LAUSR

Welded joints of multicomponent alloys when submitted to high temperatures close to operating conditions are very susceptible to grain boundary precipitation, thereby reducing both corrosion resistance and mechanical properties [1]. We focus our attention here on discontinuous precipitation (DP) phenomenon taking place in a high-performance austenitic alloy, denominated alloy 33 because of the almost equal content of the elements Fe, Ni and Cr (wt. %) of 32.75Cr-32.53Fe-31.35Ni1.49Mo-0.54Cu-0.4N-0.012C-0.63Mn-0.30Si. The material was submitted to a Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) process on both sides of the base metal followed by direct-aging at 700 °C for different times intervals. The fill metal used in the welding process was the same as the base metal.