Evaluation of microstructure and electrochemical corrosion behavior of austenitic 316 stainless steel weld metals with varying chemical compositions

Austenitic stainless steel weld metals have, in general, inferior corrosion resistance compared with the base metals. This is due to the fact that the weld metal has an inhomogeneous and dendritic microstructure with microsegregation of major elements (i.e., Cr, Mo, and Ni) as well as minor elements (i.e., S and P) at the δ-γ interface boundaries. The nonuniform alloying element concentration around ferrite particles plays a major role in determining the electrochemical corrosion behavior of such weld metals. Although the presence of ferrite is considered to be detrimental as far as the localized corrosion is considered, its exact role in uniform corrosion is still not clear. The uniform corrosion behavior of an alloy is determined by the fundamental electrochemical parameters of the major alloying elements. In this study, an attempt has been made to correlate the microstructure and uniform corrosion behavior of type 316 stainless steel weld metals with varying concentrations of Cr and Mo, and different ferrite contents. From the empirical equations obtained during the analysis of the electrochemical corrosion data, an attempt has been made to understand the role of Cr, Mo, and ferrite in altering the electrochemical corrosion parameters of the weld metal. Based on the extensive microstructural characterization, a dissolution model for the weld metal in the moderately oxidizing medium has been proposed.