Investigation on Microstructure and Properties of Duplex Stainless Steel Welds by Underwater Laser Welding with Different Shielding Gas

Taking S32101 duplex stainless steel as the research object, underwater laser wire filling welding technology was used for U-groove filling welding. The influence of different shielding gas compositions on the ferrite content, microstructure, mechanical properties and pitting corrosion resistance was studied by simulating a water depth of 15 m in the hyperbaric chamber. The results show that, under the same process parameters, the size and proportion of austenite in the weld when using pure nitrogen as the shielding gas are larger than those protected by other shielding gases. In a mixed shielding gas, the increase in nitrogen content has little effect on the strength and toughness of the weld. Regardless of the shielding gas used, the base metal was the weakest part of the weld. At the same time, intermetallic inclusions have an adverse effect on the impact toughness of the weld. The pitting corrosion resistance of the welds depends on the Cr2N content in the heat-affected zone. The precipitation and enrichment of Cr2N causes local chromium deficiency, which is the main factor for the weak pitting corrosion ability of the heat-affected zone. Pure nitrogen protection has a better corrosion resistance than other gas protection.