Influence of particle formation during long time ageing on mechanical properties in the austenitic stainless steel 310.

Intense precipitation may occur in high-temperature materials during service. This precipitation significantly affects the mechanical properties. Coarse precipitates can reduce ductility and toughness dramatically. To investigate the phenomenon, precipitation in the austenitic stainless steel AISI 310 is quantified in a parallel paper. The samples were aged up to 5000 h at 800°C. Especially, σ-phase and M23C6-carbides were analysed. A model for the influence of coarse particles on ductility has been developed and successfully applied to the measured values. A model due to Chen and Mott has been used to compute the effect of particles on toughness. A satisfactory agreement with the observations was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]