Technical Q&A Low carbon and weldability

ASK AN EXPERT FAQ FROM THE NICKEL INSTITUTE TECHNICAL ADVICE LINE

Geir Moe P.Eng. is the Technical Inquiry Service Coordinator at the Nickel Institute. Along with other material specialists situated around the world, Geir helps end-users and specifi ers of nickelcontaining materials seeking technical support. The team is on hand to provide technical advice free of charge on a wide range of applications such as stainless steel, nickel alloys and nickel plating to enable nickel to be used with confi dence. https://inquiries.nickelinstitute.org/ Q Q: Why do nickel-containing austenitic stainless steels, such as 304,

sometimes possess magnetic properties?

A: Above approximately 727 °C, retractors in cars, wire and strip steel possesses a non-magnetic springs and even surgical needles. microstructure called austenite. Below However, in some applications it can

Athis temperature steel possesses a cause problems for equipment that magnetic structure called ferrite. The can be affected by small amounts of addition of suffi cient nickel makes ausmagnetic attraction, such as Magnetic tenite stable at room temperature. This Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines. is why austenitic stainless steels such In these cases, grades that possess as 304 are non-magnetic. However, stable austenite with higher nickel the austenite in 304 (S30400) and contents are employed. particularly 301 (S30100) is metastable. Visit: inquiries.nickelinstitute.org

This means when plastically deformed (cold worked) some of this austenite can undergo a transformation into yet another magnetic microstructure, called strain-induced martensite which includes an increase in tensile strength. The greater the amount of NICKEL ONLINE plastic deformation the more martensite is formed and thus more magnetic WWW.NICKELINSTITUTE.ORG attraction and higher strength. SUBSCRIBE to Nickel magazine free of charge and

In most instances this magnetic receive a printed copy or an e-mail notice when a new issue is published. www.nickelinstitute.org attraction is of no consequence. In fact the attendant increase in tensile READ Nickel magazine online in several languages. strength is benefi cial in the production www.nickelinstitute.org/nickel-magazine/ of components such as seat belt SEARCH BACK ISSUES of Nickel magazine from our online archive, going back to 2009.

Eff ect of cold work on the magnetic permeability of www.nickelinstitute.org/nickel-magazine/

chromium-nickel stainless steels

Magnetic permeability at H=50 15 12 9 6 3 0 20 40 60 80 301 (S30100) 304 (S30400) 316 (S31600) 310 (S31000) FOLLOW US on Twitter @NickelInstitute JOIN US on LinkedIn – visit the Nickel Institute’s page WATCH nickel-related videos on the Nickel Institute YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/NickelInstitute

Cold reduction (%)