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Journal of Manufacturing Processes 33 (2018) 126–135

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Journal of Manufacturing Processes


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/manpro

Weld joint design and thermal aging influence on the metallurgical, T


sensitization and pitting corrosion behavior of AISI 304L stainless steel
welds

Jastej Singh, A.S. Shahi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, (Deemed to be University), Longowal, Sangrur, 148106, Punjab, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Experimental investigations were carried out to study the influence of weld joint design and post weld thermal
Austenitic stainless steel aging treatments on the metallurgical, intergranular and pitting corrosion behavior of AISI 304L stainless steel
Joint design welded joints. 10 mm thick linear weld joints were fabricated using gas metal arc welding process using single-V
Microstructure and double-V joint design with an average heat input of 503.42 J/mm and 562.78 J/mm respectively. Thermal
Microhardness
aging of these welds was carried out at 750 °C for 0.5 h and 4 h, and the cooling media used was furnace, air and
Sensitization
water quench (used separately for each specimen), so as to induce variable degree of carbide precipitation in
Pitting corrosion
different zones of these welds. Microstructural studies revealed that the extent of carbide precipitation was more
in case of welds made using double-V joint design as compared to single-V joint welds. Degree of sensitization
(DOS) and pitting performance of these welds evaluated using double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic re-
activation (DLEPR) technique and potentiodynamic anodic polarization technique respectively, further showed
that single-V joint performed better in terms of corrosion properties owing to lesser precipitation as compared to
the double-V joint. This study shows that in comparison to double-V joint, single-V joint design can prove to be
an important part of fabrication procedures where service conditions demand better corrosion properties of these
welds.

1. Introduction scarce in chromium content and these areas then become severely
susceptible to attack by corrosive environment thus depreciating cor-
AISI 304 stainless steel, popularly known as 18/8 steel belongs to rosion resistance [6,7].
family of austenitic stainless steels finds usefulness in plethora of en- Weld joint design is an essential part of any welding procedure
gineering applications owing to its moderate cost, superior mechanical specification (WPS) for components required to be welded in a pro-
performance and corrosion resistance. Typical applications of this steel duction route. Prior to carrying out welding, groove formation by
include its use for storing and transportation of liquefied natural gas beveling of edges is done by machining operation. Grooves thus formed
(LNG) whose boiling point is −162 °C under 1 atmosphere, bellows are filled by filler material which may or may not be same as base
used for conduit for liquid fuel and oxidizer in propellant tank of sa- material during welding. Choice of weld joint design takes into account
tellite launch vehicle, cryogenic structures [1–3]. AISI 304L is an ex- weld quality and productivity.
clusive modification of AISI 304 stainless steel by keeping carbon per- Effects of weld joint design on performance related aspects like
centage below 0.03%. Type 304 and 304L are used to the extent of mechanical properties, formation of residual stresses etc. in case of
more than 20,000 tons a year [4]. welds have been investigated by various researchers. A study on the
Despite of its widespread industrial usage, there are various me- effect of different groove designs on quenched and tempered steel
tallurgical phenomena which continue to adversely affect its en- welded joints show that joint design variation can exert a strong in-
gineering performance during various service applications [5]. One of fluence on the mechanical properties of the welds thus indicating that
such problems encountered is sensitization which occurs during joint design variation plays a strong role on the cooling characteristics
thermal exposition of this alloy to temperature range of 600–850 °C, of such welds [8]. A comparative evaluation between single-V and
where carbon from the matrix combines with chromium to form Cr23C6 double-V weld joints of quenched and tempered steel in terms of bal-
at grain boundaries, thus making areas adjacent to grain boundaries listic performance was reported by Balakrishnan et al. [9] wherein


Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jastejsingh@sliet.ac.in (J. Singh), ashahi@sliet.ac.in (A.S. Shahi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2018.05.004
Received 28 February 2018; Received in revised form 27 April 2018; Accepted 4 May 2018
Available online 10 May 2018
1526-6125/ © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
J. Singh, A.S. Shahi Journal of Manufacturing Processes 33 (2018) 126–135

double-V joint exhibited superior resistance to bullet penetration at the achieved. Base plates were thoroughly cleaned before welding so as to
weld metal location without any bulge at the rear side than single-V avoid any kind of defect resulting from any possible source of con-
joint. Effects of weld groove shape and number of passes on the residual tamination like rust, scale, moisture etc. Root passes in both the weld
stresses in butt-welded pipes were investigated by Sattari-Far et al. joints were accomplished by using gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW)
[10]. Assessment of weld pool behavior and weld bead geometry per- process. Pure argon was used as shielding gas and interpass tempera-
taining to different groove angles was done by Chen J. et al. [11]. In ture was maintained around 150 °C. Middle and cover passes in both the
another work reported by Ling K.H. et al. [12], investigations were weld joints were completed using gas metal arc welding (GMAW)
carried to study the influence of different groove configurations on process. Heat source efficiencies for calculating heat input per unit
mechanical and metallurgical properties of JIS SS4400 structural steel length of the welds for GMAW and GTAW were taken as 0.8 and 0.7
flux cored arc welds. Variations in mechanical and impact behavior was respectively [13]. Average heat inputs per pass were 503.42 J/mm and
observed corresponding to different joint configurations attributable to 562.78 J/mm for single-V and double-V weld joint respectively. Process
varying level of grain refinement achieved due to variations in thermal parameters used for fabricating single-V and double-V weld joints are
characteristics of heat input/dissipation. presented in Tables 2 and 3 respectively.
It is very evident on the basis of literature reviewed that joint design
affects the heat input/dissipation characteristics of the welds which can 2.3. Specimen sampling
influence the mechanical properties in a rather significant manner. It is
observed that no research work is available which reports about the Test specimens for carrying out metallurgical studies and corrosion
effect of joint design on the corrosion behavior of these welds. Since this testing were machined out using a wire cut electro-discharge machine,
alloy is meant for high temperature applications, corrosion resistance is thus ensuring that there is no degree of cold work by cutting forces as in
considered to be a vital performance characteristic for any fabrication. case of conventional machining as cold working contributes to sensi-
Such an investigation is needed keeping in view the severe effects of the tization in austenitic stainless steels [14]. Actual photographs of welded
sensitization phenomenon on the behavior of welds during high tem- plates and extracted specimens after machining for various studies are
perature service applications. This was the motivation to carry out this shown in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively.
research work.
The present work aims at formulating a comparative study such that 2.4. Post weld thermal aging of the welds
the influence of two joint variations viz. single-V and double-V on the
metallurgical, sensitization and pitting corrosion performance of AISI Weld specimens were subjected to thermal exposition at 750 °C for
304L welds could be studied. This would be beneficial in strengthening 0.5 h and 4 h followed by three different cooling modes viz. furnace, air
the data base related to welded fabrications where this alloy is used and water quench for inducing variable degree of carbide precipitation.
under corrosive environments. The details for the same are presented in Table 4.

2. Materials and experimental procedure 2.5. Metallurgical studies

2.1. Base and filler material combination Metallurgical optical microscope equipped with image capturing
software was used to study microstructural characteristics of the welds
AISI 304L stainless steel in the form of rolled plates of sizes at various zones of interest corresponding to different experimental
250 mm × 50 mm × 10 mm was used as base material in the present conditions. Specimens were polished using emery paper belts with grit
work. The filler used was ER 308L SS solid electrodes of diameters size upto 2000 and subsequent polishing using diamond paste.
2.5 mm and 1.2 mm for accomplishing root pass and cover passes re- Chemical etching was done in 10 g FeCl3 + 30 ml HCl+ 120 ml dis-
spectively. The base metal’s chemical composition was analyzed using tilled water [15] using immersion and subsequent swabbing. Vickers
an optical emission spectrometer (Model: Solaris CCD Plus, Italy), microhardness testing was carried out on the welds to study the mi-
whereas the filler metal’s composition was taken directly from the crohardness variation in these welds as per ASTM Standard E384 [16].
supplier as per the requirements of the welding procedure. Elemental A load of 500 g and dwell time of 20 s were used in tests.
composition details of the base and the filler material are presented in
Table 1. 2.6. Degree of Sensitization (DOS) studies

2.2. Welding procedure For assessing the sensitization behavior of different welds of AISI
304L stainless steel, double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic re-
Two different joint designs viz. single-V and double-V were ma- activation (DLEPR) technique was employed in accordance with ASTM
chined on as received base plates before carrying out the welding op- Standard G-108 [17]. Each weld specimen contained two weld cross
eration and are schematically shown in Fig. 1. These configurations sections (on both the sides) and each of these surfaces was subjected to
were used for welding two set of plates, which inherently resulted into electrochemical tests using the same set of testing conditions. This fa-
change of groove volume, thus necessitating that adequate parametric cilitated corrosion data extraction from the same specimen tested by
combinations be used for welding, so as to achieve welds of sound in- exposing two fresh surfaces, rather than going for test repetition from
dustrial quality. So, heat input variation was not intended in the present the same surface. During welding, heat input inconsistencies can arise
work, instead the methodology was to fabricate joints such that the out due to two reasons, firstly welding arc is highly dynamic in nature
objective of studying the influence of joint design variation on the and secondly GTAW process has been used in the manual mode. So it
metallurgical and corrosion properties of these welds could be was expected that, there would exist a point to point variation in terms

Table 1
Chemical composition of the base and filler material (wt.%).
Element C Si Mn P S Cr Mo Ni Co Ti V Fe

Base materialAISI 304L SS 0.030 0.430 1.68 0.0312 0.004 18.57 0.304 8.31 0.144 0.008 0.061 Balance
Filler materialER 308L SS 0.028 0.421 1.42 0.021 0.012 19.15 0.256 10.02 – 0.003 0.032 Balance

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J. Singh, A.S. Shahi Journal of Manufacturing Processes 33 (2018) 126–135

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the joint designs and sequence of weld passes used in the present work: (a) single-V and (b) double-V.

Table 2
Welding parameters used for fabricating single-V joint design weld.
Weldingprocess Sequence of weld passes Welding Current(A) Welding Voltage(V) Welding Speed(mm/min) Heat input per unit length per weld pass(J/mm)

GTAW Root pass/1 135 11 189.6 328.9


GMAW Middle pass/2 160 27 357.0 580.8
GMAW Cover pass/3 165 27 375.0 570.2
GMAW Cover pass/4 165 27 384.6 556.0
GTAW Back cover pass/5 130 11 124.8 481.2

Table 3
Welding parameters used for fabricating double-V joint design weld.
Welding process Sequence of weld passes Welding Current(A) Welding Voltage(V) Welding Speed(mm/min) Heat input per unit length per weld pass(J/mm)

GTAW Root pass/1 135 11 124.8 499.7


GMAW Root pass/2 165 27 357.0 598.9
GMAW Middle pass/3 170 27 370.2 595.1
GMAW Cover pass/4 160 27 375.0 552.9
GMAW Cover pass/5 155 27 357.0 562.6
GMAW Cover pass/6 165 27 375.0 570.2
GMAW Cover pass/7 160 27 370.2 560.1

*Heat input per unit length, H = ŋ (V × I) /S, where ŋ denotes heat source efficiency (taken as 0.8 for GMAW and 0.7 for GTAW in the present work), ‘I’ denotes
welding current, ‘V’ denotes voltage and ‘S’ denotes welding speed.
Secondary details: Tungsten electrode = EW-Th-2 (Thoriated tungsten) of 2.5 mm diameter, Filler electrode of ER 308L SS, diameter for GMAW = 1.2 mm,
Interpass temperature = 150 °C, Shielding gas flow rate of industrially pure Argon: 15 L/min and 20 L/min for GTAW and GMAW respectively, Electrode to work
angle = 45°, Polarity: DC electrode negative for GTAW and DC electrode positive for GMAW.

Fig. 3. Photograph showing specimens used for metallurgical and corrosion


evaluations.

Fig. 2. Top view of the welded plates. used for carrying out these tests. The electrolyte comprised of a mixture
of 0.5 M H2SO4 + 0.01 M KSCN solution prepared with pure reagents
of heat input, during welding and, in view of such a situation, it was and distilled water. Electrode combination used in the set up comprised
preferred to evaluate each weld specimen from its two opposite sur- of graphite counter electrode, reference saturated calomel electrode
faces, rather than going for repetitive testing on the same surface. The (SCE) and the working electrode (test specimen). A delay of 300 s was
data so generated was thought of revealing a better picture of the kept at open circuit potential followed by forward and reverse scans at
corrosion behavior of these welds. Specimens of dimensions rate of 1.67 mV/second. The measurement of the DOS was taken as
30 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm were prepared using standard metallo- ratio of reactivation current (Ir) to the activation current (Ia) multiplied
graphic procedures. A Potentiostat/Galvanostat (Make: Gamry Instru- by 100.
ments, Model: Reference 600) supported by dedicated software was

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Table 4 2.7. Pitting corrosion testing


Post weld thermal aging scheme of the welds.
Test specimens Aging temperature Aging time Cooling medium Pitting corrosion evaluation of the welds was carried out in ac-
cordance with ASTM Standard G-5 [18] using potentiodynamic anodic
S1 and D1 750 °C 0.5 hr Furnace polarization (PAP) technique. The electrolyte comprised of a mixture of
S2 and D2 Air
0.5 M H2SO4 + 0.5 M NaCl solution prepared with pure reagents and
S3 and D3 Water
S4 and D4 750 °C 4 hr Furnace
distilled water. The scan rate was kept at 1.67 mV/second and the in-
S5 and D5 Air itial delay at open circuit potential was kept for 200 s. Potentiodynamic
S6 and D6 Water scan was performed from initial voltage of −0.1 V to final potential of
1.5 V. The real time scan plots of Potential vs. Current density were
*S and D notations indicate single-V joint design and double-V joint design
generated by the software corrosion DC-105 and values of pitting
respectively. Specimens S and D are the specimens in the as-welded condition.

Fig. 4. Microstructures showing the effects of sensitization for single-V joint & double-V joint specimens in the as-welded condition as well as for aging condition of
750 °C for 0.5 h.

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Fig. 5. Microstructures showing the effects of sensitization for single-V joint & double-V joint specimens in the as-welded condition as well as at aging condition of
750 °C for 4 h.

potential were noted. Pitting potential is the minimum value of po- presented in Figs. 4 and 5. In the as-welded condition, both types of
tential required to initiate stable pits on the material exposed to cor- welds did not suffer much from sensitization or carbide precipitation
rosive environment. Higher the value, better the resistance a material but the extent was more in double-V weld joint. In the aged condition of
offers to pitting corrosion and vice-versa. 750 °C/0.5hr, the precipitation was observed to be more as compared to
the as-welded condition. Further as aging time increased in case of
condition 750 °C/4 h, welds were sensitized to a greater extent and it is
3. Results and discussion clearly seen by blackish areas in the micrographs. One common and
general observation with regards to these micrographs is that as the
3.1. Metallurgical studies DOS values corresponding to different specimens increased, the phases
in these micrographs got more darkened thus evidencing that varying
Experimental welds were subjected to optical microscopy with an degree of carbide formation has occurred in the welds under different
aim of revealing carbide precipitates and few optical micrographs are

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Fig. 6. Different pit formation morphologies observed for double-V joint design (a, b) and single-V joint design (c and d) specimens.

conditions. Furthermore pitting behavior of few welds as depicted aging treatments. The rise and fall in the microhardness values of these
through optical microscopy is also revealed and morphology is pre- welds and their consequential correlation with the DOS performance
sented in Fig. 6(a–d). As can be seen from these micrographs, that size did not seem to exist directly. Similar behavior of the microhardness
and distribution of the pits are governed by their rate of nucleation as variations has also been reported where sensitization does not exert
well as growth rate, which was consequentially affected due to heat significant influence on the microhardness of the AISI 316L stainless
input variation that occurred owing to joint design variation, and steel heat affected zone analyzed [19]. Apart from above, carbide
subsequent exposure of the joints to the classical sensitization range. precipitation that occurred in these welds was expected to reduce the
The microhardness testing results of all the welds indicated varia- hardness in the chromium depleted zones (as chromium is a matrix
tions in the microhardness values in the as-welded condition as well as hardening agent); however such variations did not occur in the present
post weld thermally aged condition as shown in Fig. 7(a–h). These case. These observations in the microhardness are compensated to a
variations in the microhardness values may be attributed to variable certain extent by the presence of carbide precipitates that tend to in-
heat inputs encountered (owing to varied joint design) during welding duce a pinning effect in the matrix which consequentially results in
that consequentially affect the cooling rates of the welds, besides the hindering the dislocations within the matrix, which induces hardening
variation occurring due to different cooling modes of the welds during effect into the joint and thus helps in improving its hardness.
post weld thermal aging treatments. It was observed that in the as-
welded condition at the center of the weld zone, double-V joint (D)
3.2. Degree of sensitization (DOS) tests
possessed higher microhardness (293 HV) as compared to the single-V
joint in the as-welded condition (245.1 HV). This significant variation
Cyclic polarization scan plots for different welds are presented in
could be attributed to a relatively greater number of passes used for
Fig. 8(a–d). Single-V weld in the as-welded condition (S) possessed DOS
accomplishing double-V joint as the number of HAZs and hence fusion
value of 1.75% which was the lowest value among all the test speci-
boundary zones formed of the weld metal are more than those formed
mens (see Fig. 10) indicating that less carbide precipitation occurred in
in the single-V joint that leads to high hardness encountered at the
this weld in the as-welded condition. On the other side, double-V weld
center of the weld. The associated HAZs of both the joints possessed low
in the as-welded condition (D) possessed DOS value of 2.71% which is
hardness as compared to the weld metal, as grain coarsening occurred
higher than the single-V weld test specimen. It indicates that in the as-
in these zones which accounts for their low hardness values. Another
welded condition, effects of sensitization were not very severe as test
trend of varying degree was observed for the welds subjected to thermal
specimens did not achieve ditch type microstructure [20]. However

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Fig. 7. Microhardness variations from the weld centerlines for single-V and double-V welds in the as-welded condition as well as thermal aging condition of 750 °C
for 0.5 h (in a–d) and for 4 h (in e and f).

thermal aging of single-V weld at 750 °C for 0.5 h followed by cooling specimens. Double-V weld specimens which were thermally aged for
under different conditions lead to different levels of carbide precipita- 4 h i.e. D4 (furnace cooled), D5 (air cooled), and D6 (water quenched)
tion as indicated by the DOS values i.e., for S1 (furnace cooled) and S2 possessed DOS values of 43.31%, 31.58%, and 11.4% respectively
(air cooled), values of DOS increased to 4.66% and 15.56% respectively clearing indicating a rise in DOS value as thermal aging time increased
whereas for the water quenched condition i.e. S3 it was 3.37%. Speci- from 0.5 h to 4 h. However, in this case, furnace cooled specimen pos-
mens, post weld thermally aged at the same temperature for 4 h. viz., S4 sessed the highest value of DOS as compared to air cooled and water
(furnace cooled), S5 (air cooled), and S6 (water quenched) possessed quenched specimen. On making comparisons between two types of
DOS values of 5.72%, 18.03%, and 5.6% respectively. As the thermal joint designs for DOS, it was evident that double-V welds possessed
aging time was increased from 0.5 h to 4 h, an augmentation in the DOS higher DOS values than single-V welds under a similar set of conditions.
values was observed. This could be attributed to a higher degree of DOS variations as observed in these welds are attributable to the fact
precipitation that occurred in these welds for aging condition of 750 °C/ that carbide precipitation follows a diffusion controlled phenomenon. If
4 h than the specimens thermally aged for 0.5 h. Air cooled specimen the prevailing conditions offer sufficient time for the carbides to grow
i.e. S5 possessed the higher value of DOS but no significant difference that have already nucleated during welding stage, then the DOS value
was observed between furnace cooled and water quenched specimens will be higher, which was found to be in the case of the welds that had a
i.e. S4 & S6 respectively. For the case of double-V weld specimens, longer exposure time of 4 h. Furthermore, the carbides growth rates are
when the thermal aging time was 0.5 h, DOS value in the as-welded also governed by the respective cooling medium used during the sen-
condition increased from 2.71% to 6.25% for specimen D1 (furnace sitization treatments, for instance, furnace cooled aging with longer
cooled), 16.05% for specimen D2 (air cooled) and 7.15% for specimen exposure time resulted into higher DOS of the joints than the other
D3 (water quenched). Again, air cooled specimen possessed a higher cooling modes. This DOS performance of the welds may be directly
value of DOS as compared to furnace cooled and water quenched attributed to the varying degree of carbide precipitation that occurred

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Fig. 8. Cyclic polarization scan curves of DLEPR test for single-V joint specimens (a and c) and double-V joint specimens (b and d).

in these joints. These results show that in these welds, microstructural respectively which leads to a very logical interpretation that lower the
variations occurring due to variable welding heat input as well as DOS value, higher is the resistance against pitting corrosion as in-
variable cooling rates and exposure times due to different sensitization dicated by high value of pitting potential and vice-versa. Also as evident
treatments are mainly responsible for inducing variable DOS. from these results, that the behavior of single-V joint configuration
specimens against the pitting corrosion was better as compared to the
3.3. Pitting corrosion tests double-V joint configuration. These trends followed by the specimens
during potentiodynamic anodic polarization measurements can be ex-
Potentiodynamic scan plots generated after pitting corrosion tests plained on the basis of the fact that pitting involves two stages viz. pit
are presented in Fig. 9(a–d). As can be seen from Fig. 10, single-V weld initiation followed by its subsequent growth. So in certain cases, pits
test specimen in the as-welded condition (S) possessed a pitting po- could nucleate easily but did not find favorable conditions to grow
tential value of 343.2 mV which was the highest in comparison to all easily. Double-V joint design specimens in the PWTA conditions led to
the test specimens, thus showed the highest resistance to pitting cor- more favorability for pitting attack to take place. Some of the typical
rosion but on the other hand, double-V joint design specimen PWTA at pitting morphologies pertaining to different conditions are shown in
750 °C for 4 h and furnace cooled (D4) possessed lowest value of pitting Fig. 6. Fig. 6(a) and (b) show the formation of large sized pits in spe-
potential i.e., −91.85 mV and showed highest propensity amongst cimens D4 and D5 respectively, and it is observed that the growth of
these welds to attack by pitting corrosion in the chloride containing these pits has gone to an extent where two adjoining pits have merged
environment. Specifically, these two test specimens showed analogous into each other, thus indicating poor pitting corrosion resistance of
behavior as shown during their DLEPR evaluations i.e., single-V in the these welds. On the other hand, Fig. 6(c) (specimen S5) shows larger
as-welded condition (S) and double-V PWTA at 750 °C for 4 h and area affected due to pitting as compared to Fig. 6(d) (specimen S2), and
furnace cooled (D4) possessed lowest and highest value of DOS both these welds show that the pits nucleated here have not been able

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J. Singh, A.S. Shahi Journal of Manufacturing Processes 33 (2018) 126–135

Fig. 9. Potentiodynamic scan curves of pitting corrosion tests for single-V joint (a and c) and double-V joint (b and d) specimens.

Fig. 10. Degree of sensitization (DOS) and Pitting potential values of welds corresponding to different experimental conditions.

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J. Singh, A.S. Shahi Journal of Manufacturing Processes 33 (2018) 126–135

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Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, Sant Longowal
Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Sangrur (Deemed
University), Punjab, India.

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