Wear and tribocorrosion behaviour of 304L stainless steel welds

The influence of the microstructures of the base metal and weld metals on the wear and tribocorrosion properties of 304L stainless steel (SS) welds prepared by Manual Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (M-GTAW) and Activated Flux Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (A-GTAW) processes are reported. Increase in sliding speed increased both friction forces as well as wear rate. Higher hardness in M-GTAW weld metal resulted in increased wear resistance than A-GTAW weld metal and base metal. The inferior wear resistance of the base metal was due to the strain hardening behaviour under sliding condition. The polarization curves showed increase in passive current density under sliding condition. The applied potential was found to influence the tribocorrosion resistance of the material. Under tribocorrosion condition, the total material loss was higher in base metal followed by A-GTAW weld metal and M-GTAW weld metal. Characterization of worn surface by SEM indicated a mixed wear mechanism of abrasive and adhesive wear. The worn surface appeared relatively smoother in nitric acid medium than in dry condition. The influence of microstructure affecting the hardness, wear and tribocorrosion resistance of the base metal and weld metals of 304L SS is discussed.