High performance ferritic stainless steel B445R for architectural applications

Traditionally,austenitic stainless steels 304 and 316 have been employed in coastal regions as roofing materials unfortunately,they are expensive and not fully resistant to pitting corrosion under severe coastal corrosive environment.A ferritic stainless steel B445R was developed.Compared with austenitic 316L,B445R is①less costly;②uperior corrosion resistant with minor maintenance for long-term service;③insusceptible to thermal distortion in the welding seam. B445R sheet shows a higher yield strength and lower tensile strength,lower elongation and lower work-hardening than austenitic 316L.It can be easily fabricated and deformed just like plain carbon steel.After bending 180o,there is no occurrence of 'cracking' or noticeable 'orange peel'.The formability of the welding seam is also satisfactory.The pitting potential of B445R is 650 mV,larger than that of 304 and 316L,as shown in Fig.1. The corrosion rate of B445R submerged in 6%FeCl,solution is 0.3 -0.56 g/(m^2 ? h^(-1)),much lower than that of 316L,as shown in Fig.2.The superior pitting corrosion resistance of B445R can be ascribed to synergetic effect of higher Cr and Mo. Dull-finished B445R sheets have been employed as the roofing materials for Guangzhou Asian Games Arena,as shown in Fig.3.About 380 t of 1.0 mm B445R with dull finish was used for roofing panels.About 100 t of 0.8 mm B445R with hairline or fluororesin paint finish was used for side wall panels.The composite roof build-up (from up to bottom) includes:①shingles of ferritic stainless steel B445R;②Kalzip-type standing seam of austenitic 304;③water-proof DFM;④structural steel;⑤75 mm thick insulation;⑥secondary purlin of 150 mm×100 mm×4.5 mm of galvanizied Q235;⑦0.8 mm thick profile deck of galvanizied Q235;⑧acoustic insulation.The roofing shingles or panels with the same width but different length were formed by bending four sides and fixed to a 'L' shape reinforcing frames of stainless steel by fasteners.The 'L' frames was connected to ribs of the standing seam by a clamping fixture made of aluminum.

Cracking Phenomenon in Spot Welded Joints of Austenitic Stainless Steel

The spot welds nugget cracking of austenitic stainless steel at temperatures between 700°C - 1010°C was investigated. Traditionally, the cracks have been observed around the spot nugget in welded temperature. Actually, these cracks are developed due to incomplete melting and inappropriate electrode pressure, which causes an expulsion of molten metal. These cracks start to grow and cause either the interface or plug fracture according to the loading type. In this work, the micro-cracks in the weld nugget were indicated for this type of steel at elevated temperature. Cracks appear in a certain range of temperature;about 700°C - 750°C. The cracks like defect and cavitations were presented. According to the fracture mechanics point of view, these cracks reduce the mechanical strength. Therefore, these cracks have to be taken into account with a certain precaution. Moreover, considering the working temperature and reducing the element may develop ferrite particles.

Optimization of process parameters of the activated tungsten inert gas welding for aspect ratio of UNS S32205 duplex stainless steel welds

The activated TIG(ATIG) welding process mainly focuses on increasing the depth of penetration and the reduction in the width of weld bead has not been paid much attention.The shape of a weld in terms of its width-to-depth ratio known as aspect ratio has a marked influence on its solidification cracking tendency.The major influencing ATIG welding parameters,such as electrode gap,travel speed,current and voltage,that aid in controlling the aspect ratio of DSS joints,must be optimized to obtain desirable aspect ratio for DSS joints.Hence in this study,the above parameters of ATIG welding for aspect ratio of ASTM/UNS S32205 DSS welds are optimized by using Taguchi orthogonal array(OA)experimental design and other statistical tools such as Analysis of Variance(ANOVA) and Pooled ANOVA techniques.The optimum process parameters are found to be 1 mm electrode gap,130 mm/min travel speed,140 A current and 12 V voltage.The aspect ratio and the ferrite content for the DSS joints fabricated using the optimized ATIG parameters are found to be well within the acceptable range and there is no macroscopically evident solidification cracking.

Electrochemical Corrosion Behavior of the Laser Continuous Heat Treatment Welded Joints of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel

The electrochemical corrosion behaviors of the welded joints of 2205 duplex stainless steel with the laser continuous heat treatment were investigated. The secondary austenite formation is the outcome of thermodynamic equilibrium breach of the alloy during heat treatment and the result of the continuous heat treatment which has the most important effect on the weld material. The partitioning behaviors of chromium and molybdenum as well as the volume fraction of ferrite and austenite have a remarkable influence on the composition of the individual phase. Mechanical examination of the laser trated weld demonstrates that the tensile strength and yield strength increase with increasing the amount of the secondary austenite. It is shown that the ultimate tensile strength of the 6 kW laser-treated weld is higher about 20 MPa than no heat treatment weld and the ductility can be further improved without compromising strength. The results indicate that the welding alters the corrosion behavior because of different post heat treatment power and the broad active peak is not identified which is attributed to the dissolution of the secondary austenitic in the ferrite phase. It is indicated that pitting resistance equivalent （PRE） values of base metal and 6 kW weld are higher than that of other welds; base metal is 33.7, 6 kW weld 33.3, no treatment 32.4, 4 kW weld 32.8, 8 kW weld 32.5. The extent of corrosion resistance improvement after reheating treatment is mainly caused by the removal of nitrogen from ferritic regions, which occurred as a consequence of secondary austenite growth.

Effect of cooling rate and forced convection on as-cast structure of 2205 duplex stainless steel

To forecast the as-cast structure and ferrite-austenite phase ratio of 2205 duplex stainless steel(DSS), the effects of cooling rate and forced convection were observed in a high-vacuum resistance furnace in which the forced convection was created by the rotation of the crucible. The as-cast structure of all 2205 DSS samples is full equiaxed grains, and the microstructure consists of a great amount of desirable intra-granular austenite inside the continuous ferrite grain matrix, besides Widmanstatten austenite and grain boundary austenite. The ferrite grain size decreases gradually with the increase in the cooling rates(20 to 60 oC·min-1) or the forced convection, while the ferrite grains of the samples solidified with a strong convection are barely changed when the cooling rate is below 50 oC·min-1. Moreover, a small grain size is beneficial for the austenite formation but the influence is not very obvious under the cooling rates in the range of 5 to 50 oC·min-1. Compared with grain size, the cooling rate has a greater influence on the final ferrite content. A model based on the experimental results is established to predict the ferrite content, which could be approximated by δ(%) = 20.5·exp(c/80.0) + 0.34 d +34.1, where cis the cooling rate in oC·min-1 and d is the grain size in mm. By using this model, the dependence of the final ferrite content on cooling rate and grain size is well described.

Cavitation Erosion Behavior of CrMnN Duplex Stainless Steel in Distilled Water and 3% NaCl Solution

The cavitation erosion (CE) behavior of CrMnIM ferrite-austenite duplex stainless steel in distilled water and 3% NaCI solution was investigated by using a magnetostrictive-induced CE facility. The damaged surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that the CE resistance of CrMnN steel was higher than that of OCrl3Ni5Mo steel. The mass loss rate of CrMnN steel in distilled water was similar to that in 3% NaCI except at the early stage of CE. The failure mode of ferrite phase was brittle fracture, which had adverse effect on the resistance to CE, while the failure of austenite phase was a ductile failure in CrMnN steel. The excellent resistance to CE was related to the good mechanical properties of austenitic phase and the consumption of CE energy by plastic deformation involving slip and twinning.

Corrosive-wear resistance of stainless steels for the impeller of slurry pump used in zinc hydrometallurgy process

This paper presents corrosive-wear (C-W) behaviors of three kinds of steels under the simulating condition oftraditional zinc hydrometallurgy process by using a self-made rotating disk apparatus. Result shows that pure wear lossrate is significantly larger than pure corrosion loss rate. Under this C-W condition, the ranking of C-W resistance is S2 >S3 > S1 (S1: austenite stainless steel; S2: CD-4MCu duplex stainless steel; S3 :17-4PH stainless steel). S2 has excellentC-W resistance due to strong surface deformation strengthening effect of high-density dislocations of the γ phase. S3 alsohas excellent C-W resistance owing to high hardness and strength. However, S1 does not show good C-W resistanceunder strong erosion of liquid-solid slurry because of its single-phase austenitic structure and very low hardness. As aresult, duplex stainless steels as well as 17-4 PH stainless steel can be used as impeller candidate materials in the zinchydrometallurgy process due to their excellent C-W resistance and lower cost.

Constituent phases of the passive film formed on 2205 stainless steel by dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

The passive film formed on 2205 duplex stainless steel（DSS） in 0.5 M NaHCO3＋0.5 M NaCl aqueous solution was characterized by electrochemical measurements,including potentiodynamic anodic polarization and dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy（DEIS）.The results demonstrate that there is a great difference between the passive film evolutions of ferrite and austenite.The impedance values of ferrite are higher than those of austenite.The impedance peaks of ferritic and austenitic phases correspond to the potential of 0.15 and 0.25 V in the low potential range and correspond to 0.8 and 0.75 V in the high potential range.The evolutions of the capacitance of both phases are reverse compared to the evolutions of impedance.The thickness variations obtained from capacitance agree well with those of impedance analysis.The results can be used to explain why pitting corrosion occurs more easily in austenite phase than in ferrite phase.

Effect of Aging on the Toughness of Austenitic and Duplex Stainless Steel Weldments

In the present study,the effect of aging heat treatment at 650,750,and 850？C on the impact toughness of 316L austenitic stainless steel,2205 duplex stainless steel and their weldments has been investigated.Welding process was conducted using the TIG（tungsten inert gas） welding technique.Instrumented impact testing,at room temperature,was employed to determine the effect of aging treatment on the impact properties of investigated materials.Aging treatment resulted in degradation in the impact toughness as demonstrated by the reduction in the impact fracture energy and deformation parameters（strain hardening capacity,fracture deffection,and crack initiation and propagation energy）.The degree of embrittlement was more noticeable in duplex stainless steel parent and weld-metal than in 316L stainless steel and became greater with the increase of aging temperature.The degradation in impact toughness was discussed in relation to the observed precipitation of the intermetallic sigma phase in the microstructure of the stainless steel weldments and the corresponding fracture surface morphology.

Role of Microstructural Constituents on Surface Crack Formation During Hot Rolling of Standard and Low Nickel Austenitic Stainless Steels

The effect of alloy segregation and delta （δ） ferrite contents on surface cracking of three standard （i.e. AISI 304L, AISI 310S and AISI 321） and two low nickel （i.e. LNi-1 and LNi-0.3） austenitic stainless steels （ASS） during hot roiling was investigated using optical microscopy （OM）, automatic image analyzer, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX） and electron probe micro analyzer （EPMA）. It was observed that the amount of 6-ferrite varied among different grades and also distributed heterogeneously across the width of the steel plates. In general, low nickel ASS showed higher amount of 6-ferrite compared to the standard ASS grades. The tendency to surface cracking during hot rolling gradually increased with increasing 6-ferrite content. Interestingly, carbon and nitrogen exerted maximum effect on 6-ferrite formation. The higher carbon and nitrogen content in the steel decreased 6-ferMte content. In addition, the segregation of Cu and Mn plays significant role in low nickel ASS and Ni-Cr in case of standard ASS has profound effect on surface cracking of the steel plates. A possible cause of surface crack formation/origination in steel plates during hot rolling was discussed.

Effect of Preheating Temperature on Surface Cracking of High Nitrogen CrMn Austenitic Stainless Steel

18Mn18Cr0.5N steel specimens were preheated at the temperatures from 1100 to 1250°C for 5 min,and then cooled to 950°C and compressed.The cracking behaviors were investigated using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.The results showed that the hot workability of 18Mn18Cr0.5N steel gradually decreased with increasing preheating temperature between 1100 and 1200°C,and quickly deteriorated up to 1250°C.Above 1200°C,delta ferrite particles appeared in 18Mn18Cr0.5N steel,promoted cavity coalescence on grain boundary,and accelerated surface crack formation during the hot working process.

Morphologies of secondary austenite in 2507 duplex stainless steel after heat treatment

The microstructure evolution of secondary austenite in 2507 duplex stainless steel was investigated by means of optical metallography,scanning electron microscopy and confocal scanning laser microscopy.Four types of secondary austenite(γ2)morphologies including partially transformed austenite,grain boundary austenite,Widmannstätten austenite(WA)and intragranular austenite could be formed during cooling after solution treatment.It was concluded that secondary austenite morphology was mainly dependent on cooling rates.Two mechanisms of WA formation were proposed.WA nucleated at grain boundary of ferrite or at the formed phase boundary.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM)analysis displayed that WA grew in parallel to the ferrite.The effects of Cr_(2)N on secondary austenite precipitation were discussed in detail.Once Cr_(2)N was involved,a mechanism was proposed that secondary austenite formed by element diffusion,leading to the migration of the austenite–ferrite interface.Cr_(2)N acted as the nucleation sites forγ2 and provided the nitrogen for the transformation;meanwhile,the precipitation of Cr_(2)N during the rapid cooling was captured by TEM.A process of nucleation followed by diffusion was concluded to be the formation of secondary austenite with no Cr_(2)N precipitated.The decomposition of secondary austenite was also studied,which was found to be a diffusion mechanism followed by displacement in connection with the element distribution.

Metallurgical characteristics of armour steel welded joints used for combat vehicle construction

Austenitic stainless steel(ASS) and High nickel steel(HNS) welding consumables are being used for welding Q&T steels, as they have higher solubility for hydrogen in austenitic phase, to avoid hydrogen induced cracking(HIC) but they are very expensive. In recent years, the developments of low hydrogen ferritic steel(LHF) consumables that contain no hygroscopic compounds are utilized for welding Q&T steels. Heat affected zone(HAZ) softening is another critical issue during welding of armour grade Q&T steels and it depends on the welding process employed and the weld thermal cycle. In this investigation an attempt has been made to study the influence of welding consumables and welding processes on metallurgical characteristics of armour grade Q&T steel joints by various metallurgical characterization procedures. Shielded metal arc welding(SMAW) and flux cored arc welding(FCAW) processes were used for making welds using ASS, LHF and HNS welding consumables. The joints fabricated by using LHF consumables offered lower degree of HAZ softening and there is no evidence of HIC in the joints fabricated using LHF consumables.

Microstructures of Austenitic Stainless Steel Produced by Twin-Roll Strip Caster

The microstructures of austenitic stainless steel strip were studied using color metallographic method and electron probe micro analysis （EPMA）. In the cast strips, there are three kinds of solidification structures： fine cel- lular dendrite in the surface layer, equiaxed grains in the center and fine dendrite between them. The solidification mode in the surface layer is the primary austenite AF mode because of extremely high cooling rate, with the retained ferrite located around the primary cellular austenite. In the fine dendrite zone, the solidification mode of molten stainless steel changes to FA mode and the residual ferrite with fish-bone morphology is located at the core of the dendrite. The retained ferrite of equiaxed grains in the center is located in the center of broken primary ferrite dendrite with vermicular morphology.

Effect of copper on edge cracking behavior and microstructure of rolled austenitic stainless steel plate

Cu is known to affect the edge cracking characteristics of austenitic stainless steel as it causes embrittlement.The hot rolling test of four kinds of austenitic stainless steel with different copper content(0,2.42,3.60 and 4.35 wt.%)was carried out to examine the effect of hot rolling cracks on steel containing different copper contents.The evolution of crack and microstructure was analyzed using the scanning electron microscope,energy-dispersive spectrometer,electron back scattered diffraction and transmission electron microscope.Experimental results showed an upward trend in edge cracking degree when Cu content was 4.35%,and the crack extended from the edge of the steel plate to the middle by about 14 mm.Besides,severe oxidation was observed inside the crack by fractography.With the increase in copper content at 1250℃,the content of{110}<112>brass and{112}<111>copper textures decreased.When the content of copper was 4.35%,the decrease was most significant,and{112}<111>copper texture content decreased to only 0.5%.Generally,the textures of 2.42%Cu and 3.60%Cu 304L steel changed little,while a large change in the texture of 4.35%Cu 304L steel was observed.To conclude,the increase in rolling temperature can prevent edge crack and its propagation effectively.

Effect of welding processes and consumables on fatigue crack growth behaviour of armour grade quenched and tempered steel joints

Quenched and Tempered(Q&T) steels are widely used in the construction of military vehicles due to its high strength to weight ratio and high hardness. These steels are prone to hydrogen induced cracking(HIC) in the heat affected zone(HAZ) after welding. The use of austenitic stainless steel(ASS) consumables to weld the above steel was the only available remedy because of higher solubility for hydrogen in austenitic phase. The use of stainless steel consumables for a non-stainless steel base metal is not economical. Hence, alternate consumables for welding Q&T steels and their vulnerability to HIC need to be explored. Recent studies proved that low hydrogen ferritic steel(LHF) consumables can be used to weld Q&T steels, which can give very low hydrogen levels in the weld deposits. The use of ASS and LHF consumables will lead to distinct microstructures in their respective welds. This microstructural heterogeneity will have a drastic influence in the fatigue crack growth resistance of armour grade Q&T steel welds. Hence, in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the influence of welding consumables and welding processes on fatigue crack growth behaviour of armour grade Q&T Steel joints. Shielded metal arc welding(SMAW) and Flux cored arc welding(FCAW) were used for fabrication of joints using ASS and LHF consumables. The joints fabricated by SMAW process using LHF consumable exhibited superior fatigue crack growth resistance than all other joints.

Effect of heat input on austenite microstructural evolution of simulated heat affected zone in 2205 duplex stainless steel

The effect of simulated welding thermal cycle on the microstructure and impact toughness of heat affected zone (HAZ) in 2205 duplex stainless steel was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and room temperature impact test. The results show that the morphology and volume fraction of austenite change greatly with heat input. The amount of residual austenite and grain boundary austenite (GBA) decreases while Widmanstatten austenite (WA) laths and intergranular austenite increase with the increase in heat input. Only the fine equiaxed austenite exists in the HAZ when the heat input is increased up to 61.8 kJ/cm. WA laths nucleate initially either at the ferrite and GBA phase boundaries or directly in ferrite grains and begin to decompose into diamond-shaped austenite with the heat input larger than 25.2 kJ/cm. The impact toughness shows a non-monotonic variation, which is related to the increase in austenite fraction and the formation and the decomposition of WA laths.

Si合金化对10Cr铁/马钢在液态铅铋共晶环境中的液态金属脆化敏感性的影响

铁素体/马氏体钢是第四代液态铅铋冷却快堆燃料包壳和其他堆内构件的重要候选结构材料。Si合金化是目前国内外改善铁/马钢在铅铋环境中的腐蚀性能的关键技术手段,但Si的加入对应力腐蚀开裂敏感性(即“液态金属脆化”)的影响规律还有待深入研究。本文通过开展慢应变速率拉伸实验,对比研究了4种不同Si含量对10Cr铁素体/马氏体钢在350℃、贫氧和饱和氧铅铋以及氩气环境中的拉伸断裂行为,并结合断口分析,确定了Si对液态金属脆化敏感性的影响规律。结果表明,在所有Si含量下,铅铋对屈服强度和最大抗拉强度均没有显著影响,铅铋的影响主要体现在延伸率出现了明显下降;屈服强度随Si含量的变化基本保持不变,最大抗拉强度则呈现小幅度增大趋势;在氩气环境中,延伸率随Si含量的增加而增大。在贫氧铅铋环境中,延伸率的下降幅度与Si含量大体呈正相关。这说明Si含量越多,10Cr铁素体/马氏体钢的液态金属脆化敏感性越大。

双相不锈钢换热管与管板的焊接

换热管与管板的焊接是换热器质量控制的重点。双相不锈钢焊接的目标是获得平衡的铁素体(δ)和奥氏体(γ)。采用手工钨极氩弧焊,使用Φ1.6 mm的ER2209焊丝,以0.54 kJ/mm的热输入焊接Φ25 mm×2 mm的S32205双相不锈钢换热管与管板试件。经取样检测,角焊缝厚度均值2.88 mm;焊缝维氏硬度均值255.8 HV;按ASTM E562测定铁素体含量,焊缝铁素体含量均值59.3%,管侧熔合线57.3%,管侧热影响区58%,板侧熔合线58.7%,板侧热影响区58.2%;按ASTM A923的方法A检测,5区的金相组织相界和晶界平滑,无有害沉淀相析出,评定为未受影响的金相组织;按GB/T 4334的方法E试验,无晶间腐蚀现象。以上各项检测指标均符合相应标准和技术协议要求,说明焊接工艺适用。