Validation of the Powder Metallurgical Processing of Duplex Stainless Steels through Hot Isostatic Pressing with Integrated Heat Treatment

Abstract

Duplex stainless steels exhibit an excellent combination of corrosion resistance and strength and are increasingly being manufactured through powder metallurgy (PM) to produce large, near-net-shaped components, such as those used for offshore applications. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is often used for PM production, in which pre-alloyed powders are compacted under high pressures and temperatures. Recent developments in HIP technology enable fast cooling as part of the process cycle, reaching cooling rates comparable to oil quenching or even faster. This enables the integrated solution annealing of duplex stainless steels directly after compaction. In contrast to the conventional HIP route, which requires another separate solution annealing step after compaction, the integrated heat treatment within the HIP process saves both energy and time. Due to this potential gain, HIP compaction at a high pressure of 170 MPa and 1150 °C with integrated solution annealing for the production of duplex stainless steels was investigated in this work. Firstly, the focus was to investigate the influence of pressure on the phase stability during the integrated solution annealing of the steel X2CrNiMoN22-5-3. Secondly, the steel X2CrNiMoCuWN25-7-4, which is highly susceptible to sigma phase embrittlement, was used to investigate whether the cooling rates used in the HIP are sufficient for preventing the formation of this brittle microstructural constituent. This work shows that the high pressure used during the solution heat treatment stabilizes the austenite. In addition, it was verified that the cooling rates during quenching stage in HIP are sufficient for preventing the formation of the sigma phase in the X2CrNiMoCuWN25-7-4 duplex stainless steel.