S32760 Super Duplex Stainless Steel Research Articles

Investigating microstructure, mechanical properties, and pitting corrosion resistance of UNS S32760 super duplex stainless steel after linear friction welding

High-performance alloys such as super duplex stainless steels (SDSS) are of interest to the oil and gas industry, especially in deep and ultra-deep reservoirs where high pressures and highly corrosive environments are prevalent. SDSS have high nitrogen contents and pitting resistant equivalent number (PREN) values greater than 40, however, fusion welds of these alloys can exhibit unsuitable microstructures and defects that may result in failure during usage. Solid-state linear friction welding (LFW) offers an alternative for the effective joining of SDSS with a less detrimental effect on microstructure and properties. In this work, four LFW joints in UNS S32760 SDSS were produced and investigated by evaluating the process parameters required to achieve a high-quality joint with the desirable metallurgical, mechanical, and localized corrosion properties. These properties were assessed through metallography (optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy), tensile and microhardness tests, and corrosion analysis according to the ASTM G48A standard. Results indicated that one specific combination of LFW parameters led to a defect-free joint, and that the mechanical properties of the weld in this case were comparable to those of the base material. Additionally, an adequate balance between ferrite and austenite phases was achieved throughout the microstructural gradients seen in the weld region. Microhardness values were below 350 HV, thus complying with the DNV–OS–F101 standard. Furthermore, no pitting corrosion was observed in this joint under the testing conditions suggested by ASTM G48A.

Plasma duplex treatment influence on the tribological properties of the UNS S32760 stainless steel

Super duplex stainless steels are widely used in harsh environments due to their high corrosion resistance. However, the improvement of their tribological properties can contribute to a better performance of these materials in service. In this regard, this study aimed to evaluate the application influence of duplex treatment on the tribological properties of the UNS S32760 super duplex stainless steel. Two treatment times, 2 h and 4 h, were studied for both the nitriding step and the cathodic cage plasma deposition step. The results showed that the combination of the nitrided layer and the TiN film, confirmed with the application of Rietveld refinement on the XRD data, contributes to the wear volume decrease by up to 9.41 times. This behaviour was associated with the increase in surface microhardness and the excellent adhesion conditions (HF1) presented by the film deposited over the nitrided layer. The film provided a change in the wear mechanism, evidenced by the reduction in the tendency to wear by scratches. Additionally, was observed the presence of lower oxygen content in the wear region of the treated samples, that can be associated a lower heating of the samples during the test. Thus, the duplex treatment has a great application potential for improving the wear resistance of UNS S32760 steel.

Localised corrosion of super duplex stainless steel in synthetic NaOH-Na2S solution at different temperatures

The pitting corrosion resistance of the UNS S-32760 super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) in synthetic NaOH-Na2S solution at different working temperatures of 25, 50, and 70°C has been evaluated in the current investigation to assess the alloy behaviour under the caustic environments used in the pulp and paper industry. The temperature effect on pitting (Ep) and repassivation (Erp) potentials was studied with the Cyclic Potentiodynamic Polarisation (CPP) technique according to the ASTM G61. Results demonstrated that pitting corrosion is prone to occur when increasing alloy temperature since both pitting and repassivation potentials lean towards more negative values while the repassivation zone is reduced. Furthermore, the morphology of the found pits was determined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The pitting corrosion mechanism for the studied super duplex stainless steel under the exposed conditions was introduced. The thiosulphate ion is attributed to be responsible for the initiation of the localised corrosion.

Hot working characteristics of S32760 super duplex stainless steel

Hot deformation behavior of S32760 super austenitic stainless steel was studied in the temperature range of 950 ∼ 1250 °C and strain rate range of 0.1∼10 s-1 employing Gleeble 3800 equipment. The flow stress was modeled using Arrhenius equation and Zener-Hollomon parameter(Z). The microstructures of the specimens under various conditions were investigated, and dynamic recrystallization of austenite, dynamic recovery of ferrite and phase contents varied with temperature and strain rate. The difference of flow stress between experiment and constitutive equation was explained by the phase contents. Finite element analysis was performed to calculate forging load under the same conditions of compression test using modeled flow stress. It was validated that forging load can be predicted precisely with Arrhenius equation.

Effect of high anodic polarization on the passive layer properties of superduplex stainless steel friction stir welds at different chloride electrolyte pH values and temperatures

The conditions used for friction stir welding of duplex stainless steels determine the resulting mechanical and corrosion performance of the material. This study investigates the corrosion resistance of UNS S32750 and S32760 superduplex stainless steels (SDSSs) joined by friction stir welding, employing cyclic polarization, Mott-Schottky, and microscopy techniques for analysis. The microscopy images indicated the presence of a deleterious intermetallic phase after electrolytic etching of S32760, as well as decreased corrosion resistance. The presence of molybdenum in the steels promoted better passive behavior at low pH. The Mott-Schottky curves revealed p-n heterojunction behavior of the passive oxide. Images acquired after the polarization test by scanning electron microscopy showed higher passivation propensity with increases of temperature and pH.

Influence of Microstructure and Shot Peening Treatment on Corrosion Resistance of AISI F55-UNS S32760 Super Duplex Stainless Steel

Shot peening is a surface process commonly used in the aeronautic and automotive industries to improve fatigue resistance. Shot peening is proven to be beneficial in the fatigue behavior of components, but rarely has its influence on wear and pitting corrosion resistance been evaluated. In this work, shot peening was performed on AISI F55-UNS S32760 super-duplex stainless steel samples previously submitted to various thermal treatments, to obtain different initial microstructures and properties. Samples have been characterized in terms of microstructure morphology, local chemical composition, microhardness of each constituent phase, and energy dissipation modes. The enhanced properties provided by shot peening has been evaluated through residual stress depth profiles and Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) using X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface hardness, surface roughness, and corrosion resistance through salt spray fog tests. The 1400 °C solution thermal treatment was identified as the optimum initial condition, which maximizes the advantages of the shot peening treatment, even pitting corrosion resistance. These results are related to the uniformity of austenite and ferrite in terms of microstructure morphology, micromechanical properties, and alloying elements distribution.

Hot-Dip Aluminizing on AISI F55–UNS S32760 Super Duplex Stainless Steel Properties: Effect of Thermal Treatments

The behavior of super duplex stainless steels AISI F55-UNS S32760 in hot-dip aluminizing process has been studied, investigating the influence of cold working and of different initial microstructures obtained through a preliminary thermal treatment. The microstructural features examined are the secondary austenite precipitation, the static recovery of ferrite and the thermal dissolution of austenite within ferritic matrix. The hot-dip aluminizing temperature has been optimized through sessile drop tests. The treatment has been performed at 1100 °C for 300 s, 900 s and 2700 s. A strong chemical interaction occurs, generating intermetallic compounds at the interface. Molten aluminum interacts exclusively with the ferritic phase due to its much higher diffusivity in this phase coupled with its marked ferrite-stabilizer behavior. Thus, the influence of cold working is not remarkable, since the strains are mainly allocated by austenitic phase. The diffusivity of aluminum increases due to lattice defects thermally generated and, mainly, to influence given by grain boundaries, multiplied by secondary austenite precipitation, which act as short-circuit diffusion paths. Ni and Cr contents in the ferritic matrix have an influence but not highly relevant. Then, the best starting condition of the super duplex stainless steel substrates, to obtain a thick interfacial layer, are the thermal annealing at 1080 °C for 360 s/mm after a solution thermal treatment at 1300 °C for 60 s/mm.

Friction stir welding of duplex stainless steels

Duplex stainless steels are successful in a variety of applications such as the food industry, petrochemicals and plants for desalination of seawater, where high corrosion resistance and high mechanical strength are required. However, the beneficial microstructure may change during fusion welding steps, and it can compromise the performance of these materials. Friction stir welding is a solid-state process avoiding typical problems concerning solidification such as solidification cracks, liquation and segregation of alloying elements. Superduplex stainless steels can avoid unbalanced proportions of ferrite and austenite, formation of secondary deleterious phases and grain growth of ferrite in the heat-affected zone. Consolidated friction stir welded joints with full penetration 6 mm thick were obtained for UNS S32101 and S32205 duplex and S32750 and S32760 superduplex stainless steels. The friction stir welds were submitted to tensile tests indicating an improvement of strength in welded joints, showing increased yield and tensile strength for all studied cases. Regarding the microstructural characterization, an outstanding grain refinement was observed in the welded joint, achieving grain sizes as small as 1 μm. This refinement was associated with the combination of microstructural restoration mechanisms in the dual-phase microstructure promoted by severe deformation associated with a high temperature during the welding process.

Effect of the Temperature in the Mechanical Properties of Austenite, Ferrite and Sigma Phases of Duplex Stainless Steels Using Hardness, Microhardness and Nanoindentation Techniques

The aim of this work is to study the hardness of the ferrite, austenite and sigma phases of a UNS S32760 superduplex stainless steel submitted to different thermal treatments, thus leading to different percentages of the mentioned phases. A comparative study has been performed in order to evaluate the resulting mechanical properties of these phases by using hardness, microhardness and nanoindentation techniques. In addition, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been also used to identify their presence and distribution. Finally, the experimental results have shown that the resulting hardness values were increased as a function of a longer heat treatment duration which it is associated to the formation of a higher percentage of the sigma phase. However, nanoindentation hardness measurements of this sigma phase showed lower values than expected, being a combination of two main factors, namely the complexity of the sigma phase structure as well as the surface finish (roughness).

Detection of Secondary Phases in UNS S32760 Superduplex Stainless Steel by Destructive and Non-destructive Techniques

Duplex stainless steels (DSS), with a microstructure of an approximately equal mixture of ferrite (α) and austenite (γ) phases, are susceptible to the formation of undesirable phases if manufacturing processes are not carefully controlled. In particular, sigma phase (σ) is a Cr- and Mo-rich intermetallic phase, formed generally when DSS are by the temperature range from 600 to 900 °C, even for very short time periods. The precipitation of this phase induces detrimental effects in mechanical and corrosion resistance properties in the material, and even a low volume percentage of σ phase can significantly affect these properties. The current paper presents the effect of thermal treatments on UNS S32760 superduplex stainless steel seamless tubes, applied in order to promote the precipitation of different σ phase percentages in a ferrite/austenite microstructure. The detection and quantification of the σ phase using non-destructive ultrasounds testing has been one of the most relevant events of this study that contributes to improving the correlation of the results obtained using destructive and non-destructive techniques for the quantification of undesirable phases in superduplex seamless tubes during the manufacturing process.

Friction stir welding of duplex and superduplex stainless steels and some aspects of microstructural characterization and mechanical performance

Friction stir welding was used to produce butt joints on 6 mm thick plates of UNS S32101 lean duplex stainless steel, S32205 duplex stainless steel, and S32750 and S32760 superduplex stainless steels. Fully consolidated joints were achieved, with full penetration, using heat input of 1.37-1.50 kJ/mm. Specimens submitted to tensile testing performed perpendicular to the welding direction showed failure on the base metal, reflecting better mechanical performance of the welded joints. Furthermore, tensile testing along the joints revealed higher yield and tensile strengths in all cases, as well as increased elongation. Microstructural evaluation showed that there was pronounced grain refinement in the welded joints of all the materials studied, achieving grain sizes as small as 1 µm. The differences in the ferrite and austenite grain sizes in the stir zone, such as the degree of grain refinement, could be explained by the combination of dynamic recrystallization of austenite during the welding process and the recrystallization and growth of the ferrite grains, promoted firstly by the severe deformation and secondly by the high temperature inherent to the FSW process. Superduplex stainless steel FSW joints were more able to maintain a balanced microstructure, compared to conventional and lean duplex stainless steels, due to greater homogeneity of recrystallization in the welded joint.

On Microstructure and Microhardness of Isothermally Aged UNS S32760 and the Effect on Toughness and Corrosion Behavior

This paper investigates the microstructure and secondary phase precipitations obtained in UNS S32760 super duplex stainless steel and their effect on impact toughness and corrosion resistance. The heat treatment included first solution annealing at 1150 °C followed by water quenching, then isothermal heating at different temperatures from 350 to 950 °C for different times, ranging from less than 1 min to 600 min, followed by water quenching again. Microscopic investigation, microhardness tests, and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were used to identify the microstructure and secondary phase precipitations formed by heat treatment. The study indicates a fair correlation between the microscopic observations and microhardness results, while XRD analysis defined the phase’s chemistry and confirmed the microscopic and hardness results. In addition to the austenite (γ) and ferrite (α) phases of the duplex structure, secondary phases of (σ, χ, and chromium nitrides) are observed at a high temperature range, while (ά) and (aged ά) are observed at a lower temperature range. It is concluded that the microhardness test can be used to identify the phases appearing in the microstructure, which results in fair prediction for the TTT diagram and σ-phase range. The variation of toughness and corrosion resistance by heat treatment differs depending on the secondary phase formation.

Influence of heat treatments at 475 and 400 °C on the pitting corrosion resistance and sensitization of UNS S32750 and UNS S32760 superduplex stainless steels

AbstractSome precipitation reactions of superduplex stainless steels (SDSS) can improve hardness, yield, and ultimate strength, but with substantial decrease of corrosion resistance. One of these reactions is the spinodal decomposition of ferrite into Cr‐rich fine precipitates (α′) and Cr‐depleted matrix during low temperature aging. In this work, the effect of the α′ precipitation on the pitting corrosion resistance was investigated. The results showed that short duration heat treatments at 475 °C do not decrease the pitting corrosion resistance, but increase the hardness of UNS S32750 and S32760 SDSS. The limits of heat treatment duration for both steels were determined.

Plasma Keyhole Welding of UNS S32760 Super Duplex Stainless Steel: Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

The present investigation concerns plasma-keyhole welding of UNS S32760 super-duplex stainless steel. Apart from Argon, a mixture of argon with 2 vol% nitrogen was used in both plasma and shielding gas, in order to improve the austenite/ferrite balance. Keyhole welding with argon provides with a narrow fusion zone with a satisfactory microstructure, which is further improved by the addition of nitrogen in the plasma and protective gas. The mechanical properties, in terms of hardness and impact strength, have been studied and compared for both operating gases used. It has been shown that better mechanical properties of the weldments are obtained when using an argon-2vol% nitrogen mixture. All welded specimens exhibit satisfactory impact toughness with regard to standard requirements. Ductile to brittle transition takes place in the temperature range from −40°C to −65°C. Nitrogen addition to the plasma gas affects positively the impact toughness of the weldments above the transition temperature, but below this temperature the effect of nitrogen becomes negative. This is interpreted in terms of the austenite-to-ferrite ratio and of the possibility of ferrite to deform by twinning even in the subcritical temperature range.

Effect of nitrogen and nickel on the microstructure and mechanical properties of plasma welded UNS S32760 super-duplex stainless steels

Super-duplex stainless steels present excellent combination of mechanical and corrosion resistance, due to their strict composition control and ferrite–austenite phase balance. This balance may, however, be disturbed during welding in both the fusion and HAZ due to the rapid cooling rates and may lead to loss of the good corrosion and mechanical properties of the weldments. The present investigation is studying the effect of nitrogen addition in the plasma operation gases and of the increase of nickel in the filler metal, on the microstructure and on the mechanical properties of super-duplex stainless steels welded by the plasma transferred arc (PTA) technique. Results have shown that nitrogen addition in the plasma operation gas affects the mechanical properties of the weldments. It is shown that nitrogen addition in the plasma and protective gas and higher nickel content in the filler metal have both a positive effect on the elongation of the welded specimens and after optimization of the welding parameters very good results may be obtained in terms of tensile strength.

Initiation and propagation of localised corrosion on stainless steels in seawater containing high biocide concentrations

The practice of chlorination whether by electrolytic production of chlorine or by the addition of sodium hypochlorite biocide, is used extensively in industrial systems to control marine biofouling. In contrast to previously reported studies, this work addresses the corrosion implications of high chlorine concentrations (up to 500 ppm total chlorine) which exist at biocide distribution points. Girth welds on UNS S32760 superduplex stainless steel resisted corrosion attack in seawater containing a high chlorine concentration. This study has demonstrated that the principal mode of corrosion attack on the austenitic stainless steel (UNS S31603) and the superduplex stainless steel (UNS S32760) is crevice corrosion. Higher propagation rates in seawater containing high levels of sodium hypochlorite compared to unchlorinated seawater are thought to be primarily due to the observed depolarisation of the cathodic reaction. This effect has also been shown to induce higher deposition rates of CaCO 3 and Mg(OH) 2 on the cathode of galvanic couples of stainless steel and carbon steel.