High strength, toughness and corrosion resistant super ferritic stainless steel engineered by Laves phase control and recrystallization annealing
摘要
The recrystallization microstructure, texture, precipitation behavior, and their effects on the mechanical and corrosion properties of a cold-rolled 26.7Cr–3.7Mo–2Ni super ferritic stainless steel sheet containing pre-precipitated Laves phases are investigated after annealing at 950–1090 °C for 1 min. Annealing at 950–990 °C induced partial dissolution of sub-micron Laves phases, promoting extensive precipitation of nano-sized Laves particles at subgrain and grain boundaries. These nano-particles pinned boundaries, suppressing subgrain coalescence in < 001 > //ND-oriented grains and inhibiting full recrystallization, resulting in a mixed texture of weak γ-fiber combined with strong α- and α*-fibers. The residual Laves phases promoted pit initiation leading to high corrosion rate. In contrast, annealing at 1010–1090 °C further dissolved sub-micron Laves phases, reduced nano-sized precipitation, and enabled complete recrystallization. Under these conditions, the average corrosion rate remained consistently low, while a singular, strong γ-fiber texture progressively intensified with temperature. The optimal combination of properties was achieved at 1030 °C, exhibiting a tensile strength of 680 MPa, yield strength of 530 MPa, elongation of 24.65%, and an average corrosion rate of approximately 0.02 mm/a in 6% FeCl3 + 1% HCl solution at 65 °C. Compared with SEA-CURE steel, the experimental alloy exhibited significantly enhanced strength, elongation, and corrosion resistance through controlled Laves phase precipitation and optimized recrystallization annealing, indicating strong potential for practical applications.