Novel SiC dispersion strengthened austenitic steels prepared by powder technology

In this work, the 316L austenitic steel based milled and sintered composites with 0.33 wt% and 1 wt% SiC ultra-fine particles addition have been prepared. The high efficient attrition milling provided an efficient size reduction of the 316L steel grains and homogeneous distribution of the SiC nanoparticles before sintering process. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was used for compaction of milled powder mixtures. The effect of SiC addition on the milling efficiency and the structure of the composites have been studied. It was found that the amount of ceramic addition did not influence the efficiency of milling process, powder mixtures with flake like grains have been obtained. On the other hand, the intensive milling assured an optimal coverage of 316L stainless steel grains with submicron sized ceramic particles in both cases. The sintered composites showed high densities with the presence of small amount of closed porosities. Structural, mechanical and tribological examinations of 316L/SiC composites have been performed and presented.