HRPD and TEM Study of P/M 58Fe17Cr25Ni Austenitic Stainless Steel Synthesized by Spark Plasma Sintering

58Fe17Cr25Ni austenite stainless steel has been fabricated using metal powder through sintering with a spark plasma at temperatures of 900 and 950°C for 5 minutes. High purity Fe, Ni and Cr powders were used as materials for this steel. Before sintering, the powder was mixed in a milling equipment which was processed for 5 hours, then it is formed into a coin by pressing it under a load of 25 tons. High resolution powder neutron diffractometer was used for identifying the crystal structure in the 58Fe17Cr25Ni austenitic stainless steel. The sintering process at temperatures of 900C and 950°C generally forms microstructure having matrix of equiaxed austenite grains, with a crystal structure of face-centered cubic which included in the Fm3m space group. Some particles with high Cr content, a'-Cr, are distributed in all austenite grains. The austenite grains seen in the 58Fe17Cr25Niaustenitic stainless steel sintered at 900°C are twin grains. Dislocations, slip planes and bands are also existed in those grains. These defects are expected to decrease with increasing sintering temperatures up to 950° C. This change was followed by the appearance of air bubbles and sub-grains as the dominant sub-structures in the 58Fe17Cr25Ni austenitic stainless steel sintered at 950°C.