Study the Effect of Adding Titanium Powder on the Corrosion Behavior for Spot Welded Low Carbon Steel Sheets

Carbon steel is a widely used material in many different applications which require high welding, such as panels for appliances or automobiles. However, the effect of the spot welding process itself has reduced corrosion resistance. On the other hand, during spot welding can have poor corrosion behavior leading to weld failure. This study proposes a new approach in resistance spot welding carbon steel sheets by adding a small amount of titanium powder between the faying surfaces to improve the corrosion resistance. The corrosion behavior of spot welded carbon steel in 1 molarity aqueous sulfuric acid solution has been studied using potentiodynamic polarization measurements in the presence and absence of titanium powder additives in joining carbon steel sheets during the spot welding process at various conditions. It was observed that, the corrosion rate reduced when adding titanium powder for both cases increasing spot welding current and time compared with specimens without adding titanium powder. Microstructural changes were occurred during the spot welding process which has observed in the assayed samples using scanning electron microscope. There was an alteration the corrosion rate of low carbon steel when adding titanium powder.