Effects of microstructure and texture after thermomechanical treatments on corrosion behavior of AISI 321 pipeline austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

In the present study, the effects of microstructure, grain size, and texture after thermomechanical processing on the corrosion behavior of AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) were studied. The as-received, coarse-grained steel ((35±3) µm) was subjected to 20%, 50% and 90% thickness reduction through cold rolling at liquid nitrogen temperature, followed by annealing at 750, 950 and 1050 °C for 15 min. Recrystallization occurred after annealing at 750 °C, and with the increasing of annealing temperature to 950 °C and 1050 °C, secondary recrystallization (abnormal grain growth) and grain growth were observed. The results showed that, after 20% thickness reduction, corrosion resistance increased significantly (21.1 kΩ·cm²) compared with the as-received condition (3.9 kΩ·cm²) due to the enhancement of γ-fiber and the creation of ∑3 boundaries. In contrast, the corrosion resistance decreased with the increasing of thickness reduction to 90% during rolling, but still depicted higher corrosion resistance compared with the as-received specimen. After annealing the 90% cold rolled (CR) specimens at 750 and 950 °C, the corrosion resistance increased in comparison with the as-received sample as a result of the more uniform microstructure, appearance of Goss and brass texture components, and grain refinement. However, significant grain growth ((112±76) µm) followed by a non-uniform structure was observed after annealing at 1050 °C and resulted in the lowest corrosion resistance (1.3 kΩ·cm²).

Keywords

corrosion / texture / microstructure / thermomechanical processing / stainless steel

References

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