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Properties of stainless super austenitic PM

material made by gas atomization and HIP
casting which increases the risk of
Hot isostatically pressed (HIP) near net shape (NNS) formation of unwanted intermetallic
components in highly alloyed stainless steels are used in phases. One way to circumvent
a wide range of applications. The process of manufacturing this problem is to employ powder
metallurgy for which the solidification
NNS components includes gas atomisation of powder, is orders of magnitudes faster due to
filling the powder in containers, HIPing the containers the typically very small size of the
and thereafter subjecting them to heat treatment before individual powder grains (typically
final machining. less than 500 µm). Some of the powder
technologies result in porosity and/
In this paper, some recent results such as corrosion or very high oxygen content that result
resistance and mechanical properties, from gas atomized in material with inferior mechanical
stainless steel powder produced by powder metallurgy (PM) properties. However, by using gas
and HIPed to full density are presented. The properties of atomization and HIP, as in this study, a
fully dense material with comparably
the super austenitic PM-HIP material are compared to other low oxygen content can be obtained.
commonly used PM-HIP material solutions such as duplex, The advantage of using PM is that it
super duplex and austenitic stainless steels. allows for complex geometry shapes in
a wide range of sizes to be used without
the segregations and inhomogeneity
By Karin Jakobsson, Christophe Cr, up to 22wt% Ni, up to 7 wt% Mo, associated with forgings. The PM-HIP
Pellegrini & Stefan Sundin, Erasteel up to 0,50wt% N and this inevitably process results in a component that is
Kloster AB, Sweden, Jean-Marc Lardon, results in segregations during traditional homogenous and isotropic in nature.
Aubert & Duval, France

Components produced by the use of [wt%] C Ni N Mo Cr Cu W Mn Si

PM are often used in harsh environments
PM-HIP NYB66
with a high demand on mechanical UNS S31266
0.024 20.3 0.55 5.42 23.9 1.72 1.45 3.44 0.50
properties and corrosion resistance.
Forged bar
Components manufactured by NNS 0.025 22.5 0.50 5.61 24.4 1.58 2.18 3.22 0.20
UNS S31266
technology using gas atomized metal
PM-HIP
powder and HIP are finding increasing 0.022 18.3 0.20 6.29 20.1 0.66 -- 0.71 0.76
UNS S31254
use in demanding applications such
as oil & gas, pulp and paper, nuclear, Forged bar
0.019 18.1 0.20 6.13 20.0 0.68 -- 0.97 0.56
UNS S31254
aeronautic et cetera. One trend in these
applications is to go towards more PM-HIP
0.024 6.0 0.27 3.05 25.8 1.58 -- 0.61 0.48
UNS S32505
advanced materials in order to gain
advantage from improved properties Forged bar
0.033 6.2 0.26 3.29 25.9 1.47 -- 0.89 0.40
UNS S32505
such as mechanical properties and
corrosion resistance. An example Table 1. Actual compositions in wt-% of the materials studied.
of such material is super austenitic
stainless steels. The family of super
austenitic stainless steels exhibit great [wt%] C Ni N Mo Cr Cu W Mn Si PRENW **)
resistance to chloride containing
Forged
environments commonly encountered UNS S31266 ≤ 0.03 22 0.50 5.5 24 2 2 3 ≤ 0.50 53
in the oil industry, especially to pitting
Forged
corrosion and stress corrosion cracking. ≤ 0.02 22 0.50 7.0 24 0.5 -- 3 0.40 55
UNS S32654
High nitrogen content superaustenitic
PM-HIP
steels are comparably new materials, ≤ 0.03 18 0.20 6 20 0.5 -- 1 0.50 43
UNS S31254
which are seen as a cost effective PM-HIP
alternative to Ni-base materials due to ≤ 0.03 5.5 0.27 3.5 25.5 2.0 -- 1 0.50 41
UNS S32505
the usage of high nitrogen (up to about PM-HIP
≤ 0.03 6.0 0.17 3.2 22.5 -- -- 1 0.50 36
0.5 wt %) to obtain good corrosion UNS S32205*)
properties as well as good toughness at *) This grade also includes the grade UNS S31803
low temperatures and high strength. **) PRENW is calculated as (% Cr + 3.3 x (0.5W+Mo) + 16 x %N)
The high nitrogen superaustenitic grades Table 2. Nominal compositions in wt-% of materials commonly used in the oil and gas
are all highly alloyed with up to 24wt% industry.

www.stainless-steel-world.net Stainless Steel World May 2014 49

[ Powder Metallurgy ]
Materials
In this study, the PM-HIP steel NYB66
(UNS S31266) will be compared with
the properties of PM-HIP duplex steel
UNS S32205/S31803, PM-HIP super
duplex steel UNS S32505, PM-HIP super
austenitic UNS S31254 as well as the
forged super austenitic UNS S32654,
which composition is slightly lower
alloyed than the NYB66. All of these
materials are commonly used in the oil
and gas industry for their high strength
and excellent corrosion resistance
properties. The typical values used are
obtained from commercial datasheets
and representative production data.
The NYB66 powder used in the study
was produced in a small scale pilot plant
by gas atomisation at Erasteel, sieved
to -500µm and filled in cylindrical
capsules of approximately 50 kg each.
After HIPing to full density, the capsule
dimension was Ø200mm. Heat treatment
after HIPing was carried out at a solution
annealing temperature of 1150°C
followed by subsequent quenching
in water. All the properties studied
were measured on material in the final,
solution annealed condition. The forged
bar of UNS S31266 was commercially
obtained in the dimension of Ø270mm,
in forged, machined and annealed
condition.
Method
Basic material properties such as
micro structure characterization has
been investigated and correlated with
macro properties of the material. In the
present study, the PM-HIP material was
compared to the forged bar in the same
test. The mechanical properties that
have been studied are yield and tensile
strength and impact toughness.
Tensile tests were carried out according
to the ISO 6892-1 standard, triple tests
with 12.5 mm diameter specimen.
Impact toughness Charpy-V-notch
measurements were carried out
according to the ISO 148-2 standard
with 10x10 mm size specimen, using
a cooling bath or liquid nitrogen for
treating the samples prior to low
temperature testing. The impact
toughness was measured with two
samples at each temperature, namely at
-196°C, -120°C, -50°C, -20°C, 0°C and
room temperature.
Electrochemical corrosion testing
has been carried out to determine
the critical pitting temperature. The
method used to test the susceptibility to
localized corrosion, such as pitting and
50 Stainless Steel World May 2014
crevice corrosion, was an accelerated capsule were taken from the centre of
testing where a fixed potential of 700mV the capsule. For each material, three
vs SCE is applied to a sample in an identical samples were tested.
electrolyte.
Then a temperature sweep is applied Results
to determine the temperature at which The tensile testing values are shown in
pitting occurs, called the critical pitting Figure 1. For yield strength, the super
temperature (CPT), or if a crevice austenitic PM-HIP NYB66 has similar
setup is used, the crevice corrosion properties as the duplex alloy PM-HIP
temperature (CCT). This methodology UNS S32205. They both have yield
was first standardized in ASTM G150. strengths well above that of the forged
The current criteria used to determine super austenitic steels UNS S32654 and
a propagating corrosion level were UNS S31266.
1 min at 100µA/cm2 for CPT and 1 min The results from impact toughness
at 10µA/cm2 for CCT. Different chloridic testing of the PM-HIP NYB66 are
electrolytes were used depending on shown in Figure 2. As can be seen, the
the material’s resistance to localized impact toughness of PM-HIP NYB66 is
corrosion: concentrated CaCl2 or 2M in between that of the PM-HIP duplex
NaCl. Here, two different positions and PM-HIP super duplex steels tested
of the bar were tested, at the centre at -50°C, the test temperature commonly
and surface. Samples from the PM-HIP required in oil and gas standards.
1000
Rp0.2 [MPa]
900
Rm [MPa]
800
700
600
[MPa]
500
400
300
200
100
0
Actual value Typical value Typical value PM HIP Typical value PM HIP Minimum value,
SuperausteniƟc PM HIP SuperausteniƟc Forged Duplex UNS S32205 Superduplex UNS S32505 benchmark Forged UNS
NYB66 UNS S31266 UNS S31266 S32654 *)
Figure 1. Mechanical properties, typical and measured, for the materials studied.
300
250
200
PM HIP Duplex UNS S32205
PM HIP SuperaustenŝƟĐhES S31254
Impact toughness [J]
150
PM HIP SuperaustenŝƟĐhES S31266
PM HIP Superduplex UNS S32505
100
Forged SuperausteniƟĐhE^ S32654,
minimum *)
50
0
-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50
Temperature [°C]
Figure 2. Impact toughness at different temperatures of the materials studied.
www.stainless-steel-world.net
 [ Powder Metallurgy ]
a smooth curve without
100 sharp transitions. 100
In this aspect, the
superaustenitic
90 90
material has an
advantage over the
80 duplex materials,

CPT [°C] in 2M NaCl

80
CCT [°C] in conc. CaCl2

which normally
exhibit a sharper
70 70
drop in impact
toughness properties
60 60 and are usually not
recommended for use
at low temperature.
50 50
Previous experience

CPT of SuperausteniƟc UNS S31254 PM HIP

CPT of SuperaustenŝƟĐ UNS S31254 Forged

CPT of SuperaustenŝƟĐ UNS S31254 Forged

has shown that in
CCT of SuperausteniƟc NYB66 UNS

CCT of SuperausteniƟc NYB66 UNS

CCT of SuperausteniƟc NYB66 UNS

CPT of Superduplex UNS S32505 PM HIP

CPT of Superduplex UNS S32505 Forged

CPT of Superduplex UNS S32505 Forged

S31266 Forged material, surface
S31266 PM HIP material, centre

S31266 Forged material, centre

40 40 scaling up the process

to larger powder
batches (Pearl®

material, surface
material, centre

material, surface
material, centre
30 30
powder range) in the
material

20
10
0 0
Figure 3. Crevice corrosion temperature and Critical Pitting temperature of the materials studied.
The impact toughness of PM-HIP
NYB66 is well above the minimum
required impact toughness of forged
superaustenitic steel. For the duplex
materials, there is a sharp transition
in the impact toughness curve. More
importantly, the PM HIP superaustenitic
materials all indicate a clearly
ductile behaviour down to cryogenic
temperatures.
The first trial of provoking pitting
corrosion in the UNS S31266 steel
revealed that it is fully resistant to
pitting corrosion in concentrated
boiling CaCl2, as no pitting was
observed. Therefore, crevice corrosion
measurements were conducted in a
subsequent test. Three measurements
were conducted for each type of
material, and the standard deviation
shown by error bars in Figure 3 can be
considered quite small. For the UNS
S31254 and UNS S32505 materials, the
CPT could be determined using 2M
NaCl as the electrolyte.
It can clearly be seen from Figure 3 that
for the same type of material, the forged
bar and the PM-HIP capsule are on a
similar level. The 6Mo superaustenitic
UNS S31254 material have a significantly
higher corrosion resistance than the
superduplex material. The UNS S31266
20
10
is superior in corrosion resistance to
both other materials, since the CCT
testing is a more severe method of
evaluation than the CPT testing.
Discussion
Owing to their finer microstructure, the
PM-HIP steels usually exhibit a higher
yield strength than the forged material,
confirmed by the results on this study. In
the case of the super austenitic NYB66,
the higher strength is also explained
by the slightly higher Nitrogen content
of the PM alloy. Super austenitic steels
in general are inferior in yield strength
to the duplex and super duplex alloys,
which get their high yield strengths
from the high amount of ferrite in the
microstructure.
Regarding the corrosion properties
the PM-HIP NYB66 are on similar level
as the forged bar regarding sensitivity
to localized corrosion. There is an
apparent difference between the CCT
values for the centre and surface of the
forged bar, which can be attributed to
normal and local variations in composition
and microstructure.
Regarding the impact toughness
properties of the PM-HIP NYB66, one can
observe the low temperature behaviour
of the superaustenitic material, showing
material
Dvalin™/Durin™ gas
atomization towers
from Erasteel, it is
possible to reduce
the amount of residual
elements such as
oxygen, which has
been shown for similar
materials to have
a substantial effect
on the mechanical properties of the
material, such as impact toughness at
low temperature.
Conclusion
The material characterisations carried
out in this study show that the super
austenitic PM-HIP NYB66 has a high
strength and impact toughness that is
positioned between the duplex and
superduplex PM-HIP materials, while
it is superior to these materials in
corrosion resistance. This introductory
study to comparing conventionally
forged and PM-HIP material shows that
the PM-HIP material exhibits equal
crevice corrosion resistance to the
forged.
References are available on request to:
j.mcintyre@kci-world.com
Acknowledgement: The corrosion testing
carried out by Swerea KIMAB is kindly
acknowledged.
Erasteel, a part of the French Eramet Group,
is a steel manufacturer of high speed steel
and stainless steel powders. The paper is a
collaboration between Erasteel and its sister
company Aubert & Duval. Pearl® is a registered
trademark of Erasteel.

www.stainless-steel-world.net Stainless Steel World May 2014 51