2 | 2013

weldingnews
svetsnytt
Avesta Welding is a brand of the Bhler Welding Group a voestalpine company
Avesta Welding is a brand of the Bhler Welding Group a voestalpine company

2 | 2013

1933
2013
80 YEARS OF STAINLESS
WELDING EXCELLENCE

All this and more!

I detta nummer bl.a.
Chinese varv med vind i seglen
NANTONG MINGDE kinesisktshipyard with the wind in its sails!

THE AVESTA EXPERIENCE svenskt stl i Australien

Swedish steel in Australia
Properties, filler metals and welding
LDX 2404 tillsatsmaterial och svetsrekommendationer

Welding News 22013 | 2

Summer greetings
from Avesta!
The first issue of Welding News
was published almost 20 years
ago now. In Swedish only at first,
but then also in English a few
years later. At that time, several
thousand copies of each issue were
printed and posted to readers all
around the world.
In 2004, Welding News went
digital and was thereafter distributed as a PDF file. For several
Fredrik Hgg
years, it has also been available as
a download from www.avestawelding.com. So far, we
have produced just over 70 issues. Across the years, these
have enabled several thousand subscribers to refine their
knowledge of the ever relevant topic of stainless steel
welding.
In this issue of Welding News, you can read a little more
about the new duplex stainless steel, Outokumpu LDX
2404. More about how to weld it and which filler metals
should be used to achieve the best possible mechanical
properties.
Time is rolling on towards Schweissen & Schneiden in
Essen, Germany. Held in autumn, this fair is a highlight
for the entire welding industry. As one of the largest
exhibitors, we have, as usual, a central presence. Along
with Bhler Welding Group and voestalpine, Avesta
Welding will be demonstrating our continued collective
focus on the market. I promise something over and
above the ordinary!

Schweissen & Schneiden

for the 18th time
This year, the worlds leading trade fair for
the welding and cutting industry is being
held from 16 21 September in Essen,
Germany.
Schweissen & Schneiden, the leading fair in our industry,
takes place every fourth year. Exactly as before, Avesta
Welding and Bhler Welding Group will be sharing
a stand there and showing visitors our products for
welding, soldering, maintenance and repair. This year,
we will also be emphasising the advantages of having a
parent company such as voestalpine behind us.
The Essen fair gives exhibitors and visitors from all
over the world, the opportunity to meet old and new
customers, colleagues and suppliers. Findings can be
exchanged, deals done and innovations marvelled at.
Most participants would agree with this sentiment from
a visitor to the previous fair: If youve been to Essen,
you dont need to go to any other welding fair anywhere
in the world. We hope you will be able to visit the fair.
Our stand is F109, Hall 3.0. We look forward to meeting
you!

Finally, I would like to wish you all a wonderful summer

and, just as throughout the past 80 years, remember that,
if you are welding stainless, the natural choice is still
Avesta Welding 100% Stainless!

Fredrik Hgg, marketing manager

Avesta Welding and Bhler Welding Group Nordic AB

Bhler Welding Groups stand in 2009

Cover picture: Stainless steel expansion joint for critical pump loads in a desalination plant. The manufacturer, Jord Bellow International, is Australias

its segment. In total, eighteen joints were produced. They were pickled in a specially made bath at the premises of Australian Pickling and
largest in

Passivation Service. Photo: AUPP Service P/L.
Contact/Editor: eva.soderberg@avestawelding.com | Tel: +46 (0)226 857 05
Translations: Transtext 2002

Welding News 22013 | 3

Welding News 22013 | 3

Nantong Mingde shipyard

with the wind in its sails!
At the Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry shipyard in China,
two vessels are currently under construction for the
Norwegian Jo Tankers shipping line. Avesta 2205 is being
used for welding the stainless steel.
In eastern China, the Yangtze river
flows through Nantong. This town is
famous for, amongst other things, its
many shipyards, one after the other,
along the riverside. Nantong Mingde
Heavy Industry Group, a corporation
that features chemical tankers in its
list of specialisations, has a yard here.
As reported in Welding News
4-2011, two 30,000 DWT vessels
for the Norwegian Jo Tankers shipping line are an ongoing Nantong
Mingde project. The vessels have
duplex stainless steel chemical
tanks. Bhler Welding Group supplied the Avesta 2205 filler metals for
welding the stainless steel.
With the first vessel fully welded
and soon to be launched, the project
is now half over. Progress so far has
been very smooth. A highly professional, well organised project team
and skilful welders can take the
credit for this.

Broadly speaking, the stainless steel work is carried out

in the following stages:
1. Cutting to size, bending/
corrugating and any welding
of hot rolled plates. This
stage is often executed in or
near to the hot plate mill.
2. Prefabrication of various
blocks, i.e. construction
elements used in, for example, tank upper sections,
panels, corrugated side
panels and side tanks. This
is done in the yards workshops. Using Avesta 2205/
Flux 805, submerged arc
welding of all the longitudinal duplex to duplex welds
makes up most of the work
here. Avesta FCW-2D 309L
flux cored wires are the first
choice for welding carbon
steel stiffeners to duplex
steel.

Welding News 22013 | 4

3. Joining the various blocks on the slipway is the next

stage. For good results, each block must meet the tightest
tolerances and have the least possible deformation.
Welding is, in most cases, vertical-up (PF) or horizontalvertical (PC) using a suitable all-position wire such as
FCW 2205-PW. It is also most often from one side using a
ceramic root backing. If possible, the root side should be
on the outside of side or ballast tanks.
4. The internal and external welding of all tanks is then
completed. All lifting lugs, mounting elements, etc. are
removed and all tacks and welds are meticulously repaired. In many cases, welding here uses covered electrodes,
Avesta 2205 (3D), or flux cored wires, Avesta FCW 2205PW. Note that autogenous welding must never be used
in the repair of duplex materials. It would give the fused
parent metal a structure with a very high ferrite content
and, consequently, poor corrosion resistance.

5. When welding is over, tanks

must be flushed with water,
pickled and passivated.
It is very important that postweld treatment is carried out
correctly and with the right
types of products. Examples
from Avesta Finishing
Chemicals include cleaning
agent 401 for degreasing
before pickling, RedOne 140
pickling paste for pickling
weld joints, pickling fluid 204
for spray pickling large surfaces and FinishOne 630 for
passivation after pickling.
Welded joints, ground and
ready for pickling.

Nantong Mingde has established a very good reputation in

the industry and is currently
dealing with enquiries from
several shipping companies.
Plans to add several boats to
the current project are also
being prepared. Nantong
Mingde has every reason to be
optimistic about the future.

Welding News 22013 | 5

Filler metals for welding

LDX 2404

PRODU

CT

NEWS

Avesta Welding has developed a special filler metal for

welding Outokumpus latest duplex steel, LDX 2404.
Detailed welding guidelines are also being drawn up.

LDX 2404 is a new duplex stainless

steel developed by Outokumpu.
Duplex has great potential as a construction material and the concept
behind this new format is a material
with better corrosion resistance than
316 / 1.4404, higher strength than
2304 / 1.4362 and a lower alloy content than 2205 / 1.4462.
The new steel has a composition
that gives a ferritic-austenitic structure with very high strength, on a
par with or better than 2507 (EN
1.4410), and corrosion resistance
that is far better than that of Mo
alloyed austenitic materials such as
EN 1.4404, but slightly lower than
that of duplex 2205 (EN 1.4462).
It is intended for use in most applications, e.g. storage tanks in the
pulp and paper industry, general
use in the chemical industry, etc.
In many cases, Avesta 2205, a 22 Cr
9 Ni 3 Mo 0.14 N type filler metal,
can be used for welding LDX 2404.
However, depending on the applications requirements, the high
strength of LDX 2404 can necessitate
the use of high-alloy filler metals,
especially when welding materials
up to 6 mm thick. Here, it may be
necessary to use a MIG, TIG or

Comparison LDX 2404 v. 4404 (316L)

Properties Comparison of LDX 2404 and 1.4404/316L

Corrosion properties

LDX 2404

General corrosion*

Better

Pitting corrosion

Better

Crevice corrosion

Better

Stress corrosion cracking

Better

Atmospheric corrosion

Better

Other properties

LDX 2404
Higher

Strength
Weldability

Slightly lower

Formability

Lower

Machinability

Lower

* epending on environment
D

SAW wire such as Avesta 2507/P100.

Compared to Avesta 2205, this gives
higher strength.

The products are already available.

Below, the table shows the compositions of the recommended filler
metals and of the parent metal.

FCAW and MMAW require an

extra high strength filler metal. For
this reason, Bhler Welding Group
Nordic and Outokumpu have
together developed and qualified a
programme of filler metals for welding LDX 2404. It includes the new
purpose-designed Avesta LDX 2404.

Detailed recommendations for welding LDX 2404 are being drawn up

and will be available shortly.
Please contact Bhler Welding
Group Nordic for further details.

LDX 2404 Typical chemical compositions, parent metal and recommended filler metals
Outokumpu/Avesta Welding

EN

ASTM/AWS

Cr

Ni

Mo

Other

1.4462

S82441

0.03

0.27

24.0

3.6

1.6

3.0 Mn

Covered electrodes, Avesta LDX 2404

MMAW
Avesta 2205

0.03

0.17

24.0

9.1

1.9

0.8 Mn

E 22 9 3 N L

E2209

0.02

0.15

23.0

9.5

3.0

0.7 Mn

Solid wires,
MIG, TIG, SAW

Avesta 2205

G 22 9 3 N L

ER2209

0.02

0.17

23.0

8.5

3.1

1.6 Mn

Avesta 2507/P100

G 25 9 4 N L

ER2594

0.02

0.25

25.0

9.5

4.0

0.4 Mn

Flux cored wires,

FCAW

Avesta FCW 2404-PW

0.03

0.21

25.0

8.5

2.3

1.5 Mn

Avesta FCW 2507/P100-PW

TS 25 9 4 N L

E2594T1-4/-1

0.03

0.23

25.3

9.8

3.7

0.9 Mn

Parent metal

LDX 2404

Welding News 22013 | 6

Stainless steel is Richards passion

There is absolutely no doubt that Richard Raper is passionate
about stainless steel. For some years now, he has been running
Australian Pickling and Passivation Service. However, the foundations of his interest in stainless steel were laid earlier. They
date from his time as a sales engineer for two Avesta operations, Avesta Welding and Avesta Finishing Chemicals.
Great need but little knowledge
On his sales trips to meet distributors and end users up and down
Australias east coast, Richard Raper
used to talk about the welding of
stainless steel and how finished
stainless steel structures should be
treated to restore their corrosion
resistance.
A surprisingly large number of
manufacturers were against
pickling and did not see the advantages of the process. They did
not have the necessary equipment
either. However, they had heard of
dangerous acids and strict environmental requirements. As a result, many of them did not want to
undertake any pickling whatsoever.
Often, when all welding had been
completed, there was no final treatment. There was definitely a need
here. A business idea was born!

AUPP Service P/L

Initially, the idea had been to

pickle 40 tonnes of pipes with pickling paste. This would have taken a
vast amount of time. Furthermore
only the weld joints on the outside
would have been pickled. I offered
bath pickling. The fabricator immediately saw that this was a better
option. Not only would they escape
doing the job themselves, they
would also get insides and outsides
treated at the same time. Six weeks
later, the pipes were pickled and
passivated. Both the fabricator and
the end user were more than happy
with the results.
Since then, everything has run like
clockwork. The company has expanded prodigiously. It has also established itself in virtually all segments
that use stainless steel. Examples
here include the oil and gas, pulp
and paper, aerospace, marine, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Richard decided to invest in his

own idea and registered Australian
Pickling and Passivation Service Pty
Ltd (AUPP Service P/L or, inside the
company, APPS for short). Shortly
after that, he found suitable premises in Tomago, New South Wales.
Three main roads and the deep water of Newcastle Harbour made this
a strategic location on Australias
east coast.
When I heard about a major stainless steel pipe project that was just
about to start, I contacted the contractor and presented my pickling
bath process, reveals Richard.

The mobile pickling plant.

Richard Raper, businessman and stainless steel ambassador.

Subcontract pickling
APPS offers several options for
customers who do not have the
possibility or suitable equipment to
pickle their products. For example,
large objects can be difficult to pickle using paste or spray. A pickling
bath is a good option in such cases.
APPS has three large baths:
an L-shaped bath (1.1 m wide with
15 m and 2 m long sections), an 8 x
2 m bath and a 2-m diameter bath.
Their depths are, respectively, 1.1, 2
and 2.5 metres.
Additionally, so that work can be
conducted on customers premises,
there is a fully equipped mobile
pickling hall. Operations and the
catchment area are growing. In the
neighbouring state of Queensland,
an ever increasing number of customers are discovering the advantages of the call-in service.

Welding News 22013 | 7

Swedish steel in Australian

tanks
APPS often collaborates with
SGM Fabrication & Construction
Pty Limited, which manufactures
heavy-duty components in unalloyed
steel, stainless steel and aluminium.
Unalloyed steel and stainless steel
tanks are both becoming increaThe top of one of the tanks...
singly important segments for SGM
Fabrication. Indeed, the company is
now one of the leading tank manufacturers on Australias east coast.

THE AVESTA EXPERIENCE

Five stainless steel tanks made

earlier this year for a customer in
Newcastle, New South Wales, have
a strong Avesta link.
Outokumpu in Avesta supplied the
1.4307/304L plate from which the
tanks are constructed. The largest
one (, 10 metres) used 6 mm hot
rolled plate and the smaller ones
(, 4 8 metres) used 5 mm cold
rolled 2B plate.

After welding, the tanks were

cleaned and pickled using Cleaner
401, RedOne 240 Spray and Avesta
204 spray, all from Avesta Finishing
Chemicals (AFC). Passivation was
then with another AFC product,
Avesta FinishOne 630.

...and the bottom of the same tank.

Plates, filler metals and pickling

agents were supplied by Midway
Metals. For this company, Jason Platt
was in charge of plate deliveries and
Bill Aitken for deliveries of Avesta
products.

Welding was with 1.20 mm Avesta

FCW 308L/MVR-PW flux cored wires,
1.20 mm 308L-Si/MVR-Si MIG wires
and 1.60 mm and 2.40 mm 308L-Si/
MVR-Si TIG wires.

Were very happy with the collaboration. Everything went smoothly

and the entire project was a good
example of The Avesta Experience,
concludes Richard.

Ready pickled tanks on their way to the customer.

Welding News 22013 | 8

Avesta 3D the perfect

all-round electrodes

Welder friendly and flexible

3D electrodes are used primarily for

metal thicknesses from 3 mm upwards. A short arc is to be used for
welding. The slag is self-releasing
and leaves an even, beautiful weld
finish (see figures 1 and 3).

4
1

2
3

Competitor

Our 3D electrodes offer very good

weldability and burn with a stable
arc. This gives good control of the
weld pool.

Avesta 3D

Avestas 3D electrodes have been developed for flexible

welding in all common positions. The extremely wide
parameter box ensures suitability for a large range of
applications and jointtypes.

Even if double-sided welding is always to be preferred, 3D electrodes

give good results in single-sided
welding. Weaving, as per the
example in figure 2, is essential in
vertical-up welding.
Figure 2: Example of weaving in vertical-up
welding.

Figure 3: Compare the weld finish from

Avestas 3D electrode to that from the
competitors product. An even finish and
gentle transitions to the parent metal are
beneficial for the welded joints corrosion
and fatigue properties.

Slag
Geometry

Surface

Figure 1: Fillet weld made using a 3D electrode. Note the smoothness of the weld surface and geometry. Note also the absence of slag residues at weld toes and the gentle transition to the parent metal.

Welding News 22013 | 9

Welding using the weaving technique entails remelting the slag when passing in the reverse direction.
Consequently, certain care must be taken to avoid slag
inclusions. However, Avestas 3D electrodes have a slag

system that results in there seldom being any problems

when welding the most common stainless steel grades.
As a rule of thumb, compared to flat welding, current
must be lowered by 10 30 A in vertical-up welding.

Avestas range of 3D electrodes

Avesta
designation

EN ISO 3581/
14172

AWS A5.4/A5.11

Avesta
designation

EN ISO 3581/
14172

AWS A5.4/A5.11

308L/MVR

E 19 9 L R

E308L-17

2507/P100

E 25 9 4 N L R

E2594-17

347/MVNb

E 19 9 Nb R

E347-17

904L

E 20 25 5 Cu N L R

E385-17

316L/SKR

E 19 12 3 L R

E316L-17

309L

E 23 12 L R

E309L-17

318/SKNb

E 19 12 3 Nb R

E318-17

308LMo

E308LMo-17

317L/SNR

E317L-17

P5

E 23 12 2 L R

E309LMo-17

LDX 2101

E 23 7 N L R

309Nb

E309Nb-17

2304

E 23 7 N L R

310

E 25 20 R

E310-17

2205

E 22 9 3 N L R

E2209-17

253 MA

E 21 10 R

Optimised version of the classic

Avesta 254 SFER

PRODU

CT

NEWS

Retaining the same good weldability as before,

Avesta 254 SFER has now been optimised to
meet new customer requirements.
Avesta 254 SFER is a classic Avesta
electrode. It is designed for welding,
amongst other things, Outokumpu
725LN, Sandvik 2RE69 and similar
steels that are used in equipment
for manufacturing artificial fertilisers, e.g. urea, nitrophosphates and
ammonium nitrates.
Avesta 254 SFER is classed as EN
ISO 3581 E 25 22 2 N L R. It gives
a highly alloyed, fully austenitic
weld metal with excellent corrosion
resistance in ammonium carbamate
at high temperatures. Corrosion
resistance in other environments is
also good. Provided that welding is
as per instructions, Avesta 254 SFER
offers relatively good protection
against hot cracking. There must be
little dilution with the parent metal,
low heat input (max. 1.5 kJ/mm)
and low interpass temperatures
(max. 100C).
To satisfy new customer requirements for this type of product, the
chemical composition of Avesta 254
SFER has been modified.

Brazilian urea reactor, welded using Avesta 254 SFER, on the way to its final destination
(archive image from an earlier Welding News).
Chemical composition, pure weld metal, typical values, %
C

Si

Mn

Cr

Ni

Mo

0,03

0,4

3,7

25,3

21,4

2,6

0,14

Mechanical properties, pure weld metal

Typical
values

Min. values
EN ISO 3581

Yield strength, Rp0.2

440 N/mm2

320 N/mm2

Tensile strength, Rm

660 N/mm2

510 N/mm2

Elongation A5

32%

25%

Impact strength, KV,

+20C

40 J

Hardness (approx.)

200 Brinell