Welding Stainless Steel

The stainless properties of stainless steels are primarily due to the

presence of chromium in quantities greater than roughly 12 weight
percent. This level of chromium is the minimum level of chromium to
ensure a continuous stable layer of protective chromium-rich oxide
forms on the surface. The ability to form chromium oxide in the weld
region must be maintained to ensure stainless properties of the weld
region after welding. In commercial practice, however, some stainless
steels are sold containing as little as 9 weight percent chromium and
will rust at ambient temperatures.

Stainless steels are generally classified by their microstructure and are

identified as ferritic, martensitic, austenitic, or duplex (austenitic and
ferritic). The microstructure significantly affects the weld properties
and the choice of welding procedure used for these stainless steel
alloys. In addition, a number of precipitation-hardenable (PH) stainless
steels exist. Precipitation-hardenable stainless steels have martensitic
or austenitic microstructures.

Iron, carbon, chromium and nickel are the primary elements found in
stainless steels and significantly affect microstructure and welding.
Other alloying elements are added to control microstructure or
enhance material properties. These other alloys affect welding
properties by changing the chromium or nickel equivalents and thereby
changing the microstructure of the weld metal. Generally, 200 and
300 series alloys are mostly austenitic and 400 series alloys are ferritic
or martensitic, but exceptions exist.

Stainless steels are subject to several forms of localized corrosive

attack. The prevention of localized corrosive attack is one of the
concerns when selecting base metal, filler metal and welding
procedures when fabricating components from stainless steels.

Stainless steels are subject to weld metal and heat affected zone
cracking, the formation of embrittling second phases and concerns
about ductile to brittle fracture transition. The prevention of cracking
or the formation of embrittling microstructures is another main concern
when welding or fabricating stainless steels.

Welding Austenitic Stainless Steels

Ideally, austenitic stainless steels exhibit a single-phase, the face-

centered cubic (fcc) structure, that is maintained over a wide range of
temperatures. This structure results from a balance of alloying
additions, primarily nickel, that stabilize the austenite phase from
elevated to cryogenic temperatures. Because these alloys are
predominantly single phase, they can only be strengthened by solid-
solution alloying or by work hardening. Precipitation-strengthened
austenitic stainless steels will be discussed separately below.

The austenitic stainless steels were developed for use in both mild and
severe corrosive conditions. Austenitic stainless steels are used at
temperatures that range from cryogenic temperatures, where they
exhibit high toughness, to elevated temperatures, where they exhibit
good oxidation resistance. Because the austenitic materials are
nonmagnetic, they are sometimes used in applications where magnetic
materials are not acceptable.

The most common types of austenitic stainless steels are the 200 and
300 series. Within these two grades, the alloying additions vary
significantly. Furthermore, alloying additions and specific alloy
composition can have a major effect on weldability and the as-welded
microstructure. The 300 series of alloys typically contain from 8 to 20
weight percent Ni and from 16 to 25 weight percent Cr.

A concern, when welding the austenitic stainless steels, is the

susceptibility to solidification and liquation cracking. Cracks can occur
in various regions of the weld with different orientations, such as
centerline cracks, transverse cracks, and microcracks in the underlying
weld metal or adjacent heat-affected zone (HAZ). These cracks are
primarily due, to low-melting liquid phases, which allow boundaries to
separate under the thermal and shrinkage stresses during weld
solidification and cooling.

Even with these cracking concerns, the austenitic stainless steels are
generally considered the most weldable of the stainless steels.
Because of their physical properties, the welding behavior of
austenitic stainless steels is different than the ferritic, martensitic, and
duplex stainless steels. For example, the thermal conductivity of
austenitic alloys is roughly half that of ferritic alloys. Therefore, the
weld heat input that is required to achieve the same penetration is
reduced. In contrast, the coefficient of thermal expansion of austenite
is 30 to 40 percent greater than that of ferrite, which can result in
increases in both distortion and residual stresses, due to welding. The
molten weld pool of the austenitic stainless steels is commonly more
viscous, or sluggish, than ferritic and martensitic alloys. This slows
down the metal flow and wettability of welds in austenitic alloys, which
may promote lack-of-fusion defects when poor welding procedures are
employed.
Welding Ferritic Stainless Steels

Ferritic stainless steels comprise approximately half of the 400 series

stainless steels. These steels contain from 10.5 to 30 weight percent
chromium along with other alloying elements, particularly
molybdenum. Ferritic stainless steels are noted for their stress-
corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance and good resistance to pitting and
crevice corrosion in chloride environments, but have poor toughness,
especially in the welded condition.

Ideally, ferritic stainless steels have the body-centered cubic (bcc)

crystal structure known as ferrite at all temperatures below their
melting temperatures. Many of these alloys are subject to the
precipitation of undesirable intermetallic phases when exposed to
certain temperature ranges. The higher-chromium alloys can be
embrittled by precipitation of the tetragonal sigma phase, which is
based on the compound FeCr.

Molybdenum promotes formation of the complex cubic chi phase,

which has a nominal composition of Fe36Cr12Mo10. Embrittlement
increases with increasing chromium plus molybdenum contents. It is
generally agreed that the severe embrittlement which occurs upon
long-term exposure is due to the decomposition of the iron-chromium
ferrite phase into a mixture of iron-rich alpha and chromium-rich alpha-
prime phases. This embrittlement is often called "alpha-prime
embrittlement." Additional reactions such as chromium carbide and
nitride precipitation may play a significant role in the more rapid, early
stage 885 F embrittlement.

The ferritic stainless steels have higher yield strengths and lower
ductilities than austenitic stainless steels. Like carbon steels, and
unlike austenitic stainless steels, the ferritic stainless alloys exhibit a
transition from ductile-to-brittle behavior as the temperature is
reduced, especially in notched impact tests. The ductile-to-brittle
transition temperature (DBTT) for the ultrahigh-purity ferritic stainless
steels is lower than that for standard ferritic stainless steels. It is
typically below room temperature for the ultrahigh-purity ferritic
stainless steels. Nickel additions lower the DBTT and there by slightly
increase the thicknesses associated with high toughness.
Nevertheless, with or without nickel, the ferritic stainless steels would
need engineering review for anything other than thin walled
applications as they are prone to brittle failure.

Welding Martensitic Stainless Steels

Martensitic stainless steels are considered to be the most difficult of
the stainless steel alloys to weld. Higher carbon contents will produce
greater hardness and, therefore, an increased susceptibility to
cracking.

In addition to the problems that result from localized stresses

associated with the volume change upon martensitic transformation,
the risk of cracking will increase when hydrogen from various sources
is present in the weld metal. A complete and appropriate welding
process is needed to prevent cracking and produce a sound weld.

Martensitic stainless steels are essentially alloys of chromium and

carbon that possess a body-centered cubic (bcc) or body-centered
tetragonal (bct) crystal structure (martensitic) in the hardened
condition. They are ferromagnetic and hardenable by heat treatments.
Their general resistance to corrosion is adequate for some corrosive
environments, but not as good as other stainless steels.

The chromium content of these materials generally ranges from 11.5

to 18 weight percent, and their carbon content can be as high as 1.2
weight percent. The chromium and carbon contents are balanced to
ensure a martensitic structure after hardening. Martensitic stainless
steels are chosen for their good tensile strength, creep, and fatigue
strength properties, in combination with moderate corrosion resistance
and heat resistance.

The most commonly used alloy within this stainless steel family is type
410, which contains about 12 weight percent chromium and 0.1 weight
percent carbon to provide strength. Molybdenum can be added to
improve mechanical properties or corrosion resistance. Nickel can be
added for the same reasons. When higher chromium levels are used to
improve corrosion resistance, nickel also serves to maintain the desired
microstructure and to prevent excessive free ferrite. The limitations on
the alloy content required to maintain the desired fully martensitic
structure restrict the obtainable corrosion resistance to moderate
levels.

Welding Duplex Stainless Steels

Duplex stainless steels are two phase alloys based on the iron-
chromium-nickel system. Duplex stainless steels usually comprise
approximately equal proportions of the body-centered cubic (bcc)
ferrite and face-centered cubic (fcc) austenite phases in their
microstructure and generally have a low carbon content as well as,
additions of molybdenum, nitrogen, tungsten, and copper. Typical
chromium contents are 20 to 30 weight percent and nickel contents
are 5 to 10 weight percent. The specific advantages offered by duplex
stainless steels over conventional 300 series stainless steels are
strength, chloride stress-corrosion cracking resistance, and pitting
corrosion resistance.

Duplex stainless steels are used in the intermediate temperature

ranges from ambient to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit
(depending on environment), where resistance to acids and aqueous
chlorides is required. The weldability and welding characteristics of
duplex stainless steels are better than those of ferritic stainless steels,
but generally not as good as austenitic materials.

A suitable welding process is needed to obtain sound welds. Duplex

stainless steel weldability is generally good, although it is not as
forgiving as austenitic stainless steels. Control of heat input is
important. Solidification cracking and hydrogen cracking are concerns
when welding duplex stainless steels, but not as significant for some
other stainless steel alloys.

Current commercial grades of duplex stainless steels contain between

22 and 26 weight percent chromium, 4 to 7 weight percent nickel, up
to 4.5 weight percent molybdenum, as well as some copper, tungsten,
and nitrogen. Modifications to the alloy compositions have been made
to improve corrosion resistance, workability, and weldability. In
particular, nitrogen additions have been effective in improving pitting
corrosion resistance and weldability.

The properties of duplex stainless steels can be appreciably affected

by welding. Due to the importance of maintaining a balanced
microstructure and avoiding the formation of undesirable metallurgical
phases, the welding procedures must be properly specified and
controlled. If the welding procedure is improper and disrupts the
appropriate microstructure, loss of material properties can occur.

Because these steels derive properties from both austenitic and ferritic
portions of the structure, many of the single-phase base material
characteristics are also evident in duplex materials. Austenitic
stainless steels have good weldability and low-temperature toughness,
whereas their chloride SCC resistance and strength are comparatively
poor. Ferritic stainless steels have good resistance to chloride SCC but
have poor toughness, especially in the welded condition. A duplex
microstructure with high ferrite content can therefore have poor low-
temperature notch toughness, whereas a structure with high austenite
content can possess low strength and reduced resistance to chloride
SCC.
The high alloy content of duplex stainless steels also makes them
susceptible to the formation of intermetallic phases from extended
exposure to high temperatures. Significant intermetallic precipitation
may lead to a loss of corrosion resistance and sometimes to a loss of
toughness.

Duplex stainless steels have roughly equal proportions of austenite and

ferrite, with ferrite being the matrix. The duplex stainless steels
alloying additions are either austenite or ferrite formers. This is occurs
by extending the temperature range over which the phase is stable.
Among the major alloying elements in duplex stainless steels
chromium and molybdenum are ferrite formers, whereas nickel,
carbon, nitrogen, and copper are austenite formers.

Composition also plays a major role in the corrosion resistance of

duplex stainless steels. Pitting corrosion resistance can be adversely
affected. To determine the extent of pitting corrosion resistance
offered by the material, a pitting resistance equivalent is commonly
used.

Welding Precipitation-Hardenable Stainless Steels

Precipitation-hardening (PH) stainless steels are iron-chromium-nickel

alloys. They generally have better corrosion resistance than
martensitic stainless steels. The high tensile strengths of the PH
stainless steels is due to precipitation hardening of a martensitic or
austenitic matrix. Copper, aluminum, titanium, niobium (columbium),
and molybdenum are the primary elements added to these stainless
steels to promote precipitation hardening.

Precipitation-hardening stainless steels are commonly categorized into

three types martensitic, semiaustenitic, and austenitic based on their
martensite start and finish (Ms and Mf) temperatures and the resulting
microstructures. The issues involved in welding PH steels are different
for each group.

It is important to understand the microstructure of the particular type

of alloy being welded. Some of the PH stainless steels solidify as
primary ferrite and have relatively good resistance to hot cracking. In
other PH stainless steels, ferrite is not formed, and it is more difficult
to weld these alloys without hot cracking.

If your company is experiencing these or other welding problems you can retain
AMC to improve your weld processing. Hire AMC to act as your welding
specialist.
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