Effect of weld metal chemistry on stress corrosion cracking behavior of AISI 444 ferritic stainless steel weldments in boiling chloride solution

The influence of the weld metal chemistry on the susceptibility of AISI 444 ferritic stainless steel (FSS) weldment to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in hot chloride was investigated by constant load tests and metallographic examination. Two types of filler metal of austenitic stainless steel (E316L and E309L) were used in order to produce fusion zones of different chemical compositions. The SCC test results showed that the interface between the fusion zone (FZ) and the heat affected zone (HAZ) was the most susceptible region to SCC. Results also showed that the AISI 444 stainless steel weldment with E309L weld metal presented the best SSC resistance. Microstructural examinations indicated that the cracks initiated in the weld metal and propagated to the HAZ of the AISI 444 FSS, where the fracture occurred and it was observed a considerable amount of precipitates. Additionally, the higher SCC resistance of the AISI 444 FSS weldment with E309L weld metal may be attributed to the presence of a discontinuous delta‐ferrite network in its microstructure, which acted as a barrier to cracks propagation from the fusion zone to the HAZ/fusion zone interface of AISI 444 FSS. Fractrography analyses showed that the transgranular quasi‐cleavage fracture mode was predominant in the AISI 444 weldment with E316L weld metal and the mixed fracture mode was the predominant in the AISI 444 weldment with E309L weld metal.