Impact Toughness, Fatigue Crack Growth and Corrosion Behavior of Thermally Aged UNS S32205 Duplex Stainless Steel

The aim of the present work was to study the impact, fatigue crack growth and corrosion behavior of 2205 duplex stainless steel (DSS) when subjected to one of the most influential thermal aging condition that promotes deleterious secondary precipitation. Formation of Cr- and Mo-rich σ-phase was confirmed by EDX analysis which deteriorated impact toughness causing the material to fail following quasi-cleavage mode of fracture. Susceptibility of DSS 2205 to pitting corrosion assessed though Potentiodynamic polarization technique was enhanced by thermal aging, but sensitization performance evaluated via double-loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (DLEPR) technique did not show much degradation. However, fatigue crack growth behavior testing divulged drastic enhancement in impediment to crack propagation by the matrix after thermal aging.