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316L Stainless Steel is too springy
Q. I'm Girius, a specialist in design and manufacture of medical devices for Australian wildlife.
I have a project that requires the use of 316L stainless steel half rings that will be closed to full rings. I was wondering if there was away to remove some or ALL the springiness from 316L stainless steel, but without compromising its corrosion resistance? When the half rings are closed, they never quite fully close due to spring-back.
If there is an easy method to achieve this, please let me know. I am not concerned about the the final stiffness or strength.
- Melbourne Australia
March 4, 2022
A. Hi Girius!
You can heat up to 1100 °C in a furnace and throw the hot rings to water, the steel will lower its hardness. We have done it for cold forged bolts, we needed to cut the hex head but its hardness was higher than 33 HRC, so we couldn't. With this treatment AISI 316L lowered its hardness to 80 HRB and could be cut without any problem.
Later, you will be needing to pickle and passivate with nitric acid to make the surface bright and corrosion resistant again!
Best of luck!
- Cañuelas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
January 3, 2023