Influence of Step Annealing Temperature on the Microstructure and Pitting Corrosion Resistance of SDSS UNS S32760 Welds

In the present work, the influence of step annealing heat treatment on the microstructure and pitting corrosion resistance of super duplex stainless steel UNS S32760 welds have been investigated. The pitting corrosion resistance in chloride solution was evaluated by potentiostatic measurements. The results showed that step annealing treatments in the temperature ranging from 550 to 1000 A degrees C resulted in a precipitation of sigma phase and Cr2N along the ferrite/austenite and ferrite/ferrite boundaries. At this temperature range, the metastable pits mainly nucleated around the precipitates formed in the grain boundary and ferrite phase. Above 1050 A degrees C, the microstructure contains only austenite and ferrite phases. At this condition, the critical pitting temperature of samples successfully arrived to the highest value obtained in this study.