A New Method to Recycle Stainless–Steel Duplex UNS S31803 Chips

Abstract

Due to the increased consumption of raw materials, energy, and the waste it generates, recycling has become very important and fundamental for the environment and the industrial sector. The production of duplex stainless–steel powders with the addition of vanadium carbide in the high energy mechanical milling process is a new method for recycling materials for the manufacture of components in the industrial sector. This study aims to reuse the chips from the duplex stainless–steel UNS S31803 by powder metallurgy with the addition of Vanadium carbide (VC). The mechanical milling was performed using a planetary ball mill for 50 h at a milling speed of 350 rpm and a ball-to-powder weight ratio of 20:1, and the addition of 3 wt % of VC. The material submitted to milling with an addition of carbide has a particle size of less than 140 μm. After milling, the sample went through a stress relief treatment performed at 1050 °C for 1 h and the isostatic compaction process loaded with 300 MPa. The sintered powders and material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and micro-hardness tests. The milling process with an addition of 3% VC produced a particle size smaller than the initial chip size. The measurement of micrometric sizes obtained was between 26 and 132 μm. The sintered material had a measurement of porosity evaluated at 15%. The obtained density of the material was 84% compared to the initial density of the material as stainless–steel duplex UNS S31803. The value of the microhardness measurement was 232 HV. The material submitted for grinding presented the formation of a martensitic structure and after the thermal treatment, the presence of ferrite and austenite phases was observed. Thus, in conclusion, this study demonstrates the efficacy in the production of a metal-ceramic composite using a new method to recycle stainless–steel duplex UNS S31803 chips.