Sulfidizing of sintered stainless steels. Part I

It has been established that certain properties of pressed porous compacts, such as their large reaction surface (for example, the specific surface of the Kh23N18 steel powder investigated, measured by the nitrogen thermal-adsorption method, is 0.115 m2/g), high concentration of crystal structure defects, and high level of residual stresses, combined with appreciable fluctuations in alloying element concentrations, activate the propagation of reactive diffusion between the metal and sulfur during heating, thereby leading to the nucleation and a substantial growth of sulfide crystals.