Potentiostatic Study of the Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic

Stainless Steel Weld Metal

by T. G. Gooch, J. Honeycombe and P. Walker
Research Laboratory, The Welding Institute, Abington, Cambridge.
(Revised manuscript received 17 March, 1971)

The corrosion behaviour of austenitic stainless steel weld metals has been studied potentiostatically with
particular reference to marginally and moderately oxidising conditions. Sample welds covering the
range of material composition and welding process in industrial use were employed.
Corrosion behaviour has been shown to be primarily determined by weld metal composition and micro;'
structure, choice of welding process having no significant effect. Susceptibility to a number of different
types of preferential attack has been observed, and the practical significance o/these has been considered.

Introduction may move out of the passive range into conditions that cause
AT the present time, welding is probably the most common corrosion. Thus, in the first instance, polarisation curves for
method of fabrication of metallic structures. While there are the sample weld metals were obtained to define their overall
a number of reasons to expect enhanced corrosive attack at the corrosion behaviour over a range of potentials embracing the
weld metal, in the majority of instances this is not a problem, passive range. A typical curve is shown in Fig. 1, the
and the corrosion behaviour of the weld metal is closely following criteria in particular being considered:5 (i) the rest
comparable with that of the parent material. However, this potential (point A in Fig. 1); (ii) the width and position of the
is not always the case, particularly perhaps when austenitic passive range (between points B and C); and (iii) the peak
stainless steel is considered. The Welding Institute carried current density in the active loop.
out a survey on the problem of corrosion at welded joints in Subsequet;lt to this, controlled potential etching studies and
austenitic stainless steel constructions, and the results indi- metallography were carried out to determine the exact nature
cated that preferential attack on the weld metal as opposed to of attack occurring at any particular potential, and to study
the parent material was frequently encountered in service in the possibility of local attack taking plac~ at preferred sites
chemical and other plant.1 From this survey, it appeared within the weld metal itself. When corrosion of stainless steel
that there was little information regarding the relative import- occurs in service, it n10st often does so because of a passive/
ance of factors such as welding process, weld metal micro- active transition, involving a change in service potential
structure and composition in determining the corrosion be- around point B in Fig. 1. In the present work, therefore,
haviour of stainless steel weld metals. Where preferential most attention has been paid to such environmental conditions.
weld metal attack was encountered in service, remedial meas- 1·25
ures were generally undertaken on a purely empirical basis,
whilst the lack of knowledge had the effect of prejudicing the
Transpassive range
use of newer welding processes in fabricating stainless steel
1'00
plant for service in corrosive environments. Further, although
a number of studies of the corrosion behaviour of stainless
steel weld metal have been carried out, these have largely been > 0'75
aimed at one particular aspect of behaviour, often using one w·
Extremely
oxidising
Cl
or other of the standard corrosion tests.2 -4 In consequence, 0 conditions
a::
such data as have been obtained are seldom directly applicable I-
0'50
U
to the practical case. w
....•
w
This lack of data has frequently led to measures being taken w
to avoid weld metal attack that may, in fact, never arise, with U
Z 0·25
w
associated economic penalties. a:: Passive range

In view of this situation, an investigation into the corrosion ~

w
a::
behaviour of stainless steel weld metal was initiated, sponsored w
I-
by a number of concerns representing material suppliers, «
fabricators and users, and intended to define the relative :c
a..
....•
importance of welding process, weld metal microstructure and :>
Vl -0·25
composition in influencing corrosion behaviour. .,;
>
The investigation was limited to a laboratory study of welds ....•
«
produced with combinations of commercially available parent ~
Z
-0·50
Moderately B

materials and welding consumables. To obtain results of w

I-
oxidising
More positive
conditions
general application, it was decided that potentiostatic tech- 0
a..
niques should be used to study the corrosion behaviour of -0·75
Marginally
these welds. While there have been a number of potentio- oxidising
conditions
static investigations into the behaviour of wrought stainless A

steels, there appear to be no comparable data on weld metal. -1·00

-10 20 30 40 50 60
The programme was thus intended also to define the applic-
CURRENT DENSITY, mA/cm2
ability of this mode of corrosion assessment to weld metals.
Stainless steels are normally chosen for service in conditions Fig. 1. Typical polarisation curve for a stainless steel weld metal.
such that a passive film is developed on the metal surface. Point A is rest potential. Point B is the passive film breakdown
potential considered in the present work. Point C is the passive film
However, environmental conditions can vary, and the material breakdown potential in extremely oxidising conditions

Br. Corros. J., 1971, Vol. 6, July

 Gooch et al.: Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal 149

Experi~ental
Sample preparation
Butt welds were made according to Table I, to cover the
range of welding process, microstructure and composition
likely to be encountered in practice. Conventional edge
preparations were used, and where multi-pass welds were
involved a~ interpass temperature of ambient was maintained.
The ferrite contents of the welds were determined using a point
counting technique.
Corrosion testing
Potentiostatic technique
A conventional potentiostatic technique6 was adopted, the
electrolyte used for the test cell being 20 % sulphuric acid with
0·1 g litre-1 ammonium thiocyanate. 6 A mercury/mercurous
sulphate reference electrode was used, this being +0' 664 V
on the hydrogen scale. All potentials quoted are relative to
this electrode.
Overall corrosion behaviour
Transverse sections were prepared from the experimental
welds to a l!lffi diamond finish, with all but a defined area of
the weld metal masked off with lacquer. Initially, potentio-
dynamic polarisation curves for each specimen were obtained
by continuously scanning at 0·3 V/h over a range of potential
from -0'9 to +1·5 V, but repeat experiments to check
reproducibility showed that the scatter in the criteria measured
was far greater than had previously been found in work on
wrought materials. 6, 7 Data were therefore obtained using
potentiostatic techniques.
The lower passive film breakdown potential (point B in
Fig. 1) was determined by decreasing the potential from
-0'30 V in 0·01 V steps, examining the specimen metallo-
graphically after each step until attack was observed. The
potentjal at which significant attack first occurred was taken
as the overall passive film breakdown potential. Similarly,
the upper limit (point C) was obtained by increasing the
potential from +0'4 V. . steel weld metals display the same variability in overall
To determine the active loop peak current density, speci-
mens were placed in the test electrolyte at -1'0 V for
TABLE
Details of welds
,....,
15 sec to help removal of the pass~vefilm. The potential
was then changed to that previously determined as corres-
ponding to the peak, and the current density recorded when
equilibrium had been reached.
Susceptibility to preferential attack
Sections from selected welds were corroded potentiostati-
cally over the range of potential from the centre of the passive
range to below the active loop. At each potential, the time
of attack was determined by experiment as being long enough
for equilibrium to be attained, and for the existing air-formed
passive film to break down if the potential was such that
passivity was unstable. The specimens were examined in a
light microscope, and the type and extent of attack recorded.
Throughout the work, attention was paid to the relative cor-
rosion behaviour of the parent materials and the weld metal,
to determine whether or not one or the other was particularly
likely to suffer attack over any given potential range. The
relationship between susceptibility to preferential attack and
microstructure was studied by extraction replica electron
microscopy techniques.
Results
Overall corrosion behaviour
Chemical analyses of the weld metals and parent materials
used in this investigation are given in Table II, together with
the results of the ferrite determinations.
Table III gives the results of the active loop peak current
density' and passive range determinations, with values for
repeat experiments to illustrate the amount of scatter involved.
A series of experiments on wrought materials showed the
potentiostatic technique employed to be satisfactory and to
yield reproducible results on homogeneous material. The
scatter in the results obtained for weld metals must therefore
be regarded as indicating the actual behaviour of these
materials. This variability in behaviour was observed over
a range of potential corresponding to a range of service
environments~ It may be concluded that austenitic stainless
corrosion behaviour, found in this investigation, when in
service in practical environments.
I

Specimen Parent Plate Filler Welding Shielding Arc Current, No. of

no. material thickness, in material process gas voltage, V I A runs

TIG Ar 29 160 1
6 304 t Nil
Ar 12 150 2*
7 304 1
"8 19/10 TIG
1
19/10 MIG 22 180 1

}
8 304 "8
MIG 26 225 2
Y 304 t 19/10/Nb
26 200 2
10 304 t 19/10/Nb MIG Ar/2%02
MIG 26 225 2
11 304 t 19/10
24 225 2
12 304 1
4" 19/12/3/Nb MIG
13 304 1
4" 19j12/3/Nb MMA Nil 22 130 2

14 304 t 18/12/3 SA Nil 30 300/350 5t

15 304 5
"8 19/10/Nb MIG CO2 26 200 7
16 304 5
"8 19/10/Nb MIG Ar/2%02 26 225 8
17 316 1
4" 19/12/3/Nb MIG Ar/2%02 24 225 2
Nil 22 95 2
18
19
316
316
±1
4"
17/14/3
17/15/3
MMA
MMA Nil 22 95 2
20 316 1
4" 18/12/3 MIG CO2 26 220 2
21 316 1
4" 18/12/3 MIG Ar/2%02 26 225 2
22 316 1
4" 20/8/3' 5 MMA Nil 22 130 2
26 225 2
23
24
321
304
±1
"8
19/10/Nb
Nil
MIG
TIG
Ar/2%02
Ar 12 150 1
26 240 2
25 304 ± 25/12 MIG Ar/2%02
26 240 2
26 304 ± 25/20 MIG Ar/2%02

TIG = tungsten inert gas; MIG = metal inert gas; MMA = manual metal arc; SA = submerged arc.
* 1st run without filler. .
t Includes joining run by MMA, afterwards gouged out.

Dr. Corros. J., 1971, Vol. 6, July

150 Gooch et al.: Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal
The most significant feature of the results observed is the
effect of molybdenum, in reducing the peak current density
and passive film breakdown potential. This is consistent
with data for wrought material,8 and with practical experience
in chemical plant. Molybdenum was also found to raise the
anodic/cathodic transition point of the weld metal (point A
in Fig. 1), i.e. to make the steel more noble. Within the
compositional ranges studied, variations in other alloying
TABLE II
elements appeared to have little effect on the overall corrosion
behaviour of austenitic weld metals.
The only marked effect of microstructure observed was a
tendency for the active loop to spread in the negative potential
direction with increasing ferrite content. This is consIstent
with the known effect of ferrite, and indicates preferential
attack on this phase. 9 Secondary peaks on the less positive
sides of the polarisation curves were observed in some scans

Chemical analyses of parent materials and weld deposits and ferrite contents

Specimen no. C,% Ni,% Cr, % Mo, % Nb, % Ti, % Ferrite, %

I
6 0·06 10·79 18·49 5
7 0·07 9·64 18·68 12
8 0·06 9·55 19·26 10
9 0·08 9·40 19·58 0·53 6
10 0·08 9·47 19·36 0·13 0'61 7
11 0·06 9·54 19·84 6
12 0·07 10·41 18'58 2·29 0·40 10
13 0·08 10·58 17·68 1·92 0·66 13
14 0·06 11·11 17·40 1·64 0·037 4
15 0·15 9·20 19·20 0·61 4
16 0·08 9·15 19·56 0·15 0·86 10
17 0·08 11·19 18'30 3-16 0·41 10 -,
18 0·07 15·06 18·60 3-53 0
19 0·07 15·20 18·42 3·53 0
20 0-12 10·74 17'58 3 ·16 9
21 0·06 10·74 17·44 3-20 5
22 0·12 9·30 19·32 3·98 15
23 0·08 9·23 19·24 0'58 0·14 13
24 0-06 9-60 18·28 7
25 0·04 12·04 21·78 8
26 0-11 17·87 24·88 0·10 0·011 0
Parent material
i-in 304 0·03 9;93 18·29 0'11 0·005
i-in 304 0·04 10·20 18·34 0'11 0·005
i-in 304 0·05 8·82 18-55 0·38 0·005
i-in 316 0·04 11·87 16'56 2·84
i-in 321 0·05 9·72 18·24 0·45

Blank space indicates that no determination was carried out.

TABLE III
Peak current density, peak potential of active loop and limits of passive range, with respect to standard electrode

Active loop Passive range

Specimen Peak current density,
no. mAfcm2 Peak potential, - V +ve limit, V -ve limit, V

Scanning Controlled Controlled Controlled Controlled

potential Scanning Scanning Scanning
potential potential, potential
6 54 55 0-65 0·65 0·60 0-60 0·38 0·39
7 42 56 0·66 0·65 0·62 0·60 0·47 0·50
8 62, 59 62 0'66,0'67 0·65 0·61 0·58 O' 54,0'44 0·50
9 85, 38, 13 74,59 0'65,0-67,0'71 0'66,0'65 0·61 0-68 0'40,0'40 0·45
0·45
10 73,53, 30 80,69 0'65,0'67,0'69 0'66,0'63 0·61 0·68 0'50,0'41 ' 0·49
0·48
11 16 73,43 0·70 0'65,0'63 0·60 0·64 0-43
12 0·44
11,6 12, 10, 9 0'60,0-64 0'59,0'58,0'58 0·60 0·62 0-37,0-49 0·54
13 14,8 18, 13,7 0'60,0'62 o . 59, O· 59, O· 59 0·60 0·64 0'42,0'51 0·54
14 5,3 17, 10 0'64,0'63 0'58,0'61 0·59 0'58 0-45,0'45 0·54
15 39,26 58,25 0'68,0'67 0-65, 0·65 0·55 0·58 0'43,0'44 0·45
16 17 77, 34 0·70 0'65,0'66 0·55 0·64 0·42 0·49
17 7 8,7 0·63 0'57,0'58 0·59 0·64 0·45 0·56
18 5 7,6 0·56 0-56,0'56 0·58 0·62 0·45
19 0·56
7,7 11,8 0'58,0'58 0-57,0'56 0·59 0-64 0'51,0'52 0·56
20 6 7,6 0·58 0'58,0'57 0·58 0·58 0·50
21 0·55
6 9,8 0·58 0'57,0'58 0·59 0·54 0·48 0·54
22 2, 3 2,1'5 0'60,0'63 0'60,0'60 0·58 0·64 0'50,0'56 0·51
23 61,50 66,58,47 0'67,0'68 0-65,0'65,0'63 0·60 0·64 0'40,0'50
24 0·39
59 65, 50 0-64 0'63,0·62 0·60 0-60 0-49 0·48
25 71, 16 93, 88 0'65, 0·75 0'65,0'65 0·59 0·64 0'43, 0·43
26 0·40
59,5 66,43, 35 0'63,0'65 0·56 0·68 0'37,0'49 0·48

Br. Corros. J., 1971, Vol. 6, July

 Gooch et al.: Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal 151

on high ferrite weld· metals, although the effect was not re- indeed composition and microstructure, had a significant
producible. Fig. 2 shows the relationship between the rest effect on the overall corrosion behaviour of austenitic weld
potential and the ferrite content for weld metals with and metals, this would have been apparent in the results obtained.
without molybdenum, the reduction in rest potential being
more marked in the latter case. Susceptibility to preferential attack
Neither choice of welding process nor associated heat input It was found that several types of preferential attack could
appears to affect overall corrosion behaviour. No consistent occur, viz: grain boundary attack; fusion boundary attack;
pattern in the results was noted, and this finding would be attack on the root run; attack on the alloy depleted regions of /'
expected to be valid when considering practical situations. the austenitic matrix; and attack on ferrite.
It is pointed out that the technique adopted proved satisfac- The environmental conditions causing attack as defined by
tory in illustrating the known beneficial effects of molybdenum. the potentiostat are summarised in Table IV. It is not pos-
It may therefore be concluded that had welding process, and sible to completely define the potential range over which prefer-
ential attack occurs, since one end of this range will extend
into the active loop, where significant general attack takes
place, tending to mask any preferential corrosion. Thus, to
-> -0-7
the more positive side of the active loop, it is the upper limit
ui
Q of potential causing preferential attack that is stated, while to
o
a:::
I-
the less positive side, it is the lower limit.
U
W
...J
W
Grain boundary attack
W
U Grain boundary attack was observed only in the potential
Z
w
a:::
range to the immediate more positive side of the active loop,
w
u..
w
corresponding to moderately oxidising media, and arose only
a:::
w
in weld metals containing 0·08 % carbon and above, and with-
~ out molybdenum. Corrosion was not confined to the regions
I
a.. immediately along the grain boundaries, but tended to take
...J
::>
<.n
the form of isolated or interlinked pits, as shown in Fig. 3,
while attack was more marked in the earlier reheated runs of
>
...J multi-pass welds. Further, attack took place only at poten-
« tials below the general passive film breakdown potential.
i=
zw Electron microscope studies showed attack to be associated
b -1-0
8 12 16 20 with the presence of grain boundary precipitate. The
a.. 0
FERRITE CONTENT 7 % precipitating phase was not identified, but its morphological
similarity to the M23C6 phase previously observed in wrought
Fig. 2. Relationship between ferrite content and rest potential materials6,7 strongly suggested it to be a chromium-rich
OMolybdenum-containing; 6. molybdenum-free weld metal carbide of this type.
TABLE IV
Summary of controlled potential corrosion studies

Environment and type of attack

Specimen Around passive film More positive side of Less positive side
breakdown potential active loop of active loop
Rest
Highest Highest Weld poten-
poten- poten- Prefer- Parent and tial Prefer-
Passive Passive tial Prefer-
limit of limit of of attack tial ential metal parent taken as ential
Specimen Parent Filler parent of grain ential attack on attacked attacked lower attack
weld on
no. material material metal, material, fusion bound- attack
1st
on dend-
pass
more by limit of on
V V ary riles rapidlyd same ferrite 1st pass
bound- attack, amount d attack,
ary, V V V
c b b -0·84 c
7 304 19/10 -0·50 -0·50 - -
b b
10 304 19/10/Nb -0·50 -0·48 -0'50a -0·55 b b -0'82
11 304 19/10 -0·44 -0·44 - - b b b -0,83 b

12 304 19/10/3Mo/Nb -0·54 -0·5 -0·52 - b b b -0,81 b

14 304 18/12/1· 6 1\10 -0·54 -0·48 -0·50 - Differ- b b -0·72 b

ence
very
slight
b b b -0'82 b
15 304 19/10/Nb -0·46 -0·48 - -0·55
b b b -0·84 b
16 304 19/10/Nb -0·49 -0·46 -0·55a -0·55
b b b -0·75 b
19 316 17/15/3Mo -0·54 ~0'54 -0·52 -
b b b -0·72 b
20 316 18/12/3Mo -0·54 -0-·54 -0·52 -
b b b -0'8 b
21 316 18/12/3Mo -0·54 -0·53 -0·52 -
b b b -0·7 b
22 316 20/8/3Mo -0·53 -0·48 -0·51 -
b b b -0·84 b
23 321 19/10/Nb -0·48 -0·48 - -0·58
c b Weld attacked -0·84 c
24 304 Nil -0·48 -0·50 - -
first
b b b -0·76 b
26 304 25/20 -0·48 -0·48 -0'55a -0·55
I
_ Indicates this type of attack not observed; a very slight; b denotes attack
observed; c single pass weld; d assessed visually.

Br. Corros. J., 1971, Vol. 6, July

152 Gooch et a1.: Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal
Fusion boundary and root run attack
In molybdenum-containing weld metals, deep preferential
attack took place along the fusion boundary at potentials
20-30 mV above that required to cause general passive film
breakdown and corrosion, and over the entire potential range
of the active loop. Attack was actually on the austenite, but
appeared more marked in weld metals containing ferrite
(Fig. 4). Extraction replicas gave no indication of the cause
of this attack. Further, in all the multi-pass weld metals
examined, the first pass corroded more rapidly over the entire
active loop than did subsequent passes (Fig. 5). It was not
possible to relate this effect to any single factor other than the
multi-pass deposition. It was not associated with carbide
precipitation, or with the presence of any particular alloying
element.
Matrix attack
Between the passive film breakdown potential and the
active loop peak, rapid attack on the austenite matrix took
place, particularly on the alloy-lean regions of the dendritic
structure. A further effect observed in the titanium-contain-
ing specimen (No. 23) was a tendency for Ti(C, N) particles to
be removed in preference to attack on the austenite matrix.
This attack is probably of only limited practical significance,
since although the detachment of carbonitrides will give rise
to pits, and thus could provide suitable initiation sites for
Fig. 3. Grain boundary attack in specimen 26, following attack at
-0·55 V
x 330
Fig. 4. Fusion boundary attack in specimen 21 following attack at
-0·53 V
Weld metal on left. x 170
pitting corrosion, attack took place at potentials where the
general resistance of the weld metal is inadequate.
Attack on ferrite
The potential range on the less positive side of the active
loop corresponding to only marginally oxidising environments,
would be expected particularly to give rise to attack on alloy-
rich regions. 9 Consistent with this was the observation of
preferential attack on ferrite, and at potentials close to the
rest potential this phase was rapidly attacked with no evidence
of corrosion of the austenite matrix (Fig. 6). This was the
only potential range studied which gave rise to preferential
attack on ferrite. At more positive potentials, the ferrite was
not corroded preferentially and in fact at potentials close to
the passive film breakdown potential it was immune (Fig. 7).
Weld metal vs. parent material
Provided that the weld metal composition matched that of
the parent material, little difference in relative corrosion
behaviour was found. Generally, the weld metal appeared
more resistant to attack, in that the passive film breakdown
potential was lower (Table IV), but the differences between the
two were small.
Discussion
By use of the potentiostat, it has been possible to observe
the incidence of various forms of preferential attack in the
Fig. 5 Preferential attack on first run of specimen 22, following
corrosion at -0'63 V
x40
Fig. 6. Specimen 23 showing pr~ferential attack on ferrite following
attack at -0·71 V
x 330
Br. Corros. J., 1971, Vol. 6, J"uly
 Gooc;het al.: Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal
Fig. 7. Specimen 21 showing no attack on ferrite following corrosion
for 16 h at -0·52 V despite heavy attack on austenite
X 170
sample welds, and to define the conditions of environmental
potential causing attack. The practical significance of any
particular type of attack depends very largely on the service
environment, and cannot readily be completely assessed using
the potentiostat. This is due to two factors, namely the fact
that the service cathodic reactions and thus the service poten-
tial will not. be known in detail, and the impossibility of
ascertaining the current density corresponding to the local
corrosion of a small region in a large specimen. Nonetheless,
the observation of preferential attack in the laboratory indi-
cates that identical attack can arise in service under the asso-
ciated environmental conditions, and while the actual rate of
attack in service cannot be defined, the results are directly
relevant to the practical situation.
Effect of composition and microstructure
With the ranges of composition studied, the major or stabi-
lising alloying elements, chromium, nickel, niobium and
titanium, did not appear to have any significant effect on the
corrosion behaviour of austenitic stainless steel weld metal,
except through their influence on the amount of ferrite present
in the weld metal. Carbon and molybdenum did influence
corrosion behaviour, and these are considered below.
Over the range studied, carbon contents above O' 08 %
could lead to susceptibility to grain boundary attack, particu-
larly in multi-pass welds. Two considerations are noteworthy,
however. Firstly, grain boundary attack was inhibited by
the presence of molybdenum, and secondly, even when such
preferential attack was observed, it took place only at poten-
tials where significant general corrosion would be expected.
The former effect is consistent with the observation that
molybdenum can prevent susceptibility to intercrystallineattack
by retarding the precipitation of chromium-rich carbides,
particularly at temperatures below 750°c.10 The latter
t"o.I
effect indicates that even when susceptibility to preferential
grain boundary attack occurs in moderately oxidising media,
it may not be of great importance, since the general corrosion
resistance of the weld metal will probably be inadequate for
service, unless perhaps carbide precipitation over and above
that caused by the welding operation should result from the
necessity for excessive repair welding, or from postweld heat
treatment. It is pointed out that grain boundary attack was
observed in both unstabilised and Nb-stabilised deposits.
However, in the latter case, the Nb content was generally
below the n1inimum regarded as necessary for effective
stabilisation (i.e. 10 x <;6 C), and it is possible that a higher Nb
content would reduce susceptibility to attack.
Molybdenum affected corrosion behaviour in two ways.
Br. Corros. J., 1971, Vol. 6, July
153
Firstly, as established in practice, it has a significant beneficial
effect on overall corrosion behaviour by lowering the passive
film breakdown potential and reducing the active loop peak
current density. Secondly, it has the effect of inducing
susceptibility to a form of attack at the fusion boundary, over
a wide range of potentials, including conditions when the rest
of the weldment would be expected to be passive. It is
well known that in certain moderately oxidising environments,
e.g. urea plants, weldments in molybdenum-containing stain-
less steel may be subject to marked attack at the fusion bound-
ary,l1 particularly when a significant amount of ferrite is
present in this region, and this correlation between fusion
boundary attack and environmental conditions is consistent
with the results of the present investigation. Nonetheless, it
does not appear to have been recognised that this form of
attack is largely peculiar to molybdenum alloys. While the
situation may be ameliorated by using ferrite-free deposits,
attack is still severe, and it is desirable that further work be
carried out to ascertain exactly why this attack should arise,
and whether measures such as adjustment to the consumable
composition may be taken to avoid it.
The practical problem of preferential attack on ferrite has
been recognised for a number of years. The present work
has confirmed that attack arises only at potentials to the south
of the active loop, i.e. under marginally oxidising conditions.
Obviously, in the vast majority of instances, ferrite will not
significantly affect corrosion behaviour, since it would not
normally be anticipated that austenitic stainless steels would
be used under such conditions of potential. However, the
presence of significant amounts of ferrite within the weld
metal could lead to this situation being attained under variable
environmental conditions that are nominally only just on the
more positive side of the active loop. This type of attack was
observed on all the ferrite-containing weld metals studied, and
it would not appear that it can be avoided by adjustment of
either welding technique or material composition. It was
found that increasing amounts of ferrite worsened the situa-
tion and it may be concluded that the only way to avoid the
problem is to use consumables given ferrite-free deposits.
This implies that a risk of weld metal microfissuring must be
accepted,12 with possible deleterious effects on the mechanical
properties of the completed weldment.
Attention is drawn to the fact that ferrite may be associated
with two particular types of local corrosion, namely that
considered imn1ediately above, and that arising at the fusion
boundary in molybdenum-containing weld metals. The
difference is that in the latter case, the ferrite itself was not
attacked preferentially, but appeared to accelerate the corro-
sion that took place on the austenite. This may in part be
responsible for apparent differences in the nature of local
attack associated with ferrite in service media.
Enhanced attack was also observed on the early runs of
multi-pass welds. This indicates that when fabricating stain-
less steel vessels for use in a corrosive environment, advan-
tages might often be gained by welding techniques utilising a
sealing run on the inside of the vessel. This is, of course,
consistent with good industrial technique.
Effect of welding process
It was found that the type of process used to make the welds
had no significant effect on either overall corrosion behaviour
or susceptibility to preferential attack. While the conditions
under which the weld metal is deposited will determine its
solidification structure, it would seem from the point of view
of corrosion behaviour that such differences as exist between
the solidification structures resulting from the various pro-
cesses are of minor importance. This is not to say that the
actual welding technique has no effect on corrosion. It
certainly does, both as regards the number of weld runs
involved and also the type of shielding gas, if employed.
154 Gooch et al.: Corrosion Behaviour of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal
In the latter context, the relative lack of preferential grain
boundary attack in the high carbon weld metals deposited by
the carbon-dioxide process compared with previous work on
wrought material6,7 is interesting. There are a number of
technical and economic advantages that could be gained by
the use of carbon dioxide as a shielding gas with gas-shielded
metal arc welding, or by the incorporation of a proportion of
carbon dioxide into the shielding gas, but work by Brown
et al.13 had indicated that this gas would have a significantly
deleterious effect on corrosion resistance. This is in contrast
to the results of the present investigation. However, in the
previous work, the corrosion resistance was studied in an
extre'mely oxidising medium, i.e. boiling 65 % nitric acid. In
the present work, environments were studied that would be
considered as only mildly and moderately oxidising and a
direct correlation between the two investigations would not
be expected. It is therefore probable that, provided service
in other than strongly oxidising media is anticipated, carbon
dioxide may be used as a shielding gas in welding austenitic
stainless steel, with no loss in corrosion resistance.
Relationship between weld metal and parent material
The present work indicates that the corrosion behaviour of
austenitic weld metals relative to the parent material may be
variable. Generally, it appears that the weld metal is the
more resistant, in that it is attacked over a narrower potential
range. However, provided that the weld metal composition
matched that of the parent material, the differences in poten-
tial ranges causing attack on one or the other were relatively
small, and it is likely that of greater importance will be the
local current densities associated with those regions of the
weld metal likely to suffer preferential attack. This is consis-
tent with the general observation that when weld metals do
suffer attack in preference to the parent material, it is fre-
quently associated with particular microstructural features
such as carbides or ferrite.
Conclusions
The corrosion behaviour of austenitic stainless steel weld
metals has been studied, with particular reference to margi-
nally -and moderately oxidising conditions. Although con-
siderably greater variability of overall corrosion behaviour
was found than is observed with wrought material, the follow-
ing conclusions have been reached.
The corrosion behaviour of austenitic stainless steel weld
metals is primarily a result of weld metal composition and
microstructure, particularly when considering local attack at
preferred sites within the weld metal. The corrosion behavi-
our is not determined by the process per se used in making the
deposit.
In terms of overall corrosion behaviour, the most important
factor is molybdenum, the presence of which affords significant
advantages in marginally and moderately oxidising environ-
ments.
The major alloying and stabilising elements, chromium,
nickel, titanium and niobium, had no significant effect on
corrosion behaviour except by determining the amount of
ferrite present. Carbon and molybdenum were associated
with particular types of preferential attack.
Preferential grain boundary attack may take place under
moderately oxidising conditions. This was observed only in
weld metals containing greater than O· 08 % carbon, and sus-
ceptibility was prevented by the presence of molybdenum. It
is not considered that this form of attack represents a practical
problem.
Welds containing molybdenum were subject to significant
preferential attack at the fusion boundary. This attack took
place at potentials between the rest potential and 20-30 m V
above the general passivation potential, and was enhanced by
the presence of ferrite.
Ferrite was preferentially attacked only on the less positive
side of the active loop. Under these marginally oxidising
conditions, the presence of this phase was markedly deleteri-
ous to the corrosion resistance of the weld metal, and it is
concluded that the only' way to avoid attack is the use of
ferrite-free weld metals.
Under the environmental conditions studied, the relative
corrosion resistance of the parent material and the weld metal
was variable. Provided that the two were of matching com-
position, differences in the potential ranges giving attack on
each were relatively small. Differences in service performance
were more likely to arise by virtue of local regions within the
weld metal having different current densities at a particular
potential.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mr. G. Regelous for his efficient organisa-
tion of the experimental programme, and Messrs R. Smith,
M. Catling and D. Boud for their experimental assistance.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to International Combus-
tion Limited for supplying the sample of submerged arc
welding, to Samuel Fox for supplying the parent materials
used in making the sample welds, and to the following
concerns, members of the Sponsor Group: A. F. Craig & Co.
Ltd., Firth Vickers Stainless Steel Ltd., International Com-
bustion Ltd., Samuel Fox & Co. Ltd., United Kingdom
Atomic Energy Authority, Wm. Neil & Son (St. Helens) Ltd.,
Courtaulds Ltd., ESAB, BP Trading Ltd., Harvey Fabrica-
tions Ltd., Humphreys & Glasgow Ltd., -GKN-Lincoln
Electric Co. Ltd., Head Wrightson & Co. Ltd., Stewarts &
Lloyds Ltd., Geigy (UK) Ltd., Richard & Thomas Baldwins
Ltd., Stainless Steel Development Association, Swedish
Atomic Energy, STP Services Ltd. (T.!. Steel Tube Div.),
Arthur Lee & Sons Ltd., APV Co. Ltd., British Oxygen Co.
Ltd., Robert Jenkins & Co. Ltd., Newton Chambers Engineer-
ing Ltd., and-Ministry of Defence (Navy).
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