On the measurement of austenite in supermartensitic stainless steel by X-ray diffraction

Sections of a 13Cr supermartensitic stainless steel were investigated to determine the optimum sample preparation for measurement of the austenite content by X-ray diffraction. The surface of several samples  was mechanically ground or polished using media of grit sizes in the range 1-120 μm. The strained surface layer was afterwards removed stepwise by electropolishing, and the austenite content measured at each step. It was found that any level of mechanical grinding or polishing results in a reduction of the measured austenite fraction relative to the true bulk value, and that coarser grinding media impart greater damage and greater reduction in the measured austenite content. The results thus highlight the importance of the electropolishing step in preparation of such samples, but suggest that the American Society for Testing and Materials standard E975-03 substantially overestimates the amount of material which needs to be removed to recover the true “bulk” content.