High integrity austenitic stainless steel welds within the structure of chemical carriers may require to be are air gouged to ensure that the weld achieves full penetration. The gouging process leaves a coating on the gouged surface which, traditionally, has been ground off. Such grinding is time consuming and expensive. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the composition of the gouged layer was determined and the thickness determined to be no greater than 60 nm. Leaving the layer in place was found to have no detrimental effects on the parent plate/weld interface. This was established using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy.
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