Thermal stability investigation of expanded martensite

Abstract The aim of this work is to investigate thermal stability of expanded martensite. For this purpose, two martensitic stainless steels, PH 17-4 and 13-8Mo, were low temperature gas carburized. After heat treatment, it was found out that thermal stability of expanded layer of PH 17-4 is higher than that of PH 13-8Mo. Auger Electron Spectroscopy and microhardness machines were used to investigate carbon concentration and hardness of samples, respectively. X-ray diffraction was done to study crystal structures of samples before and after heat treatment.