCTION Precipitation hardening (commonly called age-hardening) occurs when, two phases precipitate from a supersaturated solid solution.1 For example: Precipitation: Solid A Solid A’ + Solid B. (1) The primary requirement of an alloy for precipitation hardening is that the solubility of B in A decreases with decreasing temperature, so that a supersaturated solid solution forms on rapid cooling. Figure 1: Precipitation hardening sequence.1 Strengthening as a result of precipitation hardening takes place in three steps2 : (1