Aging Behavior in 15-5 PH Precipitation Hardening Martensitic Stainless Steel

摘要

15-5 PH stainless steel is strengthened by precipitation of copper rich phases in a low carbon body centred cubic (b.c.c) lath martensitic matrix. Microstructures developed in aerospace grade 15-5PH precipitation-hardened stainless steel with different aging heat treatments have been studied. An attempt has been made to correlate the microstructural observations with the mechanical properties in different aging regimes. The overaging treatment imparts excellent ductility with a compromise in strength in peak aged condition to overaged condition the tune of 300 MPa in both tensile and yield strength. Hardness and tensile strength showed a similar decreasing trend with increase in aging temperature.