Electrochemical method for pickling and passivation of austenitic steel welds

The aim of this work is to develop an innovative process for pickling and passivating tungsten inert gas welds on austenitic stainless steel in order to obtain complete removal of non-protective oxides and to passivate the metal surface. In particular, the treatment intends to increase both corrosion resistance and surface appearance of the steel without making use of traditional pickling solutions (which usually contain high concentrations of strong acids). The treatment, based on an electrochemical approach, uses specific electrolytes, and to evaluate their effect in terms of corrosion resistance and surface finish, different solutions were prepared and tested using low concentrations of weak organic acids, e.g. citric, oxalic, sulphamic, gluconic and lactic acids. This aspect is very important to reduce the hazardousness of the solution compared to the traditional pickling acids.