Effect of solution treatment on pitting behavior of 2205 duplex stainless steel

The effect of solution heat treatment on pitting behavior of 2205 duplex stainless steel was investigated by EDS, potentiodynamic polarization and SECM. The contrast experiments were carried out on the original steel. The results demonstrate that for the original sample, when the potential was at the open circuit potential, there were many pitting precursor areas, due to the local breakdown of passive film on the surface, the pitting current fluctuations on the scale of pA. On the contrary, after 1100 °C solution treatment, the passive film was more stable than the original one. Therefore, the solution treatment can markedly improve the pitting resistance of 2205 duplex stainless steel due to the reduction of pitting precursor areas.