Carburization of type 304 stainless steel in liquid sodium

From Austenitic Stainless Steel to Expanded Austenite-S Phase: Formation, Characteristics and Properties of an Elusive Metastable Phase

“…The beginning of low temperature carburizing is less uncertain, as recently reviewed by Christiansen and Somers [31], and it dates back to 1983, when Kolster reported, in a technical paper in German, a new process able to improve the wear and fatigue resistance of stainless steels without impairing the corrosion resistance [32]. This process, which was the basis of the proprietary treatment known as Kolsterizing, was probably inspired by previous studies [33] regarding the carburizing reaction occurring between stainless steels and liquid sodium, used as cooling medium in liquid-metal fast-breeder reactors and containing small amounts of C, in which Kolster was also involved since 1970s [34].…”

Determination of residual stress gradient in a Ti-stabilized austenitic stainless steel cladding candidate after carburization in liquid sodium at 500 °C and 600 °C

“…lt is well known that the mechanical properties of steels such as the ductility or the fracture strain are reduced after carburization (1-3). The carburization of stainless steel after exposure to nuclear grade liquid sodium con taining carbon was extensively studied in the past (4,5) and more recently (6)(7)(8)(9). Ti-stabilized austenitic stainless steel AIMl, a stain less steel cladding candidate for control rods, formed a carburized zone after 1000 h of exposure in carburizing liquid sodium at tem peratures of 500 °c and 600 °c (8,9).…”

The influence of stacking fault energy on plasticity mechanisms in triode-plasma nitrided austenitic stainless steels: Implications for the structure and stability of nitrogen-expanded austenite

“…Low temperature thermochemical diffusion modification of austenitic stainless steel (ASS) was originally identified as an unanticipated corrosion induced carbon transportation mechanism Ð and thus a topic of interest (and of concern) − by the nuclear power industry in the early 1960s [1][2][3][4][5][6] but, as reviewed recently by Somers and Christiansen [7], was subsequently investigated systematically in the open literature from the 1980s as a potential solution to the poor tribological performance of ASS [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The unusual crystallographic structures observed after treatment, and the remarkable enhancement of surface mechanical/tribological properties that these structures provided (without loss of corrosion resistance), led to a drive to try to understand their origin.…”