Journal
ACTA MATERIALIA
Volume 128, Issue -, Pages 235-240Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2017.02.018
Keywords
Low-temperature carburization; Heat exposure; Carbon diffusion; Carbon-fraction depth profiles; Scanning Auger microprobe; Hardness depth profile
Funding
- National Science Foundation [DMR-1208812]
- China Scholarship Council [201206245098]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [51471112]
- Case Western Reserve University, USA
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To study the thermal stability of the case (hard layer) that forms on AISI-316L austenitic stainless steel by low-temperature carburization, we exposed carburized specimens to temperatures between 573 K and 648 K (300 and 375 degrees C) in air for 20.7 Ms (8 months). In spite of a colossal supersaturation with carbon, the austenite does not precipitate carbides. No carbon is lost to the ambient. Carbon diffuses deeper into the alloy, resulting in a flatter carbon-fraction depth profile. This is realistically simulated assuming temperature- and concentration-dependent carbon diffusion. Exposing to 648 K for 20.7 Ms about doubles the average carbon depth. The near-surface carbon fraction decreases only moderately, particularly as the material appears to assimilate carbon from the ambient. Accordingly, the beneficial effects of low-temperature carburization on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance are retained throughout such long-term heat exposure, implying corresponding service life of low-temperature carburized parts at temperatures below 650 K. (C) 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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