ABSTRACT The hardness and corrosion resistance of the martensitic stainless steel X30Cr13 depend directly on the applied heat treatment. This article describes and discusses the relationships between alloy composition, thermodynamic phase stabilities, heat treatment parameters, resulting microstructures, and achievable corrosion resistance. To investigate these relationships, various electrochemical characterization methods (electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation, critical pitting potentials, and corrosive gel electrolytes) were employed. These methods correlate the often pronounced susceptibility of martensitic stainless steels to pitting corrosion with the presence of chromium‐depleted regions and link these features to the underlying heat treatment parameters. In order to determine optimal heat treatment conditions from a corrosion‐resistance perspective, the austenitization temperature, austenitization time, cooling rate, sub‐zero treatment, and tempering temperature were investigated within technologically relevant ranges. The focus was placed on heat treatment combinations that promote chromium depletion, with the aim of avoiding such conditions.
Ocampo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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