Deep cryogenic treatment of AISI 302 stainless steel: Part II – Fatigue and corrosion

During the last decade, the interest about deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) is grown beyond its successful application on tool steels. The use of such cold treatment has shown positive effects on carburized steel fatigue life and some promising results were also noticed on stainless steels and on other materials. In this article, the DCT effects on fatigue and corrosion resistance of the AISI 302 austenitic stainless steel are analysed starting from the results of an extensive experimental campaign that was performed on both hardened and solubilized material conditions. The analysis includes an evaluation of the influence that the most important treatment parameters have on the final result. Considering their statistical significance at different reliability levels, the results show that the DCT can improve the fatigue behaviour of the solubilized AISI 302, while no important changes are noticed on the hardened material. Moreover, no difference was detected on the corrosion resistance of the cryotreated material, ensuring that such key-property for this class of steel is not compromised by the cryogenic treatment.