CORROSION RESISTANCE OF LASER WELDED SHEETS OF STAINLESS STEEL 316L

The autogenous laser welding with a disk laser was used for producing butt joins of 2.0 mm thick sheets of AISI 316L stainless steel. The influence of basic laser welding parameters on the shape, microhardness distribution, microstructure and corrosion resistance of the joints was determined. The tests of corrosion resistance were conducted in a salt chamber under artificial NaCl environment conditions. The corrosion tests were conducted in accordance with the PN EN ISO 9227 standard. The produced test joints of 2.0 mm thick stainless steel were characterized by high quality, homogeneous and low-grained microstructure, and very narrow heat affected zone. The results of microhardness measurements indicated that the fusion zone was slightly hardened comparing to the 2.0 mm thick stainless steel sheet AISI 316L. The obtained results of corrosion test under artificial NaCl environment conditions showed that the tested butt joints are resistant for corrosion under the test conditions.