Comparison of Nitriding Behavior for Austenitic Stainless Steel 316Ti and Super Austenitic Stainless Steel 904L

Abstract

In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to compare nitrogen low-energy ion implantation (LEII) into austenitic stainless steel 316Ti and super austenitic stainless steel 904L. While the diffusion and layer growth were very similar, as derived from the decreasing intensity of the substrate reflection, strong variations in the observed lattice expansion—as a function of orientation, the steel alloy, and nitriding temperature—were observed. Nevertheless, a similar resulting nitrogen content was measured using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Furthermore, for some conditions, the formation of a double layer with two distinct lattice expansions was observed, especially for steel 904L. Regarding the stability of expanded austenite, 316Ti had already decayed in CrN during nitriding at 500 °C, while no such effect was observed for 904L. Thus, the alloy composition has a strong influence only on the lattice expansion and the stability of expanded austenite—but not the diffusion and nitrogen content.