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The Effects of Casting Porosity on the Tensile Behavior of Investment Cast 17-4PH Stainless Steel

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Abstract

The effect of casting porosity on the mechanical behavior of investment cast 17-4PH stainless steel was studied as well as the effect of heat treatment on the alloy’s sensitivity to casting defects. Interdendritic porosity, formed during solidification and shrinkage of the alloy, reduces the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength roughly in proportion to the reduction in load bearing cross-section. The effects of casting porosity on ductility (% strain, % reduction in area) are more severe, in agreement with research on other alloy systems. In this study, 10% porosity reduced the ductility of 17-4PH stainless steel by almost 80% for the high-strength H925 condition. Tensile testing at -10°C (263 K) further reduces the alloy ductility with and without pores present. In the lower strength H1100 condition, the ductility is higher than the H925 condition, as expected, and somewhat less sensitive to porosity. By measuring the area % porosity on the fracture surface of tensile specimens, the trend in failure strain versus area % porosity was obtained and analyzed using two methods: an empirical approach to determine an index of defect susceptibility with a logarithmic fit and an analytical approach based on the constitutive stress-strain behavior and critical strain concentration in the vicinity of the casting voids. The applicability of the second method depends on the amount of non-uniform strain (necking) and, as such, the softer H1100 material did not correlate well to the model. The behavior of 17-4PH was compared to previous work on cast Al alloys, Mg alloys, and other cast materials.

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Acknowledgments

Mark Reece and Charles Walker are acknowledged for sample machining and heat treatment. Special thanks to Dr. Jon Madison for helpful discussions. Dick Grant and Amy Allen provided SEM characterization and Alice Kilgo and Dr. Lisa Deibler provided metallography and quantitative image analysis. Thoughtful reviews of the manuscript by Dr. Jay Carroll and Dr. Mike Maguire are much appreciated. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the US Dept. of Energy’s national Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

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  1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, 87185, USA

    D. F. Susan, T. B. Crenshaw & J. S. Gearhart

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  1. D. F. Susan
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  2. T. B. Crenshaw
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  3. J. S. Gearhart
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Correspondence to D. F. Susan.

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Susan, D.F., Crenshaw, T.B. & Gearhart, J.S. The Effects of Casting Porosity on the Tensile Behavior of Investment Cast 17-4PH Stainless Steel. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 24, 2917–2924 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-015-1594-y

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