FeNi as raw material for stainless steel 316 and its mechanical properties

The manufacture of cast stainless steel 316 (SS 316) requires one essential raw material element, pure nickel. The demand for pure nickel is quite high, its price is the highest among other raw materials and it is still being imported. This study aims to utilise local ferronickel (FeNi) as a raw material for stainless steel and determine the effect of the percentage of FeNi usage on the mechanical properties of austenitic SS 316, which is a metal biomaterial widely used as a bone implant. This material is a potential replacement for nickel for stainless steel production. In this study, local FeNi at percentages of 0%, 23%, 45%, or 70% was added to other casting raw materials. The foundry process was carried out, and the samples were subjected to composition, tensile, hardness, and toughness tests. Results showed that all the samples had a chemical composition that met the SS 316 standard, indicating that the FeNi raw material can be used as raw material for SS 316, although impurities were still found at each percentage addition of FeNi. The tensile strength and hardness were still below the SS 316 standard but ductility was higher than the SS 316 standard at all percentages of FeNi.