Correlation between the Microstructure and Properties of Fatigue-damaged Austenitic 304 Stainless Steel
Author of the article: ZHANGMenghao1,2,3,4, ZHI Huihui1,2,3,4, WANG Weijun5,6, LUO Jiao1, WANG Haifeng1,2
Author's Workplace:1. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China; 2. Center of Advanced Lubrication and Seal Materials, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China; 3. Innovation Center NPU Chongqing, Chongqing 401135, China; 4. Research & Development Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518063, China; 5. Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China; 6. Institute of Energy, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei 230031, China
Key Words:304 stainless steel; fatigue damage; martensitic transformation; Vickers hardness; saturation magnetization
Abstract:
Metastable austenitic 304 stainless steel is widely used in the field of nuclear power, but it is prone to fatigue
damage and affects the service life; thus, it is crucial to assess the fatigue damage during service via nondestructive testing
meansmethods. The correlations among the microstructure, Vickers hardness, and saturation magnetization of 304 stainless
steel under different fatigue cycles were investigated via X-ray diffraction, electron backscatter diffraction, hardness, and
magnetic property testing. The experimental results show that with increasing number of fatigue cycles, 304 stainless steel
transforms from the austenite phase to the martensite phase, and the martensite phase content continues to increase; the
dislocation density increases rapidly during the fatigue process from 0 to 1 cycle and remains relatively constant thereafter.
The martensite content and number of dislocations affect the Vickers hardness of 304 stainless steel during 0 to 1 cycle of
the fatigue process; as the number of fatigue cycles further increases, the increase in the Vickers hardness is related to only the increase in the martensite content, and a linear relationship exists between them. The saturation magnetization of 304
stainless steel is associated with the martensite content in the steel, and there is also a linear relationship between the two.