Microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of laser welded dissimilar joints between ferritic stainless steel and carbon steel

Highlights: • Laser welding of ferritic stainless steel to carbon steel joints was made. • The microstructure of this dissimilar joint is lath martensite and ferrite. • Decarburized layer and type II grain boundary was observed in joints. • The hardness distribution of two heat input joints across interface were analyzed. • E_corr of dissimilar joint is between two base metals and joint has greatest i_corr. - Abstract: The joint of dissimilar metals between ferritic stainless steel (FSS) and low carbon steel (CS) are welded by laser beam with two different welding speeds: 12 mm/s and 24 mm/s. Microstructure of dissimilar joint were investigated using optical microscope, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The results show that the microstructure of this dissimilar joint is lath martensite and few ferrite, upper bainite and widmanstatten ferrite formed in heat-affected zone (HAZ) of CS. An increase of welding speed leads to narrower HAZ of CS and higher hardness of weld bead close to FSS side. The joints with different welding speed have similar ultimate tensile strength but superior elongation is obtained of high welding speed joint. Electrochemical corrosion test indicates the corrosion potential of dissimilar joint falls in between FSS and CS. And dissimilar joint has greatest corrosion current density which is attributed to the effect of galvanic corrosion