Improvement of the Corrosion Resistance by Addition of Ni in Lean Duplex Stainless Steels

• Main Authors: Heon-Young Ha, Tae-Ho Lee, Sung-Dae Kim, Jae Hoon Jang, Joonoh Moon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Metals
• Subjects: lean duplex stainless steel; pitting corrosion; galvanic corrosion; nickel
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/10/7/891

On newly developed Fe_balance-18Cr-7Mn-3Mo-3W-0.4N-(0.03, 0.57)Ni (in wt%) lean duplex stainless steels, the microstructure, element partitioning behavior, and resistance to pitting corrosion were investigated. After solution treatments, the two alloys were found to have similar microstructures in terms of phase fraction and grain size, and have a precipitation-free matrix. The polarization tests revealed that the addition of Ni was beneficial to improve the resistance to pitting corrosion, which was confirmed by the rise in pitting and repassivation potentials. The uniform corrosion behavior and galvanic corrosion rate of the matrix were investigated to explain the improved pitting corrosion resistance of the Ni-added lean duplex stainless steel. As a result, it was found that the addition of Ni enhanced the resistance to uniform corrosion by reducing the galvanic corrosion rate between the ferrite and austenite phases in the lean duplex stainless steel; thus, the pit growth rate was decreased, leading to improvement of the resistance to pitting corrosion.