The effect of repeated repair welding on mechanical and corrosion properties of stainless steel 316L

• Microstructure and properties of the HAZ were analyzed.
• Delta ferrite morphology changed, and ferrite content decreased.
• Adverse effect on yield and ultimate tensile strength was negligible.
• The absorbed energy and hardness decreases with increasing number of weld-repair.
• The sensitivity to pitting corrosion was increased.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate changes in the mechanical, micro structural and the corrosion properties of stainless steel 316L under repeated repair welding. The welding and the repair welding were conducted by shielded metal arc welding (SMAW). The SMAW welding process was performed using E316L filler metals. Specimen of the base metal and different conditions of shielded metal arc welding repairs were studied by looking in the micro structural changes, the chemical composition of the phases, the grain size (in the heat affected zone) and the effect on the mechanical and corrosion properties. The microstructure was investigated using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical composition of the phases was determined using energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The corrosion behavior in 1 M H2SO4 + 3.5% NaCl solution was evaluated using a potentiodynamic polarization method. Tensile tests, Charpy-V impact resistance and Brinell hardness tests were conducted. Hardness of the heat affected zone decreased as the number of repairs increased. Generally an increase in the yield strength (YS) and the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) occurred with welding. After the first repair, a gradual decrease in YS and UTS occurred but the values of YS and UTS were not less than values of the base metal. Significant reduction in Charpy-V impact resistance with the number of weld repairs were observed when the notch location was in the HAZ. The HAZ of welding repair specimen is more sensitive to pitting corrosion. The sensitivity of HAZ to pitting corrosion was increased by increasing the number of welding repair.