Effect of heat treatment on an AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel evaluated by the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient

The properties of metals can be substantially changed by various methods, one of them is using heat treatment processes. Moreover, ultrasonic testing is the most preferred and effective, nondestructive testing technique for characterization of mechanical material properties. Austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 serves in many applications due to high strength and corrosion resistance. In certain applications, it is important to evaluate the mechanical properties of AISI 304 stainless steel. In this study, the ultrasonic method (attenuation measurement technique) is used to evaluate the hardness of AISI 304 stainless steel samples which were heat treated at different levels. Due to the heat treatment process, each sample has its specific microstructure and hardness which attenuate ultrasonic waves appropriately. The ultrasonic and hardness test show that it is possible to evaluate the hardness of AISI 304 stainless steel by ultrasonic attenuation coefficient. In addition, the relationship between ultrasonic attenuation coefficients and time of heat treatment is investigated.