Microstructural and corrosion resistance of lean duplex stainless steel UNS S32304 welded by SAW with cold wire addition

The results of the corrosion tests, in chloride environment, of lean duplex stainless steel UNS S32304 welded by submerged arc welding (SAW) process variant with cold wire, indicated that the sample with higher heat input heat input (HI) (2.7 kJ/mm) had higher corrosion resistance, which can be explained by higher amount of austenite and lower amount of precipitates. Therefore, the results indicate that the use of HI above the limit recommended by literature (2.5 kJ/mm) may produce welds with adequate corrosion resistance with SAW with cold wire addition, because this technique has the potential to deliver higher productivity still controlling the process HI.