Accepted Manuscript

Root Cause Analysis for 316L Stainless Steel Tube Leakages

S. Kaewkumsai, S. Auampan, K. Wongpinkaew, E. Viyanit
PII:
DOI:
Reference:

S1350-6307(13)00365-8
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2013.11.008
EFA 2198

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Engineering Failure Analysis

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2 August 2013
19 November 2013
19 November 2013

Please cite this article as: Kaewkumsai, S., Auampan, S., Wongpinkaew, K., Viyanit, E., Root Cause Analysis for
316L Stainless Steel Tube Leakages, Engineering Failure Analysis (2013), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.engfailanal.2013.11.008

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Root Cause Analysis for 316L Stainless Steel Tube Leakages

S. Kaewkumsai*, S. Auampan, K. Wongpinkaew, E. Viyanit
Failure Analysis and Materials Corrosion Laboratory (FAMC), National Metal and Materials
Technology Center (MTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 114
Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Rd., Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

ABSTRACT
Perforation of ASTM A270 TP316L stainless steel tube, used for transportation of ozonated
high purity water in a pharmaceutical plant, was discovered after 3 months in actual service.
The current investigation was conducted in order to explore the root causes of failure. Various
techniques including on-site investigation, emission spectroscopy, ion chromatography,
radioscopy,

optical

microscopy,

scanning

electron

microscopy,

energy

dispersive

spectroscopy, and intergranular corrosion testing were implemented for failure analysis of the
tube components. The results revealed that the perforation of tube was initiated from the outer
wall and extended to the inner wall by pitting corrosion. The stagnant state of chloridecontaining water was the main reason for inducing such corrosion attack. The weld metal was
the most susceptible to corrosion attack leading to perforation of the wall thickness, although
initiation sites of pitting corrosion were also observed in the base metal. The dimensions of
each pit mouth are very small, but enlarged subsurface cavities were observed. The selective
dissolution of material due to galvanic effects between delta-ferrite and the austenite matrix
occurred in the weld zone. It is suggested that failure prevention could be achieved by
controlling the quality of the insulation system. In addition, careful control of welding
conditions must be implemented during fabrication.
Keywords: Pitting corrosion; Welding defect; Tubing failure; Stainless steel

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 2564 6500x4736; fax: +66 2564 6332.
E-mail address: siamk@mtec.or.th (S. Kaewkumsai).

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1. Background information
A pharmaceutical plant has encountered the leakage of an ozonated high purity water transfer
tube. The seamless tube was made of stainless steel grade ASTM A270 TP316L [1]. Each
section of tube was connected by manual circumferential TIG welding with no filler metal.
The tube has an outside diameter of 50 mm and wall thickness of 2 mm. The welding process
was performed according to AWS D18.1 standard and each weld line was inspected by visual
inspection according to ASME BPVC - Section IX. From the inspection, the qualities of
welds were found to be within the acceptable range. Leak testing of the tubing system was
also conducted at a pressure of 800 kPa for 6 hours using nitrogen gas. The pressure testing
showed no indication of leakages.

The tubing system was horizontally installed with thermal insulation (EPDM non-halogenated
synthetic elastomers) using chlorine-free glue for joining the insulator material together. The
insulation was also externally wrapped by aluminum jacket with using silicone for bonding
and sealing jacket materials firmly together. The insulation of tubing system was completely
done ahead of schedule by 4 months. When it was time for plant commissioning test, plant
personnel cleaned the inner wall of the tube system with hot de-ionized water and were
passivated. After the passivation, the tubing system has been running with the ozonated high
purity water at a temperature of 297-299 K under the pressure of 500 kPa. However, after 3month utilization, the leakage was found in the tubes that were installed outdoors on the plant
roof. The perforation of the tube occurred in a short period of service relative to plant
shutdown and replacement cost. Detailed investigation of the leakage of the tubes is presented
in this paper.

2. Experimental
On-site investigation was conducted to observe the service conditions to investigate the
leakage site and to consider collection of samples including the accumulated trap water on the
insulator at the bottom of the tube in the leaked site as well as the corroded specimens for
laboratory testing. After receiving the samples, bulk composition of one of the failed tubes
was determined using a spark emission spectrometer for comparison with the standard
specification. In order to determine the corrosive species contained in the sample trapped
water, ion chromatography (IC) was used. To determine the nature of metal loss through the
tube thickness, radioscopy was conducted before taking specimens for microstructure
analysis. Surface analyses were performed both on the outer and inner surface of the corroded
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tube samples. The physical appearance of the tubes was captured using a low magnification
digital camera for damage analyses. High magnification observation with a scanning electron
microscope (SEM) was conducted to study the surface morphology. Energy dispersive
spectrometry (EDS) was used for chemical composition analyses of the substances or
particles deposited at the surface. The samples were then cross-sectioned and prepared for
microstructural analyses following these steps; cold mounting in resin, grinding with silicon
carbide paper, polishing with diamond suspension, and etching in a glyceregia solution (one
part of HNO3 and four parts of HCl with H2O2 as a catalyst). The microstructural analyses
were performed using a reflected light microscope. Finally, the susceptibility of the weldment
to intergranular attack was conducted in accordance to ASTM A262 [2]. The samples were
polished with silicon carbide papers and subsequently etched in oxalic acid (10%) for 1.5 min
after polishing. The current density was controlled at 1 A/cm2. The etched surfaces of each
sample were studied by optical microscopy.

3. Results
3.1 Visual examination
During on-site investigation, it was found that the tubing system had 5 parallel lines
consisting of two steam transfer tubes, one waste water transfer tube and two ozonated water
transfer tubes as shown in Fig. 1. The perforation problem was only found on both ozonated
water transfer tubes. Close observation of the perforated tubing revealed that the aluminum
jacket was defective in that the silicone used for sealing joints in the jacket was degraded (Fig.
2a), resulting in gaps between the adjacent sections (Fig. 2b). After removing the jacket and
insulator from the tube, it was found that accumulated stagnant water was trapped in the
insulation as shown in Fig. 2c. It is believed that the defects in the insulation system allowed
the entry of rain water and condensed moisture which accumulated in the insulation at the
bottom of the tube. The temperature outside the tube monitored using an infrared thermometer
was 303.6 K (Fig. 2d). The trapped liquid was collected for evaluation of anions by Ion
Chromatography in the laboratory. Observation on the outer surface of tube revealed the
corrosion attack in many locations. Strongly adhered of black insulator was also observed on
the outer surface. Then, two samples of stainless steel tubes containing the corrosion pits were
cut and removed for metallurgical examination in the laboratory. They can be divided into
two groups as follows: 1) tube sample with corrosion in the base metal (as labeled with SC-1)
as illustrated in Fig. 3a and 2) tube sample with corrosion in the weld (as labeled with WD-1)
as shown in Fig. 3b.
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3.2 Chemical analyses

Bulk composition of the failed tube sample using spark emission spectrometer is presented in
Table 1. The results were compared with the specification of ASTM A270 TP316L according
to ASTM standard practice for Seamless and Welded Austenitic Stainless Steel Sanitary
Tubing, A270-03. Based on the analysis results, they are in agreement with the standard
specification.
Table 1
Chemical composition of the tube sample and standard grade (wt.%).
Element
ASTM A270
TP 316L
Failed tube
a

C
0.035a

Mn
2.0a

Si
0.75a

P
0.04a

S
0.03a

Cr
16-18

Ni
10-15

Mo
2-3

Nb
-

Cu
-

N
-

0.03

1.43

0.49

0.03

0.008

16.32

10.07

2.31

0.056

0.319

0.033

Maximum.

In order to determine the corrosive ions contained in the accumulated stagnant water, Ion
Chromatography was used to determine the anions in solution.
-

From this test, the

2-

concentration of chloride (Cl ) was 138.73 ppm, sulfate (SO4 ) 78.65 ppm and nitrate (NO3-)
61.96 ppm as presented in Fig. 4. The presence of chloride ions can result in pitting attack [3].
Furthermore, the simultaneous presence of sulfate in the stagnant water could accelerate the
corrosion attack [4].

3.3 Radioscopic inspection

From visual inspection of the failed samples at the site, pitting corrosion was observed in all
samples. Therefore, radioscopy was used to determine the shape of metal loss through the
tube thickness. The results were useful for considering the location for the samples for
microstructural analyses. Radioscopy of the failed tube sample in the pitted area reveals large
internal pores as shown in Fig. 5. It clearly shows the evidence of pit centralizing is found to
be a group together of small pits as seen on the outer surface of the weldment.

3.4 Corrosion analyses

3.4.1 Corrosion at the base metal
Visual examination of the SC-1 sample revealed that corrosion pits were only observed on the
outer surface. Corrosion attack did not penetrate through the wall thickness. Corrosion pits
were found in several areas but specify at the bottom half of the tube.

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Based on the corrosion analysis on the SC-1 sample, only localized corrosion was found in a
form of pitting corrosion which is distributed around on the outer surface of the tube in the
base metal as shown in Fig. 6a. Strong adherence of black insulator was also observed (Fig.
6a-b). The results from EDS showed that the black insulator contained significant
concentration of chlorine and sulfur (Fig. 6c). After removing the black insulator, corrosion
attack was found on the surface of the tube (Fig. 6d). It is believed that the adhered insulator
acts as the preferential adsorption of the corrosive species from the accumulated stagnant
water. High magnification observations with SEM on the pits show corrosion characteristics
as shown in Fig. 7a-b. The results from EDS showed that the residue present within these pits
contained significant concentrations of chlorine and sulfur (Fig. 7c). These elements were not
found in the base metal area (Fig. 7d). Cross-section through the pits (in Fig. 7a-b) indicated
that corrosion attack was initiated from the outer wall and extended into the material (Fig. 8).
The depths of the pitting corrosion were measured to be approximately 200 and 260
micrometers (along cross-section A-A and B-B), respectively.

From the corrosion analyses at the base metal, it can be concluded that pitting had started
from the outer surface and penetrated into the wall thickness at several areas but did penetrate
the wall. The corrosive species deposited in the pits mainly contained chlorine and sulfur. The
sources of chlorine and sulfur should be attributed to the rain water or condensed moisture.

3.4.2 Corrosion at the weld

Visual examination showed that the tube sections of the WD-1 sample had been manually
circumferential welded. Rough surfaces of weldment were observed. Corrosion pits were
mostly found at the interface between the weld metal and heat affected zone (HAZ).
Examination the inner surface of the tube revealed that severe discoloration was noticed in the
HAZ region (Fig. 9), indicating that the region might be sensitized during welding.

Close examination of the WD-1 sample indicated corrosion attack at the weld metal adjacent
to the HAZ. The outer surface of the perforation is shown in Fig. 10a. High magnification
examination on the outer surface with SEM found grain boundaries as shown in Fig. 10b
probably caused by acid pickling during tube welding. The inner surface of the perforation is
shown in Fig. 10c, no intergranular corrosion was detected. Comparing the corrosion damage
between the outer and inner surfaces of the tube around the perforation location, there was
more severe corrosion on the outer wall. High magnification of area 2 in Fig. 10b show
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micro-galvanic corrosion at the interface between the -ferrite and austenite (Fig. 10d). The
small hole and black precipitates deposited on surface of the weldment were further examined
as shown in Fig. 11a. High magnification of the small hole shows shrinkage defect (Fig. 11b).
High magnification observation with SEM of the black precipitates deposited area indicated
the presence of skeletal dendritic structure [5] (Fig. 11c). From chemical composition analysis
of the black precipitates by EDS, contaminants including sulfur and manganese were found
(Fig. 11d). They could segregate to shrinkage area in weld. Cross-section through the hole
indicated that the pitting corrosion occurred at the interface between the weld metal and HAZ,
and extended into the weld metal in the transverse direction (through thickness), then
extended further into the base metal in the longitudinal direction with irregular shape like
tunnel (along tubing) as shown in Fig. 12a. The microstructure of the fusion line as shown in
Fig. 12a resembles the cast structure consisting of -ferrite interdendritic structure in an
austenitic matrix. High magnification observation at the fusion zone revealed general
corrosion, which was caused by the micro-galvanic effect between -ferrite and austenite (Fig.
12b). This general attack could initiate the preferred sites for growth of pits [5-6]. This
observation indicated that corrosion was initiated from the outside and propagated to the inner
wall. As the corrosion progresses, the wall thickness will decrease, and finally, leading to
perforation.

Base on the corrosion analyses at the welds, it can be concluded that the perforated hole had
started from the outer surface and propagated to the inner surface at the interface between the
weld metal and HAZ. Although the openings of the corrosion pits are very small, the large
subsurface cavities are formed. Grain boundary corrosion on the outer surface at the HAZ and
the black precipitates containing the elemental sulfur and manganese were also observed. The
microstructure of the base metal was normal austenitic structure, while the dendritic structure
of -ferrite and austenite was present in the weld. No evidence of chromium carbide
precipitate at the grain boundaries was observed.

3.4.3 Intergranular corrosion test

Due to the presence of grain boundary corrosion observed in the HAZ of the WD-1 sample,
specimens of this sample were prepared for intergranular corrosion tests. They were cut from
the base metal and near the weldment areas. The susceptibility to intergranular attack was
conducted in accordance to ASTM A262, Practice A. It is used to assess the intergranular
corrosion resistance of stainless steel through the three basic morphologies: step, dual and
6/12

ditch [6]. Based on the test results (Fig. 13), the HAZ and base material showed no degree
of sensitization and were classified as step. The presence of steps between grains is an
acceptable structure after oxalic acid etching for stainless steel components [7]. It also
confirmed that the stainless steel samples were not likely to be susceptible to intergranular
corrosion attack. Evidently, chromium carbides were not precipitated at the grain boundary.

4. Discussion
From the experimental results, it is evident that the tube failed from pitting corrosion
mechanism. It is well known that the susceptibility of austenitic stainless steel to pitting
corrosion depends on environmental factors [8, 9], their chemical compositions and
metallurgical features. For the environmental factor, localized corrosion of austenitic stainless
steel; the severity of which chloride can induce depends on the temperature and pH [10].
Furthermore, the simultaneous presence of chloride and sulfate in the stagnant water could
accelerate the corrosion attack [4]. Therefore, the presence of sulfates in the trapped liquid
that accumulated in the insulation at the bottom of the tube as shown in Fig. 4 increase the
susceptibility of stainless steels to pitting corrosion.

In stagnant waters with the presence of corrosive species, the corrosion resistance of stainless
steels could be decreased due to lower protective film stability, which leads to pit initiation. In
the present study, the stagnant trapped water (Fig. 2c) could result from the defective
insulation system as observed during onsite investigation (see Fig. 2a-b). It is believed that the
initial source of accumulated water could come from the diffusion and/or the penetration of
condensed moisture/rain water through the defective joints in the insulation. Most likely,
leaked water from the tube interior could increase the volume of accumulated water.
Furthermore, chemical analysis indicates that the trapped water contains Cl- (138.73 ppm),
SO42- (78.65 ppm) and NO3- (61.96 ppm). These results are consistent with the EDS analyses
of the deposit present within the corroded area, which contains significant concentrations of
chlorine and sulfur (see Fig 7c). The adhered insulator could facilitate the adsorption of
corrosive species as suggested by EDS results (Fig. 6c) since the thermal insulation was made
of non-halogenated synthetic elastomers and the glue for joining the insulating material
together was chlorine-free, the source of chloride and sulfate must have come mainly from the
rain water or condensed moisture.

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Pitting morphology was clearly observed on both the base metal and the weld metal. The most
severe attack, complete penetration through wall thickness, was found at the weld metal
whereas the base metal suffered only from pitting not complete perforation. In many cases,
welding decreases corrosion resistance of metal [11-12]. In this case, the austenitic base
metal, which has higher corrosion resistance, was changed to dual austenite-ferrite
microstructure in the weld area. When the welded tube is exposed in the electrolyte, the weld
metal therefore acts as an anode whereas base metal acts as a cathode leading to preferential
attack at the weld. The rate of localized attack is very fast in a system with a large cathode
(base metal) and a small anode (weldment) [13] as in this case. Welding can also alter the
stability of the passive layer and its corrosion behavior [12, 14]. When the affected area is
exposed to the corrosive environment, the defect sites on passive film could promote the
localized corrosion such as pitting corrosion [11, 15]. The residual stresses introduced in weld
metals could enhance the contribution factor of corrosion attack in the weld [2]. However,
correct weld anneal along with the carefully surface cleaning after welding could prevent this
problem [16]. In the case of stainless steel, welds and HAZ are most susceptible to pitting
corrosion [17]. Base metal attack is less common, although it has been observed as presented
in this case.

Examination of the weld metal at the leaked site revealed the grain boundaries corrosion
surface as shown in Fig. 10b. Such evidence indicated that the protective film was imperfect
and inhomogeneous. Onsite welds are usually welded from the exterior of the tube using
shielding gas inside. Normally, it is difficult or even impossible to clean the root of the weld
after welding properly. If the shielding gas contains even a relatively small amount of oxygen,
heat tint layers (discoloration) will be formed close to the weld as seen on the inner surface of
the tube in Fig. 9. The outer surface probably experienced the same degree of discoloration,
but it has been removed by abrasive treatment or acid pickling. These heat tint layers could
promote the initiation and growth of corrosion pits even in seemingly harmless environments.
Furthermore, improper cleaning of the heat tint could generate intergranular corrosion as seen
in Fig. 10b although the results from evaluation of the corrosion behavior of the weldment
show that there was no susceptibility to intergranular corrosion (Fig. 13). However, the
presences of inhomogeneous surface at the weld metal are susceptible areas for chloride
induced pitting corrosion [2, 18].

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Cross-sectional analyses through pits at the welds indicated that the initiation of pitting started
from the outer surface of the tube and propagated toward the inner surface. Surface analyses
of the failed area revealed that the openings of the corrosion pits are very small but crosssection of the pit showed networks of interconnecting tunnels through the tube wall (see Fig.
12a). Corrosion propagation tends to be migrating downward and slightly to the sides rather
than straight down through wall thickness. Such evidence could further confirm by the results
from radioscopy as shown in Fig. 5. It differs from the general pitting morphology, which is
normally spherical in nature, but, in this finding, pits are of irregular shape. From the results,
it is suggested that the pitting corrosion at the weld is very dangerous for engineering
structure because sometimes there were no clear evidence of corrosion attack on the outer
surface, but inside the material was very severe attack.

Autogenous welding, without adding filler metal, of the austenitic stainless steel produced a
fusion zone with a dendritic structure of chromium-rich delta ferrite in a Ni-rich austenite
matrix [16]. Such structure is generated from the high cooling rate of fusion line after
welding. From chemical composition of the failed tube as shown in Table 1, the chromium
and nickel equivalents can be calculated to predict the ferrite content in fusion zone according
to the WRC-1992 [15] as follows;

Creq

= Cr + Mo + 0.7Nb

= 16.32 + 2.31 + 0.7(0.056) = 18.67

Nieq

= Ni + 35C + 0.25Cu + 20N = 10.07 + 35(0.03) + 0.25 (0.32) + 20(0.033) = 11.86

From this calculation the amount of delta ferrite in fusion zone is about 7%. The presence of
3-8% delta ferrite is optimal to reduce hot cracking [19]. However, this amount of Cr-rich
delta ferrite could contribute to general corrosion and pitting corrosion susceptibility of the
weld [17]. Microstructural analysis through the weld metal indicated the general corrosion of
the fusion zone, as seen in Fig. 12b, results from micro-galvanic effects between delta ferrite
and austenite matrix.

The high content of chromium in delta ferrite, in turn causes Cr

depletion in the adjacent austenite matrix, making the material very sensitive to localized
corrosion. Therefore, corrosion at the fusion zone is localized and acts as the initiation
mechanism for pitting.

From the discussion above, it is clear that the defective insulation and the presence of stagnant
chloride containing solution caused to the perforation of the ASTM A270 TP316L stainless
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steel tube by pitting corrosion. The presence of dual delta ferrite/austenite phases and welding
defects in the weld metal could lead to the fast rate of tube leakage. Thus, the leakage of tube
in this case occurred in a short service life.

Therefore, to prevent such failure from occurring in the future, it is necessary to keep the
thermal insulation free from gaps at the joints to prevent the surrounding corrosive media
from reacting with the tube surface. High quality welding to ensure the delta ferrite content as
well as prevention of trapped liquid is also highly advisable. Post-weld annealing will
increase the intergranular corrosion resistance as well as decrease the susceptibility to general
corrosion at the fusion zone [11, 16]. To ensure that the tube and weld are free from defects
i.e. porosity, cavity, and etc., the non-destructive testing technique such as radiography, etc.,
is recommended before implementing the components in service.

5. Conclusions
The ASTM A270 TP316L stainless steel tube was leaked due to pitting corrosion. Leakage of
the tube was initiated from the outside and propagated toward the inside. The rapid rate of
wall penetration resulted from defects and discontinuities in the weld metal. It is recommend
that the thermal insulation be kept free from gaps at the joint and the quality of welding be
closely monitored to prevent this failure from occurring in the future.

Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to Dr. John T. Harry Pearce and Dr. Amnuaysak Chainpairot for
valuable comments and Failure Analysis and Materials Corrosion Laboratory, MTEC for
support the testing instruments.

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References
[1] Standard Specification for Seamless and Welded Austenitic Stainless Steel Sanitary Tubing (ASTM A270),
ASTM Standards, 2003.
[2] Standard Specification for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Austenitic Stainless Steels
(ASTM A262, ASTM Standards, 1998.
[3] Wu W, Cheng G, Zhu W, Xu C, Cai H. Corrosion failure analysis of stainless steel components for maleic
anhydride plant. Eng Fail Anal 2010; 17: 90612.
[4] Laitinen T. Localized corrosion of stainless steel in chloride, sulfate and thiosulfate containing
environments. Corros Sci 2000; 42: 421-41.
[5] Mohammadi Zahrani E, Saatchi A, Alfantazi A. Pitting of 316L stainless steel in flare piping of a
petrochemical plant. Eng Fail Anal 2010; 17: 810817.
[6] Garcia C, de Tiedra MP, Blanco Y, Martin O, Martin F. Intergranular corrosion of welded joints of
austenitic stainless steels studied by using an electrochemical minicell. Corros Sci 2008; 50: 23907.
[7] Lu BT, Chen ZK, Luo JL, Patchett BM, Xu ZH. Pitting and stress corrosion cracking behavior in welded
austenitic stainless steel. Electrochim Acta 2005; 50(6): 1391-403.
[8] Ramana KVS, Anita T, Mandal S, Kaliappan S, Shaikh H. Effect of different environmental parameters on
pitting behavior of AISI type 316L stainless steel: Experimental studies and neural network modeling.
Mater Design 2009; 30: 37705.
[9] Pardo A, Merino MC, Coy AE, Viejo F, Arrabal R, Matykina E. Pitting corrosion behaviour of austenitic
stainless steels combining effects of Mn and Mo additions. Corros Sci 2008; 50: 17961806.
[10] Starosvetskya J, Starosvetsky D, Armon R. Identification of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC)
in industrial equipment failures. Eng Fail Anal 2007; 14: 150011.
[11] Werner SE, Johnson CA, Laycock NJ, Wilson PT, Webster BJ. Pitting corrosion of 304 stainless steel in
the presence of a biofilm containing sulphate reducing bacteria. Corros Sci 1998; 40: 465-80.
[12] Garcia C, Martin F, de Tiedra P, Blanco Y, Lopez M. Pitting corrosion of welded joints of austenitic
stainless steels studied by using an electrochemical minicell. Corros Sci 2008; 50: 1184-94.
[13] Cuia L, Xiaoganga L, Chaofang D. Pitting and galvanic corrosion behavior of stainless steel with weld in
wet-dry environment containing CI. J. Univ. Sci. Technol. Beijing 2007; 14(6): 517-22.
[14] Timofeev BT, Karzov GP, Gorbakony AA, Nikolaev YK. Corrosion and mechanical strength of welded
joints of downcomers for RBMK reactors, Int J Pres Ves Piping 1999; 76: 299307.
[15] Kou S. Welding metallurgy. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons; 2003.
[16] Shi X, Avci R, Geiser M, Lewandowski Z. Comparative study in chemistry of microbially and
electrochemically induced pitting of 316L stainless steel. Corros Sci 2003; 45: 257795.
[17] Olszewski AM. Avoidable MIC-Related Failures. JFAP 2007; 7: 23946.
[18] Geesey GG, Gillis RJ, Avci R, Daly D, Hamilton M, Shope P, Harkin G. The influence of surface features
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[19] Davis JR (Ed.). Corrosion of Weldments. Davis & Associates. ASM International. 2006: 5.

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Captions for Illustrations

Fig. 1. The tubing systems have 5 parallel lines consisting of two steam transfer tubes, one waste
water transfer tube and two ozonated water transfer tubes.
Fig. 2. (a) The degradation of silicone used for joining and sealing sections of insulation jacket (b) the
gap between the overlapped insulation jackets and (c) the stagnant trapped water under the insulator
and (d) surface temperature of the tube.
Fig. 3. Stainless steel tube samples for analysis: (a) samples with corrosion in the base metal and (b)
samples with corrosion in the welds.
Fig. 4. Chromatograph showing the anions of the trapped water.
Fig. 5. Radioscopic image of the pitting area of the failed tube sample showing a large internal defect
(white spots).
Fig. 6. Corrosion of the SC-1 sample: (a) pitting corrosion in the base metal on the outer surface of the
tube (b) SEM photograph showing pitting corrosion on the strongly adhered insulation (c) EDS
spectrum of the black insulator and (d) corrosion attack under the insulation.
Fig. 7. Microanalyses of the SC-1 sample: (a-b) SEM photographs showing pitting on the outer
surface and small particles depositing in the holes (c) EDS spectrum of the residue within the pit
showing significant concentrations of chlorine, sulfur, silicon and aluminum and (d) EDS spectrum of
the normal area.
Fig. 8. Cross-section through the pits of the SC-1 sample showing morphologies of the pits initiated
from the outer surface: (a) along cross-section A-A in Fig. 7a and (b) along cross-section B-B in Fig.
7b.
Fig. 9. Severe discoloration on the inner surface of the HAZ of WD-1 sample.
Fig. 10. Corrosion characteristic of WD-1 sample: (a) The perforation was initiated on the outer
surface at the interface between the weld metal and HAZ (b) grain boundary corrosion was found near
the perforation (c) the characteristics of the inner surfaces around the perforation and (d) high
magnification image of area 2 in Fig. 10b showing micro-galvanic corrosion at the interface between
the -ferrite and austenite structures.
Fig. 11. (a) the small hole and black precipitates deposited on surface of the weldment (b) High
magnification image of the small hole show a shrinkage (c) high magnification image of the black
precipitates deposited area indicated the presence of skeletal dendritic structure and (d) chemical
analysis of the black precipitates showing contaminants including sulfur and manganese.
Fig. 12. Cross-section through the pit of WD-1 sample: (a) the network of interconnecting tunnels
within the tube wall and (b) the general corrosion caused by the micro-galvanic effect between ferrite and austenite structures.
Fig. 13. The HAZ and base material showed zero degree of sensitization and were classified as step
structure according to ASTM A262.

12/12

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11.

Fig. 12.

Fig. 13.

The highlight in this article are consists of;

1. The initiation of pitting was propagated anti-gravity and only found at the bottom half
of the tubes.
2. The rapid rate of wall penetration resulted from defects and discontinuities in the weld
metal.
3. The perforation of the tube occurred in a short service time relative to downtime and
replacement cost.

13/12