Hydrogen-induced defects in austenite and ferrite of a duplex steel.
The influence of hydrogen on the microstructure of two types of austeno-ferritic duplex stainless steel (Cr26-Ni6 model steel and Cr22-Ni5-Mo3 commercial steel), each of them after two thermo-mechanical treatments, was investigated. The aim of this study was to reveal microstructural changes appearing during the hydrogen charging and particularly to clarify the occurrence of phase transformations induced by hydrogen. The specific microstructural changes in the ferrite (alpha) and austenite (gamma) of both types of steel were observed. A strong increase of dislocation density was noticed in the alpha phase. In the case of model steel, longer hydrogen charging times led to significant ferrite grain refinement. In the commercial steel, the strips and twin plates appeared in the ferrite after hydrogenation. The appearance of stacking faults was revealed in the gamma phase. The martensite laths appeared in austenite after longer hydrogenation times. It seems that the microstructural changes gave rise to the formation of microcracks in the alpha and gamma phases as well as on the alpha/gamma interphase boundaries.
Głowacka
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Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, 02-507 Warsaw, Wołoska 141, Poland. annabur@inmat.pw.edu.pl
Swiatnicki
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Jezierska
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