Abstract
The effects of TIG welding and post-treatment procedures on the microstructure and the pitting corrosion resistance of welded lean duplex stainless steel S82441 were investigated. Autogenous TIG welding was used with different amounts of heat input and shielding gases such as Ar, and mixtures of $Ar-N_2$ and Ar-He. The addition of 5% to 15% of nitrogen to argon practically did not affect the level of the pitting corrosion resistance. However, the application of gas mixtures (50% Ar + 50% He) resulted in a significant decrease in pitting corrosion resistance. We found that increased current (200 A and 250 A) led to lower values of CPT of welds compared with welds obtained with 50 A, 100 A and 150 A. In addition, the removal of the weld surface layer (0.2 ~ 0.3 mm thickness) in most cases not only resulted in a significant increase in resistance to the pitting corrosion but also post-treatment of weld, implying that corrosion resistance depended on factors such as surface roughness or the presence of undesirable oxides.