SENSITIZATION STUDY IN FRICTION STIR WELDS OF INCONEL® 625
The new challenges of the oil and gas industry require noble materials with chemical stability and greater mechanical properties. Alloy 625, popularly known as Inconel® 625, is used as a cladding material for pipelines and other components. Therefore, the study of joining methods that produce excellent welded joints is essential. Thus, in this study, welded sheets of Inconel 625 were produced by Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and afterwards they were subjected to a heat treatment to evaluate the susceptibility to sensitization by the Double Loop Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation(DL-EPR)technique. In addition, microhardness profiles were performed before and after the isothermal treatment. The microhardness results indicated that the increased hardness is due to the carbides formation after heat treatment. On the other hand, electrochemical tests showed that FSW process can significantly affect the degree of sensitization.