Improved Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of Powder Metallurgy Austenitic, Ferritic, and Martensitic Stainless Steels by Liquid Phase Sintering

Powder metallurgy (PM) has been widely used to produce various steels in industry, mainly due to its capabilities for manufacturing nearly net-shaped products and mass production. To improve the performances of PM stainless steels, the roles of 0.6 wt% B additive in the microstructures, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistances of PM 304L austenitic, 410L ferritic, and 410 martensitic stainless steels were investigated. The results showed that adding 0.6 wt% B significantly improved the sintered densities of the three kinds of stainless steels due to the liquid phase sintering (LPS) phenomenon. The borides in 304L + 0.6B, 410L + 0.6B, and 410 + 0.6B were rich in B and Cr atoms but deficient in Fe, Ni, or C atoms, as analyzed by electron probe micro-analysis. Furthermore, the B additive contributed to the improved apparent hardness and corrosion resistance of PM stainless steels. In the 410L stainless steel, the 0.6 wt% B addition increased the corrosion voltage from −0.43 VSCE to −0.24 VSCE and reduced the corrosion current density from 2.27 × 10−6 A/cm2 to 1.93 × 10−7 A/cm2. The effects of several factors, namely: porosity; the generation of boride; the matrix/boride interfacial areas; Cr depletion; and the microstructure on the corrosion performances are discussed. The findings clearly indicate that porosity plays a predominant role in the corrosion resistances of PM austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic stainless steels.