This work investigates the influence of deleterious phases precipitation on the corrosion resistance of two wrought superduplex stainless steels UNS S32750 with similar composition, but different grain sizes. Isothermal treatments were carried out to introduce different amounts of deleterious phases, such as chi (χ), sigma (σ) and secondary austenite (γ2). The specimens were tested by double loop electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation test (DL-EPR). The kinetics of precipitation in the two steels was different due to the difference of the grain sizes. The results show a correlation between the sensitization degrees, measured by DL-EPR, with the amount of deleterious phases precipitated.

The knowledge of residual stress arising from the welding processes is extremely important because the mechanical properties of the welded components are not only determined by the microstructures present in the joint, but also by the heterogeneous residual stresses introduced during the thermal cycle in welding processes. The aim of this work is the characterization of ASTM P91 steel-pipe welded by Metal Cored Arc Welding &Flux Cored Arc Welding (MCAW/FCAW) processes, through the residual stresses evaluation associated with welding and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT). Residual stresses were analysed by X-ray diffraction technique with sin2ψ method, presenting tensile behaviour with higher magnitude at the weld metal of root region. The PWHT promoted the relief of the residual stresses in the both regions. High Vickers microhardness values were observed in the weld metal region before the PWHT, which was very efficient to reduce them.

A influência da precipitação de fases deletérias na resistência à corrosão em dois aços inoxidáveis superduplex (AISD) UNS S32750 com diferentes tamanhos de grão foi investigada. Foram realizados tratamentos isotérmicos de modo a introduzir na microestrutura diversas quantidades de fases deletérias, tais como chi, sigma, austenita secundária e nitretos de cromo. Nestas condições foram efetuados ensaios de corrosão por polarização anódica cíclica. Estudos por microscopias ótica (MO) e eletrônica de varredura (MEV) foram realizados para caracterizar as fases precipitadas e a sua cinética de precipitação. Os resultados permitem correlacionar os valores obtidos pelos ensaios de polarização com o percentual de fases deletérias precipitadas para diferentes condições de tratamento em AISD com composições similares, mas com diferentes tamanhos de grão. Observou-se ainda que o tamanho de grão e a temperatura de envelhecimento influem na cinética de precipitação, na morfologia e no tamanho das fases deletérias precipitadas, incidindo na resistência à corrosão por pites dos AISD.

The influence of deleterious phases precipitation in corrosion resistance was investigated in two superduplex stainless steel (SDSS) UNS S32750 with different grain sizes. Isothermal treatments were performed in order to introduce various quantities of deleterious phases, such as chi, sigma, secondary austenite and chromium nitrides. Under these conditions corrosion tests were carried out by cyclic anodic polarization method. Studies by light optical microscopy (LOM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed to characterize the precipitated phases and the precipitation kinetics. The results allow to correlate the values obtained by polarization tests with the percentage of deleterious phases precipitates to the different conditions of treatments of SDSS with similar compositions, but with different grain sizes. It was observed that the grain sizes and aging temperature influence the kinetics of precipitation, morphology and size of deleterious phases. These features affect the corrosion resistance of SDSS.

Os aços inoxidáveis Duplex (AID) aliam uma excelente resistência à corrosão com elevada resistência mecânica devido à fina microestrutura bifásica composta por quantidades similares de ferrita (δ) e austenita (γ). Portanto, estas ligas são utilizados em tubulações e equipamentos industriais onde se requer elevada relação resistência/peso, especialmente em empreendimentos de construção e montagem off-shore. Entretanto, as condições operacionais, na soldagem de campo, podem promover um significativo desbalanço microestrutural destas fases, resultando em decréscimo das propriedades mencionadas. A inspeção com o ferritoscópio é uma avaliação normalmente utilizada nestas atividades. Durante a avaliação com esta técnica pode ocorrer a rejeição da junta soldada quando o metal de solda se encontra com valores de ferrita fora das faixas estabelecidas pelas especificações de projeto. Assim, torna-se importante a análise destas juntas, com outras técnicas complementares, tal como a utilização das réplicas metalográficas. Este fato motivou a avaliação da proporção de fases em spools de AID de espessuras relativamente finas, soldados no campo, comparando-se as técnicas não destrutivas descritas. Os resultados denotam valores semelhantes, contudo o resultado pode ser influenciado pela forma e condições superficiais da junta soldada.

Duplex stainless steels are high strength and corrosion resistant alloys, whose properties are devoted to the fine microstructure composed by similar amounts of ferrite and austenite and also to the high concentrations of Cr, Mo and N in solid solution. Not for coincidence, duplex steels are extensively used in chemical and petrochemical industries. However, welding operations conditions can promote the unbalance of the ferrite/austenite proportions mainly in the welding metal, with decrease of the properties mentioned. For this reason, non destructive measurements of ferrite content, by ferritoscope, is used after welding pipes. Ferritoscope is a commercial instrument which uses the initial magnetic permeability to analyze the ferrite content in duplex and austenitic stainless steels. The inspection with ferritoscope is a procedure commonly used in building and assembly of spools of duplex and superduplex stainless steels. The objective of this work was to evaluate the amounts of phases in the welding metal for different spools welded in the field by use of ferritoscope and metallographic replica techniques. The results showed that the two techniques measured similar values of ferrite and austenite, but ferritoscope analysis can be influenced by shape and surface conditions of the welded joint.

Deleterious phases precipitation in superduplex stainless steels is the main concern in fabrication by welding and hot forming of this class of material. Sigma, chi and secondary austenite phases are considered deleterious phases because they produce negative effects on corrosion resistance. Besides, sigma and chi phases also promote strong decrease of toughness. In the present work, the precipitations of sigma, chi and secondary austenite under aging in the 800-950 °C interval were studied in two UNS S32750 steels with different grain sizes. The deleterious phases could be quantified by light optical microscopy, with no distinction between them. Scanning electron microscopy was used to distinguish the individual phases in various aging conditions. The results elucidate the influence of the aging temperature and grain size on the kinetics precipitation and morphology of deleterious phases. The kinetics of deleterious phases is higher in the fine grained material in the initial stage of aging, but the maximum amount of deleterious phases is higher in the coarse grained steel.