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steel pipes
C.A. Della Rovere
a,
, J.M. Aquino
b
, C.R. Ribeiro
a
, R. Silva
a
, N.G. Alcntara
a
, S.E. Kuri
a
a
Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of So Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, 13565-905 So Carlos, SP, Brazil
b
Department of Chemistry, Federal University of So Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, 13565-905 So Carlos, SP, Brazil
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 June 2014
Accepted 3 September 2014
Available online 19 September 2014
Keywords:
Stainless steel
Welding
Polarization
Acid corrosion
Pitting corrosion
a b s t r a c t
Supermartensitic stainless steel pipes were radial friction (RF) welded and their corrosion properties
were determined based on electrochemical tests. Measurements were performed on samples taken from
the base metal (BM), weld interface, and consumable ring (CR) of the RF weldment. The corrosion prop-
erties are discussed in terms of their resulting metallurgical microstructure. In acid media, RF weldment
regions presented better corrosion performance than the tempered structure of the BM. The Cr carbide
precipitation that occurs during tempering causes substantial depletion of Cr, while d-ferrite formation
during welding cycle decreases the pitting corrosion resistance of the material.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Since the early 90s, the oil industry has been promoting the
development of new corrosion resistant alloys for onshore and off-
shore pipeline applications. In this context, supermartensitic stain-
less steel (SMSS) was introduced to bridge the gap between the
corrosion performance of carbon steels/conventional martensitic
stainless steels and the more expensive duplex materials, while
providing a larger application domain in terms of temperature,
CO
2
+ H
2
S content and chloride concentration. In addition, this
new class of martensitic stainless steels combines low production
cost, ease of heat treatment, good mechanical properties and
improved weldability. These advantages have let to the widespread
use of SMSSs in the manufacture of oil country tubular goods,
which include special seamless pipes for drilling, casing, and tub-
ing for application in oil and gas wells operating under moderately
corrosive conditions [13].
The main metallurgical difference between conventional mar-
tensitic stainless steels and SMSSs is that the latter contain up to
3% more molybdenum (Mo) and up to 6% more nickel (Ni). Mo is
added to improve the resistance to sulde stress cracking and
localized corrosion, while Ni is added to stabilize austenite (c) at
high temperatures, preventing the formation of d-ferrite. Carbon
(C) content levels are reduced to as little as 0.01 wt.% to improve
weldability. In addition, some microalloying with titanium (Ti)
and/or niobium (Nb) have been employed to stabilize residual C
and nitrogen (N) and prevent the precipitation of chromium (Cr)
rich carbonitrides, which impairs the corrosion resistance of
steel, and to produce a ner microstructure with superior mechan-
ical properties [46].
Today, the major issues and challenges of SMSSs have to do
with their weldability and the resulting mechanical and corrosion
performance of the welded material, as well as the development of
fast, reliable, economic welding processes that minimize or even
dispense with expensive and time-consuming post-weld heat
treatments. In this context, several new and advanced processes
have been investigated as alternatives to conventional welding
process for SMSSs [710]. Omura et al. [7] applied laser welding
to produce thin wall seam welded pipes of SMSS with excellent
corrosion properties due to the rapid solidication of the weld
metal, which had neither precipitation nor segregation. These
authors also found that the laser welded pipes showed superior
corrosion resistance than those produced by conventional seam
welding processes such as gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and
electric resistance welding (ERW). Aquino and co-workers [8,9]
have studied the corrosion behavior of SMSS welded joints pro-
duced with or without matching consumables, using electron
beam welding (EB) process. No PWHT was applied. In both cases,
because of the rapid heating and cooling involved in the EBW pro-
cess, the authors have veried an improvement in the corrosion
resistance from the base metal to the weld metal in the EB weld-
ment. However, Bala Srinivasan and co-workers [10] have reported
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2014.09.003
0261-3069/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.