Quantitative Nanostructure and Hardness Evolution in Duplex Stainless Steels : Under Real Low-Temperature Service Conditions

• Duplex stainless steels are a group of widely used stainless steels, because of their attractive combination of strength and corrosion resistance. However, these steels embrittle because of a phase separation phenomenon in the ferrite phase when exposed to temperatures within the miscibility gap. This manuscript investigates the phase separation in two commercial stainless steels, the duplex stainless steel (DSS) 22Cr-5Ni (2205 or UNS S32205), and the super-duplex stainless steel (SDSS) 25Cr-7Ni (2507 or UNS S32750), and its subsequent effect on mechanical property evolution. Long-term isothermal aging heat treatments were carried out at industrially relevant temperatures between 250 °C and 350 °C for up to 48,000 hours, and quantitative measurements of the amplitude and wavelength of the phase separated nanostructure were obtained using Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). These quantifications were used as input parameters in hardness models to predict the hardness evolution. It is concluded that the quantitative information from SANS combined with these hardness models enables the prediction of hardness evolution in DSS at low temperatures, which in turn correlates with the embrittlement of the DSS. 

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Metallurgi och metalliska material (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Metallurgy and Metallic Materials (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Binary alloys

Chromium alloys

Chromium steel

Corrosion resistance

Nanostructures

Neutron scattering

Phase separation

Steel corrosion

Temperature

Exposed to

Ferrite phase

Isothermal aging heat treatment

Low-temperature services

Measurements of

Miscibility gap

Quantitative measurement

Service conditions

Small-angle neutron scattering

Superduplex stainless steels

Hardness

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)