Study Of the Effect of Titanium Additions on The Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of AISI 316 Powder Metallurgical Steel

Abstract

Context: Powder metallurgy uses metallic and/or non-metallic powders that, through mixing, compacting, and sintering operations, allow obtaining large series of products. In austenitic stainless steels, Cr23C6-type carbides can precipitate at temperatures between 450 and 950 °C. When this occurs, the steel is susceptible to being attacked at its grain boundaries by a phenomenon called sensitization. Titanium is added as a ‘stabilizer’ because it has a greater affinity with carbon for the formation of species at a temperature of approximately 900 ºC, and, during cooling, it consumes the carbon forming MC-type carbides, inhibiting the precipitation of Cr23C6. Method: The composition and morphology of the powders were characterized, leading to the formulation of an alloy matrix consisting of a mixture of AISI 316 steel powders of two different particle-size distributions in a proportion that produced the highest density and the lowest porosity in the sintered material. Titanium was added at two levels (0,4 and 1,0 wt%), and sintering was carried out with nitrogen. The corrosion rate was determined by potentiodynamic polarization. Vickers hardness and pin-on-disk wear tests were performed. The stages were complemented with a microstructural analysis. Results: The addition of 0,4 wt% of titanium decreased the steel’s rate of corrosion, albeit in the absence of passivation. The microstructure consists of austenite, ferrite, and TiC precipitates. The addition of 1,0 wt%Ti showed an increase in the corrosion rate, with a microstructure containing austenite, ferrite, TiC carbides, and the Laves ɳ-Fe2Ti phase. Conclusions: The results were compared against thermodynamic simulations in the Thermo-Calc software, which were consistent with the microstructural analysis, showing the phenomena of stabilization as well as the precipitation of intermetallic phases and highlighting the importance of establishing strict controls in the formulation of powder metallurgical alloys due to the transformations that can take place due to the effect of the thermal cycles of the process.