• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.11
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• pp.716-721
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• 2009

The major drive for the application of low-temperature plasma treatment in nitrocarburizing of austenitic stainless steels lies in improved surface hardness without degraded corrosion resistance. The low-temperature plasma nitrocarburizing was performed in a gas mixture of $N_{2}$, $H_{2}$, and carbon-containing gas such as $CH_{4}$ at $450^{\circ}C$. The influence of the processing time (5~30 h) and $N_{2}$ gas composition (15~35%) on the surface properties of the nitrocarburized layer was investigated. The resultant nitrocarburized layer was a dual-layer structure, which was comprised of a N-enriched layer (${\gamma}_N$) with a high nitrogen content on top of a C-enriched layer (${\gamma}_C$) with a high carbon content, leading to a significant increase in surface hardness. The surface hardness reached up to about $1050HV_{0.01}$, which is about 4 times higher than that of the untreated sample ($250HV_{0.01}$). The thickness of the hardened layer increased with increasing treatment time and $N_{2}$ gas level in the atmosphere and reached up to about $25{\mu}m$. In addition, the corrosion resistance of the treated samples without containing $Cr_{2}N$ precipitates was enhanced than that of the untreated samples due to a high concentration of N on the surface. However, longer treatment time (25% $N_{2}$, 30 h) and higher $N_{2}$ gas composition (35% $N_{2}$, 20 h) resulted in the formation of $Cr_{2}N$ precipitates in the N-enriched layer, which caused the degradation of corrosion resistance.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.306-313
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• 2014

Super duplex stainless steels (sDSS) are excellent for use under severely corrosive conditions such as offshore and marine applications like pipelines and flanges. sDSS has better mechanical properties and corrosion resistance than the standard duplex stainless steel (DSS) but it is easier for a sigma phase to appear, which depresses the mechanical property and corrosion resistance, compared to DSS, because sDSS has a higher alloy element than DSS. In addition, sDSS has a feeble ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) because it has a 50% ferrite microstructure. In the actual operating environment, sDSS would be thermally affected by welding and a sub-zero temperature environment. This study analyzed how precipitated sDSS behaves at a sub-zero temperature through annealing heat treatment and a sub-zero tensile test. Six types of specimens with annealing times of up to 60 min were tested in a sub-zero chamber. According to the experimental results, an increase in the annealing time reduced the elongation of sDSS, and a decrease in the tensile test temperature raises the flow stress and tensile stress. In particular, the elongation of specimens annealed for 15 min and 30 min was clearly lowered with a decrease in the tensile test temperature because of the increasing sigma phase fraction ratio.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.18-22
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• 2009

Experimental results for the laser shock peening of stainless steels, duplex stainless steel and STS304, for the enhancement of surface hardness are reported. A high power Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, 2nd harmonics) was used to irradiate the workpiece in water at the irradiances of 5, 10, $15\;GW/cm^2$. The surface of a workpiece was covered with Fe or Al foil for protection of the original surface and reduction of laser reflection. The laser pulse densities were varied from $25\;pulse/mm^2$ to $75\;pulse/mm^2$. In the case of the STS304, the surface hardness increased with increasing pulse density and the maximum increase of about 29% was achieved using Fe foil at $10\;GW/cm^2$ and $75\;pulse/mm^2$ conditions. The maximum increase in surface hardness of duplex stainless steel was about 8% at $10\;GW/cm^2$ and $75\;pulse/mm^2$ with also Fe foil. In the case of the Al foil, less increase of surface hardness was obtained, possibly due to the thermal expansion effect.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.117-126
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• 2003

Due to excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, austenitic stainless steel is widely used as the material for chemical plants. nuclear power plants, and food processing facilities. But, the zone affected by heat in the range of 400 to $800^{\circ}C$ during welding loses corrosion resistance and tensile strength since Cr-carbide precipitation like $Cr_{23}C_6$ forms at the grain boundary and thereby takes place the intergranular corrosion. In this study, AISI 304 stainless steel with the added Nb of 0.3 to 0.7 wt% was solutionized at $1050^{\circ}C$ and sensitized at $650^{\circ}C$. Specimen was welded by MIG. The phase and the microstructure of the specimens were examined by an optical microscope, a scanning electron microscope, and a x-ray diffractometer. The corrosion characteristics of specimens were tested by electrolytic etching and by double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation method(EPR) in the mixed solution of 0.5M $H_2SO_4$ + 0.01M KSCN. The melting zone had dendritic structure constituted of austenitic phase and $\delta$-ferrite phase. Cr carbide at the matrix did not appear, as Nb content increased. At the grain boundaries of the heat affected zone, the precipitates decreased and the twins appeared. The hardness increased, as Nb content increased. The hardness was highest in the order of the heat affected zone>melted zone>matrix. According to EPR curve, as the Nb content decreased, the reactivation current density(Ir) and the activation current density(la) were highest in the order of the melted zone

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.2982-2989
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• 2021

One of the consequences of the 475 ℃ embrittlement of duplex stainless steels is the reduction of the resistance to localized corrosion. Therefore, the detection of this type of embrittlement before the material exhibits significant loss in toughness, and corrosion resistance is important to ensure the structural integrity of critical components under corrosion threats. In this research, conductivity measurements are performed using the alternating current potential drop (ACPD) technique with using a portable four-point probe as a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method for detecting the embrittlement in a 2507 (UNS S32750) super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) aged at 475 ℃ from as-received condition to 300 h. The electric conductivity results were compared against two electrochemical tests namely double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (DL-EPR) and critical pitting temperature (CPT). Mechanical tests and the microstructure characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging are conducted to track the progress of embrittlement. It is shown that the electric conductivity correlates with the changes in impact energy, microhardness, and CPT corrosion tests result demonstrating the feasibility of the four-point probe as a possible field-deployable method for evaluating the 475 ℃ embrittlement of 2507 SDSS.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.35-40
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• 2002

In the present study, we examined the influence of prestrain on creep strength of Class M alloy(STS310S) and Class A(STS310J1TB) alloys containing precipitates. Prestrain was given by prior creep at a higher stress than the following creep stresses. Creep behaviour before and after stress change and creep rate of pre-strianed specimens were compared with that of virgin specimens. Pre-straining produced the strain region where the strain rate was lower than that of a virgin specimen both for STS310J1TB and STS310S steels. The reason for this phenomenon was ascribable to the viscous motion of dislocations, the interaction between dislocations and precipitates in a STS310J1TB steel, and the interaction of dislocations with sub-boundaries in a STS310S steel which has the higher dislocation density and smaller subgrain size resulted from pre-straining at higher stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.421-424
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• 2006

High nitrogen steels (HNS) exhibit both high strength and ductility during tensile deformation. In the present study the Fe-18Cr-14Mn-4Ni-0.9N high nitrogen steel was heat treated at $1000^{\circ}C$ and $1100^{\circ}C$ to produce $Cr_2N$ precipitates in austenite matrix and full austenite microstructures, respectively. Tensile tests of the heat treated specimens were performed at two different strain rates of 0.05/sec and 0.00005/sec. Each tensile curve of the specimens could be well characterized by the the modified Ludwik equation. Plastic deformation of the steel was adequately represented by the four parameters of the modified Ludwik equation. At 0.05/s strain rate, the specimen with the $Cr_2N$ precipitate exhibited higher strength than the full austenite specimen, while the full austenite specimen showed better mechanical properties at 0.00005/s strain rate. It was found that the $Cr_2N$ precipitates influences deformation behavior of the high nitrogen steel significantly.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.170-177
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• 2003

This paper proposes a robust method for the Ramberg-Osgood (R-O) fit to accurately estimate elastic-plastic J from engineering fracture mechanics analysis based on deformation plasticity. The proposal is based on engineering stress-strain data to determine the R-O parameters, instead of true stress-strain data. Moreover, for practical applications, the method is given not only for the case when full stress-strain data are available but also for the case when only yield and tensile strengths are available. Reliability of the proposed method for the R-O fit is validated against detailed 3-D Finite Element (FE) analyses for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under global bending using five different materials, three stainless steels and two ferritic steels. Taking the FE J results based on incremental plasticity using actual stress-strain data as reference, the FE J results based on deformation plasticity using various R-O fits are compared with reference J values. Comparisons show that the proposed R-O fit provides more accurate J values for all cases, compared to existing methods for the R-O fit. Advantages of the proposed R-O fit in practical applications are discussed, together with its accuracy.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.453-459
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• 2004

25Cr-20Ni series strainless steels have an excellent high temperature strength high oxidation and high corrosion resistance. However, further improvement can be expected of creep strength by work hardening prior creep. In the present study, the effect of prestraining at room temperature on the creep behavior of a Class M(STS310S) and a Class A(STS310J1TB) alloy containing precipitates have been examined. Prestaining was carried out at room temperature and range of prestrain was 0.5-2.5 % at STS310J1TB and 2.0-7.0% at STS310S. Creep behavior and creep rate of pre-strained specimens were compared with that of virgin specimens. Room temperature prestraining produced the creep life that is longer than that of a virgin specimen both for STS310J1TB and STS310S when creep test was carried out at the temperature lower than recrystallization temperature. The reason for this improvement of creep life was ascribable to the interaction between dislocations and precipitates in addition to the dislocation-dislocation interaction in STS310J1TB and the dislocation-dislocation interaction in STS310S. The beneficial effect of prestraining in STS310J1TB was larger than that of STS310S.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1571-1578
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• 2003

This paper proposes a robust method for the Ramberg-Osgood(R-O)fit to accurately estimate elastic-plastic J from engineering fracture mechanics analysis based on deformation plasticity. The proposal is based on engineering stress-strain data to determine the R-O parameters, instead of true stress-strain data. Moreover, for practical applications, the method is given not only for the case when full stress-strain data are available but also for the case when only yield and tensile strengths are available. Reliability of the proposed method for the R-O fit is validated against detailed 3-D Finite Element (FE) analyses for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under global bending using five different materials, three stainless steels and two ferritic steels. Taking the FE J results based on incremental plasticity using actual stress-strain data as reference, the FE J results based on deformation plasticity using various R-O fits are compared with reference J values. Comparisons show that the proposed R-O fit provides more accurate J values for all cases, compared to existing methods for the R-O fit. Advantages of the proposed R-O fit in practical applications are discussed, together with its accuracy.