No abstract

This work investigates the influence of deleterious phases precipitation on the corrosion resistance of two wrought superduplex stainless steels UNS S32750 with similar composition, but different grain sizes. Isothermal treatments were carried out to introduce different amounts of deleterious phases, such as chi (χ), sigma (σ) and secondary austenite (γ 2 ). The specimens were tested by double loop electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation test (DL-EPR). The kinetics of precipitation in the two steels was different due to the difference of the grain sizes. The results show a correlation between the sensitization degrees, measured by DL-EPR, with the amount of deleterious phases precipitated.

Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) test parameters in alkaline medium were optimized by Doehlert matrix design in order to quantify the deleterious phases in a superduplex stainless steel UNS S32750. The microstructural analysis was performed, in several heat treated specimens, by Light Optical (LOM) and Scanning Electron (SEM) Microscopies and correlated with the electrochemical tests. In these tests, optimized parameters were obtained for tests in aqueous solutions of KOH. The concentration of 3.55 mol l −1 , scan rate of 3.42 mV s −1 and initial potential of −0.818 V, showed a good correlation between the deleterious phases precipitated and charge density values. Differently from LOM characterization, chi and sigma deleterious phases can be distinguished by LSV optimized test. Finally, this test can be a non-destructive powerful tool of quality control to detect embrittlement and corrosion resistance decay that commonly affected this stainless steel as consequence of inadequate fabrication processes.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Supermartensitic is a new class of stainless steels in development and consolidation as commercial products. Significant changes on chemical composition of conventional martensitic stainless steels, such as the reduction of the carbon content to ,0?03 wt-%, and the addition of Ni and Mo, marked the development of this new group of alloys. New grades containing higher amounts of Cr and small additions of Ti and/or Nb were developed recently. As a result, supermartensitic steels offer an interesting combination of high strength, toughness, weldability and corrosion resistance. In this work, the pitting corrosion resistance of a 15Cr supermartensitic steel with Ni, Mo and Cu additions was studied. It is well known that the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of martensitic steels are adjusted by the final tempering treatment. Several single tempering treatments in the 300-650uC range and double tempering treatments were performed in order to obtain different microstructures. The pitting corrosion resistance was investigated by electrochemical test in 3?5%NaCl solution. It was found that the pitting potential slightly decreased with the increase in temperature and time of tempering. The analysis of pits formed during the corrosion tests showed that ferrite islands are more corrosion resistant than the martensitic matrix due to the higher Cr and Mo contents.