Corrosion Behavior of CW6MC Nickel Cast Alloy (Inconel 625) Welded by Shielded Metal Arc Welding

The aim of this study concerns the effect of multi-pass shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) on the corrosion behavior of CW6MC cast nickel alloy. Using optical and SEM techniques the welded joint is analyzed. Vickers microhardness mapping and potentiodynamic polarization in NaCl and H2SO4 solutions are also evaluated. Both the Laves phase and NbC-type carbides are identified in the base metal (BM) and weld metal (WM) regions. The main microstructural difference observed between these regions is the morphology aspect and fineness of the dendritic arrays. The welding process promotes the finer columnar grains formation with refined intermetallic particles in the WM than equiaxed grains of the BM, which in turn results in higher microhardness values in the former region. However, no substantial changes were observed in the corrosion behavior between the BM and WM regions, considering both acid and saline media. Nevertheless, during the multi-pass SMAW process, some non-metallic micrometric inclusions (Mo and S-rich regions) can be constituted to occur in the WM region. This is associated with a significant drop in the corrosion performance of this region when the electrochemical tests are evaluated.