Effects of prior solution treatment on thermal aging behavior of duplex stainless steels

The influence of solution temperature on thermal aging behavior was studied in duplex stainless steels. With increasing solution temperature, the ferrite contents remarkably increase, Cr and Ni elements redistribute. During thermal aging, the impact properties of higher solution temperature treated materials suffer a serious degradation, which is not only related with ferrite content but also the alloy compositions in ferrite. Enrichment of Ni in ferrite can accelerate the spinodal decomposition kinetics. Thermal aging-inducing strain fields in ferrite cause the embrittlement of DSS.