Intergranular Corrosion Behavior of Medium and Low Carbon Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic stainless steel has been widely used because of its good corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. However, intergranular corrosion can occur if the alloy is welded or aged. The objective of this study was to determine intergranular corrosion behaviors of austenitic medium carbon (0.05 wt%) and low carbon (0.02 wt%) stainless steel aged at several conditions. Alloys were evaluated according to ASTM A262 Practice A, ISO 12732 DL-EPR (double loop-electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation) test, and ASTM A262 Practice C. The degree of sensitization and intergranular corrosion rate were obtained. The relationship between the degree of sensitization and the intergranular corrosion rate showed a very large fluctuation. Such behavior might be related to whether two-dimension tests or three-dimension tests were performed. On the other hand, regardless of carbon content of alloys, when the intergranular corrosion rate increased, the degree of sensitization also increased. However, the DL-EPR test showed a higher sensitivity than the Huey test for differentiating the intergranular corrosion property at a low intergranular corrosion rate, while the Huey test had a higher sensitivity than the DL-EPR test for distinguishing the intergranular corrosion property at a high intergranular corrosion rate.