Influence of tempering treatment on microstructure and pitting corrosion resistance of a new super ferritic–martensitic–austenitic stainless steels with 17%Cr

Supermartensitic stainless steels (SMSSs) allow high mechanical strength with better corrosion resistance and toughness than conventional martensitic stainless steels. The SMSS steels with 12–13%Cr have been studied and applied in the oil and gas offshore production. The increase of Cr content, and the addition of Mo and W is now being investigated to increase mechanical and pitting corrosion resistance. In this work, a new 17%Cr steel, with Mo and W additions was studied. Depending on the final tempering treatment, the steel has a complex microstructure of austenite, ferrite, martensite and precipitates. The pitting corrosion resistance also depends on the microstructure produced by tempering. It was found that the pitting potential slightly decreases with the increase of tempering temperature and is further decreased by the double-tempering treatment. The pits initiate and grow preferentially in the martensite or tempered martensite islands, due to the lower Cr, Mo and W contents of these areas.