Ball Indentation Studies on the Effect of Nitrogen on the Tensile Properties of 316LN SS

Type 316L(N) stainless steel (SS) containing 0.02-0.03 wt% carbon and 0.06-0.08 wt% nitrogen is used as the major structural material for the components of fast reactors. Research is underway to improve the high-temperature mechanical properties of 316LN SS by increasing the nitrogen content in the steel above the level of 0.08 wt%. In this investigation, ball indentation (BI) technique was used to evaluate the effect of nitrogen content on the tensile properties of 316LN SS. BI tests were conducted on four different heats of 316LN SS containing 0.07, 0.11, 0.14 and 0.22 wt% nitrogen in the temperature range 300-923 K. The tensile properties such as yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increased with increase in nitrogen content at all the investigated temperatures. These results were consistent with the corresponding uniaxial tensile test results. These studies showed that BI technique can be used to optimize the chemical composition during alloy development by evaluating tensile properties with minimum volume of material.