Effect of Molybdenum Content on the Corrosion and Microstructure of Low-Ni, Co-Free Maraging Steels

Abstract

Molybdenum (Mo) is an important alloying element in maraging steels. In this study, we altered the Mo concentration during the production of four cobalt-free maraging steels using an electroslag refining process. The microstructure of the four forged maraging steels was evaluated to examine phase contents by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Additionally, we assessed the corrosion resistance of the newly developed alloys in 3.5% NaCl solution and 1 M H2SO4 solution through potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Furthermore, we performed SEM and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis after corrosion to assess changes in microstructure and Raman spectroscopy to identify the presence of phases on the electrode surface. The microstructural analysis shows that the formation of retained austenite increases with increasing Mo concentrations. It is found from corrosion study that increasing Mo concentration up to 4.6% increased the corrosion resistance of the steel. However, further increase in Mo concentration reduces the corrosion resistance.