Stainless Steel

High Ni & Cr Content

Low (Controlled) Interstitials

Austenitic Nitrogen Strengthened

Austenitic

Martensitic Ferritic

Precipitation Hardened Super Austenitic

Super Ferritic Duplex

 Resistance Welding
Learning Activities
Lesson Objectives 1. View Slides;
When you finish this lesson 2. Read Notes,
you will understand: 3. Listen to lecture
•
4. Do on-line workbook

Keywords
 AOD Furnace

Argon & Oxygen

Today, more than 1/2 of the high chromium steels
are produced in the AOD Furnace Linnert, Welding Metallurgy
AWS, 1994
A=Martensitic Alloys
B=Semi-Ferritic
Castro & Cadenet, Welding Metallurgy of
C=Ferritic Stainless and Heat-resisting Steels
Cambridge University Press, 1974
We will look at these properties in next slide! AWS Welding Handbook
 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
 Static Resistance Comparison
Plain-carbon Steel
Electrode
Stainless Steel

Higher Bulk Resistance

Alloy Effect

Workpieces
Higher Surface Resistance
Chromium Oxide
Class 3 Electrode
Electrode
Higher Resistance
Resistance

Higher Resistances = Lower Currents Required

 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
 Conduction in Plain Carbon
Conduction in SS

Base Metal
Weld Nugget
Base Metal

Only 40 - 50% Heat conduction in SS

Less Heat Conducted Away
Therefore
Lower Current Required
Less Time Required (in some cases less than 1/3)
 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
 Melting Temp of Plain Carbon

Base Metal
Weld Nugget
Base Metal

Melting Temp of SS

Melting Temp of SS is lower

Nugget Penetrates More
Therefore
Less Current and Shorter Time Required
 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
 Ferritic, Martensitic, Ppt. = 6 - 11% greater expansion
Austenitic = 15% greater expansion than Plain Carbon Steel
Therefore
Warpage occurs especially in Seam Welding Dong et al, Finite Element Modeling of
Hot Cracking can Occur Electrode Wear Mechanisms,
Auto Steel Partnership, April 10, 1995
 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
 Force

High Strength
High Hot Strength

• Need Higher Electrode Forces

• Need Stronger Electrodes (Class 3, 10 & 14 Sometimes Used)
 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
 Oxide from Hot Rolling

Oxide Protective Film

• Chromium Oxide from Hot Rolling must be removed by Pickle

• Ordinary Oxide Protective Film is not a Problem
 General Properties of Stainless Steels
• Electrical Resistivity
– Surface & bulk resistance
is higher than that for plain-
carbon steels
• Thermal Conductivity
– About 40 to 50 percent that
of plain-carbon steel
• Melting Temperature
– Plain-carbon:1480-1540 °C
– Martensitic: 1400-1530 °C
– Ferritic: 1400-1530 °C
– Austenitic: 1370-1450 °C
• Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
– Greater coefficient than plain-
carbon steels
• High Strength
– Exhibit high strength at room
and elevated temperatures
• Surface Preparation
– Surface films must be
removed prior to welding
• Spot Spacing
– Less shunting is observed
than plain-carbon steels
Look at Each Grade & Its Weldability

Austenitic

Super Austenitic
Nitrogen Strengthened Austenitic
Martensitic
Ferritic

Super Ferritic
Precipitation Hardened

Duplex
Austenitic
• Contain between 16 and 25 percent
chromium, plus sufficient amount of nickel,
manganese and/or nitrogen
• Have a face-centered-cubic (fcc) structure
• Nonmagnetic
• Good toughness
• Spot weldable
• Strengthening can be accomplished by cold
work or by solid-solution strengthening
Applications:
Fire Extinguishers, pots & pans, etc.
AWS Welding Handbook
AWS Welding Handbook
Pseudobinary
Phase Diagram
@ 70% Iron

AWS Welding Handbook

 Prediction of Weld
Metal Solidification
Morphology

Schaeffler
Diagram

WRC
Diagram

AWS Welding Handbook

 Hot Cracking

A few % Ferrite Reduces Cracks

But P&S Increase Cracks

AWS Welding Handbook

 Spot Welding Austenitic Stainless Steel
Some Solidification Porosity Can Occur:
• As a result of this tendency to Hot Crack when Proper
Percent Ferrite is not Obtained
• Because of higher Contraction on Cooling

Suggestions:
• Maintain Electrode Force until Cooled
• Limit Nugget Diameter to <4 X Thickness of thinner piece
• More small diameter spots preferred to fewer Large Spots
 Spot Welding Austenitic Stainless Steel

Some Discoloration May Occur Around Spot Weld

Oxide Formation in HAZ
Nugget

Solutions
•Maintain Electrode Force until weld cooled below oxidizing
Temperature
• Post weld clean with 10% Nitric, 2% Hydrofluoric Acid
(Hydrochloric acid should be avoided due to chloride
ion stress-corrosion cracking and pitting)
 Seam Welding Austenitic Stainless Steel

Somewhat more Distortion Noted

Because of Higher Thermal
Contraction
Solution
• Abundant water cooling to remove heat

Knifeline Corrosion Attack in

Austenitic Stainless Steel Seam Welds
Solution
• See Next Slide for more description
 Chromium Carbide Precipitation
Kinetics Diagram
1500 °F
1500 F
M23 C6
Temperature

1200 °F 800 F
Precipitation
Chromium Oxide
800 °F
Intergranular M23 C6
Chromium-Rich
Corrosion
Carbides

Time
 Preventative Measures

● Short weld times

● Low heat input
● Lower carbon content in the base material
● 304L, 316L

● Stabilization of the material with titanium additions

● 321 (5xC)

● Stabilization with columbium or tantalum additions

● 347, 348 (10xC)

● Lower nitrogen content (N acts like C)

Projection Welding Austenitic Stainless Steel

Because of the Greater Thermal Expansion and Contraction,

Head Follow-up is critical
Solution
• Press Type machines with low inertia heads
• Air operated for faster action

In Welding Tubes with Ring projections for leak tight

application, electrode set-up is critical
Solution
• Test electrode alignment
Cross Wire Welding Austenitic Stainless Steel
Often used for grates, shelves, baskets, etc.

• Use flat faced electrodes, or

• V-grooved electrodes to hold wires in a fixture
• As many as 40 welds made at one time
Flash Welding Austenitic Stainless Steel

• Current about 15% less than for plain carbon

• Higher upset pressure
• The higher upset requires 40-50% higher clamp force
• Larger upset to extrude oxides out
Super Austenitic
Alloys with composition between standard 300 Austenitic SS
and Ni-base Alloys
• High Ni, High Mo
• Ni & Mo- Improved chloride induced Stress Corrosion
Cracking

Used in
• Sea water application where regular austenitics suffer
pitting, crevice and SCC
AWS Welding Handbook
 The Super Austenitic Stainless Steels are susceptible
to copper contamination cracking. RESISTANCE
WELDING NOT NORMALLY PERFORMED

Copper and Copper Alloy Electrodes can cause cracking:

• Flame spray coated electrodes
• Low heat
Nitrogen-Strengthened Austenitic
•High nitrogen levels, combined with
higher manganese content, help to
increase the strength level of the material

•Consider a postweld heat treatment for

an optimum corrosion resistance

Little Weld Data Available

Martensitic
• Contain from 12 to 18 percent chromium and
0.12 to 1.20 percent carbon with low nickel
content
• Combined carbon and chromium content gives
these steels high hardenability
• Magnetic
• Tempering of the low-carbon martensitic
stainless steels should avoid the 440 to 540 °C
temperature range because of a sharp reduction
in notch-impact resistance
Applications:
Some Aircraft & Rocket Applications
Cutlery
Martensitic SS Wrought Alloys are divided into two groups
• 12% Cr, low-carbon engineering grades (top group)
• High Cr, High C Cutlery grades (middle group)
AWS Welding Handbook
From a Metallurgical Standpoint, Martensitic SS
is similar to Plain Carbon

AWS Welding Handbook

Martensitic

Spot Welding
• HAZ Structural Changes
• Tempering of hard martensite at BM side
• Quench to hard martensite at WM side
• Likelihood of cracking in HAZ increases with Carbon
• Pre-heat, post-heat, tempering helps

Flash Weld
• Hard HAZ
• Temper in machine
• High Cr Steels get oxide entrapment at interface
• Precise control of flashing & upset
• N or Inert gas shielding
 Effect of Tempered Martensite
As Quenched
on Hardness
Loss of Hardness and Strength

Hardened Martensite
Tempered Martensite
Hardness

Fusion
SS with carbon content above
Zone HAZ
0.15% Carbon (431, 440) are
susceptible to cracking and need
Post Weld Heat Treatment

Distance
Ferritic
• Contain from 11.5 to 27 percent
chromium, with additions of manganese
and silicon, and occasionally nickel,
aluminum, molybdenum or titanium
• Ferritic at all temperatures, no phase
change, large grain sizes
• Non-hardenable by heat treatment
• Magnetic (generally)
Applications:
Water Tanks in Europe
Storage Tanks
AWS Welding Handbook
FERRITIC STAINLESS STEELS
Spot & Seam Welding

Because No Phase Change, Get Grain Growth

 la r g e HAZ Base

G r a in
S iz e

f in e

S tre n g th

Toughness 8 8 5 E m b r ittle m e n t

D IS T A N C E
 FERRITIC STAINLESS STEELS
Flash Weld

• Lower Cr can be welded with standard flash weld techniques

• loss of toughness, however
• Higher Cr get oxidation
• Inert gas shield recommended
• long flash time & high upset to expel oxides
Super Ferritic
• Lower than ordinary interstitial (C&N)
• Higher Cr & Mo

AWS Welding Handbook

 Increased Cr & Mo
promotes Embrittlement
• 825F Sigma Phase (FeCr) HAZ B ase
la r g e
precipitation embrittlement G r a in
•885F Embrittlement S iz e

(decomposition of iron-chromium fin e

ferrite)
• 1560F Chi Phase (Fe36 Cr12 Mo10 ) S tre n g th

precipitation embrittlement

Because of the Embrittlement, Toughness 8 8 5 E m b r ittle m e n t

Resistance Welding is Usually

Not Done on These Steels D IS T A N C E
 Precipitation-Hardened
• Can produce a matrix structure of
either austenite or martensite
• Heat treated to form CbC, TiC, AlN,
Ni3Al
• Possess very high strength levels
• Can serve at higher temperature
than the martensitic grades
Applications:
High Strength Components in Jet & Rocket Engines
Bombs
AWS Welding Handbook
Martensitic
• Solution heat treat above 1900F
• Cool to form martensite
• Precipitation strengthen
• Fabricated
Semiaustenitic
• Solution heat treat (still contain 5-20% delta ferrite)
• Quench but remain austenitic (Ms below RT)
• Fabricate
• Harden (austenitize, low temp quench, age)

Austenitic
• Remain austinite
• Harden treatment
AC=Air cooled RC=Rapid Cool to RT
WQ=Water Quenched SZC= Rapid cool to -100F
AWS Welding Handbook
Effect on Aging on the Nugget Hardness in
Precipitation-Hardened Stainless Steels

Aged
Hardness

When Welded in the Aged Condition

• Higher Electrode Forces
• Post Weld Treatment

Annealed

Weld Distance
Centerline
Precipitation-Hardened
Spot Welding
• 17-7PH, A-286, PH15-7Mo, AM350 & AM355 have been welded
• Generally welded in aged condition, higher forces needed
• Time as short as possible

Seam Welding
• 17-7PH has been welded
• Increased electrode force

Flash Welding
• Higher upset pressure
• Post weld heat treatment
Duplex
• Low Carbon
• Mixture: {bcc} Ferrite + {fcc} Austenite

• Better SCC and Pitting Resistance than Austenitics

• Yield Strengths twice the 300 Series

Early grades had 75-80% Ferrite (poor weldability due to ferrite)

Later grades have 50-50
AWS Welding Handbook
Due to the Ferrite:
• Sensitive to 885F embrittlement
• Sigma Phase embrittlement above 1000F
• High ductile to brittle transition temperatures (low
toughness)
• Solidifies as ferrite, subsequent ppt of nitrides, carbides which
reduces corrosion resistance
• Rapid cooling promotes additional ferrite
• Not Hot Crack Sensitive

Resistance Welds generally not recommended

because low toughness and low corrosion resistance
Unless post weld solution anneal and quench.
 Some
Applications
 Method of
Making an Ultra
Light Engine
Valve
Deep Drawing of Plain Carbon Steel
or Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel Cap

Resistance
Weld

Larson, J & Bonesteel, D “Method of Making an Ultra

Light Engine Valve” US Patent 5,619,796 Apr 15, 1997