Phase Transformations and Structure/Property Relationship in Duplex Austenitic-Ferritic Stainless Steels

Dear Colleagues,

During the 1930s, in the kingdom of stainless steels, austenitic–ferritic (γ/δ) duplex steels were, inadvertently, created in France. For more than 80 years, these steels have not stopped acquiring titles of nobility in various industrial fields such as transport and chemical industries and have to date been the subject of extensive research and development. From 1982 to the present day, more than fifteen conferences have been dedicated worldwide to this stainless steel family.

It is well known that thermal aging and/or thermomechanical treatments of such materials lead to more than a dozen secondary phases (carbides, nitrides, Frank–Kasper phases (σ, χ, R), π, τ and Laves phases) essentially taking place inside the δ-ferrite grains and/or at the δ/γ interfaces. The latter phases, in addition to the spinodal decomposition of the ferrite, play an important role in the control of the microstructure and, consequently, in-service properties (mechanical, corrosion, etc.) of these materials.

It is therefore important that we devote a Special Issue to highlighting their current and various advances that have been recorded, here and there, in terms of metallurgical (crystallography, corrosion resistance, weldability, etc.), mechanical, economical, and even environmental behaviors. However, it goes without saying that a focus will be dedicated the contribution, on one hand, of the new characterization techniques (nano-indentation, EBSD, SKPFM, etc.) and, on the other hand, of the new manufacturing processes, such as powder metallurgy, surface treatment by ion implantation, etc. to ultimately design the used material in their duplex austenitic–ferritic state.

Topics addressed in this Special Issue may include but are not limited to:

Microstructure: Thermal aging, thermodynamic and kinetic calculation;

Precipitation: Carbides, Nitrides, Secondary phases (σ, χ, R, π, τ, Laves phases);

Mechanical properties: plasticity, constitutive law, fatigue, etc.;

Characterization Techniques: EBSD, SKPFM, TEM, atom probe tomography, mechanical and crystallographic phase mapping, etc.;

Corrosion: Stress corrosion, pitting corrosion, etc.;

Surface treatments: Nitriding, plasma immersion ion implantation, etc.;

Powder metallurgy: SPS (spark plasma sintering), cold spray, etc.

This Special Issue, an open-access forum, is provided for publishing original papers that report on the various aforementioned aspects of duplex stainless steels, including both research and review papers, informing duplex readers about the latest ongoing research and development activities.

Prof. Dr. Abdelkrim Redjaïmia
Guest Editor

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