Strengthening of AISI 2205 duplex stainless steel by strain ageing

• An effect of strain ageing on the 2205 duplex stainless steel was investigated.
• The paper is mainly focused on examining the changes in the strength due to ageing.
• The microstructural evaluation was carried out with using NanoSEM and EDS analysis.
• The strain ageing can be used as a hardening mechanism for duplex stainless steel.

In this study, static strain ageing behavior of commercially available and solution heat treated duplex stainless steel was investigated and the effect of static strain ageing on the mechanical properties was also determined in detail. Some of as-received duplex stainless steel test specimens were pre-strained in tension by 5% and then aged at 100 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C for 30 min in furnace. Some of duplex stainless steel test specimens were solution heat treated at 1050 °C for 30 min, water quenched and then pre-strained for 5% in tension shortly after the solution heat treatment.In order to identify the effect of static strain ageing on the mechanical properties, the tensile strength, the change in the strength due to ageing (ΔY), elongation fracture and hardness were determined. The test results showed that the mechanical properties were affected by static strain ageing mechanism which was applied at different temperatures for same time interval.