Preferential corrosion of welds

Sarajevo 2023 Prepared by: DSc Dževad Hadžihafizović (DEng)

Preferential corrosion of welds - an introduction

Welding of a metal results in a range of different metallurgical structures in the heat affected
zone (HAZ); that part of the parent material adjacent to the weld which has not been melted
and fused into the weld itself. Where a filler metal is used in welding (in the form of a welding
rod or wire), such as in manual metal arc welding (MMAW), metal inert gas/metal active gas
welding (MIG/MAG welding), flux cored arc welding (FCAW) or submerged arc welding
(SAW) the weld metal will have an inherently different chemical analysis to the parent metal.
This is because the parent metal has a wrought structure, with properties coming from
mechanical working and heat treatment whereas the weld metal has a cast structure which
achieves its strength mainly due to its additions of alloying elements.

Figure 1: An example fusion weld showing the heat affected zone.

When a weldment is exposed to an electrolyte (a conductive corrosive medium) one part of

the weldment may corrode preferentially over another part, resulting in the weld being
preferentially attacked. In real life situations the preferential attack may be in another
discrete area such as the heat affected zone or even some distinct part of the heat affected
zone which has a particular metallurgical structure. Where preferential attack occurs it can
be rapid, difficult to detect by conventional monitoring methods, and potentially dangerous.

Galvanic corrosion

The corrosion may be caused or enhanced by galvanic action, galvanic corrosion being the
electrochemical process where there is a different natural electrical potential between two
metals or two different metallurgical structures, resulting in one part of the weldment being
the cathode and another the anode of a corrosion cell. It is the anodic area which corrodes,
but the cathodic reaction drives the corrosion process.

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The potential difference may be relatively small but if the parent metal is the cathode and the
weld is the anode then there is a large cathodic area to drive the corrosion reactions and
rapid weld metal dissolution can result.

Galvanic corrosion is a clear risk where a weld is made between significantly different
metals, such as in welds between carbon-manganese steels and duplex stainless steel
when exposed to a corrosive environment, but problems can also occur where there is less
obvious difference in materials.

Preferential corrosion of welds in seawater lines

One well-known example of preferential corrosion is internal corrosion of pipelines

transporting seawater. These are commonly used for water injection into oil wells. The
corrosion occurs within the welds at the pipe joints made of carbon-manganese steel welded
using welding consumables which would be considered as ‘matching’ in properties (albeit
there are the wrought/ cast structural differences mentioned above). One means of avoiding
the corrosion is to reduce the oxygen level of the seawater to low levels of parts per million
(which is extremely challenging) and/or to control the asdeposited composition of the weld
metal to increase its cathodic potential thus minimising galvanic potential differences. This
involves careful selection of the welding consumables, based on consideration of
composition, but also the results of sophisticated corrosion testing of trial welds. A further
solution is to install the line with a continuous internal plastic liner in the pipe, thus preventing
seawater contact with the pipe or welds surfaces.

Figure 2: Preferential weld metal corrosion in carbon steel (copyright TWI Ltd reproduced
with permission). Source: Reference 1.

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Preferential attack in welds in stainless steel

Stainless steels are cathodic when in combination with other metals such as carbon steels or
aluminium alloys and hence unaffected by corrosion when in combination in a corrosive
environment, but they are not immune to preferential corrosion effects. One example is when
austenitic stainless steels are welded (to themselves), and exposed in a corrosive
environment. They may then suffer from what is commonly termed ‘weld decay’. If this
occurs in current times it is a consequence of an error in not selecting a modern resistant
grade of stainless steel.

Stainless steels owe their corrosion resistance to a layer of chromium oxide a few microns
thick which forms a passive protection layer. If breached and in a corrosive environment this
layer does not repair itself and localised corrosion will occur. In their original form the
austenitic stainless steels (the familiar 300 series of stainless steels) contained carbon up at
levels of up to 0.08%. This carbon content and its distribution in the matrix becomes
significant in welding the steel when ‘sensitisation’ can occur.

Sensitisation is due to the carbon preferentially combining with the all important chromium to
form chromium carbide which forms along the grain boundaries. This depletes the areas
adjacent to the grain boundary of the chromium and this is no longer available to form the
passive protection layer. In a corrosive environment, local corrosion cells will form, corrosion
occurs around the grains and they can detach from the surface (Figure 3). This situation
occurs within a range of temperatures experienced in the heat affected zone of the
weldment.

This problem is readily avoided by selecting the low carbon stainless steels denoted by the L
designation (e.g. 304L or 316L) which use modern steelmaking techniques to achieve
carbon contents of less than 0.03%. There is a further material selection option which is to
use the so-called stabilized grades of stainless steel, such as type 347, in which the carbon
is ‘stabilised’ (i.e. chemically combined) by the addition of niobium.

In a component already fabricated from the higher carbon (unstabilised) grades it can be
prevented by suitable post weld heat treatment. In conclusion, there are numerous other
examples of preferential corrosion of welds and this topic is well covered in web articles and
technical papers which the reader can discover by performing online searches.

Welcome to the world of the welding engineer who has to select the welding and heat
treatment parameters based on the materials and their application.

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Figure 3.In a corrosive environment, local corrosion cells will form, corrosion occurs around
the grains and they can detach from the surface.

References:

1. Corrosion of welded components in marine environments (April 2003). Stuart Bond,

TWI Ltd. Prevention and Management of Marine Corrosion, London, 2-3 April 2003.
Lloyds List Events. Available on the TWI website:
https://www.twi-global.com/technical- nowledge/published-papers/
2. Good welding practices for stainless steel. Presentation by Glenn Allen, TWI Ltd.
Available to members on the TWI website. Alan Denney, Consultant.