저널

This study examined the influence of post weld heat treatment (PWHT) conditions on corrosion behaviors of laser-welded super duplex stainless steel tube. Due to the high cooling rate of laser welding, the phase fraction of ferrite and austenite in the weld metal became unbalanced significantly. In addition, the Cr2N particles were precipitated adjacent to the fusion line, which can be susceptible to the localized corrosion. On the other hand, the phase fraction in the weld metal was restored at a ratio of 5:5 when exposed to temperatures above 1060 oC during the post weld heat treatment. Nevertheless, the high beltline speed during the PWHT, leading to the insufficient cooling rate, caused a precipitation of σ phase at the interface between ferrite/austenite in both weld metal and base metal. This resulted in the severe corrosion damages and significant decrease in critical pitting temperature (CPT), which was even lower than that measured in as-welded condition. Moreover, the fraction of σ phase in the center region of post weld heat treated steel tube was obtained to be higher than in the surface region. These results suggest that the PWHT conditions for the steel tube should be optimized to ensure the high corrosion resistance by excluding the precipitation of σ phase even in center region.

Super duplex stainless steel, Corrosion, Cr2N, Sigma phase, Post weld heat treatment