LAUSR

Cryogenic turning of metastable austenitic steels allows for a surface layer hardening integrated into the machining process, which renders a separate hardening process obsolete. This surface layer hardening is the result of a superposition of strain hardening mechanisms and deformation-induced phase transformation from austenite to martensite. The activation energy required for the latter depends on the chemical composition of the metastable austenitic steel. It can hence be expected that the austenitic stability of the workpiece material varies depending on the batch and that differences in the metallurgical surface layer properties and thus also in the microhardness result after cryogenic turning. Therefore, in this paper, various batches of the metastable austenitic steel AISI 347 were turned utilizing cryogenic cooling with the same machining parameters. The thermomechanical load during the experiments was characterized and the resulting subsurface properties were investigated. The content of deformation-induced α′-martensite was quantified via magnetic sensor measurements and the distribution was examined using optical micrographs of etched cross-sections. It was found that similar amounts of deformation-induced α′-martensite were generated in the workpiece surface layer for all batches examined. Furthermore, the workpieces were analyzed with regard to the maximal hardness increase and the hardness penetration depth based on microhardness measurements. A significant surface layer hardening was achieved for all batches. This shows that surface layer hardening integrated in the manufacturing process is possible regardless of batch-dependent differences in the chemical composition and thus varying austenite stability of the metastable austenitic steel.