This versatility is reflected in the fact that there are actually over 150 diffe

rent grades of stainless steel, with fifteen of them being the ones most commonl
y used. Popular grades of steel include: 304 stainless steel and 316 stainless s
teel. On a more basic level, there are five types of stainless steel, which can
be classified as follows:
Ferritic
These steels contain less than 0.10% carbon and are magnetic. The fact
that they can t be hardened via heat treatment and don t weld to a high standard lim
its the use of these metals somewhat, but they are still suitable for a wide ran
ge of applications.
Austenitic This is the most common type of stainless steel, accounting for up to
70% of all stainless steel production. Its versatility is in large part down to
the fact that it can be formed and welded with successful results.
Martensitic
This type of steel shares some characteristics with ferritic, but bo
asts higher levels of carbon, up to a full 1%. This means that they can be tempe
red and hardened and are thus highly useful in situations where the strength of
the steel is more important than its resistance to corrosion.
Duplex Put simply, Duplex steels are a combination of ferritic and austenitic st
eels, a structure which renders duplex steel stronger than both.
Precipitation Hardening
With the addition of elements such as Aluminium, Copper
and Niobium, these steels become extremely strong. They can be machined and work
ed into a wide variety of shapes without becoming distorted and, in terms of cor
rosion, have the same resistance levels as austenitic steels.
A principal concern in selecting welding filler metals for stainless steels i
s to match the important properties of the base metal. In addition, for nominall
y austenitic and duplex stainless steels, one should have some control over the
weld metal's ferrite content. Specification of ferrite in nominally austenitic a
nd duplex stainless steel welds are based upon Ferrite Numbers (FN) defined in t
he AWS A4.2M/A4.2:1997 standard, Standard Procedures for Calibrating Magnetic In
struments to Measure the Delta Ferrite Content of Austenitic and Duplex Ferritic
-Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal. Recommended by the American Society of M
echanical Engineers Code, the magnetically determined FN is much simpler to obta
in and is more reproducible than metallographically determined percent ferrite.
When selecting stainless steels, a welder must also consider something call
ed "sensitization." Ferritic stainless steels and some austenitic stainless stee
ls, which contain appreciable free carbon (greater than about 0.04%C) can be ren
dered sensitive to intergranular corrosion in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a
weld. This sensitization occurs where a peak temperature of about 900 to 1600F (
482 to 871C) is reached in the HAZ. Chromium carbides precipitate on grain bound
aries, and in the process of doing so, chromium as an alloy element is depleted
in the metal adjacent to the grain boundaries. Then, in corrosive service, this
Cr-depleted metal is selectively attacked. Low welding heat input can limit, but
not eliminate, sensitization. The best methods of preventing sensitization are
selection of very low carbon base metal (less than 0.03%C) or selection of a gra
de stabilized with titanium or niobium (also known as columbium), such as types
321 or 347. Note also that sensitization is almost never a weld metal problem it is largely a heat-affected zone problem.