Effect of Solution Annealing Time on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Selective-Laser-Melted 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel

The 2205 duplex stainless steel (DSS) produced by selective laser melting (SLM) exhibits high strength (1078.8 MPa) but poor plasticity (15.2%) owing to the high cooling rate during SLM, which inhibits the formation of austenite and creates a nearly entirely ferritic microstructure. The dual-phase nature can be restored through solution annealing, which enables well-matched strength and plasticity, but which has not been extensively studied. We investigate the effects of 5 min, 30 min, and 120 min of solution annealing at 1000 °C on the dual-phase ratio, grain size, texture strength, inclusions, grain boundary characteristics, and mechanical properties of SLM-manufactured 2205 DSS. After 30 min of solution annealing, the elongation increased to 32.2% owing to the restoration of the dual-phase structure, the reduction in dislocation density, the weakening of texture, and the decrease in grain size. Increasing solution annealing time also corresponded to a decrease in the ultimate tensile strength (from 831.7 to 787.5 MPa) and yield strength (from 610.3 to 507.8 MPa) due to grain coarsening and the gradual transformation of ferrite to austenite. Furthermore, the mechanism of the transformation from ferrite to austenite was proposed, and it was observed that the transformation of MnSiO3 to MnCrO4 provided nucleation sites for austenite.