Dual phase duplex stainless steel comprised with ferrite and austenite shows its strength

and corrosion resistance in many aggressive environments based on outstanding

performance over the last 20 years establishment is a great attention for researchers,
manufacturers and end users. The current world- wide rapid growth, demand, and
consumption of duplex- stainless steels, particularly in petrochemical, marine, power
plant and other engineering applications, where the multiphase steels are being utilized
that require welding for fabrication of components. On the other hand, largest
production and appli- cations sectors are captured by austenitic stainless steels globally,
but the Ni price volatility breaching the backbone of producers and end users. In such
conditions for the cost exibility, joining of dissimilar metals also reects the overall
industrial need. Joining of duplex alloys is a challenging, due to number of embrittling
precipitates and metallurgical changes. On the other hand inappropriate welding
conditions, imbalance phase ratio of austenite/ferrite leads to solidication cracking,
corrosion susceptibility, and lower ductility. As the demand for higher productivity is
increasing worldwide in many domains like oil pipeline, shipbuilding sectors etc., where
the thick sections are used, which endorses the requirement of higher heat input,
optimization of interpass temperature, cooling rate, proper selection of consum- ables,
defect free joints for fast and rapid productivity. However, many advanced techniques like
plasma, laser, PCGTAW, A-TIG and hybrid welding processes are developing to fulll the
requirements for higher productivity without distortion. But high ferritization is another
issue with those processes. Moreover, suitability and standardization of duplex alloys for
high current and large heat input are still in doubt. Even, no comprehensive accounts of
the dissimilar welding operation on the effect of processes and welding conditions are
found in the literature. This review paper systematically highlights the effect of welding
processes and conditions on microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion
resistance of duplex stainless steels and its various combinations on the basis of
structureproperty co-relationship.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
2. Phase formation in duplex stainless steels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
3. Selection of consumable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4. Welding behavior on mechanical and corrosion resistance of DSS (2205) and super
DSS (2507) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5. Dissimilar metals welding of DSS and super DSS with other alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
6. Current issues and future perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.1. Current issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

1. Introduction

The astounding success of duplex stainless steels (DSSs) com- pared to austenitic
stainless steels (ASSs) is a result of nickel (Ni) price volatility in the market year on year [1].
Another issue with ASSs is lower sustainability in many aggressive environments [2].
Therefore, the industries are trying to look for alternatives with low Ni content and
comparable performance as that of conventional ASSs [3]. Duplex stainless steels give a
promising performance in many corrosive environments having superior localized
corrosion resistance due to half ferrite and half austenite percentage [4,5]. The increased
applications in many industries like shipbuilding, offshore, chemical industries, paper and
pulp industries, petro- chemical, desalination plants, oil and gas industries promote DSSs
[6,7].
Apart from that the scientically valuable report is delivered in many conferences,
boosted the huge demand of DSSs worldwide. These conferences were organized regularly
since 1982, that is St. Louis (USA), Den Hauge (Netherland, 1986), Beaune (France, 1991),
Yokohama (Japan) in 1993, York (UK) in the year 1994. Further, in 1997 Maastricht
(Netherland), 2000 Venice (Italy) and Grado (Italy) in 2007 to till now. These conferences
covered an excel- lent combination of valuable scientic contributions and technical
presentations, including metallurgical aspects (i.e. phase precip- itations, corrosion
resistance and mechanical properties of DSSs) on the basis of industrial experiences in
many areas of applica- tions of standard (type 2205), lean (type 2304) and super-duplex
(type 2507) stainless steels. The above grades were conrmed as very valuable grades with
excellent performances were customized by more than 20 years of successful service
applications experi- ence. All the mentioned international conferences nally concluded that
there is a great demand of DSSs in the replacement of 300- series SS [812]. Further, many
countries (like, Malta, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Sharjah, Spain and West Indies) implemented
DSSs com- bined with other alloys in different sectors like multi-stage ash (MSF) plants,
large seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants, brack- ish water reverse osmosis (BWRO),
large multi-effect desalination (MED) plants and bleaching plants [1316].
Among the stainless steel categories, the global production of DSSs represents less than
200 kT, that is around 1% of the total global production of SSs, even though the
consumption is about
100%. International stainless steel forum (ISSF) documented that the production of DSSs
was 0.6% in 2004, which increased to 1% in
2007. In Feinox 2008 conference it was forecasted that the produc- tion of DSSs will be
increased by 4% for the year of next 2020 as it is shown in Fig. 1. On the other hand, the
demand of ASSs was 63.1% in the year 2004 [17], which was 62% in 2007, due to Ni price
uc- tuation and based on this situation, the production was forecasted to 53% till 2020 as it
is illustrated in Fig. 1 [18]. In 2013 the ASSs production was 53.4%, while 54.6% in 2014.
However, the SS producers and end users are greatly affected by the high and volatile
price of Ni, which uctuates day-to-day. The Ni supplies have not been able to keep pace
with the world- wide increased demand of SSs. Since Ni is the major constituent in widely
used classical ASSs (300-series), therefore, the other alter- natives low Ni and/or Ni-free
grades are known as 200-series (201,
202, CrMn) and 400-series (ferritic grades) has been developed and used in many
moderate corrosive environments and structural sectors are illustrated in Fig. 1. From Fig. 1 it
is clear that the produc-
tion of 200-series was around 10% in 2007 and predicted around 6% up to 2020. Moreover, the
production scenario of 200-series in 2013 was 19.8%, which decreased a little bit (18.9%) in
2014. On the other hand, the demand and production of 400-series are increasing due to
low-cost and other favoring reasons such as good thermal con- ductivity, easy to recycle and
helps to save planet resources. In 2007 production of 400-series was around 27%, which was
forecasted
37% up to 2020. In the present situation, the production in 2013 was
25.5% and 25.2% in 2014. Changing from 300-series to 400-series means that the
manufacturer becomes more competitive and the consumer may get a safe product at a
very low price.
In the year 2015, the global real demand for SS products reached
37.7 million tonnes, with a modest increase of around 2% from
37.1 million tonnes in 2014. The annual average growth of SSs was around 8% since 2011
2014. In 2015, total worldwide steel pro- duction was 1.6 billion tonnes in which about
2.6% were only SSs [1921].
The scenario shows the futuristic increasing demand of DSSs, while the 70% market
globally captured by ASSs that enforces the users toward the use of dissimilar
combination with ASSs in the future in many aggressive environments. Even, Matsuyamas
municipal water tank in Japan was constructed by using three dis- similar combinations of
SS (2205 DSS, 304 and 316 ASS) [22]. It is reported [23] that to join the similar and dissimilar
metals, welding is the most important tool and to achieve the large productivity a large
heat input is required (for example to join the oil pipeline). Nowacki and Rybicki [24] have
published the paper on effect of heat input on stainless steel structure, but no systematic
studies on the inuence of large heat input on corrosion behavior for DSSs have been
proposed so far.
The authors have already contributed to studies of welding and corrosion behavior of low
Ni SS in the mild environment [2527]. But, in a highly aggressive environment, low Ni DSSs
are the better choice and this review motivate the authors to further studies on this alloy.
In current review authors try to critically analyze the results of other researchers based
on their investigations on the effect of welding conditions (effect of allowable and exceeding
range of heat input), different processes (including high and low arc energy as well as
solid- state joining processes), and welding consumables on mechanical properties and
corrosion resistance of DSS 2205 and super DSS 2507 (due to its versatility than other grades
of DSSs) and also emphasize its dissimilar combination with carbon steels (CSs), ASSs, ferritic
stainless steels (FSSs) and other popular alloys. The other family of DSS has not been
included in this review because limited work has been carried out. Authors also try to
summarize the results on phase evolution during solidication and selection of consumables
for DSSs and its various combinations incorporating with some of the advanced techniques,
current issues and future perspective.

2. Phase formation in duplex stainless steels

Alteration in microstructural features affects the properties and corrosion resistance,

hence it is of great importance to control the microstructure during welding with
recommended ferrite content and should free from detrimental phases, such as nitrides,
car- bides or intermetallics [28]. The microstructure of DSS base metal (BM) is mainly
composed of austenite and ferrite phase as it is
 Fig. 1. Stainless steels
trend and forecast [18].

Fig. 2. Micrograph of duplex base metal (a) optical

micrograph [29], (b) SEM micrograph [30], (c) TEM
micrograph [31].
shown in Fig. 2 with high-resolution SEM and TEM micrographs [2931]. Basically, the
DSSs weld solidify in fully ferritic mode (the rst phase, which nucleates directly from
liquid) and austen- ite nucleate below the ferritic solvus temperature in the sequence of L
(liquid) L + + (where is delta ferrite and is austenite). This solidication
mode is based on Creq /Nieq ratio and can be better understood by the FeCrNi pseudo-
binary diagram, which is a signicantly important tool to envisage the mode of
 solidication [3236] as it is illustrated in Fig. 3. The composition of a typical DSSs falls in
the + phase eld. For most of the SS compositions, the phase is expanded so that the
ferrite phase is separated into high-temperature ferrite and low-temperature fer- rite and in
practice high-temperature ferrite is denoted as ferrite, and low-temperature ferrite, which
forms by the transformation of austenite, as ferrite. It is evident from Fig. 3 (Pseudo
binary (FeCrNi) diagram plotted using equivalent relationship) that fer- rite exists
continuously from solidication to room temperature for DSSs and therefore, all ferrite is
denoted as ferrite due to continuously transformation with the same composition [37].
In practice, the DSSs are quite resistant to solidication cracking because of low impurity. If
the Creq /Nieq ratio is greater than the value 1.95 the mode is fully ferritic, However, for DSSs
BM, the typi- cal range is between 2.25 to 3.5, where the ratio for super DSS 2507 is 2.25 and
for DSS 2205 is 2.62 as reported by Lippold and Sieurin et al. and is illustrated in Fig. 3 [38,39]
due to the more diffusivity of Cr and Mo in ferrite phase [37]. In general, the different
morphology of austenite develops in the welded region during solidication as it is shown in
Fig. 4 [40], a continuous network of austenite dened as a grain boundary allotriomorphs or
grain boundary austenite (GBA), the rst phase, which directly nucleates from ferrite matrix
[41]. Nucleation of GBA is reported in the temperature range of
1350800 C [41]. Further, widmansttten austenite (WA) grain
forms from this GBA, although enriched in Ni compared to the fer- rite matrix. It has the
lowest amount of Cr, Mo, and nitrogen than GBA [4144], with a near Kurdjumov-Sachs
orientation relation- ship mechanism [45]. In sequence, intragranular austenite (IGA),
formed as a result of the cooling rate effect, which required greater driving force and
precipitates later at a lower temperature, which is prone to pitting corrosion (suitable site
for pitting) due to lower alloying elements (such as Mo and Cr) is shown in Fig. 5ac, in which
Fig. 5b represents the area of intense pitting, occurred mostly in 2 or secondary austenite
side. However 2 forms on reheating below

Table 1
Intermetallic phase formation in DSSs [4850].

Phases in Approximate Temperature Lattice

-phase FeCrMo 6001000 a = b = 0.88, c
DSSs
Chromium chemical formula
CrN range ( C)
9001000 constant,
a = 0.413, nmc=
Chrom C 700900 a = 0.480, c =
= 0.4540
nitride (averaged)
0.447
ium r 9501050 0.447
0.4588
nitride
R-phase 2FeCrMo 550650
600950 a == 1.09,
A 0.452,c =b
1.93
 -phase Fe7 Mo13 N4 550600 a = 0.647

Fig. 3. Pseudo binary (FeCrNi) diagram plotted using equivalent relationship

[38,39].

Fig. 4. Optical micrograph of welded region [40].

solvus [4143,46,47]. Simultaneously, thermal cycles also cause to precipitates the many
other undesirable phases [like, CrN, Cr2 N, M7 C3 , M23 C6 (M = Fe or Cr) known as secondary
phases] and [sigma ( ), chi ( ), , R, and phases known as intermetallics] as it is illus- trated
in Fig. 6 and tabulated in Table 1 [4850]. However, phase is a hard brittle intermetallic
compound enriched with Cr, Mo, Si and more detrimental than other mentioned phases.
Precipitation often starts at triple junctions or at ferrite/austenite boundaries and continues
at incoherent twin boundaries and nally intragranu- larly. The temperature range of
precipitation is from 600 to 1000 C. However, the fastest precipitation rate is in between

850900 C. Moreover, precipitation could be controlled by modifying solu- tion

annealing temperature [51]. Similarly, the -phase may occur in austenitic, ferritic, and DSSs,
which gives inverse effect on corro- sion and mechanical properties. The -phase precipitate
presents in the binary FeCr system. While -phase precipitates only in the FeCrMo
ternary and FeCrNiTi quaternary systems, with a composition of Fe36 Cr12 Mo10 [52]. It
has a composition similar to that of the -phase, but in compare to -phase, carbon can
dissolve in the -phase. Due to this property, the -phase was dened and distinguished in
contrast to -phase [52].
The precipitation of Cr23 C6 carbide can also occur in DSS weld and BM with similar
above mentioned negative effects caused by the formation of phase. Another precipitate
like Cr23 C6 and Cr2 N also occur in the regions of high energy (such as at grain boundaries) and
this precipitate favored by the decreased solubility of carbon and nitrogen in austenite [53].
The migration of ferrite/austenite interface boundary into the growth of carbides with
lamellar and larva patterns having a cube to cube orientation relationship with the
austenite by eutectoid reaction M23 C6 + 2 [53,54], it precipitates at temperatures of

9501050 C and below 950 C respectively [50]. On cooling below 1300 C austenite phase
forms by the diffusion mechanism, however, too low welding energy resulted in high
ferrite contents (70 vol.%) in the weld. This is also undesirable due to the formation of
chromium nitride (Cr2 N) pre- cipitation and is prone to occur in the ferrite domains, due to
the low solubility of nitrogen in this phase. The Cr2 N precipitation and high ferrite content
decrease the low-temperature toughness. In addition, Cr2 N precipitates are also believed to
be nucleation sites for pitting [55]. This precipitation takes place at temperatures range of
700900 C [51].

Similarly, R phase is an intermetallic compound enriched in Mo and occurs in the range of

550700 C. It has complicated trigo- nal crystal structure with the unit cell consisting of
159 atoms. Similarly, phase has a cubic crystal structure and it precipitates
intragranularly in isothermally aged material at 600 C [51]. These phase formation in
dissimilar joints are also very interesting due to different composition and cooling rate that
may create a com- plex microstructure in the weld, which may infer the properties.
Moreover, cooling rate plays an important role to control the phase balance in the weld and
heat affected zone (HAZ). It also consid- erably affects the precipitation of many
intermetallic phases and corrosion resistance of the materials. Since the cooling rate depends
on a number of variables, such as heat input, material proper- ties, process efciency,
preheat temperature and thickness of the materials. In DSSs the temperature range 800
500 C is the critical range for phase transformation. Whereas, in the range between 1200 to

800 C in particular time austenite reformation occurs and critical for achieving the correct
phase balance in DSSs. It was reported that cooling rate 0.2550 ks1 would be best to
achieve the correct ferrite/austenite phase balance, while at the same time it limits the
formation of sigma phase precipitate during the critical 1200800 C range. If the cooling

is too rapid through this 1200800 C zone, then Cr2 N and more ferrite can form, which
lower the corrosion resistance. While slower cooling rate through this range will favor
austenite. However, Wang et al. reported that very fast cooling rate at 139 C/S under the 7 C
plate (in DC pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding technique) increases the austen- ite
phase in the weld and helps to achieve correct phase balance by creating higher driving
energy for nucleation of WA and IGA due to the largest under cooling [42,56,57].
Therefore, it is expected that the different microstructural zones will exhibit corrosion
susceptibility. For life prediction of materials practically in many susceptible environments,
it is very impor- tant to understand the corrosion behavior of the DSSs. However, in recent
years, some advancement in characterization and elec- trochemical techniques like atomic
force microscopy, magnetic force microscopy, scanning kelvin probe force microscopy,
atomic and magnetic force microscopy and scanning electrochemical microscopy
provide an emerging tool for a better study to measure the detrimental and secondary phases
as well as an electrochemical process of DSSs. This fact is based on magnetic saturation
measure- ment, which is the reliable quantication of austenite, ferrite and secondary
phases [58]. Some of the detrimental phases are illus- trated in Fig. 6e and f based on the
open source by using mentioned advance technique [58].
For measurements of ferrite, austenite and secondary phases in real time can also be
successfully done by advanced in-situ technique which is based on a combined work of
time-resolved X- ray diffraction and laser scanning confocal microscopy, which was
developed for direct observation of morphological development and simultaneous
identication of phases, HAZ measurement, dur- ing thermal cycle of welding [59].
In a few cases, solidication cracking (of DSSs) may be a prob- lem if the proper phase
balance was not achieved, since melting and solidication phenomenon in fusion welding
destroy the phase balance [60]. Lippold et al. [61] reported that area near to fusion
boundary is the most susceptible region for hot cracking because the fusion zone (FZ) of
 DSSs is fully ferritic during the nal stages of solidication. But, less susceptible than alloys
with fully austenitic microstructures, Fig. 7a and b illustrates the HAZ liquation crack- ing.
Hull [62] also originally hypothesized that boundary wetting by a liquid lm is more
effective along austenite/austenite and fer- rite/ferrite boundaries than that of
ferrite/austenite boundaries. In practice, weld solidication cracking does not seem to be
a serious fabrication problem with DSSs, but interestingly, some of the researchers like
Gooch [63] and Nelson et al. [64] have been reported solidication cracking of DSS, Fig. 7c
illustrates the weld solidication cracking, where the crack appeared mainly in the
austenite phase. However, proper selection of ller metal resists the solidication cracking
in DSSs [65]. Therefore, more attention must be paid during the selection of consumables.

3. Selection of consumable

The selection of consumable for similar and dissimilar welding plays a crucial role in
enhancing the mechanical properties, creat- ing the proper phase balance and avoiding
solidication cracking [66]. Generally, it is recommended that the welding ller metals
have a more austenitic composition with 24% more Ni than the BM for improved
mechanical properties and corrosion resistance due to when freezing speed is very high,
the amount of austen- ite/ferrite ratio most be in balance. The role of Ni is to increase the
austenite to compensate for decreases this phase owing to high cooling rate [67]. The
boosted Ni content ller metals not yet stan- dardized, but also available in various trade
names. Messer et al. [68] reported that the over-alloyed Ni-based ller metals may be
preferred for welding super DSS. However, on the contrary, Gooch [69] addressed that the
over-alloyed ller metal is not suitable with super DSS BM because the weld metal (WM)
may be more sensitive to precipitation of many intermetallic phases, which fur- ther
reduces corrosion resistance and toughness. These statements reect the advance need of
investigation and motivate the authors to further work.
However, due to Ni price uctuation [70], researchers moved toward the replacement of
Ni-based alloy consumable, because it is 10 times more expensive [61], and diversied for
the utiliza- tion of cost-efcient consumables, even it is also recommended that the
carbon, phosphorus and sulphur level in the ller metals should be less or equivalent to
BM [71]. The recommended con- sumable for DSS and super DSS, based on the various
researchers opinions are tabulated in Table 2 [72,73]. Table 2 represents the
recommended consumables for similar and dissimilar weld as per the different welding
community, in sequence ller wire diameter, welding parameters and shielding gases with
different processes for DSS and SDSS are also tabulated in Tables 3 and 4 respectively [74].
For welding of various sections, the consideration of inter- pass temperatures is also
prime importance; the recommended values are mentioned in Table 5 [74]. Interpass
temperature is the temperature of the weld area between passes, also affects the cooling
rate, and it is a very important factor during welding of DSSs, since the maximum
interpass temperature required should
be below 150 C, if interpass temperature are higher than recom-
mended, with excessively reduced cooling rate, which increased HAZ dimensions,
expanded the coarse grain zone and diminishes the tensile and impact toughness. It is
reported that both yield and ultimate tensile strengths of the weld are a function of inter-
pass temperature. Higher interpass temperature reduces the weld strength. Additionally,
higher interpass temperatures will gener- ally improve impact toughness transition
temperature by providing a ner grain structure. However, when interpass temperatures
exceed 260 C, this trend is reversed [75]. For joining the thick
section, the researchers are trying to study the effect of interpass
temperature on the properties of the joint, resulting in a possible increase in productivity
during welding. In this sequence, the recent new technique of joining implemented for
joining pipeline con- struction and installation of thick DSSs (21.4 mm) and reported the
effect of interpass temperature (150 C and 290 C) on thick DSS

2205 weld by applying SAW in lling and nishing passes. Authors concluded that high
interpass temperature (290 C) is more prone
to corrosion and also lowers the impact toughness compared to
150 C, this is due to the imbalance phase proportion and formation
of more precipitated in the weld and HAZ [76].
The consumable such as E/ER 2209 which is most popular and compatible with different
processes for joining similar and dis- similar DSSs shows better corrosion resistance and
mechanical properties [44]. Even in another case when E/ER2209 compared with other
ller like ER316LSi and ER308LSi, in which ER2209 weld showed better resistance to
localized corrosion due to the difference in ller chemical composition. However, in
ER316LSi and ER308LSi llers the presence of Si speed up the intermetallic phases and
enhanced the corrosion. Author also studied the cor- rosion behavior of DSS 2205 BM and
all ller welds in 3.5% NaCl solution and reported that the DSS 2205BM showed critical
pit-
ting temperature (CPT) in the interval of 56.5 C. While ER2209 and
ER316LSi weld illustrated 44 C and 28 C respectively. In compar-
ison to other two llers ER308LSi only manages the mechanical properties [77].
Similarly, in the dissimilar metal combination of 2205 DSS with AISI 316, duplex ER 2205
ller showed more tensile strength as compared to ER 304 ller, due to different chemical
composition,