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THE AMERICAN WELDER

Heat Tint Poses Corrosion

Hazard in Stainless Steel
Avoid time-consuming, difficult, and
expensive cleaning of heat tint by weld BY MICHAEL FLETCHER

purging during the welding process

W
e have all seen the effect of
welds carried out without ad-
equate gas coverage — the
hot metal simply oxidizes in contact
with air. The effect is noticeable with
stainless steels — Fig. 1. To some, this
is an inconvenient feature that can be
removed by grinding, but the cost of
doing so can be high, particularly if ac-
cess is difficult.
Even with reduced oxygen content
in the gas coverage, the effect can be
marked. It will come as a surprise to
most that oxygen contents as low as
60 ppm (0.006%) (Fig. 1B) can pro-
duce discoloration or “heat tint” in
stainless steels.
While for many applications this
discoloration may be acceptable cos-
metically, it is now apparent that it
presents a corrosion hazard (Refs.
1–7).
Fig. 1 — Photos showing oxidation of 316L stainless steel coupons welded using argon
purging gas: A — 12 ppm (ensures no heat tint occurs in stainless steel); B — 60 ppm (even
The Mechanism this relatively low oxygen content can lead to “heat tint”); C — 70 ppm; D — 200 ppm;
of Corrosion E — 250 ppm; F — 500 ppm (the result of poorly protected underbead in welded austenitic
stainless steel).

Stainless steels owe their resistance

to corrosion to the formation of a very
thin (10–5 mm), transparent surface
layer of chromium oxide. This provides
a passive film that acts as a barrier to
penetration by an invasive environ-
ment. When heated to a high tempera-
ture in the presence of oxygen, this
film increases in thickness until it be-
comes visible; the color becomes dark-
er with increasing film thickness.
At a critical film thickness, the film
becomes unstable and begins to break
down. The fractured zones created of-
fer sites for localized corrosion. Four
principal mechanisms are involved —
pitting corrosion, stress corrosion
cracking, crevice corrosion, and micro-
biologically induced corrosion (MIC).
Pitting Corrosion
Pitting corrosion is a form of local-
ized corrosion. It produces attacks in
the form of spots or pits. This type of
corrosion attack most often takes
place at points where the passive layer
might be weakened and it occurs in
stainless steels where oxidation has re-
duced the passivity. Once the attack
has started, the material can be com-
pletely penetrated within a short time.
Stress Corrosion Cracking
Stress corrosion cracking is charac-
terized by cracks propagating either
transgranularly (through) or inter-
granularly (along) grain boundaries. It
results from the combined action of

80 WELDING JOURNAL / DECEMBER 2014

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Fig. 2 — Schematic of a fully integrated, inflatable weld-purge system for use in pipe and tube fabrication. These devices are available for di-
ameters between 25 and 2400 mm.
tensile stresses in the material and the
presence of a corrosive medium. It can
be induced in some stainless steels by
adverse heat treatments, such as those
occurring in weld heat-affected zones.
Crevice Corrosion
Crevice corrosion is localized corro-
sion of a metal surface that is attribut-
able to close proximity of another met-
al such as a weld. It is a locally acceler-
ated type of corrosion and is one of
the major corrosion hazards in stain-
less steels.
Microbiologically
Induced Corrosion
Microbiologically induced corrosion
(MIC) is promoted or caused by micro-
organisms, typically in industries related
to food, beverage, and chemical process-
ing. It is common in welded sections.
To avoid these forms of corrosion, it
is essential that heat tints are properly
removed before the stainless steel
equipment or piping is exposed to ag-
gressive or aqueous environments. The
alternative is to prevent heat tinting
during the welding process by using an
inert environment to protect the sur-
face.
Removal of Heat Tint
Light discoloration can be removed
by bright annealing or acid pickling,
but heavier deposits may require ma-
chining such as grinding and polish-
ing. Removal clearly requires access to
the area in question, not only for
treatment but also for debris removal.
Even when access is available, none of
these treatments is easy and most can
be expensive.
Weld Purging
The alternative to potentially time-
consuming, difficult, and expensive
cleaning of heat tint is to avoid it dur-
ing the welding process. This can be
undertaken by protecting the joint
from oxidation by using an inert gas
such as argon. The upper side of the
joint is protected by the inert gas used
in the torch. The underside, known as
the underbead, needs separate treat-
ment. This technique is referred to as
weld purging.
Seals are inserted on either side of
the weld root and inert gas is admitted
to displace air in the space between
them. While a wide range of options
for sealing are available, those based
on inflatable seals have been found be
DECEMBER 2014 / WELDING JOURNAL 81
THE AMERICAN WELDER
reliable and versatile — Fig. 2.
Considerable design effort has been
applied by the designers and manufac-
turers of these products over the past
decade or so, and currently available
systems address the problems of con-
trolled inert gas pressure and flow, the
need for easy and rapid deployment
and removal to limit overall welding
time, thermal resistance, and leak-
tight access for oxygen-monitoring
equipment. They also provide a large
pipe contact area and therefore excel-
lent and reliable sealing.
Coupled with these advantages
comes flexibility to allow access and
removal through pipe bends, abrasion
resistance, and the use of materials
that meet food, semiconductor, and
nuclear compliance standards.
The Argweld® systems are examples
of fully integrated, inflatable purge
equipment that can accommodate
tube and pipe diameters from 25 to
2400 mm (Ref. 8).
Clearly, a knowledge of the oxygen
level in the purge gas is essential, rec-
ognizing that a level as low as 12 ppm
may be necessary — Fig. 1A. This can
be accommodated with an oxygen
monitor, and sensitive versions of
these have been developed specifically
for the welding industry. Commercial-
ly available weld-purge monitors can
AW Fletcher_Layout 1 11/11/14 2:48 PM Page 82
THE AMERICAN WELDER
combine monitoring down to 10 ppm
with software for data recording,
analysis, and quality control.
Conclusion
During the last few years, the semi-
conductor, bioprocessing, food and
beverage, and petrochemical indus-
tries in particular have revised their
weld-acceptance standards upward in
striving to manufacture products with
impurity levels measured in nanome-
ters. The welding accessory manufac-
turers have responded by developing
equipment capable of meeting these
standards, but increased use of this
equipment is vital in the pursuit of
quality.
Industry sectors with demanding
standards for weld quality need to be
aware of the corrosion hazards arising
from poor welding practice. Simply as-
82 WELDING JOURNAL / DECEMBER 2014
suming that stainless steels are totally
resistant to corrosion can be risky. WJ
References
1. Titz, J. T. Microbiologically in-
fluenced corrosion of stainless steel.
Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium
On Orbital Welding In High Purity In-
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2. Ammann, T. 2010. Purging
while Welding. BOC Australia
Document.
3. Grant, A., Henon, B. K., and
Mansfeld, F. 1997. Effects of purge
gas purity and Chelant passivation on
the corrosion resistance of orbitally
welded 316L stainless steel tubing.
Pharmaceutical Engineering 17 (1):
1–13, (2): 46–54.
4. Purge welding stainless steel for
cleanability and corrosion resistance.
Food Processing Online. May 20, 2010.
www.foodprocessing.com.au.
For info, go to www.aws.org/ad­index
5. Henon, B. K. 2008. Considera-
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resistant materials to the ASME Bio-
processing Equipment Standard. Pre-
sented at the Stainless Steel America
Conference 2008 and available at
www.arcmachines.com/applications.
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removal of heat tints on stainless
steel to avoid or minimize corrosion.
Vecon Netherlands Technical Bulletin
July 2005.
7. Taban, E., et al. 2014. Effect of
the purging gas on properties of 304H
GTA welds. Welding Journal 93(4):
124-s to 130-s.
8. Huntingdon Fusion
Techniques, Ltd, UK.
www.huntingdonfusion.com.
Michael Fletcher is CEO of Delta
Consultants, UK.