Tribological Investigation of Effect of Grain Size in 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel

Abstract

Stainless steels are widely used in a variety of engineering applications such as food appliances, surgical instruments, nuclear reactors and cryogenic applications. The properties of stainless steel are greatly affected by the grain size. The present study investigates the effect of grain size on sliding wear behavior of AISI 304 stainless steel. The sliding wear properties are measured using a Pin-on-Disc machine. Annealing heat treatment process varies the grain size of steel at 1100 °C. The wear test is performed on different grain sizes of AISI 304 steel at various sliding speeds under dry condition. The wear rate of the steels at different sliding distances is plotted as a function of grain size. The maximum wear rate is obtained at an intermediate grain size. It is noted that frictional force and temperature initially increases and then reaches the saturation plateau. The results are used to establish a correlation between the grain size and sliding wear properties of stainless steel. The present study is useful in enhancing the life of various components made of the stainless steel.