Metallurgical investigations and corrosion behavior of failed weld joint in AISI 1518 low carbon steel pipeline

• Failure analysis of welded joint in AISI 1518 low carbon steel tube.
• Metallurgical studies were conducted on the welded joint.
• Formation of various phases including ferrite, pearlite, bainite, martensite.
• EIS investigations showed HAZ and WM are susceptible against corrosive media.
• Localized corrosion such as intergranular corrosion (IGC) and pitting corrosion.

In this paper, failure analysis was carried out based on the available documents, metallographic studies and corrosion behavior of the welded joint pipe sample made of AISI 1518 low carbon steel. Nondestructive evaluations including penetration test (PT) and radiographic test (RT) were performed on the as-received pipeline and results indicated the presence of micro- and macro-cracks. Optical microscopic images and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs revealed various microstructures in the base metal (BM), heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal (WM). The microstructural variations may result in galvanic feature and lead to failure and rupture of the weld joint during the service. Microhardness measurements showed that hardness value was about 260 HV in the WM, while it declined in the HAZ and BM. Qualitative chemical analyses such as X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and SEM equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the presence of corrosive media during weld joint rupture. Additionally, SEM and optical investigations indicated that micro-cracks were formed in HAZ due to residual stress as a consequence of improper welding condition. Surface fracture studies showed that the crack initiation, crack growth and finally crack propagation took place in the WM/HAZ interface. Electrochemical studies were conducted on the BM, HAZ and WM to investigate corrosion behavior of the failed joint sample. Finally, a proper corrosion mechanism is proposed based on the failure analyses and electrochemical studies.