The Effects of Thermal Treatment on Stainless Steel Properties and Failure Analysis

Yap, Zhi Yee (2021) The Effects of Thermal Treatment on Stainless Steel Properties and Failure Analysis. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

The effect of thermal treatment on corrosion and mechanical properties of Type 316 austenitic stainless steel are evaluated through immersion corrosion test and potentiodynamic polarization test in 1 and 5M hydrochloric acid solution, Rockwell hardness test and Charpy impact test. The morphologies of the steel at different austenitizing temperature, from 1000ºC to 1300ºC are investigated through metallography examination by using optical microscope. Results show that the heat-treated specimen had a significantly higher corrosion resistance than the untreated specimen while the mechanical properties have no distinct difference when subjected to heat treatment due to the fully austenitic structure of the stainless steel. In the morphologies of the specimen, the sigma phase or intermetallic compounds are eliminated as the heat treatment temperature increases which lead to improve corrosion resistance where the specimen with highest temperature heat treatment, 1300ºC shows the highest corrosion resistance to hydrochloric acid while maintaining the optimum mechanical performance in terms of hardness and impact strength.