Quantitative influence of minor and impurity elements on hot cracking susceptibility of extra high-purity type 310 stainless steel

To evaluate the influence of minor and impurity elements such as C, Mn, P and S on the solidification and ductility-dip cracking susceptibilities of extra high-purity type 310 stainless steels, the transverse-Varestraint test was conducted by using several type 310 stainless steels with different amounts of C, Mn, P and S. Two types of hot cracks occurred in these steels by Varestraint test; solidification and ductility-dip cracks. The solidification cracking susceptibility was significantly reduced as the amounts of C, P and S decreased. The ductility-dip cracking susceptibility also reduced with a decrease in P and S contents. It adversely, however, increased as the C content of the steels was reduced. Mn didn't greatly affect the hot cracking susceptibility of the extra high-purity steels. The characteristic influence on solidification cracking was the ratio of P:S:C=1:1.3:0.56, while Mn negligibly ameliorated solidification cracking in the extra low S (and P) steels. The numerical analysis on the solidification brittle temperature range (BTR) revealed that the reduced solidification cracking susceptibility with decreasing the amounts of C, P and S in steel could be attributed to the reduced BTR due to the suppression of solidification segregation of minor and impurity elements in the finally solidified liquid film between dendrites. On the other hand, a molecular orbital analysis to estimate the binding strength of the grain boundary suggested that the increased ductility-dip cracking susceptibility in extra high-purity steels was caused by grain boundary embrittlement due to the refining of beneficial elements for grain boundary strengthening such as C. (author)