Preparation of high nitrogen and nickel-free austenitic stainless steel by powder injection molding

High nitrogen and nickel-free austenitic stainless steel has received much recognition worldwide because it can solve the problem of "nickel-allergy" and has outstanding mechanical and physical properties. In this article, 0Cr17Mn11Mo3N was prepared by powder injection molding (PIM) technique accompanied with solid-nitriding. The results show that the critical solid loading can achieve up to 64vol% by use of gas-atomized powders with the average size of 17.4 μm. The optimized sintefing conditions are determined to be 1300℃,2 h in flowing nitrogen atmosphere, at which the relative density reaches to 99% and the N content is as high as 0.78wt%. After solution annealing at 1150℃for 90 rain and water quench, the 0.2% yield strength, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation, reduction in area, and hardness can reach as high as 580 MPa, 885 MPa, 26.0%, 29.1%, and Hv 222, respectively.