Home The grain boundary hardness in austenitic stainless steels studied by nanoindentations
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The grain boundary hardness in austenitic stainless steels studied by nanoindentations

  • Elmar Schweitzer and Mathias Göken EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: February 14, 2022
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
International Journal of Materials Research
From the journal International Journal of Materials Research Volume 95 Issue 6

Abstract

The strength of structural materials depends strongly on the structure and properties of grain boundaries. Grain boundaries in crystalline solids are internal surfaces and therefore likely sites for nucleation of precipitates and segregation effects. Nanoindentations are a suitable method to study the influence of grain boundaries on the mechanical properties. The necessary lateral resolution is achieved by combining with an atomic force microscope. Measurements on an austenitic steel after annealing at 650 °C, where the boundary is saturated with carbide precipitates, clearly show a decreasing hardness close to the interface in opposite to the general expected behaviour of strengthening. In this case segregation effects strongly influences the mechanical properties around the boundaries. These results are discussed in comparison with nanoindentation measurements on strongly ordered intermetallics like NiAl where no significant property change at the boundaries was found and with Vickers hardness measurements by Westbrook et al., where a higher grain boundary hardness was found in many metallic and intermetallic materials depending on their composition.

Keywords: Grain boundaries; Hardness; Stainless steel; Nanoindentation; Atomic force microscopy; Chromium carbides

Dedicated to Professor Dr. Peter Neumann on the occasion of his 65th birthday

Prof. Dr. Mathias Göken Universität Erlangen –Nürnberg Lehrstuhl Allgemeine Werkstoffeigenschaften WW1 Martensstrasse 5, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany Tel.: +49 9131 852 7501 Fax: +49 9131 852 7504

  1. The authors thank Ulf Ilg, EnBW AG, and Renate Kilian, Framatome ANP GmbH, for supplying the steel specimens. Helpful discussion with Ulf Ilg and Willy Backfisch, TÜV Süddeutschland, are gratefully acknowledged. Prof. Horst Vehoff from the University of Saarland is thanked for his support, since some of the nanoindentation measurements were done already by the authors in Saarbrücken.

References

[1] P. Neumann, A. Tönnessen, in: O.R. Ritchie, E.A. Starke Jr. (Eds.), Fatigue ’87, EMAS Ltd., London, Vol. 1 (1987) 3.Search in Google Scholar

[2] A. Heinz, P. Neumann: Acta metall. mater. 38 (1990) 1933.10.1016/0956-7151(90)90305-ZSearch in Google Scholar

[3] P. Neumann, in: X.R. Wu, Z.G. Wang (Eds.), Fatigue ’99, EMAS Ltd., Beijing, China, Vol. 1 (1999) 107.Search in Google Scholar

[4] J.H. Westbrook, D.L. Wood: J. Inst. of Metals 91 (1962–63) 174.Search in Google Scholar

[5] R. Bakish, in: J.H. Westbrook, R.E. Krieger (Eds.), Intermetallic Compounds, Publishing Company (1977) 298.Search in Google Scholar

[6] M.J.G. Silva, A.A. Souza, A.V.C. Sobral, P. De Lima-Neto, H.F.G. Abreu: J. Mater. Sci. 38 (2003) 1007.10.1023/A:1022389512500Search in Google Scholar

[7] R. Kilian, G. Brümmer, U. Ilg, V. Maier, H. Teichmann, O.Wachter, in: Proc. 7th Int. Symp. Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Plants –Water Reactors, Breckenridge, Colorado (1995) 529.Search in Google Scholar

[8] Q. Furnemont, M. Kempf, P. Jacques, M. Göken, F. Delannay: Mater. Sci. Eng. A 328 (2002) 26.10.1016/S0921-5093(01)01689-6Search in Google Scholar

[9] M. Göken, M. Kempf: Acta mater. 47 (1999) 1043.10.1016/S1359-6454(98)00377-2Search in Google Scholar

[10] M. Göken, M. Kempf, W.D. Nix: Acta mater. 49 (2001) 901.10.1016/S1359-6454(00)00375-XSearch in Google Scholar

[11] W.C. Oliver, G.M. Pharr: J. Mater. Res. 7 (1992) 1564.10.1557/JMR.1992.1564Search in Google Scholar

[12] K. Durst, M. Göken, H. Vehoff: J. Mater. Res. 19 (2004) 85.10.1557/jmr.2004.19.1.85Search in Google Scholar

[13] M. Braunovic, in: J.H. Westbrook, H. Conrad (Eds.), The science of hardness testing and its research applications, American Society for Metals, Ohio (1973) 329.Search in Google Scholar

[14] J.H. Westbrook, D.L. Wood: Nature 192 (1961) 1280.10.1038/1921280b0Search in Google Scholar

[15] K.T. Aust, A.J. Peat, J.H.Westbrook: Acta metal. 19 (1965) 1469.10.1016/0001-6160(66)90167-2Search in Google Scholar

[16] K.T. Aust, J.S. Armijo, E.F. Koch, J.H. Westbrook: Trans. ASM 61 (1968) 270.Search in Google Scholar

[17] X.X. Yao: Mater. Sci. & Eng. A 271 (1999) 353.10.1016/S0921-5093(99)00280-4Search in Google Scholar

[18] M. Göken, M. Kempf, M. Bordenet, H. Vehoff: Surf. Interface Anal. 27 (1999) 302.10.1002/(SICI)1096-9918(199905/06)27:5/6<302::AID-SIA503>3.0.CO;2-DSearch in Google Scholar

[19] M. Kempf, M. Göken, H. Vehoff: Appl. Phys. A 66 (1998) 843.10.1007/s003390051253Search in Google Scholar

[20] Ya.M. Soifer, A. Verdyan, M. Kazakevich, E. Rabkin: Scripta Mater. 47 (2002) 799.10.1016/S1359-6462(02)00284-1Search in Google Scholar

[21] Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, ed. Robert C. Weast, 66th Edition, 1985/86, CRC Press.Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2004-01-23
Accepted: 2004-02-11
Published Online: 2022-02-14
Published in Print: 2022-02-14

© 2004 Carl Hanser Verlag, München

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Editorial
  4. Articles Basic
  5. Thermally assisted motion of dislocations in solid solution-strengthened fcc alloys and the concept of “stress equivalence”
  6. From single to collective dislocation glide instabilities: A hierarchy of scales, embracing the Neumann strain bursts
  7. Geometry and surface state effects on the mechanical response of Au nanostructures
  8. Microstructural evolution and its effect on the mechanical properties of Cu–Ag microcomposites
  9. Deformation behaviour of strontium titanate between room temperature and 1800 K under ambient pressure
  10. The deformation response of ultra-thin polymer films on steel sheet in a tensile straining test: the role of slip bands emerging at the polymer/metal interface
  11. Influence of dissolved gas molecules on the size recovery kinetics of cold-rolled BPA-PC
  12. Comparison between Monte Carlo and Cluster Variation method calculations in the BCC Fe–Al system including tetrahedron interactions
  13. Experimental study and Cluster Variation modelling of the A2/B2 equilibria at the titanium-rich side of the Ti–Fe system
  14. Phases and phase equilibria in the Fe–Al–Zr system
  15. On the plate-like τ-phase formation in MnAl–C alloys
  16. Articles Applied
  17. The grain boundary hardness in austenitic stainless steels studied by nanoindentations
  18. The effect of grain size on the mechanical properties of nanonickel examined by nanoindentation
  19. Microstructures and mechanical properties of V–V3Si eutectic composites
  20. Grain boundary characterization and grain size measurement in an ultrafine-grained steel
  21. On the determination of the volume fraction of Ni4Ti3 precipitates in binary Ni-rich NiTi shape memory alloys
  22. Mechanical properties of NiAl–Cr alloys in relation to microstructure and atomic defects
  23. Characterization of the cyclic deformation behaviour and fatigue crack initiation on titanium in physiological media by electrochemical techniques
  24. Effect of prestraining on high-temperature fatigue behaviour of two Ni-base superalloys
  25. Influence of surface defects and edge geometry on the bending strength of slip-cast ZrO2 micro-specimens
  26. Tensile failure in a superplastic alumina
  27. Notifications/Mitteilungen
  28. Personal/Personelles
  29. Conferences/Konferenzen
https://doi.org/10.1515/ijmr-2004-0098
Keywords for this article
Grain boundaries; Hardness; Stainless steel; Nanoindentation; Atomic force microscopy; Chromium carbides

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Editorial
  4. Articles Basic
  5. Thermally assisted motion of dislocations in solid solution-strengthened fcc alloys and the concept of “stress equivalence”
  6. From single to collective dislocation glide instabilities: A hierarchy of scales, embracing the Neumann strain bursts
  7. Geometry and surface state effects on the mechanical response of Au nanostructures
  8. Microstructural evolution and its effect on the mechanical properties of Cu–Ag microcomposites
  9. Deformation behaviour of strontium titanate between room temperature and 1800 K under ambient pressure
  10. The deformation response of ultra-thin polymer films on steel sheet in a tensile straining test: the role of slip bands emerging at the polymer/metal interface
  11. Influence of dissolved gas molecules on the size recovery kinetics of cold-rolled BPA-PC
  12. Comparison between Monte Carlo and Cluster Variation method calculations in the BCC Fe–Al system including tetrahedron interactions
  13. Experimental study and Cluster Variation modelling of the A2/B2 equilibria at the titanium-rich side of the Ti–Fe system
  14. Phases and phase equilibria in the Fe–Al–Zr system
  15. On the plate-like τ-phase formation in MnAl–C alloys
  16. Articles Applied
  17. The grain boundary hardness in austenitic stainless steels studied by nanoindentations
  18. The effect of grain size on the mechanical properties of nanonickel examined by nanoindentation
  19. Microstructures and mechanical properties of V–V3Si eutectic composites
  20. Grain boundary characterization and grain size measurement in an ultrafine-grained steel
  21. On the determination of the volume fraction of Ni4Ti3 precipitates in binary Ni-rich NiTi shape memory alloys
  22. Mechanical properties of NiAl–Cr alloys in relation to microstructure and atomic defects
  23. Characterization of the cyclic deformation behaviour and fatigue crack initiation on titanium in physiological media by electrochemical techniques
  24. Effect of prestraining on high-temperature fatigue behaviour of two Ni-base superalloys
  25. Influence of surface defects and edge geometry on the bending strength of slip-cast ZrO2 micro-specimens
  26. Tensile failure in a superplastic alumina
  27. Notifications/Mitteilungen
  28. Personal/Personelles
  29. Conferences/Konferenzen
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 25.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijmr-2004-0098/html
Scroll to top button