International Journal of Materials Engineering and Technology

Volume 8, Number 1, 2012, Pages 27-35

Published Online: September 2012
Available online at http://pphmj.com/journals/ijmet.htm
Published by Pushpa Publishing House, Allahabad, INDIA

FAILURE ANALYSIS OF 316L STAINLESS STEEL

SEAMLESS TUBE

K. M. Hafez1,2 and M. Ramadan1,2,

1Collegeof Engineering
University of Hail
P. O. Box 2440 Hail, Saudi Arabia
2CentralMetallurgical R & D Institute
P. O. Box 87 Helwan, Egypt
e-mail: mrnais3@yahoo.com

Abstract

Gas leak was observed in the stainless steel tubes used for the
transportation of natural gas in the power station. Tubes located in an
open area near the quarries that produce lots of dust. A detailed failure
analysis was conducted on the tube to determine the mode and the root
cause of the failure. The analysis included both optical and scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) of the inner and outer surfaces of the tube
as well as characterization of the corrosion products using energy-
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Results revealed that the
corrosion attack was confined to the upper side of the outer service of
the tube. It was evident that failure occurred due to pitting attack that
penetrated the whole wall thickness and resulted in a leak failure.
Some prevention measures are proposed to avoid this type of corrosion
attack in the future.
2012 Pushpa Publishing House
Keywords and phrases: failure analysis, stainless steel, tube, pitting.
Corresponding author
Received May 4, 2012
28 K. M. Hafez and M. Ramadan

1. Introduction

Stainless steels have excellent corrosion resistance. Although it works

great and the use of stainless steels has had a long history, there are still a lot
of problems that remain unresolved and there are situations, where it fails
miserably [1-3]. On the other hand, 316L stainless steel type is supposed to
be resistant to pitting due to the addition of about 2% Mo to the base
composition of Type 304 [4]. Corrosion failures of stainless steel tubes and
equipment are of major concern in all industries. The localized attacks on
stainless steel can produce surface pitting and crevice corrosion. Most pits
form when there is an inclusion or there has been a breakdown of the passive
film [5]. Pitting initiation can also be influenced by surface condition,
including the presence of deposits, and by temperature [3, 6]. Pohjanne et al.
[7] confirmed the preconception that Cr, Mo and N alloying improve pitting
corrosion resistance, also with moderate chloride concentrations sulphate
significantly increases the critical pitting potential and thus diminishes the
pitting corrosion when its amount is of the same order (mol/l) or higher than
that of chloride. With high chloride concentrations the amount of sulphate
(mol/l) has to be significantly higher than that of chloride to have a
measurable effect to pitting corrosion.

This paper details the study carried out on the 316L stainless steel tube
failures and recommends certain measures to be taken in terms of material,
operating practices to prolong the life of these tubes.

2. Materials and Methods

10 mm O. D. X 1.5 mm thickness stainless steel seamless tube used as

transfer tube of natural gas at Operation and Maintenance Power Company.
The tubes working on open atmospheric area near to many quarries produce
a lot of dusts that with time a layer of grout deposited on the surfaces of
tubes. After long time operation, a gas leakage was observed at many points
of these tubes.
 Failure Analysis of 316L Stainless Steel Seamless Tube 29

For analyzing and investigating failure type and mode, parts of this tube
were sampled and longitudinal sections were cut. X-ray, chemical analysis,
metallography and SEM examinations were carried out for the tube samples.

3. Results

3.1. Visual investigation

Visual examination of the tubes was made in the as-received condition.

A brown grout was observed on the upper part of the tube while, a clean
view of the lower part tube is observed (see Figures 1, 2). It is clear that this
grout is deposited from air dust during operation. Also a clean inner surface
of the tube from rust and precipitations was observed except some
penetrative pitting (see Figure 3).

Figure 1. Longitudinal section for outer surface of the tube.

Figure 2. Upper side of the tube showing precipitating grout.

30 K. M. Hafez and M. Ramadan

Figure 3. Longitudinal section for inner surface of the tube.

The upper side of the tube contains a lot of pitting with depth varied
from 0.1 mm to the whole thickness of tube. It is evidence that the pitting
attack start from the external surface toward the inner surface of the tube
(Figures 4, 5). A portion of the tube about 3 cm long containing some pits
was cut to be examined using SEM.

Figure 4. Penetrative pitting starting from outer surface to inner surface.

Figure 5. SEM of outer surface of the tube showing deferent pits depth.
 Failure Analysis of 316L Stainless Steel Seamless Tube 31

3.2. Chemical analysis and hardness

The chemical analysis for the tube is carried out to define the tube
materials and compare its composition with the standard specification of
stainless steel, as shown in Table 1. The chemical composition of the tube
material is showing that it is equivalent to ASTM A269 TP-316L stainless
steel [8]. It is clear that no anomalies or deficiencies in the composition
between failed tube materials and standard stainless steel. Also, it is observed
that hardness values of the immediate vicinity of the pits and the bulk of the
tube almost have the same values. Hardness measurements of tube showing
an average hardness value of 170 Hv, which is typical value of annealed
316L steel type.

Table 1. Chemical composition of the received and standard tube material

C Si Mn Cr Mo Ni P S Fe

Received tube 0.034 0.44 1.80 16.78 2.12 12.04 0.013 0.0002 66.17

Standard A269 TP-316L 0.04* 1.0* 2.00* 16-18 2-3 10-15 0.045* 0.030* -----

*These values are maximum standard requirements.

The precipitate grout was collected from the upper part of the tube for
energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) characterization. The analysis
of this material shows presence of silica, oxides, ferric chloride and iron
sulphide. Moreover, the analysis of the corrosion products inside the pits
shows only ferric chloride and iron sulphide.

3.3. Metallographic analysis

The microstructure of the tube material shows partially recrystallized

austenite grains, with some carbide precipitation at austenite grain boundary
and remnants of twinning, as shown in Figure 6.

The microstructure of tube cross section is showing the morphology of

penetrate and non-penetrate pits. The structure shows no cracks or secondary
cracks around the pits (Figure 7). Figure 8 shows penetrative pit with
spherical and smooth wall pit. Also, deposed grains and cracks fissures are
not observed.
32 K. M. Hafez and M. Ramadan

Figure 6. Microstructure of the tube material.

Figure 7. Cross section of the attacked tube showing the penetrative and non
penetrative pitting.

Figure 8. SEM of penetrative pit.

 Failure Analysis of 316L Stainless Steel Seamless Tube 33

4. Discussion

The presence of many quarries which produce a lot of dusts on the

working area leads accumulated grouts on the tope surface of the tubes. The
investigation of this grout shows that it contains chlorides and sulphide. In
humid air, condensation between fixtures and stainless steel with presence of
water, a micro-battery mechanism to be expected, causes electrochemical
reaction. Besides forming of acid chlorides from chloride combinations.
Chloride is considered to be the primary contaminant in water that
attacks stainless steel. Chloride destroys the passive layer by dissolving
chromium and allowing reaction of water with iron, forming the oxide
Fe2O3 , named hematite [2, 3]. The chemical reaction appears to take place
in two phases. The first involves dissolution of chromium by the chloride
ion; the second is oxidation of iron after the passive layer is dissolved:

Cr 0 3Cl CrCl3 3e , (1)

2Fe0 3H 2O Fe2O3 3H 2 . (2)

As the chromium is dissolved, the electrically driven chlorides bore into

the stainless steel creating a spherical, smooth wall pit. The residual solution
in the pit is ferric chloride FeCl 3 , which is very corrosive to stainless
steel, so pitting can occur rapidly once it starts [9].

Fe0 3Cl FeCl3 3e . (3)

When molybdenum and/or nitrogen is added as an alloying element in

stainless steel, the pitting corrosion resistance improves. An attempt to
quantify the effect of alloying elements resulted in an equation called the
pitting resistance equivalent number or PREN. It has a number of different
coefficients, but the most common equation [2] is:

PREN Cr % 3.3 Mo% 16 N %. (4)

From Table 1, PREN of the tube is 23.8, this value is convenient with
normal atmosphere condition and this explains why the bottom of the tube
34 K. M. Hafez and M. Ramadan

free of corrosion, where there were no deposits of dust on it. Depending on

the current investigation, 316L stainless steel type is not suitable for the
given atmospheric condition unless all tubes are completely protected from
dust. In this case 317L stainless steel type containing about 4% Mo it highly
recommended serving in such environmental atmospheres.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

Dust comes from quarries which contain harmful chloride and sulphide
react with stainless steel tubes causing pitting corrosion attack. In this case, it
is highly recommended to protect the tubes from the dust, and clean the tubes
surface from time to time.

Although, PREN of 23.8 is convenient for corrosion resist tubes with

normal atmosphere, a higher PREN value material is highly recommended in
case of presence of chloride and sulphide. 317 and/or 317L could be good
alternatives for high performance in such similar environmental conditions.

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of their research

program by the Saudi Binladin Group. The facilities and assistance provided
by the College of Engineering at the University of Hail are also appreciated.

References

[1] K. H. Lo, C. H. Shek and J. K. L. Lai, Recent developments in stainless steels,

Materials Science and Engineering R. 65 (2009), 39-104.
[2] J. C. Tverberg, Stainless Steel in the Brewery, Tech. Q. 38(2), Master Brewers
Association of the Americas, Wauwatosa, WI, (2001), 67-83.
[3] Corrosion of Stainless Steels, ASM Handbook of Corrosion Vol. 13, ASM
International, 1987.
[4] E. Mohammadi Zahrani, A. Saatchi and A. Alfantazi, Pitting of 316L stainless
steel in flare piping of a petrochemical plant, Engineering Failure Analysis 17(4)
(2010), 810-817.
 Failure Analysis of 316L Stainless Steel Seamless Tube 35
[5] M. G. Fontana, Corrosion Engineering, 3rd ed., McGraw Hill Book Company,
1986.
[6] Seifedine Kadry, Corrosion Analysis of Stainless Steel, European Journal of
Scientific Research 22(4) (2008), 508-516.
[7] P. Pohjanne, L. Carpén, T. Hakkarainen and P. Kinnunen, A method to predict
pitting corrosion of stainless steels in evaporative conditions, Journal of
Constructional Steel Research 64(11) (2008), 1325-1331.
[8] ASTM standards, A269, Standard Specification for Seamless and Welded
Austenitic Stainless Steel Tubing for General Service, 2003.
[9] A. Abad, M. Hahn and O. S. Es-Said, Corrosion of 15-5PH H1025 stainless steel
due to environmental conditions, Engineering Failure Analysis 17(1) (2010),
208-212.

View publication stats