M. Azadi, M. Ferdosi, H. Shahin,
Volume 17, Issue 1 (3-2020)
Abstract
In this paper, the effects of solutioning and various aging heat treatment processes on the microstructure, the hardness and electrochemical properties of a duplex stainless steel (DSS) were studied. The evaluation of the microstructure and phase compositions were carried out by the optical microscopy (OM) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Electrochemical behaviors of specimens were evaluated by both potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) tests at temperatures of 25 and 60 ºC. The obtained results showed that the solutioning heat treatment increased corrosion rates with respect to the blank specimen. The aging process at 490 ºC for 20 hrs increased the volume percent of the carbide phase to the highest value (25.1%) which resulted in an increase of the hardness value to 170 VHN. The specimen which was aged at 540 ºC for 10 hrs with the Cr7C3 size of 22.8 µm, exhibited the higher corrosion resistance at both temperatures of 25 and 60 ºC with respect to other aged specimens. In addition, the temperature of 60 ºC promoted the anodic reactions in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution which decreased impedance modulus values significantly. Consequently, the carbide size was more effective parameter than the carbide content in predicting electrochemical behaviors of such alloys.
Sravanthi Gudikandula, Ambuj Sharma,
Volume 19, Issue 4 (12-2022)
Abstract
The lean duplex stainless steels (LDSS) have excellent features due to the microstructural phase
combination of austenite and ferrite grains. These steels have low Ni and Mo contents which can reduce the cost
and stabilize the austenite fraction in the microstructure. In recent years, welding is used to enhance the
microstructural behaviour of LDSS. In this paper, Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) was performed on LDSS
S32101 with different heat energy inputs and varying welding currents. The influence of heat inputs (0.85 and 1.3
kJ/mm) on welded samples was investigated to study the microstructural behaviour, phase balance, and mechanical
& corrosion performance. The microstructures studies were carried out using an optical microscope, scanning
electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The effect of Heat input led to the significant microstructural evolution
in weld metals with high austenite reformation. The microstructure of weldments consisted of inter-granular
austenite (IGA), grain boundary austenite (GBA) and Widmanstatten austenite (WA). Important mechanical
properties such as tensile strength and micro-hardness were investigated to understand the performance of
weldments. The polarization method was used to understand the corrosion behaviour of weldment in a 3.5% NaCl
solution. The experimental results showed enhanced properties of welds that could be suitable for industrial
applications.
