See Water Corrosion Resistance Performance of Acicular Ferrite in a Low-Alloy High-Strength Steel Weld Metal

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00024

Acta Metall Sin

2025, Vol. 61

Issue (11): 1727-1737 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00024

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See Water Corrosion Resistance Performance of Acicular Ferrite in a Low-Alloy High-Strength Steel Weld Metal

HU Fusheng¹^,²^,³, WANG Zhihui¹^,²^,³(

), SONG Fengyu⁴, WU Kaiming¹^,²^,³(

)

1 Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Steels, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
2 Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Systems Science on Metallurgical Processing, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
3 International Research Institute for Steel Technology, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
4 College of Physics, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Longyan University, Longyan 364012, China

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HU Fusheng, WANG Zhihui, SONG Fengyu, WU Kaiming. See Water Corrosion Resistance Performance of Acicular Ferrite in a Low-Alloy High-Strength Steel Weld Metal. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(11): 1727-1737.

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Abstract

Acicular ferrite, renowned for its excellent combination of strength and toughness, has been a focal point of research since the inception of “Oxides Metallurgy” in the 1990s. Researchers have devoted considerable attention to understanding the formation and control mechanisms of acicular ferrite, because it plays a crucial role in refining the austenite grain during the cooling process. In practical applications, acicular ferrite is used in corrosive environment, such as seawater. Therefore, assessing its corrosion resistance performance is imperative. Despite its importance, the corrosion resistance mechanism of acicular ferrite remains somewhat unclear, warranting further investigation to elucidate it and potential corrosion resistance enhancement strategies. Previous studies have paid scant attention to the corrosion resistance performance of acicular ferrite, particularly after tempering. Herein, the seawater corrosion resistance performance of acicular ferrite in the weld metal of high-strength low-alloy steel before and after high-temperature tempering was studied. To understand the effects of tempering temperature and seawater exposure on the corrosion resistance performance of acicular ferrite, the potentiodynamic polarization tests, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and potentiostatic polarization tests were performed. Additionally, microstructures and mechanical properties to complement findings were detailed analyzed. Results show that tempering at temperatures of 580, 610, and 640 ^oC for 10 h results in a slight increase in the corrosion potential of acicular ferrite in the weld metal, indicating a weakened tendency of corrosion. As the tempering temperature increases, the corrosion current density decreases substantially, accompanied by an increase in impedance. Moreover, the potentiostatic current density decreases, indicating improved corrosion resistance of acicular ferrite after prolonged high-temperature tempering. Furthermore, the corrosion resistance of acicular ferrite remains considerably stable after tempering. The improvement of corrosion resistance of in acicular ferrite is mainly attributed to the decrease in martensite/austenite (M/A) islands, resulting in a highly homogeneous microstructure that mitigates galvanic couple effects. The observed reduced free energy and potential difference of acicular ferrite further contribute to its improved passivation film formation.

Key words: weld metal acicular ferrite tempering corrosion resistance electrochemistry

Received: 23 January 2024

ZTFLH:

TG172.5

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(U20A20279);National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFB4201500);Shandong Taishan Industrial Leading Talent Project Blue Talent Special Foundation Project(2020007);Guangxi Science and Technology Major Project(AA22068080)

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	HU Fusheng
	WANG Zhihui
	SONG Fengyu
	WU Kaiming

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00024 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I11/1727

Fig.1 SEM images of weld metal specimens in as-welded state (a) and after tempering at 580 ^oC (b), 610 ^oC (c), and 640 ^oC (d) for 10 h (M/A—martensite/austenite)

Fig.2 Engineering stress-strain curves of weld metal specimens in as-welded state and after tempering at 580, 610, and 640 ^oC for 10 h

Fig.3 Potentiodynamic polarization curves of weld metal specimens in as-welded state and after tempering at 580, 610, and 640 ^oC for 10 h (E_corr—corrosion potential, i_corr—corrosion current density)

Table 1 Fitting results of potentiodynamic polarization curves of the weld metal

Fig.4 Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the weld metal specimens in as-welded state and after tempering at 580, 610, and 640 ^oC for 10 h (Z_Im—imaginary part of impedance, Z_Re—real part of impedance, Z—impedance, f—frequency)
(a) Nyquist plots
(b) Bode plots
(c) phase angle plots

Fig.5 Equivalent circuit model used to fit the EIS (R₁—corrosion solution resistance, Q—constant phase element, R_ct—charge-transfer resistance)

Table 2 Fitting results of the equivalent circuit model

Fig.6 Constant potential polarization curves of weld metal specimens in as-welded state and after tempering at 580, 610, and 640 ^oC for 10 h

Fig.7 TEM images of weld metal specimens in as-welded state (a), and after tempering at 580 ^oC (b), 610 ^oC (c), and 640 ^oC (d) for 10 h; HRTEM image (e) and EDS analyses (f) of MC precipitates (w—mass fraction)

Fig.8 Inverse pole figures (a-d), grain boundary misorientation maps (e-h), and kernel average misorientation (KAM) maps (i-l) of the weld metal specimens in as-welded state (a, e, i) and after tempering at 580 ^oC (b, f, j), 610 ^oC (c, g, k), and 640 ^oC (d, h, l) for 10 h

Fig.9 Phase volume fractions (a), average grain sizes (b), high angle grain boundary proportions (c), and KAM distributions (d) of the weld metal specimens in as-welded states and after tempering at 580 ^oC, 610 ^oC, and 640 ^oC for 10 h in Fig.8 (KAM_ave—average of KAM)

Fig.10 Schematics of seawater corrosion mechanism of the weld metal in as-welded state (a) and tempering at 580 ^oC (b), 610 ^oC (c), and 640 ^oC (d) for 10 h

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