Mössbauer and SEM characterisation of the scale on type 304 stainless steel

Defects that form on stainless steels during production cause reworking, leading to higher production costs associated with production delays. Primarily wrong casting, rolling, grinding, annealing and pickling practices cause typical metallurgical defects such as the formation of residual scale. In the present investigation the problem of residual scale development on austenitic stainless steel (type AISI 304, with typical composition 19%Cr, 8%Ni, 1.5%Mn, <1%Si and the balance Fe) was investigated. Scale that is not removed during the pickling process is referred to as residual scale. Characterization of the surface scale is a prerequisite for effective measures aimed at minimizing scale formation and the design of efficient descaling procedures. The scale consists of an outer layer of iron oxides and an inner layer composed of small grains of FeCr{sub 2}O{sub 4} with the scale-metal interface not uniform and oxidation occurring along grain boundaries. Internal oxidation is found near the scale-metal interface with the amount of unoxidized metal increasing toward the scale-metal interface. If the scale is not removed from the hot steel it may be rolled into the product surface which will then require additional processing. Descaling presently used for stainless steel comprises of acid pickling, mechanical descaling and electrolytic pickling.