The 80-year history of duplex stainless steel

80 years has passed since duplex stainless steels were first produced and now they have developed into an integral series with the efforts on R & D and development of technology.In the recent decade, duplex stainless steels have been accepted by more and more customers and increasingly used. The first duplex grade produced in Sweden was 453E(26Cr-5Ni) in the 1930s,and then developed into 329.These two grades were characterized by high carbon content and called the first generation of duplex stainless steels.At that time,it was very difficult to add nitrogen into the steels and maintain the phase equilibrium,thus influencing the application properties,for example,intergranular corrosion post welding. One method to solve this problem is to alter the chemical composition,like adding nitrogen,etc.And that came to reality with the development of AOD and metallurgical theory of stainless steels.New series of duplex grades,called the second and third generations duplex,have successively emerged since the 1980s. These grades are characterized by high amounts of alloying elements,like chromium,molybdenum and nitrogen.Furthermore,super duplex stainless grades,like S32750,S32760 and S32707,were developed for various harsh service environments with their outstanding corrosion resistance and workability.These grades possess corrosion resistance corresponding to super austenitic grades,or close to nickel-base alloys, and are used in ocean-engineering,sea water desalination and oil industries,etc. And the application of duplex stainless steel is expending into other industries.For instance,453E is used in the pulp & paper industry.2205(S32205),a medium-alloyed grade,has become the most typical one in the duplex stainless steel family and widely used in many industries like pulp & paper,chemical and oil.New applications are emerging with better understanding of the duplex grades. Modern duplex stainless steels features most the corrosion resistance and strength,making them most cost-efficient in more and more projects. In this paper,the history of duplex stainless steels is recalled and reviewed from R&D,production to application,and latest grades like S82441 are also introduced.