Patent ID: 8308873

Claim:
A case-hardening method of processing martensitic stainless steel, the method comprising: carburizing a martensitic stainless steel work piece to produce a carburized case by utilizing in combination, (i) a prescribed composition range of the martensitic stainless steel work piece, (ii) a preselected carbon concentration in the carburized case, and (iii) a preselected grain size of the martensitic stainless steel work piece, such that the carburized case predominantly forms carbides of compositions selected from a group consisting of M 6 C, M 2 C, M 23 C 6 and combinations thereof, wherein M is a metal or metals and C is carbon; heating the martensitic stainless steel work piece to substantially solution the metal carbides; and immediately quenching the martensitic stainless steel work piece at a cooling rate sufficient to avoid substantial precipitation of any carbides during cool down to the martensite start temperature.