Study on Corrosion Resistance and Hydrogen Permeation Behavior in Inter-Critically Reheated Coarse-Grained Heat-Affected Zone of X80 Pipeline Steel

Abstract

We studied the effects of peak temperature and cooling rate in the secondary welding thermal cycles on the martensite/austenite (M/A) constituents’ characteristics (including fraction, average size and distribution), corrosion resistance and hydrogen permeation behaviors in the inter-critically reheated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (ICCGHAZ) of X80 pipeline steel. We observed that the M/A constituents’ characteristics mainly depend on the secondary peak temperature and cooling rates, while the microstructure style and prior austenite grain size are dependent on the first peak temperature. In addition, the variations in the M/A constituents’ characteristics result in different corrosion resistance and hydrogen permeation behaviors by changing the micro-galvanic effect and the number of hydrogen trapping sites. The high fraction and coarse grain size of M/A constituents are against the corrosion resistance and hydrogen permeation in ICCGHAZs, and their functional relationships are established. Moreover, the effects of the fraction of M/A constituents on the corrosion resistance and hydrogen permeation behaviors are much greater than those of the average size.