Selective Dissolution Forming on Duplex Stainless Steels During Sour Testing. Is it a Pass or a Fail?

In this study, the effect of test conditions on the formation of selective dissolution during sour testing was investigated on a cold-rolled duplex stainless steel UNS S32750. All experiments were conducted in NaCl 150 g/L and pH₂S = 0.3 bar. Different pHs between 3.3 and 4.5 were studied at 80°C. Based on tests performed under varying conditions, it is demonstrated that selective dissolution (SD) competes with cracking and that under conditions leading to the formation of a large area with SD, the presence of this type of corrosion can hide the susceptibility of the material to cracking. The presence of only SD after testing must therefore be considered with caution. SD initiated also without applied stress showing that the phenomenon is correlated to a loss of passivity. From electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses and electrochemical monitoring the formation of SD under the test conditions considered in this work is correlated to the instability of the passive film and not to any superficial singularities of the material or specific crystallographic orientations.