Influence of nitrogen content on the pit formation and pit propagation in the welded joints of X5CrNi18‐10 stainless steel

• Published in: Materials and corrosion Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 444 - 459
• Main Authors: Radojković, Bojana, Jegdić, Bore, Pejić, Jovanka, Marunkić, Dunja, Simović, Anđela, Eraković Pantović, Sanja
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-04-2024
• Subjects: Anodic polarization; Argon; Corrosion; Corrosion effects; Corrosion resistance; DL EPR; Heat affected zone; Intergranular corrosion; Nitrogen; pitting corrosion; SEM/EDS; Shielding; Stainless steel; Stainless steels; Weld metal; Welded joints; Welding current; X5CrNi18‐10 stainless steel
• ISSN: 0947-5117; 1521-4176
• DOI: 10.1002/maco.202314120

The influence of welding current and nitrogen content in argon shielding gas on the resistance of the welded joint (weld metal and heat‐affected zone [HAZ]) of the stainless steel X5CrNi18‐10 to the formation and growth of pits was investigated. Also, the susceptibility of the welded joint to intergranular corrosion was examined. Pitting corrosion resistance indicators were determined based on anodic potentiodynamic polarization measurements in NaCl + Na2SO4 solution, while susceptibility to intergranular corrosion was determined by the potentiokinetic method with a double loop (DL EPR). SEM/EDS was used to analyze the microstructure. It has been shown that higher nitrogen content in shielding gas leads to an increase in the resistance of welded joints (weld metal and HAZ) to the pit formation. However, an improvement in the resistance to the pit formation leads to a decline in the resistance of the welded joint to pit growth. An explanation of this phenomenon is proposed. Also, it was shown that the increase of the welding current increases the susceptibility of the welded joint to intergranular corrosion, while the higher nitrogen content has no effect.
The influence of welding current and nitrogen content in the shielding gas on the resistance of weld metal and heat‐affected zone in austenitic stainless steel X5CrNi18‐10 (AISI 304) on pitting and intergranular corrosion was examined. It is shown that with increased pit formation resistance, the tendency to pit growth of the welded joint increased.