Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Single crystal stainless steel

July 7, 2010

Hi,

Am a PhD student.

I have a polycrystalline 316L type stainless steel. Due to its polycrystalline nature I cannot create uniform nanofeatures. I was wondering is there any way to make single crystal stainless steel. If any one knows the answer will you please get back to me?

Thank you in advance!

Feroze Nazneen
student - Cork, Ireland

I have not heard of it in SS, but it is done in titanium. Talk to the Rolls Royce unit in Scotland that builds the big jet engines. They should have a metallurgist that could point you in the right direction. I would have assumed that your major professor could have pointed you to an area where you could research this information.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
July 7, 2010

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Feroze,
I work in stainless steel now, but I did work in graduate school involving diffusion in tricrystals, which of course required us to create single crystals first to use in growing the tricrystals. We were using copper and a Bridgman Furnace.

From what I learned in class about the microstructures and element segregation produced during the cooling of alloys in castings, I strongly suspect that growing single crystals of alloys is much more difficult than with a single element. But I agree that you should consult with a metallurgist that deals more frequently in single crystals.

Ray Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.

McHenry, Illinois

July 9, 2010