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Effect of TIG welding on corrosion behavior of

316L stainless steel
ARTICLE in MATERIALS LETTERS MAY 2007
Impact Factor: 2.27 DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2006.09.008

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Materials Letters 61 (2007) 2343 2346

www.elsevier.com/locate/matlet

Effect of TIG welding on corrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel

M. Dadfar , M.H. Fathi, F. Karimzadeh, M.R. Dadfar, A. Saatchi
Department of materials engineering, Isfahan University and Technology, Isfahan, Iran
Received 11 January 2006; accepted 5 September 2006
Available online 25 September 2006

Abstract
316L stainless steel (SS) is one of the most consumable materials in orthopedic implants. Certain types of orthopedic implants such as monobloc hip stems are often made of two elements welded together. In this study, effect of TIG welding on corrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel
in physiological solution was investigated. In this method, filler metal wasn't used due to the small thickness of samples and it was welded to lap
form. Corrosion behavior in physiological solution at 37 C was investigated with potentiodynamic polarization curves. Microstructure of base
metal (BM) and weld metal (WM) was studied with scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The corrosion behavior of weld metal, base metal and
couple (BM and WM together) was compared together. For detecting microstructure and phases in BM and WM, X-ray diffraction analysis was
done. Finally, post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) was performed on as-welded samples. Results indicated that corrosion behavior of WM was
better than the BM. This phenomenon was attributed to secondary phases that were present in the BM. Secondary phases in the weld metal are
dissolved when the base metal is melting due to the welding process. Based on the results of electrochemical analysis, it was determined that the
corrosion rate of a couple was more than of other parts. Heat affected zone (HAZ) is responsible for this phenomenon. The adjacent zones of the
weld metal are classically less corrosion resistant, thereby being attacked preferentially when the steel is exposed to corrosive environments.
PWHT decreased the corrosion rate of the couple.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Corrosion; Welding; 316L stainless steel; PWHT

1. Introduction
An orthopedic device is an artificial mechanical device that
replaces or supports part of a skeletal structure of the human
body [1]. 316L stainless steel (SS) is one of the most
consumable materials in orthopedic implants. Stainless steels
were considered to have, in the annealed condition, very good
resistance to general and localized corrosion due to their
chromium content, which is higher or equal to a critical value
around atomic 13% [2].
Certain types of orthopedic implants such as mono-bloc hip
stems are often made of two elements welded together. Welding
may reduce the cost of manufacturing the implants and makes
production more easy. Welding together two different parts
leads to the selection of materials more adequate to the function
of the said part. Nevertheless, welds are recognized as zones
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 251 2910363.
E-mail addresses: ma_dadfar@ma.iut.ac.ir, mdadfar2001@yahoo.com
(M. Dadfar).
0167-577X/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2006.09.008

which are particularly sensitive to corrosion [3]. Normally, the

weld metal (WM) of austenitic stainless steel has a cast iron
structure with a presence of 210% -ferrite in the austenite
matrix. A small amount of -ferrite is necessary to avoid the
problem of hot cracking during weld solidification [4,5].
The in vitro corrosion tests usually selected for this type of
system are tests for fretting corrosion, or fatigue and stress
corrosion tests, as well as the analysis of the metallic cations
released in synthetic physiological solutions. The clinical consequences of at least partially corroding implants are well known:
Release of solutes, i.e. the corrosion products, at an implant site
may cause histological changes in the local tissue by either direct
toxic effects or a local hypersensitivity reaction, since elemental
nickel, cobalt and chrome as well as their compounds are known
allergens. On the other hand, it cannot be assumed that all the
released materials or ions will remain permanently localized to
the implant site. Dissolved metals can gain access to the blood
stream with the possibility of distant toxic effects [3,8].
In the past few decades, increase in the utilization of selfoperating machines, participation of many persons in sports,

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M. Dadfar et al. / Materials Letters 61 (2007) 23432346

defense activities, increased interest in motorcycles and bicycles, and day-to-day increasing traffic have resulted in an
enormous increase in the number of accidents. This has necessarily led people to opt for orthopedic implants for early
and speedy recovery and resumption of their routine activities [8].
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Samples of experiment
In this study, AISI 316 L stainless steel plate with 2 mm
thickness in annealed condition was used. The composition
(wt.%) of stainless steel was C 0.03, Si 0.80, Mn 1.2, Cr 17.55,
Ni 13.65, Mo 3.1, P 0.040, S 0.030 and Fe as the balance.

(0.9 wt.% NaCl) and the potentiodynamic corrosion tests were

performed at 37 1 C. Dynamic polarization curves were
recorded at a potential scanning rate of 0.5 mV s 1 initiated at
250 mV below the open circuit potential and the atmosphere
was open to air. Three replicate tests of each group of specimens
were performed.
Potentiodynamic polarization curves were determined at 37
1 C using an EG and G model 263A potentiostat/galvanostat
interfaced with a computer and recorder. The tests were started
after a steady open circuit potential was attained (not more than
5 mV drift in 5 min), so that the delay time of the tests was at
least 60 min. The anodic and cathodic polarization curves were
obtained for each specimen and corrosion potentials and corrosion current densities were determined by Tafel extrapolation
and linear polarization methods. The mean value and standard
deviations of the results were calculated.

2.2. Welding process

3. Results and discussion

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding was employed to join the

plates together. The welding process was performed without the
filler metal and as a lap form due to the small thickness of the
plates. Selective parameters were gas flow (lit/min) 9, voltage
(V) 11 2, travel speed (mm/min) 70, current (A) 55, heat input
(J/mm) 518, basis of thickness of plate, type of alloy and type of
welding process.

3.1. Structural characterization

The XRD patterns of 316L stainless steel and as-welded sample are
shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1(a), there are numerous sharp peaks that
correspond to the XRD pattern of austenite. Also, there are other weak
peaks that indicate the presence of secondary phases in the BM. It

2.3. Preparation of samples

In order to study the electrochemical behavior, a part of the
weld metal was cut. To compare the corrosion behavior of the
weld metal and the base metal, some of the samples were
prepared without the welding procedure. Also, for study of the
effect of post-weld heat treatment on corrosion behavior of the
as-welded samples, annealing the solution treatment after 1 h
(dependent on overall thickness; thickness of plate and foil used
for protection) at 1100 C under control of argon gas and then
quenching in water were performed. Surface preparations were
carried out by wet grinding with a series of SiC papers to 4000grit followed by cleaning in distilled water, degreasing with
acetone and air drying.
2.4. Structural characterization
X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique (Philips X'Pert-MPD
System with a Cu K wavelength of 1.5418 ) was used to
detect the structure and phases present in the base and weld
metal. SEM and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) techniques (Philips XL 30) were used to study the microstructure and
morphology of the samples before and after polarization testing.
2.5. Electrochemical testing
An electrochemical corrosion polarization test cell was used
for in vitro potentiodynamic corrosion tests in physiological
solutions. Graphite was used as the counter electrode and saturated calomel electrode (SCE) as the reference electrode. The
physiological solution was the physiological nominal saline

Fig. 1. X-ray diffraction pattern of (a) 316L stainless steel and (b) as-welded
sample.

M. Dadfar et al. / Materials Letters 61 (2007) 23432346

2345

that doesn't have enough time for precipitating them. Since no filler metal
is used in the welding processes, the nominal compositions of the WMs
are the same as those of BM.
The -ferrite content in 300 series of austenitic stainless steels under
the pseudo-equilibrium condition can be estimated from the equivalent
contents of Cr and Ni, which can be estimated from the composition of
the material using the following equations,
Creq Cr Mo 0:7Nb
Nieq Ni 0:35C 20N 0:25Cu
In line with the composition of the test material, the Cr equivalent is
20.65% and the Ni equivalent is 14.7%. The ferrite content in the weld
metal of the test material under the pseudo-equilibrium condition can be
estimated with the WRC-1992 diagram. The estimated value is about 4%.
The estimated value of ferrite (Fig. 2(a)) with Image Tool analyzer was
about 16%. Since the thickness of samples was very little and fusion pool
was small, cooling rate was very fast. During the cooling process, the
primary -ferrite (p) solidifies in the fusion zone and then the
transformation takes place. Since the transformation is a diffusioncontrolled process, the fast cooling in TIG process doesn't offer sufficient
time to complete the phase transformation. As a result, a large portion of
primary -ferrite is retained in WM of TIG sample and incomplete
transformation results in the retention of skeletal dendritic p within the
austenite matrix. The experimental evidence showed that, when a small
amount of -ferrite is formed on 18-8 type austenite stainless steels under
the pseudo-equilibrium condition, many Cr-depleted zones are likely to
form because of micro-segregation. This makes the material very
sensitive to localized corrosion. Pujar et al. [7] used the induction time of
passive film breakdown as a parameter to represent the pitting resistance
of materials and they found that induction time was heavily dependent on
the -ferrite content in microstructure and the heat inputs of welding
processes. As the heat input increased, the induction time decreased
rapidly. This was attributed to the fact that the higher heat input would
result in coarser -ferrite grains and that the passive film on the surface of
coarse-grained -ferrite possesses low stability.
X-ray diffraction analysis of post-weld heat treated samples was done.
Only, austenite peaks were observed. It seems that, heat treatment is
caused by -ferrite and austenite transformation. But, X-ray diffraction
isn't capable of detecting phases under 5% wt. Thus, other phases may be
present in the structure that cannot be detected with XRD analysis.
Fig. 2(b) and (c) shows the EDX analysis of light and dark areas,
respectively. Deference of chemical composition between both areas
isn't considerable.
3.2. Corrosion behavior
The potentiodynamic polarization curves of the base metal, weld
metal, couple base/weld metal and welded and heat treated 316L SS in
the normal saline solution were obtained.
Fig. 2. (a) SEM of -ferrite (about 16%) in grain boundaries of austenite matrix,
(b) EDX of the light area (ferrite) and (c) the dark area (austenite).

seems that this matter is due to the condition of the annealing process of
commercial SS.
A small amount of -ferrite is necessary to avoid the problem of hot
cracking during weld solidification. Fully austenitic stainless steel weld
deposits are susceptible to microfissuring during cooling upon solidification [6]. In Fig. 1(b), austenite and -ferrite phases are observed.
Secondary phases in the weld metal weren't seen. This phenomenon is
attributed to the solution of secondary phases due to the welding process

Table 1
Mean values (standard deviation) of corrosion current densities, corrosion
potential and corrosion rate in normal saline solution at 37 C
Material

Base metal
Weld metal
As-welded
Welded and heat treated

Ecorr
(mV)
174 20
157 20
206 15
140 20

icorr (nA/cm2)
Tafel

Linear

265 (16)
136 (17)
570 (15)
365 (41)

194 (16)
116 (3)
414 (24)
296 (14)

Corrosion
rate
0.111
0.057
0.240
0.153

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M. Dadfar et al. / Materials Letters 61 (2007) 23432346

The corrosion current densities of various specimens were determined from the potentiodynamic polarization curves by the Tafel
extrapolation method. These results align with corrosion potentials,
summarized in Table 1 in normal saline solution. The standard deviations of corrosion current densities are shown in parentheses in Table 1.
The corrosion current densities as determined by linear polarization
method are also listed in Table 1. According to Table 1, the base metal
316L SS possesses lower corrosion resistance and thus higher corrosion current density (icorr = 265 nA cm 2) in the normal saline solution in comparison with the weld metal (icorr = 136 nA cm 2) in the
same condition. Also, base metal, in comparison with weld metal has
lower open circuit potential in saline solution. Thus, when base metal
and weld metal are adjacently placed together in an electrolyte, the base
metal is the anodic part which corrodes. Secondary phases are
considered to have a detrimental effect on the pitting resistance because
they or their surroundings are preferential sites for initiation of
corrosion. It seems that, the reason of reduction of corrosion current
density is the solution of secondary phases in the weld metal. The
cooling process in TIG welding of the plates is so fast that the diffusion
of alloying elements during welding is suppressed. Because the
elements in the WM are uniformly distributed, both the and phases
possess the same composition, so that -ferrite in microstructure isn't
detrimental to the corrosion resistance [9].
Since the welds are more sensitive to corrosion, it is preferable to
choose a situation where the welds are in the cathodic position, as in aswelded 316L SS sample. If the weld is in this cathodic position, the
galvanic pile formed at the interface will not endanger the weld for
other forms of corrosion (crevice, pitting, or intergranular corrosion)
resulting from the galvanic coupling [3].
As shown in Table 1, corrosion current density of as-welded sample
is higher than raw material (base metal). It seems that, galvanic pile
formation at interfaces between base metal/HAZ and HAZ/weld metal,
presence of secondary phases in base metal and existed stresses due to
welding process are responsible for this phenomenon.
Results of electrochemical experiments on welded and heat treated
samples indicated that corrosion current density of the welded and heat
treated samples in comparison with as-welded samples has been
reduced. Stress relief, grain growth and thus reduction of grain
boundaries, reduction in difference potential between metal/HAZ and
HAZ/weld metal due to balance chemical composition through heat
treatment are reasons for reduction of corrosion current density.
According to Table 1, open circuit potential of welded and heat
treated sample is higher than the as-welded sample. The corrosion
behavior of the welded and heat treated 316L SS (Ecorr = 140 mV,
icorr = 365 nA) was better than the as-welded 316L SS (Ecorr = 206 mV,
icorr = 570 nA) up to 50 mV, as manifested by a shift of the polarization
curve of the welded and heat treated sample to the left upper of the
curve of the as-welded sample.

Corrosion current density of welded and heat treated 316L SS in

comparison with raw material is higher. Study on microstructure of
welded and heat treated 316L SS shows the presence of secondary
phases in the base metal that couldn't transform to solid solution state
due to heat treatment. The coring phenomenon with optic microscope
was seen in welded and heat treated 316L SS. It seems that, these two
phenomena are enough for increasing the corrosion rate of welded and
heat treated 316L SS.

4. Conclusion
The corrosion test results revealed that the weld metal in the
as-welded sample is the cathodic part.
Welding process has a detrimental effect on corrosion behavior and biocompatibility of 316L SS.
Solution heat treatment could improve the corrosion behavior of as-welded 316L SS.
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