Influence of atmospheric humidity and grain size on the friction and wear of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel

Grain refinement was applied to high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels to combine the two approaches of improving the yield strength. As such, the wear resistance of a high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel was studied as a function of grain size and atmospheric relative humidity. It was found that the effect of relative humidity on the wear behavior was important in predicting the seasonal wear of the steels. Decrease of the relative humidity in wear tests of HN steel produces increases in the friction coefficient and weight loss.