Characterisation of microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of an AA2219 friction stir weldment

In the present research, the effects of various alloying elements and microstructural constituents on the mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour have been studied for four different rebars. The microstructures of stainless steel and plain rebar primarily reveal equiaxed ferrite grains and ferrite-pearlite microstructures, respectively, with no evidence of transition zone, whereas tempered martensite at the outer rim, followed by a narrow bainitic transition zone with an internal core of ferrite-pearlite, has been observed for the thermomechanically treated (TMT) rebars. The hardness profiles obtained from this study display maximum hardness at the periphery, which decreases gradually towards the centre, thereby providing the classical U-shaped hardness profile for TMT rebars. The tensile test results confirm that stainless steel rebar exhibits the highest combination of strength (≈755 MPa) and ductility (≈27%). It has been witnessed that in Tafel plots, the corrosion rate increases for all the experimental rebars in 1% HCl solution, which is well expected because the acid solutions generally possess a higher corrosive environment than seawater (3.5% NaCl) due to their acidic nature and lower pH values. However, all the experimental results obtained from Tafel and Nyquist plots correlate well for both 1% HCl and 3.5% NaCl solutions.

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Microstructural administered mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of wire plus arc additive manufactured SS 321 plate

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science ◽

10.1177/09544062211042039 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095440622110420

Author(s):

S Mohan Kumar ◽

R Sasikumar ◽

A Rajesh Kannan ◽

R Pramod ◽

N Pravin Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Corrosion Behaviour ◽

Film Formation ◽

Vertical Direction ◽

Dendritic Microstructure ◽

Aisi 321 ◽

Mechanical Properties And Corrosion ◽

Corrosive Environments ◽

Material Utilization ◽

The Impact

Wire plus arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology with higher deposition rate and efficient material utilization was employed to fabricate a stainless steel 321 (SS 321) wall for the first time. In this work, the microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties and corrosion performance of as-built SS 321 were evaluated. The micrographs confirmed the presence of columnar and equiaxed dendrites along the building direction, and recrystallization of grains was noticed due to the re-melting of former layers. The microstructure was dominantly austenite with a small fraction of ferrite within the austenitic matrix. Better tensile properties were noticed for as-printed SS 321 WAAM samples in-comparison to wrought counterpart. This is corroborated to the equiaxed and columnar dendritic microstructure with small fraction of ferrite (FN). The hardness decreased from bottom (247 HV) to top (196 HV) region in SS 321 WAAM plate and is attributed to the microstructural difference with varying amount of ferrite (6.3 to 3.7 FN). The impact strength of samples in the horizontal and vertical direction was 116 ± 2 J and 114 ± 2.5 J respectively, and is comparable with the wrought AISI 321 (123 ± 1.5 J). The reduction in impact toughness is attributed to the ferrite (<6.3 FN) fraction. Polarization curves and Nyquist plots elucidate the excellent pitting resistance of SS 321 WAAM specimens, and the corrosion rate was less than 1 mils per year (mpy). Corrosion cracks were absent, and the passive film formation in the WAAM specimens were compact and highly stable for corrosive environments.

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