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Weldingofausteniticstainlesssteel
JobKnowledge103
Thereareanumberofdifferenttypesofsteelsthatmaybereferredtoas'stainless'previousarticleshave
consideredferriticandprecipitationhardeningsteelsforexample.Itisthereforeadvisabletobespecificandtorefer
tothegrouptowhichthesteelbelongsinordertoavoidconfusion.Althoughcommonlyreferredtoas'stainlesssteel',
thesteelscoveredinthisarticleshouldbemorecorrectlyreferredtoasaustenitic,18/8orchromiumnickelstainless
steels.
Aswiththeothertypesofstainlesssteels,theausteniticstainlesssteelsarecorrosionandoxidationresistantdueto
thepresenceofchromiumthatformsaselfhealingprotectivefilmonthesurfaceofthesteel.Theyalsohavevery
goodtoughnessatextremelylowtemperaturessoareusedextensivelyincryogenicapplications.Theycanbe
hardenedandtheirstrengthincreasedbycoldworkingbutnotbyheattreatment.Theyarethemosteasilyweldable
ofthestainlesssteelfamilyandcanbeweldedbyallweldingprocesses,themainproblemsbeingavoidanceofhot
crackingandthepreservationofcorrosionresistance.
Aconvenientandcommonlyusedshorthandidentifyingtheindividualalloywithintheausteniticstainlesssteelgroup
istheASTMsystem.Thisusesathreedigitnumber'3XX',the'3'identifyingthesteelasanausteniticstainless,and
withadditionalletterstoidentifythecompositionandcertaincharacteristicsofthealloyegtype304H,type316Letc
thisASTMmethodwillbeusedinthisarticle.
TypicalcompositionsofsomeofthealloysaregiveninTable1.Thetype304grademayberegardedasthe
archetypalausteniticstainlesssteelfromwhichtheothergradesarederivedandchangesincompositionawayfrom
thatoftype304resultinachangeintheidentificationnumberandarehighlightedinred.
Table1Typicalcompositionsofsomeausteniticstainlesssteelalloys
Microstructure
AusteniteA
C(max) Si(max) Mn(max) Cr
Ni Mo Others
FerriteF
304
0.08
0.75
2.0
18/20 8/11
A+2/8%F
304L
0.035
0.75
2.0
18/20 8/11
A+2/8%F
304H
0.040.10 0.75
2.0
18/20 8/11
A+2/8%F
304N
0.08
0.75
2.0
18/20 8/11 0.1/0.16N A+2/8%F
316
0.08
0.75
2.0
16/18 11/14 2/3
A+3/10%F
347
0.08
0.75
2.0
17/20 9/13 Nb:10xC A+4/12%F
321
0.08
0.75
2.0
17/19 9/12 Ti:5xC
A+4/12%F
310
0.15
0.75
2.0
24/26 19/22
100%A
309
0.08
1.0
2.0
22/24 12/15
A+8/15%F
308L(generallyfillermetalonly) 0.03
1.0
2.0
19/21 10/12

A+4/12%F
The3XXmayfollowedbyaletterthatgivesmoreinformationaboutthespecificalloyasshownintheTable.'L'isfor
alowcarbonausteniticstainlesssteelforuseinanaggressivecorrosiveenvironment'H'forahighcarbonsteelwith
improvedhightemperaturestrengthforuseincreepapplications'N'foranitrogenbearingsteelwhereahigher
tensilestrengththanaconventionalsteelisrequired.Thesesuffixesareusedwithmostofthealloydesignationseg
type316L,type316LN,type347H,wherethecompositionhasbeenmodifiedfromthatofthebasealloy.
ASTMNo.
(type)

Compositionwt%

Austeniticstainlesssteelsaremetalurgicallysimplealloys.Theyareeither100%austeniteoraustenitewithasmall
amountofferrite(seeTable1).Thisisnottheferritetobefoundincarbonsteelbutahightemperatureformknown
asdelta()ferrite.Unlikecarbonandlowalloysteelstheausteniticstainlesssteelsundergonophasechangesas
theycoolfromhightemperatures.Theycannotthereforebequenchhardenedtoformmartensiteandtheir
mechanicalpropertiestoagreatextentareunaffectedbywelding.Cold(hydrogeninduced)cracking(JobKnowledge
No.45)isthereforenotaproblemandpreheatisnotnecessaryirrespectiveofcomponentthickness.
Alloyingelementsinanausteniticstainlesssteelcanbedividedintotwogroupsthosethatpromotetheformationof
austeniteandthosethatfavourtheformationofferrite.Themainausteniteformersarenickel,carbon,manganese
andnitrogentheimportantferriteformersarechromium,silicon,molybdenumandniobium.Byvaryingtheamounts
oftheseelements,thesteelcanbemadetobefullyausteniticorcanbedesignedtocontainasmallamountof
ferritetheimportanceofthiswillbediscussedlater.
In1949AntonSchaefflerpublishedaconstitutionalorphasediagramthatillustratestheeffectsofcompositiononthe
microstructure.InthediagramSchaefflerassignedafactortothevariouselements,thefactorreflectingthestrength
oftheeffectontheformationofferriteoraustenitethesefactorscanbeseeninthediagram.Theelementsarethen
combinedintotwogroupstogivechromiumandnickel'equivalents'.Theseformthexandyaxesofthediagramand,

knowingthecompositionofanausteniticstainlesssteel,enablestheproportionsofthephasestobedetermined.

Fig1.Shaefflerdiagram(AausteniteM
martensiteFferrite)

TypicalpositionsofsomeofthecommoneralloysaregiveninFig.1.Alsosuperimposedonthisdiagramarecoloured
areasidentifyingsomeofthefabricationproblemsthatmaybeencounteredwithausteniticstainlesssteels.
Althoughalltheausteniticstainlesssteelsaresensitivetohotcracking(JobKnowledgeNo.44),thefullyaustenitic
steelsfallingwithintheverticallyblueareainFig.1suchastype310areparticularlysensitive.
Themainculpritsaresulphurandphosphorus.Tothisend,thesetrampelementshavebeenprogressivelyreduced
suchthatsteelswithlessthan0.010%sulphurandphosphoruslessthan0.020%arenowreadilyavailable.Ideallya
type310ortype317alloyshouldhavesulphurandphosphoruslevelsbelowsome0.003%.Cleanlinessisalsomost
importantandthoroughdegreasingmustbecarriedoutimmediatelypriortowelding.
Thesteelssuchastype304,type316,type347thatfallwithin,orcloseto,thesmalluncolouredtriangularregionin
thecentreofthediagramcontainasmallamountofdeltaferriteand,whilstnotbeingimmunetohotcracking,have
improvedresistancetotheformationofsulphurcontainingliquidfilms.Thereasonsforthisarethata)ferritecan
dissolvemoresulphurandphosphorusthanaustenitesotheyareretainedinsolutionratherthanbeingavailableto
formliquidfilmsalongthegrainboundariesandb)thepresenceofquiteasmallamountofferriteincreasesthegrain
boundaryareasuchthatanyliquidfilmsmustspreadoveragreaterareaandcannolongerformacontinuousliquid
film.The100%austeniticsteelsdonothavethisadvantage.
Oneproblemthathasarisenwithverylowsulphursteelsisaphenomenonknownas'casttocastvariation'or
'variablepenetration'.Theweldpoolinalowsulphursteel(<0.005%)tendstobewidewithshallowpenetrationa
steelwithsulphuroversome0.010%hasanarrower,moredeeplypenetratingweldbead.
ThisisgenerallyonlyaproblemwiththeuseofthefullyautomatedTIGweldingprocess,amanualwelderbeing
capableofcopingwiththevariationsinpenetrationduetothedifferencesinsulphurcontentindifferentcastsofsteel.
However,automatedTIGweldingproceduresdevelopedona'high'sulphursteel,whenusedtoweldalowsulphur
steelmayresultinlackofpenetrationtypedefectsthereversesituationmayresultinexcessivepenetration.
Changestotheprocedurethathavemitigated,butnevereliminated,thisproblemhaveincludedslowtravelspeed,
pulsedcurrent,useofAr/H2shieldgasmixtures.Othermethodsincludespecifyingaminimumsulphurof,say,
0.010%orsegregatingthesteelsintobatcheswithknownpenetrationcharacteristicsanddevelopingwelding
procedurestosuit.TheATIGactivatedfluxprocesshasalsobeenfoundtobeofbenefit.
Theproblemsofweldingthefullyferriticsteelsthatfallintothepinkarea,wheregraingrowthandembrittlementisa
problem,havealreadybeendealtwithinJobKnowledgeNo.101.
Theausteniticstainlesssteelsfallingintotheyellowareawillalsoembrittlebutthisisasaresultoftheformationof
hardbrittlephasescalled'sigma'()and'chi'().Thisembrittlementtakesplaceinthetemperaturerangeof
approximately500to900C.Itisasluggishprocessandisnotaproblemduringweldingoftheausteniticstainless
steels,butcanoccurinelevatedtemperatureserviceoriftheweldedcomponentisstressrelieved.
Formationofthesephasesispromotedbyhighchromiumandmolybdenum(ferriteformingelements)sothatsteels
suchastype310andtype316areparticularlysensitiveandmayshowasubstantiallossofductilityafterstressrelief.
Deltaferritealsotransformsmorerapidlythataustenitesothosealloyscontaininglargeamountsofthisphasewill
degradefasterthananausteniticsteelwithonlyasmallpercentageofferritehencetheproblemswithduplexand
superduplexstainlesssteels.
Whenitisnecessarytostressrelieveafabricationthenthelossofductilitymustbeaccountedfor.Inthosesteels
containingdeltaferritethisphaseshouldbeheldtoaminimum,consistentwithminimisingtheriskofhotcracking,
bycontroloftheferriteformingelementsbyrequiringtypically2%to5%deltaferrite.
ThenextJobKnowledgearticlewilllookatweldfillermetalselection,someoftheserviceproblemsoftheaustenitic
stainlesssteelsandhowthesemaybemitigated.
ThisarticlewaswrittenbyGeneMathers.