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Microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints of L415/316L bimetal

composite pipe using post internal-welding process

Li Liying, Xiao Jun, Han Bin, Wang Xiaolei

PII: S0308-0161(19)30030-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpvp.2019.104026
Reference: IPVP 104026

To appear in: International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping

Received Date: 18 March 2019

Revised Date: 29 November 2019
Accepted Date: 5 December 2019

Please cite this article as: Liying L, Jun X, Bin H, Xiaolei W, Microstructure and mechanical properties
of welded joints of L415/316L bimetal composite pipe using post internal-welding process, International
Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpvp.2019.104026.

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 Microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints of L415/316L
bimetal composite pipe using post internal-welding process1
LI Liying, XIAO Jun, HAN Bin, WANG Xiaolei
(School of Materials Science and Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Shandong Qingdao 266580, China)
Abstract: In order to reduce the welding cost and improve welding quality, L415 /316L bimetal mechanical lined pipes were welded
using the post internal-welding process in which the outer carbon layer is welded prior to the inner stainless layer. The mechanical
property tests, such as tensile, bending and hardness tests, of the welded joints were carried out. Microstructure and the chemical
compositions of the welded joints were analyzed by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), electron
backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and electron probe microscope analysis (EPMA). In addition, the pitting corrosion resistance of the
welded joints was evaluated. The results show that the mechanical properties of the welded joints do meet the standard requirements.
The cracks on the bending specimens are closely related to the martensite formed at ER309L/ER70S-6 or ER309L/L415 interface. In
addition, pitting holes are found in the ferric chloride solution showing that ER309MoL welding wire is not suitable for welding
316L layer. From the perspective of mechanical properties, it is advisable to use the post internal-welding process for the welding of
bimetal composite pipes.
Key words: L415/316L bimetal mechanical lined pipe; post internal-welding process; microstructure; properties

0 Introductions
With the rapid development of global economy, the energy demand all over the world is on constant rise.
However, development of the alternative energy sources has been slow, and the exploration and development of
oil-gas fields are moving toward areas with harsh environmental conditions such as environment with high
temperature and high pressure. In addition, these areas and the crude oil located in these areas have high content
of corrosive substances such as CO2, Cl-, and H2S, which have a strong corrosive effect on the transportation
pipelines [1-3]. The optional materials used for the manufacture of gathering and transportation pipelines include
carbon steel, corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA) steel and bimetal composite pipes. Carbon steel has a short lifetime
in corrosive medium. The CRA steels will undoubtedly increase the cost of the oil production. The bimetal
composite pipes have both the outer thick layer of carbon-steel (and low alloy steel) and inner thin CRA layer. The
outer layer can be made of 20, L245, L415, X65, X70, X80, etc and the inner thin layer can be made of austenitic
stainless steel, duplex or super duplex stainless steel or nickel based alloy according to Banse (1998) [4] and
Gou[5]. Bimetal composite pipes combine the excellent mechanical properties of the outer layer and the good
corrosion resistance of the inner layer, and their price is about 50% lower than the CRA steel pipes. So, bimetal
composite pipes have been widely used in the petroleum, petrochemical and nuclear industries [6-11].
However, the weldability of the bimetal composite pipes is not desirable due to the large difference in
physical properties between the outer pipe and the inner pipe, and some problems tend to occur, such as
misalignment, incomplete penetration, cracking and low corrosion-resistance after welding, etc. In addition, large
weld residual stresses will be generated due to the mismatching of materials [12]. Jiang et al studied the weld
residual stress in a clad plate by neutron diffraction and finite element method [13], and the effects of heat input
[14], thickness of clad metal and base metal [15], repair length [16] and width [17] on residual stress have been
investigated. So far, most researches at home and abroad focus on the preparation technology of bimetal
composite pipes [5, 18, 19], but there is little research on the butt welding of bimetal composite pipes.
The bimetal composite pipes are divided into bimetal mechanical lined pipes and metallurgical clad pipes.
The former is lower in cost and has wider applications compared with the latter. Due to space constraints, the
welding of bimetal mechanical lined pipes generally adopts single-side welding, and the welding sequence is inner

1
Corresponding author. Tel. +86 0532 86983500-8627, Fax. +86 0532 86983300.
E-mail address: llying3456@163.com
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2013EEQ027) and Shandong Key Research
and Development Plan (No.2016ZDJS05B03).
1
layer (backing welding) -transition layer (transition welding)-outer base layer (filler and capping welding) [20].
The treatment process for the end of bimetal mechanical lined pipes can be roughly divided into three stages, as
shown in Fig. 1. The first is the direct welding process [21,22], that is, the end of the bimetal mechanical lined
pipes is not subjected to any treatment (Fig. 1 (a)). The second is the sealing welding process of the end [23,24],
i.e., before the butt welding of the bimetal mechanical lined pipe, a stainless steel welding wire is used to weld the
stainless steel layer and the carbon steel layer (Fig. 1 (b)). The third is the surfacing process of the end [25, 26]
(Fig. 1 (c)). Before the butt welding of the bimetal mechanical lined pipe, a certain range of inner layer near the
ends of the bimetal lined pipe is removed by machining. Then the welding material similar to the inner layer is
used for surfacing, thus the mechanical combination at the end of the bimetal mechanical lined pipes is
transformed into metallurgical combination.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of three typical welding processes and welding sequence
(a) Direct welding process; (b) Sealing welding process; (c) Surfacing process
There are currently two welding materials available for bimetal mechanical lined pipes. On one hand, all weld
beads (backing welding, transition welding and filler and capping welding) are welded using CRA welding
materials, that is, backing welding, transition welding, and filler and capping welding all adopt CRA welding
materials. This kind of welding material is preferred in actual production. The obtained welded joint has good
corrosion resistance, but there are some disadvantages, such as low welding efficiency, high welding cost (the cost
is proportional to pipe diameter and wall thickness), and low weld strength (this problem is more pronounced as
the strength of the outer pipe increases). On the other hand, mixed welding materials are used, that is, the CRA
welding wire whose compositions are similar to the inner layer is used for the backing welding, the CRA welding
wire with higher contents of Cr and Ni than the inner layer is used for the transition welding, and the
equal-matching low alloy steel wire is used for the filler and capping welding [27]. Although this obtained welded
joint has low cost, good corrosion resistance and high strength, it has not yet been widely used in actual
production. The reason is that the thick hardened microstructure layer which may cause cracks in the bending test
usually appears in the fusion zone between the transition welding and the filler welding (Fig. 2). So, it is very
important to find a method which is capable of reducing the thickness of hardened microstructure while improving
welding efficiency and reducing welding costs. However, there have been few studies on solving this problem.

Fig. 2 Hardened microstructure layer (a) and crack resulted by mixed welding materials (b)
Therefore, this article tries to use the double-sided welding method and post internal-welding process
2
proposed by the authors for the butt welding of bimetal lined pipe L415/316L. The mechanical properties of
welded joints were tested, and their microstructure and chemical compositions were analyzed. In addition, the
pitting corrosion resistance of the welded joints was evaluated. This study provides theoretical basis and safety
guarantee for the development of post-welding process and the use of high-efficiency and low-cost mixed welding
consumables.

1 Experimental material and procedures

1.1 Experimental materials
The experimental materials are L415 /316L bimetal mechanical lined pipes with an outer diameter of 355
mm. The outer base layer is L415, which is a kind of common pipeline steel, while the inner layer is 316L. The
thickness of L415 layer is 11 mm, and the 316L layer is 2 mm. The measured chemical composition is given in
Table 1.
Table 1 Chemical compositions of L415/316L bimetal composite pipe (Mass fraction, %)
C Mn Si S P Cr Ni Mo Fe
L415 0.15 1.50 0.40 0.001 0.020 0.05 0.02 0.02 balance
316L 0.004 1.129 0.640 0.000 0.045 16.316 10.028 2.035 balance

1.2 Welding procedures

The post internal-welding process was used for the butt welding of L415 /316L bimetal mechanical lined pipes.
The welding sequence is that the L415 layer is welded prior to the 316L layer. The groove is V-shaped, as shown
in Fig. 3. The special welding sequence is as follows: Firstly, sealing welding (marked as 1 and 2 in Fig. 3) was
adopted for the end of bimetal mechanical lined pipes, the sealing operation was performed from the interior of
bimetal composite pipes using manual gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Secondly, the root (marked as 3 in Fig.
3) and filler (marked as 4 and 5 in Fig. 3) weld of L415 layer was carried out using manual shielded metal-arc
welding (SMAW). Thirdly, the filler (marked as 6 in Fig. 3) and capping (marked as 7 in Fig. 3) weld of 316L
layer were finished using manual GTAW. Finally, the capping (marked as 8 in Fig. 3) weld of L415 layer was
welded using manual SMAW. The welding parameters are shown in Table 2. On one hand, the difference of
chemical composition between the welding consumables and the base metal may result in poor performance of the
fusion zone. On the other hand, the dilution of the chemical compositions and the oxidation loss may occur during
welding process. Therefore, for L415 layer, the gas shielded welding wire ER70S-6 was adopted for the root weld
(marked as 3 in Fig. 3), and the low hydrogen sodium low alloy steel electrode E5015 for the filler (marked as 4
and 5 in Fig. 3) and capping (marked as 8 in Fig. 3) weld. Meanwhile, the stainless steel gas shielded welding
wire ER-309L was used for the sealing weld (marked as 1 and 2 in Fig. 3), filler (marked as 6 in Fig. 3) and
capping (marked as 7 in Fig. 3) weld of 316L layer. The compositions of welding consumables are shown in Table
3.

Fig. 3 Groove shape and welding sequence

Table 2 Welding parameters
Weld Fill metal Electrical characteristics Welding Welding
Welding
bead/ Welding Diameter Welding current voltage speed
process Polarity
Weld layer materials (mm) (A) (V) (cm/min)
1~2 GTAW ER309L φ2.0 DCEP 60~80A 20~25V 5~10
3
 3 GTAW ER70S-6 φ2.5 DCEP 100~130A 20~28V 4~10
4~5 SMAW E5015 φ3.2 DCEP 100~150A 20~28V 5~12
6~7 GMAW ER309L φ2.0 DCEN 100~150A 8~14V 4~10
8 SMAW E5015 φ3.2 DCEP 100~150A 20~28V 5~12

Table 3 Chemical compositions of welding wires and electrodes

C Mn Si S P Cr Cu Ni Mo V
ER70S-6 0.08 1.44 0.8 0.0062 0.015 0.014 0.056 - 0.001 0.0017
ER5015 0.111 0.341 0.541 0.009 0.019 0.0003 - 0.014 0.006 0.003
ER-309L 0.02 1.9 0.37 0 0.022 23.11 - 13.76 - -

1.3 Mechanical Tests

The tensile and bending properties of the welded joint were tested by the DDL600 electronic universal testing
machine, according to the standard of GB/T 2651-2008 (Tensile test method on welded joints) and GB/T
2653-2008 (Bend test methods on welded joints) respectively. Fig. 4 shows the tension test and bending
specimens which were prepared from the welded joints of L415 /316L pipes. In this case, two reduced-section
specimens were used to determine the ultimate strength of groove-weld joints, and four bending specimens were
used to determine the degree of soundness and ductility of groove-weld joints. The bending angle is 180°.
Fracture morphology of the tension specimen was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The micro
hardness tests were performed with instrument, and the indenting force and holding time were 200 gf and 15 s
respectively.

Fig. 4 Tension and bending specimens prepared from welded joints of L415 /316L pipes (online only)
1.4 Microstructure and component analysis
The cross-section of the weld joints was sectioned, grinded and polished. The L415 layer was etched by the 5
vol% nital solution. The 316L layer was electrolytically etched by the 6 vol% oxalic acid, and the corrosion
current and corrosion time were 4 A and 40 s respectively. The junction of the carbon steel weld and stainless steel
weld was etched by aqua regia. The microstructures were observed by optical microscope (OM), SEM, electron
backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The chemical compositions of each region were analyzed by electron probe
microscope analysis (EPMA).
1.5 Corrosion tests
The samples with size of 50 mm × 25 mm × 1.5 mm were prepared from the welded joints of L415/316L pipes,
and included the weld bead and the inner layer 316L. According to the standard GB/T 17897-2016 (Corrosion of
metals and alloys-Corrosion test for pitting corrosion resistance of stainless steels in the ferric chloride solution),
chemical immersion method was used to measure the pitting corrosion resistance of the weld bead of the 316L
stainless steel. The corrosion solution was 6 % FeCl3 solution. The test temperature was 50 , and the test time
was 24 h. After the test, the specimens were rinsed with water and scrubbed with a nylon bristle brush under
running water to remove corrosion products, and dipped in methanol, air dried and weighed.
4
2 Results and discussion
2.1 Mechanical properties
2.1.1 Tension test
The tensile fracture specimens are shown in Fig. 5. As can be seen in Fig. 5, the fracture of each specimen is
not located at the weld, and there is an obvious necking phenomenon. The tensile test results are shown in Table 4.
The tensile strength of L415 is 520 MPa, and that of 316L is 480 MPa. The tensile strength of the two specimens
is 572 MPa and 594 MPa, respectively, which are greater than that of the base metal. Also, the section shrinkage
rate of two specimens is 69.57 % and 72.44 %, respectively. This shows that the welded joints of bimetal
mechanical lined pipes have high strength and excellent toughness. The micro-morphology of tensile fracture of
L415 is shown in Fig. 6. It can be seen clearly that there exist a large number of dimples, and spherical impurities
are found at the bottom of individual dimples. The dimples have uniform size, which proves that the tensile
fracture mode is ductile.

Fig. 5 Macro morphology of tensile specimens (online only) Fig. 6 Tensile fracture micro-morphology of L415
Table 4 Data of tensile test
Specimen No. Specimen sizes /mm Fractures sizes/mm Section shrinkage rate Tensile strength Rm/MPa
SDF-J-01-1 20×12 14.42×4.22 69.57% 572
SDF-J-01-2 20×12 13.92×3.96 72.44% 594
2.1.2 Transverse side bending test
The macroscopic morphology of the specimens after bending is shown in Fig. 7(a). It can be seen that no
cracks occur on the No. 1 and No. 4 specimens. A crack with a length of 1mm was produced on the No. 2
specimen. Meanwhile, two cracks appeared on the No. 3 specimen, but the maximum crack length was 1.95 mm.
According to GB/T232-2010, the bending performance of the welded joints of bimetal mechanical lined pipes can
meet the standard requirement because the total crack length is less than 3 mm. In addition, it is visible that the
cracks on No. 2 and No. 3 specimens both appeared at the same position. In order to study the causes of cracks,
the cracks on the No. 3 specimen are carefully analyzed. As shown in Fig. 7(b), it is obvious that the cracks
appeared at the weld junction between the root bead of L415 layer (weld with ER70S-6) or base metal L415 and
the ER309L weld. Fig. 7(c) and (d) show that the crack stops at the capping weld close to the filler weld. Also, it
is found that the filler weld and capping weld contain a large number of BCC and FCC phases (Fig. 7(d)),
respectively. Because ER309L belongs to austenitic welding consumables, the FCC phase should be austenite.
Hardness distribution cloud map (Fig. 7(e)) shows that the hardness of the cracked filler weld is significantly
higher than both base metal L415 and capping weld, and the maximum hardness value is 403.0 HV. Therefore, it
is deduced that the BCC phase may be martensite. The reason for the formation of martensite is as follows: during
the filler welding with ER309L, a small amount of fusion between the filler weld and base metal L415 occurs,
which leads to carbon migration and dilution of a certain amount of alloying element in fusion zone [22]. Thus, it
is concluded that the cracks on the bending specimen is closely related to the martensite formed at
ER309L/ER70S-6 or ER309L/L415 interface.
5
Fig. 7 Side-bending specimens and crack analysis (a) macro morphology of specimens; (b) amplification of cracks on specimen 3; (c)
Euler graph of EBSD; (d) phase graph of EBSD; (e) hardness distribution cloud map (online only)
2.1.3 Hardness test
The hardness test position of the welded joint is shown in Fig. 8(a). The hardness distribution in the
horizontal direction (as directed by Line 1 in Fig. 8(a)) of the stainless steel layer is shown in Fig. 8 (b). It can be
seen that the hardness of the left half is higher than that of the right half, and the left half is the last capping bead
for the stainless steel layer weld (Fig. 8(a)). Since the last capping weld bead has an effect of post-weld heat
treatment (PWHT) on other parts of the welded joint, the hardness of the capping weld bead is higher than that of
other locations of the welded joint.
The hardness distribution in the vertical direction (as directed by Line 2 in Fig. 8(a)) is shown in Fig. 8(c). It
can be seen that the hardness value of the stainless steel weld is abnormally high within the range of
approximately 1 mm near the junction of the carbon steel weld, which may result in poor toughness and crack
initiation. The crack-prone position is basically the same as the position where the crack occurred in the bending
test (Fig. 7). Therefore, it was verified that the existence of the fusion zone between the stainless steel weld and
the carbon steel root weld leads to the decrease in toughness. However, the hardness value of the other points in
the zone fluctuates within a certain range, which is in line with the general law.
The hardness distribution of the weld fusion line (as directed by Line 3 in Fig. 8(a)) of the stainless steel
weld is shown in Fig. 8 (d). It can be noted that the hardness decreases along the fusion line to the weld, while the
hardness increases along the direction of the fusion line to base metal 316L, which is consistent with the hardness
change trend of the stainless steel weld in the horizontal direction. The hardness of the weld is lower than that of
base metal 316L, which is mainly due to the composition difference between the welding material and base metal
316L. The carbon content of the welding wire ER309L is lower than that of base metal 316L, so the weld hardness
is slightly lower than base metal 316L, but the tensile strength of welded joint cannot be affected by the difference
in the carbon content and can still guarantee the quality of welded joint.

6
 Fig. 8 Hardness distribution of welded joints
(a) hardness test position; (b) hardness distribution of line 1; (c) hardness distribution of line 2; (d) hardness distribution of line 3
2.2 Microstructure analysis
The microstructures of the carbon steel layer are shown in Fig. 9. It can be found that the root weld made by
GTAW is mainly composed of bulk ferrite and a small amount of granular bainite (Fig. 9 (b)). Fig. 9 (c) shows that
the filler weld is mainly composed of polygonal ferrite and granular bainite, and the grain size of the filler weld is
slightly coarser than that of root weld. The reason is that the filler weld is completed by SMAW, and the weld heat
input of SMAW is larger than that of GTAW. Fig. 9(d) shows that the capping weld contains a lot of acicular and
pro-eutectoid ferrite, and a small amount of granular bainite and fine pearlite. This can ensure the good toughness
and high strength of the weld. The base metal L415 is mainly composed of ferrite and granular bainite and a small
amount of fine pearlite, as shown in Fig. 9(e). As can be seen from Fig. 9(f), the fusion zone between the weld and
the HAZ is clearly visible and the transition is uniform, indicating that there is good fusion between the weld and
base metal L415. The HAZ mainly consists of granular bainite and has obviously coarser grain size than base
metal L415 due to the weld thermal cycle. Also, it is found that the weld is mainly composed of polygonal ferrite
and granular bainite.

7
8
 Fig. 9 Optical (left) and SEM (right) micrographs of carbon steel layer (a) observation position; (b) root weld; (c) filler weld; (d)
capping weld; (e) base metal L415; (f) fusion zone of root weld (online only)
Fig. 10 depicts the microstructures of the stainless steel layer. Fig. 10(b) is the microstructure of the fusion
line between the weld and base metal 316L. The right side is base metal 316L and the left side is the weld whose
columnar dendrites grow in the direction perpendicular to the fusion line. The reason is that the direction
perpendicular to the fusion line has the fastest cooling rate, while the main direction of the growth of columnar
dendrites is the same as the maximum heat dissipation direction. Fig. 10(c) and (d) show that both filler weld and
capping weld are all composed of columnar and cellular dendrites. Fig. 10(e) shows the fusion line between the
carbon steel weld and the stainless steel weld. It is found that there is obviously a decarburization layer on the side
of carbon steel, and there is a narrow transition layer on the stainless steel side. The transition layer is composed
of martensite [22], which is consistent with the conclusion that this area has high hardness (Fig. 7(e) and Fig. 8(c)).
The carbon migration-diffusion layer, which consists of decarburization layer and transition layer, has a certain
influence on the performance of the welded joints, which might lead to defects in the bending test.

Fig. 10 Optical micrographs of stainless steel layer (a) observation position; (b) fusion line between weld and 316L;
(c) filler weld; (d) capping weld; (e) fusion line between carbon steel weld and stainless steel weld
Fig. 11 (a) shows the EBSD phase graph of 309L filler metal with blue and red indicating BCC and FCC
phases, respectively. It is obviously that the left 309L capping weld is almost FCC phase except for a very small
amount of BCC phase, and the right 309L filler weld contains of FCC and BCC phases. For the 309L capping
weld, the FCC phases is austenite, because 309L is that the austenitic welding consumables. In addition, in order
to prevent hot cracking during welding, it is desirable to have a small amount of ferrite, so the BCC phase may be
ferrite [27]. For the 309L filler metal, the FCC phases is also austenite and the BCC phase should be martensite as
shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 11 (b), the grain size of 309L capping weld is significantly larger than that of
309L filler weld.

9
 Fig. 11 EBSD graphs of 309L filler metal (a) phase graph; (b) Euler graph (online only)
2.3 Component analysis
The chemical composition of both base metal and the weld is measured. The analysis position and results are
shown in Fig. 12, and analysis data is listed in Table 5. In the stainless steel area, the content of chromium and
nickel in base metal 316L and ER309L weld is almost the same, which can all meet the requirements of alloy
element content in stainless steel. However, the ER309L weld lacks molybdenum in comparison with base metal
316L. In addition, the grain boundaries have a slightly higher content of carbon, nickel and silicon than the
intra-granular parts for ER309L weld. This means that a certain segregation has occurred at the grain boundary of
the stainless steel weld. In the carbon steel area, the carbon content of the E5015 weld is lower than that of base
metal L415 owing to the fact that the carbon content in the E5015 electrode is lower than that of base metal L415.

10
 Fig. 12 Composition analysis position and EDS analysis results (a) base metal 316L;
(b) ER309L weld intra-granular; (c) ER309L weld grain boundary; (d) base metal L415; (e) E5015 weld
Table 5 Chemical composition analysis (Mass Percent, %)
Location C Si Cr Mn Fe Ni Mo
base metal 316L 2.34 0.64 17.18 1.13 67.06 9.33 2.33
ER309Lweld intra-granular 1.60 0.54 17.19 2.16 68.73 9.78 —
ER309L weld grain boundary 1.82 0.67 17.98 2.18 66.93 10.42 —
base metal L415 2.10 0.40 — 1.37 96.13 — —
E5015 weld 1.75 0.63 — 1.53 96.09 — —

2.4 Corrosion resistance analysis

Table 6 presents the data of pitting corrosion test showing that the weight loss is as high as 280.8 g/m2 and
231.9 g/m2. The pitting sample position and macroscopic morphology of the pitting specimens after corrosion are
shown in Fig. 13. It can be seen that the serious corrosion occurs in the weld. However, there is no pitting
corrosion on either side of the base metal 316L, indicating that the welded joints have poorer pitting corrosion
resistance compared with the base metal. Analysis shows that the difference of chemical components between the
welding material and the base metal leads to the serious pitting corrosion in the weld. The weld of the stainless
steel layer is filled with ER309L stainless steel wire. However, compared with 316L stainless steel, this welding
wire ER309L has a high chromium content of about 5%, but it does not contain molybdenum. It was shown that
when the chromium content in the steel is higher than 12%, a compact passivation film can be formed on the
surface of the stainless steel to provide good corrosion resistance [28]. But in reducible medium, especially in
chloride medium, the passivation film may be destroyed. The local corrosion resistance of stainless steel can be
improved by adding 2-3% Mo in stainless steel [29]. The reason is that molybdate is an anode inhibitor, and the
combination of Mo and Cr improves the passivation and repassivation ability (recovery ability of passivation film)
of the stainless steel, and increases the stability of the passivation film due to the formation of dense passivation
film. Therefore, it can be concluded that the absence of molybdenum in the weld is the main cause of weld pitting
or even perforation.
Table 6 Data of pitting corrosion test
Total corrosion area Pre test weight Post test weight Weight loss Weight loss per
Specimen No. 2
/m /g /g /g unit area (g˖m-2 )

11
 1 0.002590 9.0927 8.3653 0.7274 280.8
2 0.002643 10.6164 10.0035 0.6129 231.9

Fig. 13 Macroscopic morphology of pitting specimens after corrosion (a) corrosion sample position;
(b) surface 1 of specimen 1; (c) surface 2 of specimen1; (d) surface 1 of specimen 2; (e) surface 2 of specimen 2

3 Conclusions
The butt welding of L415/316L bimetal mechanical lined pipe was performed using post internal-welding
process proposed by the authors and mixed welding materials (ER309L for welding of 316L layer, ER70S-6 for
root welding of L415, and ER5015 for filler and capping welding of L415). The microstructure and mechanical
and corrosion-resistance properties of welded joints were investigated, and some conclusions have been achieved:

Although cracks appeared on bending specimens, the tensile and bending performances of the welded
joints do meet the standard requirements.

EBSD and hardness tests show that the cracks on the bending specimens are closely related to the
martensite formed at ER309L/ER70S-6 or ER309L/L415 interface.

According to corrosion tests, there were a large amount of large corrosion pits in the ER309L weld due
to the absence of molybdenum element in the ferric chloride solution.

From standpoint of mechanical properties, it is feasible for the welding of bimetal composite pipes using
the post internal-welding process.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2013EEQ027) and Key
Technology Research and Development Program of Shandong (2016ZDJS05B03).

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14
 highlights
(1) The post internal-welding process is proposed by the authors in which the outer carbon layer
is welded prior to the inner stainless layer.
(2) The butt welding of bimetal lined pipe L415/316L was performed using the post
internal-welding process, and the results show that the tensile and bending properties of the
welded joints do meet the standard requirements.
(3) The cracks on the bending specimens are closely related to the martensite formed at
ER309L/ER70S-6 or ER309L/L415 interface.
(4) There were a large amount of large corrosion pits in the ER309L weld in the ferric chloride
solution, so ER309MoL welding wire is not suitable for welding 316L layer.
 Author Statement
LI Liying: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - Review & Editing, Funding acquisition
XIAO Jun: Formal analysis, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, Visualization
HAN Bin: Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition
WANG Xiaolei: Investigation
Declaration of interests

☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships
that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered
as potential competing interests: