Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Vacuum Sintered Austenitic Stainless Steel Parts

This work presents the possibility of obtaining high density austenitic stainless steel parts by powder metallurgy (PM) and sintered in vacuum. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, yield stress, elongation rate and Vickers hardness were measured by using a tensile testing machine and a Vickers hardness tester at room temperature. Microstructural characterization was performed by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of sintering temperature on densification and mechanical properties of PM austenitic stainless steel has been investigated. The results show that density and mechanical properties were increased with the increase of sintering temperature, but when the sintering temperature is above 1340 degrees C, they increased slowly. The highest mechanical properties were obtained when sintering temperature was 1340 degrees C.