The Pitting Corrosion Behavior of the Austenitic Stainless Steel 308L-316L Welded Joint

The pitting corrosion resistance of the austenitic stainless steel 308L-316L welded joint was investigated by electrochemical tests. It is found that the weld zone was the most critical for pits to initiate in the welded joint due to relatively instable passive film with few Mo and inhomogeneous passive film induced by multiple (Mn, Al, and Si) oxides and continuous network of 13.94 vol.% delta ferrites. By statistical analysis, 53.8% pits initiated at (Mn, Al, and Si) oxides, 23.0% in austenite, and 23.2% at interface between ferrite and austenite. In addition, heat-affected zone was prone to have pitting corrosion compared with the base metal since residual strain was much higher in the region.