Low temperature grain boundary diffusion of chromium in SUS316 and 316L stainless steels

Grain boundary diffusivity of chromium in SUS316 and 316L stainless steels has been determined in the temperature range between 5 18 and 1173 K. The magnitudes of the grain boundary diffusivities in four kinds of specimens are in the order of the cold-worked SUS316, the solution-treated SUS316L, the solution-treated SUS316 and the sensitized SUS316. The grain boundary diffusivities in these specimens are remarkably higher than those of previous works. The activation energies for the former are 85-91 kJmol(-1), whereas those for the latter are 151-234 kJmol(-1).