The service requirements in the emerging technological innovations, particularly the very high temperature and extreme harsh environment in many engineering applications present technical and formidable challenges. Owing to the fact that the reliability of engineering materials in service is strongly influenced by their compositions and structures, and depends on their ability to sustain various in-service harsh conditions, the need for effective techniques for in-situ assessment of the structural changes occurring in materials with temperature is very imperative. Since recovery and recrystallization phenomenon generally happens in materials during elevated service, if the progress of the grain growth and grain boundary movement can be observed continuously, it will be important to predict their property changes and service life performance. In this study, an in-situ scanning electron microscopy technique was used to monitor the microstructural and phase changes occurring in 2205 duplex stainless steel, a very versatile engineering material, at non-ambient temperatures. An in-situ observation technique through HRSEM having a heating stage was used in this study to monitor phase transformations and microstructural changes occurring in 2205 duplex stainless steel at elevated temperatures up to 1000°C. The HRSEM was fitted with a Gatan heating stage with retractable 'hot' back scattered electron detector, that is capable of imaging at high temperatures of up to +1250°C. Test samples were heated under high vacuum to temperatures of 600, 800, 900 and 1000°C for various time periods. The structural changes that occurred were imaged using hot-backscattered imaging.
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