**4. Discussion**

In general, the processing atmosphere, air and argon, affected the final properties of the specimens; however, such influence was lower than expected. The findings revealed minus differences among specimens produced in air or argon conditions. This means that the processing in air could be feasible and it could involve easier manufacturing of specimens at a minor cost.

During the manufacturing process, segregation of precipitates occurred in air or argon conditions independently. The apparition of such precipitates rich in Mo could contribute to decreasing the mechanical properties, especially elongation behavior. Moreover, the origin of porosity could contribute to reducing the mechanical properties of the specimens. During the manufacturing, the crystallinity of the alloy was affected as shown by the different XRD patterns. This phenomenon may also be related to the friction coefficient, in addition to the brittleness of the specimens. The highest cooling rate promoted the highest brittleness of the specimens; however, the friction behavior was better.

Presumably, changes in the manufacturing process avoiding the segregation of the Mo rich precipitates could enhance the mechanical properties of the Hastelloy C-22 specimens, since the thermal treatments did not achieve this goal.
