Hot Ductility of Fe-18Cr-12Mn-0.55N High Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel

The hot ductility of Fe-18Cr-12Mn-0.55N high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel was investigated in Gleeble-2000 thermomechanical simulator. The experimental results show that the hot ductility curve of test steel is comprised of high-temperature brittlement region at the test temperatures higher than 1150°C, high-temperature ductility region at the test temperatures from 850°C to 1150°C and middle-temperature half brittlement region at the test temperatures lower than 850°C. High-temperature brittlement and middle-temperature half brittlement are caused by the appearances of δ ferrite and the precipitation of Cr2N phase at austenitic grain boundaries, respectively, and the excellent hot ductility at test temperatures between the two brittlement temperature regions results from the stable single phase austenitic microstructure.