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Austenitic stainless steel forming characteristics
Source:Xinsteel   Date:2020/7/5
Generally, when the Ni content of austenitic stainless steel is reduced, the forming becomes more difficult. For example, the formability of 12Cr17Ni7(301) (about 6.5%Ni) is much worse than that of 304. The presence of stabilizing elements, such as Ti, Nb and Ta, and high C content, have a detrimental effect on the forming characteristics of stabilized steel grades. This is due to the formation of second phase particles such as Ti carbides and nitrides in the microstructure. Therefore, the forming of 06Cr18Ni11Ti (321) and 06Cr18Ni11Nb (347) steels does not have smooth forming of 12Cr18Ni9 (302), 06Cr19Ni10 (304) and 10Cr18Ni12 (305) steels, which is suitable for deep drawing processing.
Generally speaking, austenitic steel is more difficult to form when its nickel content or nickel and chromium content is low, such as 12Cr17Ni7(301) steel. The stabilizing elements niobium, titanium, tantalum and high carbon content will adversely affect the formability of austenitic stainless steel. Therefore, the formability of 06Cr18Ni11Ti (321) and 06Cr18Ni11Nb (347) stainless steel is worse than that of 12Cr18Ni9 (302), 06Cr19Ni10 (304) and 10Cr18Ni12 (305) steel.