Study on Microelectrochemical Inhomogeneity of an SA508–309L/308L Overlay Welded Joint

The corrosion behavior of the dissimilar metal welded joint (DMWJ) is highly dependent on its heterogeneous microstructures. However, directly measuring the electrochemical properties of microstructures in different heat-affected zones (HAZs) is a formidable challenge, because traditional bulk electrochemistry can only offer an average signal. Herein, the microelectrochemical properties of an SA508–309L/308L DMWJ were measured in 3.5 wt % NaCl solution using lithography and capillary techniques. Specifically, high-throughput microelectrochemical tests, including open circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), were conducted on 168 spots (Φ 12 μm). Results revealed five typical EIS responses and seven varieties of PDP curves (different magnitudes of the current density). The maps of thermodynamic and kinetic metrics, such as polarization resistance derived from EIS, corrosion potentials, and corrosion currents extracted from potentiodynamic polarization curves, demonstrated good consistency. The uniform corrosion tendency of the SA508 HAZ subregions during the immersion tests is basically consistent with its Ecorr_avg order of subcritical HAZ (C5, −371 mV) < intercritical HAZ (C4, −546 mV) < fine-grained HAZ2 (C3, −579 mV) < fine-grained HAZ1 (C2, −593 mV). The random presence of inclusions leads to highly heterogeneous microelectrochemical properties of the DMWJ, thereby causing localized corrosion to occur preferentially. Moreover, the macroscopic corrosion behavior is affected by the corrosion products, which display a protective effect that modifies the local electrochemical activity of the SA508 HAZ. The combination of microelectrochemical properties allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the macroscopic corrosion behavior of metals and the galvanic effect between the heterogeneous microstructures.