This article presents an overview of the developments in stainless steels made since the 1990s. Some of the new applications that involve the use of stainless steel are also introduced. A brief introduction to the various classes of stainless steels, their precipitate phases and the status quo of their production around the globe is given first. The advances in a variety of subject areas that have been made recently will then be presented. These recent advances include (1) new findings on the various precipitate phases (the new J phase, new orientation relationships, new phase diagram for the Fe–Cr system, etc.); (2) new suggestions for the prevention/mitigation of the different problems and new methods for their detection/measurement and (3) new techniques for surface/bulk property enhancement (such as laser shot peening, grain boundary engineering and grain refinement). Recent developments in topics like phase prediction, stacking fault energy, superplasticity, metadynamic recrystallisation and the calculation of mechanical properties are introduced, too. In the end of this article, several new applications that involve the use of stainless steels are presented. Some of these are the use of austenitic stainless steels for signature authentication (magnetic recording), the utilisation of the cryogenic magnetic transition of the sigma phase for hot spot detection (the Sigmaplugs), the new Pt-enhanced radiopaque stainless steel (PERSS) coronary stents and stainless steel stents that may be used for magnetic drug targeting. Besides recent developments in conventional stainless steels, those in the high-nitrogen, low-Ni (or Ni-free) varieties are also introduced. These recent developments include new methods for attaining very high nitrogen contents, new guidelines for alloy design, the merits/demerits associated with high nitrogen contents, etc.

Recent developments in stainless steels

Effect of strain-induced martensite on hydrogen environment embrittlement of sensitized austenitic stainless steels at low temperatures

Effects of deformation on hydrogen permeation in austenitic stainless steels

Hydrogen embrittlement is a complex phenomenon, involving several length- and timescales, that affects a large class of metals. It can significantly reduce the ductility and load-bearing capacity and cause cracking and catastrophic brittle failures at stresses below the yield stress of susceptible materials. Despite a large research effort in attempting to understand the mechanisms of failure and in developing potential mitigating solutions, hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms are still not completely understood. There are controversial opinions in the literature regarding the underlying mechanisms and related experimental evidence supporting each of these theories. The aim of this paper is to provide a detailed review up to the current state of the art on the effect of hydrogen on the degradation of metals, with a particular focus on steels. Here, we describe the effect of hydrogen in steels from the atomistic to the continuum scale by reporting theoretical evidence supported by quantum calculation and modern experimental characterisation methods, macroscopic effects that influence the mechanical properties of steels and established damaging mechanisms for the embrittlement of steels. Furthermore, we give an insight into current approaches and new mitigation strategies used to design new steels resistant to hydrogen embrittlement.

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Understanding and mitigating hydrogen embrittlement of steels: a review of experimental, modelling and design progress from atomistic to continuum.

Effects of hydrogen on fatigue crack growth behavior of austenitic stainless steels

The fatigue crack growth rates of two austenitic stainless steel alloys, AISI 301 and 302, were compared in air, argon, and hydrogen environments at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. Under the stresses at the crack tip the austenite in type 301 steel transformed martensitically to a’ to a greater extent than in type 302 steel. The steels were also tested in the cold worked condition under hydrogen or argon. Hydrogen was found to have a deleterious effect on both steels, but the effect was stronger in the unstable than in the stable alloy. Cold work decreased fatigue crack growth rates in argon and hydrogen, but the decrease was less marked in hydrogen than in argon. Metallographic, fractographic, and microhardness surveys in the vicinity of the fatigue crack were used to try to understand the reasons for the observed fatigue behavior.

Fatigue of stainless steel in hydrogen

Fatigue crack growth rates (FCGR) in AISI 301 and 302 austenitic stainless steel alloys have been measured in controlled load cycles withR = 0.05. Both annealed and cold rolled conditions were examined. The austenite phase of the AISI 301 alloy was unstable under stress and transformed martensitically to α′ to a much greater extent than the AISI 302 alloy. At low values of mean stress the unstable alloy had a lower FCGR than the more stable 302 alloy. The FCGR increased with mean stress until values of mean stress ⪞70 MPa, where the FCGR was independent of mean stress and was the same for both alloys. Various metallographic and macroscopic measurements were made to try to understand this behavior. It was concluded that residual compressive stress due to transformation at the crack tip was responsible for the lower crack growth rates of the unstable 301 alloy. Cold worked specimens had significantly lower crack growth rates than the annealed specimens, and both alloys behaved identically.

G. Schuster

Papers

Fatigue of stainless steel in hydrogen

Fatigue of annealed and cold worked stable and unstable stainless steels