Abstract
In the research work, AISI 431 grade stainless steel were chosen to investigate the effects of vacuum annealing processes on reducing hardness and enhancing ductility. Although stainless steel of martensitic type are well known for their high hardness, wear resistance and they have limited applications due to high hardness properties. Chosen for this research work, vacuum annealing were carried out to temperatures of 740°C, 840°C and 940°C. The samples were prepared cylindrically to a dimension of 40 mm length and 10 mm diameter. An untreated material was kept aside for comparison.Vacuum annealing involves heating the material in a controlled environment to eliminate impurities and relieve internal stresses, resulting in reduced hardness and improved ductility. To evaluate the effect of wear on annealed material, a pin-on-disc wear test apparatus were used. The wear behavior of the annealed specimens were compared to the untreated material. It includes both the treated and untreated samples, were examined by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to obtain images of microstructure. The results of this research work contribute to the understanding of the annealing effects on martensitic stainless steels and provide insights into optimizing their properties for specific applications.
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