Martensitic Stainless Steels

This chapter is on martensitic stainless steels. A brief introduction to the compositions and uses of the various grades of steels in the ferritic class is given first. The purposes of and the changes in properties associated with typical heat treatments (austenisation and tempering), together with their underlying mechanisms, are then introduced. Recent results on the effects of heat-treatment parameters (temperature, cooling rate, etc.) are presented. A recently-developed tempering map for martensitic stainless steel and a new constitution diagram for ferritic-martensitic weld metals are also presented.

Keywords: Martensitic stainless steel, austenitisation, austenitising temperature, tempering, tempering map, martensitic transformation, retained austenite, constitution diagram, strengthening, carbide.