The mechanisms of metallurgically enhanced crack initiation and propagation in austenitic stainless steel weldments were investigated using electrochemical and physical methods. The test media was boiling Magnesium Chloride solutions, MgCl2, at 32% and 37% weight respectively. A batch of U-Bend specimens was tested at each salt concentration. Optical and electron microscopy was used to examine cracked weldments. Traditionally, welding rods used for joining austenitic
stainless steels contain a percentage of retained...
Keywords: Austenitic Stainless Steel Weldment, Metallurgically Enhanced Failure, Active Phase, Interdendritic Spaces, Ferrite Phase Quantity, Microgalvanic Corrosion Cells, Preferential
Dissolution, Crack Incubation, Preferential Crack Path.