Annealing 316 stainless steel

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

Can anyone assist me regarding whether a 1/8" 316 stainless steel tube (id-3/32" ) can or should be annealed before bending is attempted? It is to be used as a superheated steam pipe on a small gauge loco and will require a couple of bendy bits in the smokebox.

Mick

 

Edited By JasonB on 19/09/2013 17:32:57

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

I am given to understand 3xx series stainless is “not amenable to heat treatment”…

But I have would coils in that section with out filling or forming springs down to 1″ id….verrry tough but no sign of wall collapse…makes fair spring….

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

You could anneal it to remove/reduce the effects of work hardening – the 300 series work harden like crazy. Rapid cooling (water quench) is desirable after annealing (which sounds odd when you are used to Q+T alloy steels).

[Anonymous]

As Jason says 316 cannot be hardened by heat treatment, but it can be annealed. So it would seem sensible to do so before bending. However, you will need to heat it to a bit over 1040°C to do so.

Andrew

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

Thanks for the input gents, the quenching is particularly interesting as is the temperature required.

Mick

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

When starting out I was sold some 'silver steel' at a car boot. It turned out to be a decent free-cutting stainless, but I had fun trying to harden it.

Neil

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

My 316 1/8" tubing arrived today and the part was made. I was most surprised to find that it was in an annealed condition already as it bent into shape very easily, not much different to copper. Thanks for all the advice anyway which I am sure will be useful in the future.

Mick

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