Abstract:
Duplex stainless steels (DSS) are a type of stainless steels composed of approximately equal proportions of ferrite and austenite, α and ɤ, respectively. They are able to combine high mechanical resistance, ductility, corrosion resistance and weldability. Thus, they can be used in several industrial segments, such as the nuclear, civil construction and papermaking industries. Depending on the conditions to which it is submitted, the proportions of the phases formed can be altered and, consequently, their mechanical and electrical properties. Therefore, their production history and the conditions of thermomechanical treatments to which they were submitted, must be well known. Thus, the DSS 2205 cold rolled and annealed at different temperatures was characterized by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Vickers microhardness, as well as its electrochemical behavior, using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique (EIS). The thermomechanical treatment to which the alloy is subjected affects the passive layer formed in the DSS 2205. For the annealed samples, the increase in the annealing temperature improved the properties of the passive film.