A review of progress on high nitrogen austenitic stainless-steel research

High nitrogen austenitic stainless steels are commonly used in wide range of applications because of their excellent properties, attracting super attention over the past decades. Compared with other metal materials, high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel increases the nitrogen content under the premise that the structure is austenite, giving it excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Based on relevant documents from the past ten years, this article summarizes and compares three preparation methods for high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels, namely: powder nitriding, melt nitriding and bulk nitriding. They can be divided into six categories according to other differences as explained by the latest research progress on strengthening and toughening mechanism for high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels: composite structure strengthening, fine grain strengthening, precipitation strengthening and strain strengthening. This article also reviews the research progress on excellent properties of high nitrogen stainless steel, including strength, hardness and corrosion resistance. It further describes the emerging nickel-free high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels and its biocompatibility. Welding applications of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels are also described from three aspects: friction stir welding, arc welding and brass solder. Finally, this article puts forward the development direction of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels in the future.