I am confronted with the problem of selecting a material for heat treatment fixture. the process is tuftriding, and the ambient temperature is 570 deg celcius. intially i thought of AISI 304 grade austinitic steel but iam not aware of the impact of continous heat treating of this material on the hardness. Can any one throw some light on this problem? is there any alternative material for this process?
Take a look into iron aluminides. Excellent thermal cycling properties.
An operation I know in South Carolina which heat treats lawnmower blades at around 1300F uses 316 stainless for the salt baths. I also got feedback from a metallurgist who indicated that 17-4 could be heat treated at that temp and thereafter the crystaline structure would retain the temper (I imagine that's what was also done with the 316).
Mark 'Sporky' Staplet>
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