Application of Critical Angle Imaging to the Characterization of Cast Stainless Steels
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Abstract
Processes for manufacturing centrifugally cast stainless steel (CCSS) pipe in the U.S. before 1976 resulted in a long, columnar microstructure with grain growth oriented along the direction of heat dissipation. Grains formed from this process attained several centimeters in length. After 1976, the process control was improved and a more equiaxed microstructure, more similar to that found in an isostatic casting, was achieved. The two different grain structures have significantly different ultrasonic properties. Although these microstructures are found in piping, cross sectioning of CCSS piping has also exhibited mixed and layered microstructures [1]. These may be more representative of a larger percentage of the CCSS piping used in the nuclear industry. This paper will focus on the pure columnar and equiaxed microstructures, but future work will extend the technique described in this paper to these other, more complicated, systems.