Austenitic Stainless Steel Production Process

Austenitic stainless steel production process

Due to the high content of alloying elements (especially chromium) and low carbon content, electric arc furnace plus argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) or vacuum deoxygenation decarburization (VOD) method is often used to mass-produce this type of stainless steel. Batch products can be smelted in vacuum or non-vacuum non-induction furnaces, with electroslag remelting added when necessary.

The excellent thermoplasticity of chromium-nickel austenitic stainless steel makes it easy to perform thermal processing such as forging, rolling, hot piercing and extrusion. The heating temperature of the steel ingot is 1150~1260℃, and the deformation temperature range is generally 900~1150℃. It contains copper, Nitrogen and steel grades stabilized with titanium and niobium tend to be low-temperature, while high-chromium and molybdenum steel grades tend to be high-temperature.

Due to poor thermal conductivity, the holding time should be longer. After thermal processing, the workpiece can be air-cooled. Chromium-manganese austenitic stainless steel is highly sensitive to hot cracks. The steel ingot should be made with small deformation and multiple passes, and the forgings should be piled cold. It can carry out cold working processes such as cold rolling, cold drawing and spinning, and forming operations such as stamping, bending, curling and folding.

The work hardening tendency of chromium-nickel austenitic stainless steel is weaker than that of chromium-manganese steel. The cold deformation after one annealing can reach 70% to 90%. However, due to the large deformation resistance and strong work-hardening tendency of chromium-manganese austenitic stainless steel, intermediate softening should be added. Number of annealing times. Generally, the intermediate softening annealing treatment is water cooling at 1050~1100℃.