Muhamed MEHMEDOVIĆ MICROSTRUCTURAL CHANGES DURING HEAT TREATMENT OF SINTERED AUSTENITIC NICKEL-FREE STAINLESS STEEL
Production of nickel-free austenitic stainless steels is usually performed using sintering or melting in nitrogen atmosphere, where nitrogen as austenite forming element replaces nickel. These steels can also be produced by additional nitriding in solid state of final ferritic stainless steel components. In this case, properties of the steel do not depend only on casting or sintering parameters, but also on nitriding and post sintering heat treatment parameters. In this regard, effect of subsequent heat treatment parameters on properties of the sintered austenitic nickel-free stainless steel were analysed in this work. Post sintering heat treatments, in nitrogen atmosphere, were performed using dilatometer DIL 402/C/7. Microstructural changes after heat treatment and dilatometer test results are presented in the paper.