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Evaluation of the AISI 904L Alloy Weld Overlays Obtained by GMAW and
Electro-Slag Welding Processes

Article  in  Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance · May 2018

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DOI: 10.1007/s11665-017-2631-9 1059-9495/$19.00

Evaluation of the AISI 904L Alloy Weld Overlays Obtained

by GMAW and Electro-Slag Welding Processes
Jorge C.F. Jorge, O.G. Meira, F.C.A. Madalena, L.F.G. de Souza, L.S. Araujo, and M.C. Mendes

(Submitted July 22, 2016; in revised form March 9, 2017; published online March 21, 2017)

The use of superaustenitic stainless steels (SASS) as an overlay replacement for nickel-based alloys can be
an interesting alternative for the oil and gas industries, due to its lower cost, when compared to superalloys.
Usually, the deposition is made with several welding passes by using conventional arc welding processes,
such as gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) or gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes. In this respect,
electro-slag welding (ESW), which promotes high heat inputs and low dilution of the welds, can also be
attractive for this application, as it provides a higher productivity, once only one layer is needed for the
deposition of the minimum thickness required. The present work evaluates the behavior of an AISI 904L
SASS weld overlay deposited on a carbon steel ASTM A516 Grade 70 by ESW and GMAW processes. Both
as-welded and heat-treated conditions were evaluated and compared. A multipass welding by GMAW
process with three layers and 48 passes was performed on 12.5 3 200 3 250 mm steel plates with average
welding energy of 1.0 kJ/mm. For ESW process, only one layer was deposited on 50 3 400 3 400 mm steel
plates with average welding energy of 11.7 kJ/mm. After welding, a post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) at
620 °C for 10 h was performed in half of the steel plate, in order to allow the comparison between this
condition and the as-welded one. For both processes, the austenitic microstructure of the weld deposits was
characterized by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with electron backscatter diffrac-
tion. A low proportion of secondary phases were observed in all conditions, and the PWHT did not promote
significant changes on the hardness profile. Martensite for GMAW process and bainite for ESW process
were the microstructural constituents observed at the coarse grain heat-affected zone, due to the different
cooling rates. For ESW process, no evidences of partially diluted zones were found. As a consequence of the
microstructural findings, the hardness results for ESW were lower than those usually observed for other
electric arc welding processes. In addition, specimens subject to bending tests performed in accordance with
the current standards used for qualification of welding procedures were approved. These evidences allow
the conclusion that the ESW process can provide deposits with high quality despite the high welding energy
levels, in order to achieve the desired productivity, being an interesting alternative for AISI 904L weld
overlays.

superaustenitic is related to the higher molybdenum, chromium,

Keywords AISI 904L, electro-slag welding process, GMAW
process, mechanical properties, microstructure, over-
lay, post-weld heat treatment
1. Introduction
Due to the challenges imposed by the exploration of oil and
gas under the pre-salt layer, there is a continuous drive for the
development of alloys with high corrosion resistance under
chloride environments, concomitantly with high strength and
competitive cost. The superaustenitic stainless steels (SASS)
(Ref 1) are candidates for these applications. They present
improved resistance against stress corrosion cracking and
pitting, when compared to the conventional austenitic stainless
steel, often used in applications where corrosion resistance is a
primary requisite, such as chemical, gas, oil, pulp and paper
industries, marine and offshore applications (Ref 2). The term
J.C.F. Jorge, L.F.G. de Souza, and M.C. Mendes, CEFET-RJ, Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil; O.G. Meira and F.C.A. Madalena, Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and L.S. Araujo,
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Contact e-mail: jorgecfjorge@gmail.com.
nickel and nitrogen contents (Ref 3). The use of SASS is
particularly interesting as they fill the cost-wise gap between
the relatively cheaper austenitic stainless steel and the more
expensive nickel-based superalloys (Ref 4). However, due to
the considerable amount of alloying elements, such as Mo, N
and Cr, the microstructure is more susceptible to the precip-
itation of intermetallic phases, usually r, v and Laves, which
are known to be deleterious to the mechanical and corrosion
properties (Ref 1, 2, 4).
The AISI 904L steel is a low carbon, highly alloyed
superaustenitic stainless steel, presenting high impact properties
and good weldability, due to its high molybdenum content,
which avoids hot crack formation during welding (Ref 4, 5).
The SASS show an improved resistance to corrosion in relation
to the conventional 300 series austenitic stainless steels (Ref 5,
6). According to Bogdanowicz et al. (Ref 5), despite the wide
use of superaustenitic 904L steel in construction, refineries,
nuclear power and chemical industry, the information available
in the literature, regarding the properties of this alloy, is still
limited. Considering that SASS are an attractive alternative for
some applications, even in offshore installations with very
stringent requirements for approval (Ref 7), it is essential to
study the effect of welding thermal cycle on its mechanical and
microstructural properties, especially in regard to the effect of
different cooling rates.

2204—Volume 26(5) May 2017 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

 The cladding of C-Mn steel with corrosion resistant alloys
(CRA) is widely used in industry. The C-Mn steel acts as the
structural element, and the corrosion resistance is provided by
the cladding with one or more layers of SASS (Ref 8), once it
improves the corrosion resistance without increasing the cost of
manufacture of massive equipment. Although the welding of
SASS can be performed by different processes such as gas
tungsten arc welding, gas metal arc welding, submerged arc
welding (SAW), laser welding, friction and plasma (Ref 3-6, 8-
10), the two most productive systems for the cladding of large
components which are subjected to corrosion or wear are
submerged arc and electro-slag cladding (Ref 11). Although
submerged arc welding (SAW) is more frequently used than
electro-slag welding (ESW), according to Paschold (Ref 12),
single-layer electro-slag strip cladding is recommended, instead
of double-layer procedures with submerged arc strip cladding,
when higher productivity and restricted dilution rates are
required.
This work evaluates the behavior of the AISI 904L steel
weld overlays—both in as-welded and post-weld heat-treated
conditions—for the electro-slag welding (ESW) and gas metal
arc welding (GMAW) processes. The cladding was made on a
carbon steel ASTM A516 Grade 70.
2. Materials and Experimental Procedures
ASTM A516 Gr. 70 carbon steel plates with dimensions
of 50 9 400 9 400 and 12.5 9 200 9 230 mm (thickness 9
width 9 length) were used as substrate material, for the welding
by electro-slag welding (ESW) and gas metal arc welding
(GMAW) processes, respectively.
For the ESW process, a 0.5 9 60 mm strip of the class SFA
5.9:EQ 385 (Ref 13) and a flux (E) FB 2 CrNiMoCu, according
to EN 760 (Ref 14), were used; while, for the GMAW process,
a 1.2-mm-diameter wire with the chemical composition based
on AWS 5.9 class ER385 (mod.) specification (Ref 15), with a
higher Mo content, was used. Table 1 shows the chemical
composition of the materials.
ESW was performed at flat position with three passes
forming one layer. For the GMAW process, forty-eight passes
were performed, forming three layers. In both cases, a 5-mm-
Table 1 Chemical composition of the filler and base metal (wt.%)
Material C Si
ASTM A516 Gr.70—base metal 0.23 0.24
Strip for ESW 0.01 0.20
Wire for GMAW 0.02 0.70
Table 2 Welding parameters
Welding Nominal heat
Process Current, Å Voltage, V velocity, cm/min input, kJ/mm
ESW 1150-1250 24-26 17 11.7
GMAW 205-215 28-30 40 0.96
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
thick cladding was obtained, this dimension being above the
required 3-mm-thick weld overlay after the finished procedures
(Ref 7). For the GMAW process, a 98%Ar-2%CO2 mixture
was used as shielding gas, with a flow rate of 15-20 L/min.
Direct current, with a preheat of 20 C and an interpass
temperature of 150 C, was adopted. The welding parameters
are shown in Table 2.
After welding, the joints were submitted to a post-weld heat
treatment (PWHT) at 620 C for 10 h, followed by air-cooling.
The overlays were analyzed in both as-welded and after PWHT
conditions.
The metallographic examination was conducted on samples
taken transversally to the weld bead. The samples were
carefully ground with emery paper up to 1200 grid and
polished using diamond paste with 6, 3 and 1 lm. The
microstructure was observed via optical microscopy (OM) and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in secondary electrons
and backscattered modes. Additionally, quantitative analysis of
secondary phases was performed by selecting five different
fields which were observed with SEM by using the backscat-
tered mode with a nominal magnification of 10009. The
images were collected at around 3 mm from the fusion line.
Then, the binarization of the images was performed, followed
by the calculation of phase fraction and the average size of the
secondary phases. A statistical analysis of the results was
performed. For the binarization and particle analysis, the Image
J software was used.
Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis was
performed as well. In this case, after polishing, the samples
were submitted to an additional final polishing in a colloidal
silica solution with 0.25 lm. The EBSD maps were collected
with SEM operating at 20 kV and with step size between 1 and
4 lm. Semi-quantitative analysis of the main elements was
assessed by energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The global
dilution was determined in the transverse cross section by the
ratio between substrate diluted area and total diluted area with
the aid of the AutoCAD software. Both areas were measured,
and the ratio between them was calculated.
For the evaluation of mechanical properties, bending and
hardness tests usually apply, as required by the procedures used
for qualification of welds (Ref 16). In this respect, four guided
side-bend tests with bend radius of 180 were performed at
room temperature on test specimens removed transversally to
Element
Mn Ni Cr Mo Cu N
1.11 0.02 0.02 0.01 … …
1.00 25.0 20.2 6.1 1.3 …
4.70 25.4 20.0 6.2 1.5 0.12
Number of passes Number of layers Deposition rate, kg/h
3 1 19.36
48 3 2.03
Volume 26(5) May 2017—2205
Fig. 1 Macrography of the weld overlays. Etchant: aqua regia

Fig. 2 Optical microscopy with Nomarski technique near the fusion line for both processes showing occurrence of PDZ for GMAW process
and no evidence of this region for ESW process. Etchant: oxalic acid for weld metal and Nital 2% for base metal

Table 3 Results of bending tests

Process Condition Results (a) Comments

ESW As welded Approved No evidence of discontinuities

ESW PWHT Approved No evidence of discontinuities
GMAW As welded Approved No evidence of discontinuities
GMAW PWHT Approved No evidence of discontinuities

(a) Acceptance criteria (ASME IX-QW 163)—no open discontinuity exceeding 1.6 mm measured in any direction in the cladding and no open
discontinuity exceeding 3.2 mm along the approximate weld interface

the weld deposits, in accordance with ASME IX Standard
(Ref 16). Vickers hardness measurements with a load of 500 gf
were taken along the transverse cross section of the deposits at
points located at the weld metal, fusion line and substrate.
Chemical analysis was performed at different positions from
the fusion line, by means of optical emission spectroscopy.
3. Results and Discussion
In the execution of overlay welds, for the manufacture or
repair of large equipment, the use of higher welding energy is
usual, in order to allow an increased productivity. In the case of
electric arc welding processes, this increase in deposition rate

2206—Volume 26(5) May 2017 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

may cause damage to the quality of the overlay, as a
consequence of alterations in penetration, dilution and mechan-
ical properties of welded joints. In this aspect, the electro-slag
Fig. 3 Aspect of test pieces after bending tests
welding (ESW) process may become an attractive alternative,
precisely due to its characteristics of high deposition rate
associated with a low dilution (Ref 11, 12, 17).
Nevertheless, it is important to evaluate whether the high
welding energy values usually applied on this process are not
deleterious to the properties and, consequently, to the behavior
of the overlay.
Table 2 shows that the deposition rate obtained with the
ESW process achieved the minimum required overlayer
thickness (Ref 7) with only one layer; while, for the gas metal
arc welding (GMAW) process, three layers of multipass
welding were needed (Fig. 1). With such characteristics,
ESW is able to provide a significant gain in productivity, once
it allows the deposition of the minimum required overlay

Fig. 4 Detail of martensite present at different positions for the overlay deposited by GMAW process. Etchant: Nital 2%. (a) Martensite at
CGHAZ and (b) martensite at PDZ

Table 4 Secondary phase fraction and mean particle size for the ESW and GMAW as-welded conditions
Condition Phase fraction of secondary phases, % Average size of particles

ESW 0.668 ± 0.1306 6.718 ± 0.998

GMAW 0.615 ± 0.217 1.236 ± 0.119

Fig. 5 Optical microscopy with Nomarski technique of the welds. Both images are in the as-welded condition. Etchant: oxalic acid

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 26(5) May 2017—2207

Fig. 6 SEM images of the weld metal in the as-welded condition for the ESW and GMAW processes. D dendritic region, ID interdendritic
region, SP secondary phase

Table 5 Elemental composition range (wt.%) of secondary phases and the austenitic matrix measured via EDS
microanalysis
Process Position Cr Mo Ni Fe

ESW Matrix (ID) 23.43 8.34 25.97 43.58

Matrix (D) 22.15 5.43 25.46 46.85
SP1 27.02 28.26 14.34 30.39
SP2 28.22 15.93 18.51 37.34
GMAW Matrix (ID) 18.48 7.33 20.84 53.35
Matrix (D) 16.73 4.43 19.17 59.64
SP1 22.77 22.42 18.56 36.24
SP2 21.55 23.35 17.94 37.15
D dendritic, ID interdendritic, SP secondary phase

Table 6 Chemical composition (wt.%) at different distances from fusion line

Element Creq
Process position (a) C Cr Ni Mn Si Mo N Ti Cu Nb Creq/Nieq (Ref 29)

ESW 6.57 0.02 21.08 28.08 1.15 0.33 6.89 0.077 0.0012 1.69 0.024 0.91 40.48
4.10 0.02 21.10 27.90 1.18 0.40 6.73 0.075 0.0014 1.67 0.024 0.91 40.31
2.10 0.02 21.27 27.01 1.17 0.41 6.18 0.081 0.0014 1.67 0.026 0.92 39.32
1.10 0.02 21.16 26.85 1.18 0.41 6.20 0.084 0.0015 1.65 0.025 0.92 39.21
0.10 0.02 21.40 26.88 1.16 0.42 6.16 0.081 0.0014 1.67 0.025 0.92 39.24
0.90 0.16 0.02 0.02 1.07 0.19 … … … 0.008 …
GMAW 7.00 0.043 19.25 25.04 4.48 1.03 5.37 0.142 0.004 1.86 0.043 0.83 37.54
5.05 0.040 19.10 25.05 4.52 1.02 5.66 0.137 0.004 1.89 0.043 0.84 37.89
3.05 0.042 18.95 24.85 4.34 1.02 5.59 0.141 0.004 1.82 0.044 0.83 37.52
2.05 0.076 15.14 19.91 3.67 0.88 4.50 0.089 0.004 1.38 0.036 0.80 30.22
1.05 0.077 15.18 19.78 3.69 0.86 4.30 0.087 0.004 1.39 0.037 0.79 29.86

(a) Distance from fusion line (mm)

thickness in only 13% of the time spent by GMAW process.
These results are in line with Farkade (Ref 17), in an industrial
case of overlay welding of up to 280-mm-diameter nozzles,
with a saving of thousands of hours by the use of ESW in
replacement of GMAW.
In addition, a calculated dilution rate of 4.0% can be
considered low, when compared to the GMAW process, where
a rate of 11.2% was obtained, being these results in accordance
with other technical works (Ref 18-22). This is an important
result, once the dilution has a strong effect on the corrosion
resistance (Ref 23). In this respect, there is a great concern
about the metallurgical aspects of the fusion line, mainly in
regard to the formation of very small, brittle and hard zones
along the fusion line, referred to as partially diluted zones
(PDZs) (Ref 24). These zones are usually associated with the
presence of high-hardness martensite (400-550 HV) (22, 24-
28) and can promote a deleterious influence on the corrosion
resistance of dissimilar metal welds for sour service.

2208—Volume 26(5) May 2017 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

 Although the occurrence of PDZ has been observed (Fig. 2),
no evidences of cracking or disbonding were verified at the
overlay obtained by GMAW process. The same behavior was
observed in bending tests, which did not present any evidence
of discontinuities (Table 3 and Fig. 3).
As expected (Ref 22, 24-28), martensite was the microstruc-
tural constituent observed at this region, being important to
notice its different morphology in comparison with the
martensite observed close to the fusion line (Fig. 4). Indeed,
an intense carbide precipitation due to the multiple passes was
observed at the CGHAZ (Fig. 4).
At the weld overlay, PDZ were not observed in both GMAW
and ESW samples. In relation to the weld microstructure, the
ESW weld presented coarser dentritic and interdendritic
regions. As a consequence, the particle size of secondary
phases was significantly higher than the ones occurring at the
GMAW samples. However, no significant difference was
observed for the phase fraction of the secondary phases. The
size difference can be attributed to the difference in cooling
rates of each process. Table 4 presents the secondary phases
fraction and the mean particle size, as well as the statistical tests
conducted for significance and normality. Figure 5 and 6 show
the microstructures observed at OM and SEM, respectively,
where the difference in size of particles and dentritic and
interdendritic regions is evident. EDS analysis of weld metal in
dendritic and interdendritic regions confirmed that interden-
dritic regions presented higher percentage of Cr and Mo
(Table 5), as expected (Ref 4).
The chemical compositions of the weld metals and Creq/Nieq
ratios at different distances from fusion line are presented in
Table 6, where it shows that the level of oxide-stabilizing
elements, such as carbon, titanium and niobium, is low at all
positions in the weld metal. Due to this fact, the formation of
carbides could be minimized (Ref 4). Based on the studies of
David et al. (Ref 29), a modified Schaeffler diagram, which
incorporates high cooling rates involved in welding process,
indicated a relationship between Cr and Ni equivalents and the
phases present in the microstructure, being important to
mention that, when the ratio of Creq/Nieq is lower than 1.35,
solidification results in austenitic formation.

Fig. 7 Pseudo-binary diagram (PBD) for the weld metal of the GMAW and ESW samples

400 400

350 350

Weld metal Base metal Weld metal Base metal

300 300
Microhardness (HV0.5)
Microhardness (HV0.5)

250 250
As welded
200 As welded 200

150 150
PWHT PWHT
100 100

50 50

0 0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4

Distance from fusion line (mm) Distance from fusion line (mm)

ESW GMAW

Fig. 8 Results of hardness tests

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 26(5) May 2017—2209

 Some investigations (Ref 1, 4, 30) have shown that the most
commonly observed intermetallic phases are Sigma (r), Chi (v)
and Laves, which are treated in some cases as one phase due to
their very similar morphology. Low carbon solubility has been
found in Sigma phase, while a high solubility of interstitial
elements in the austenite matrix tends to lead to the formation
of Chi and Laves phases. An increased Mo content on the alloy
can accelerate the Chi formation kinetics (Ref 31). The
prediction of the occurrence of Sigma and Chi phases was
also suggested experimentally by Hull (Ref 32), being expected
Sigma phase formation for Creq higher than 17.8% and Chi
phase in alloys containing Mo.
In order to provide more information regarding the occur-
rence of Sigma, Chi and Laves phases during the welding
process, pseudo-binary diagrams (PBD) were calculated for
both processes using the Thermo-Calc software, using a Fe-
alloys database, TCFE6 (Fig. 7). The base composition used
for the GMAW process was the one measured at about 3 mm
from the fusion line, once this point marks the stabilization of
Fig. 9 Optical microscopy showing the microstructure observed at CGHAZ in the as-welded condition. Etchant: Nital 2%
Fig. 10 Martensite (M) at CGHAZ as observed by EBSD technique
2210—Volume 26(5) May 2017
the chemical composition in the weld metal. The range of
analysis of Mo content varied from 0 to 40% in weight and the
temperature from 600 to 1500 C. In all cases, the diagrams
indicate that, during cooling, Sigma phase occurs previously to
Laves and Chi phases. The Sigma, Chi and Laves phases are
favored by increased concentrations of Mo in the alloy, which
corroborates its formation in the interdendritic/intercolumnar
liquid, where the Mo is segregated during cooling. The weld
metal for the GMAW process presents a stronger tendency to
form Laves phase than the ESW weld metal, with the formation
of Sigma and Chi phases occurring for higher Mo contents.
This can be explained by the differences in chemical compo-
sitions of the electrodes. The GMAW electrode presents higher
weight contents of C, N, Si and Mn. Kato et al. (Ref 33)
described that Si promotes the stabilization of Laves phase for
several alloys, while Jargelius-Petterson (Ref 34) showed that
higher contents of Mn and N in austenitic steels promoted the
precipitation of Sigma, Chi and Laves phases, becoming the
last one stable at lower temperatures (700 C).
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
 Considering the above-mentioned statements, the secondary
phases (SP) observed in the present work, Fig. 7 and Table 5,
were characterized as Sigma and Chi phases. These findings are
consistent with the results reported by other authors (Ref 1, 2,
4, 30, 35). In addition, a quantitative analysis performed on
these weld metals showed a low proportion of secondary
phases, around 0.6% for both cases (Table 4).
Figure 8 shows the hardness measurements for both pro-
cesses for the as-welded and heat-treated conditions. By
comparing the results, it was observed that the GMAW process
presented higher values than the ESW process. The heat
treatment induced a decrease in the hardness of the base metal,
but no significant difference was observed for the weld metal.
The reduction in hardness at HAZ after PWHT can be attributed
to the tempering of the microstructure, being it more intense for
GMAW process where martensite was present. Although
PWHT can promote the occurrence of secondary phases which
are detrimental to mechanical and corrosion properties of SASS
(Ref 1, 2), these treatments are necessary to relieve residual
stresses of the components (Ref 8, 36, 37). In this respect, it can
be observed that a PWHT performed at 620 C did not cause
significant alterations in the mechanical behavior of the
material, once the hardness did not change drastically and no
cracks on the weld were observed after bending tests.
Due to the high energy and lower cooling rate, a
microstructure composed by bainite (B), ferrite (F) and pearlite
(P) was observed at CGHAZ for ESW process (Fig. 9). For
GMAW process, on the contrary, the low energy and faster
cooling rate promoted the predominance of martensite
(Fig. 10). EBSD technique is more effective to clarify the
occurrence of martensite (Ref 38-41) for multipass weldments,
once conventional technique was inaccurate due to the
tempering effect of multiple passes (Fig. 10).
Based on the results obtained in the present work, although
GMAW process allows satisfactory results for all conditions, it
can be inferred that ESW process can be an attractive
alternative for the deposition of weld overlays when compared
to GMAW process, due to the main following reasons:
• High welding energy applied allows the deposition of
only one layer leading to a higher productivity;
• Lower dilution rate contributes to the absence of PDZ and
consequently to better behavior of the overlay;
• Occurrence of bainite at CGHAZ and a lower risk of
cracks at interface.
4. Conclusions
Based on the findings of the present study, the conclusions
are as follows:
(a) The weld overlays were composed by an austenitic
microstructure with low proportion of Sigma and Chi
phases in the interdendritic region, which is prone to
segregation of Mo. Despite the differences in size of
dendritic and interdendritic regions and secondary
phases, the fraction of theses phases did not differ mark-
edly, despite the different cooling rates. The possibility
of occurrence of such phases was confirmed by thermo-
dynamic calculations;
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
(b) As a consequence of the different cooling rates, con-
cerning the substrate, bainite for ESW process and
martensite for GMAW process were the predominant
constituents observed at CGHAZ;
(c) No evidence of PDZ was observed for ESW process;
(d) Weld overlays performed by ESW process presented
slightly lower values of hardness at weld metal and sub-
strate than those obtained for GMAW weld overlays.
Concerning the effect of the PWHT in both processes, a
decrease in hardness was observed for the substrate, due
to the stress relief and tempering of the microstructure,
but no significant difference was observed at the weld
metal. Samples for both conditions did not present
cracks after bending tests;
(e) ESW process can be an interesting alternative for AISI
904L weld overlays, due to the low dilution rate and
higher productivity when compared to GMAW process.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank CEFET/RJ, COPPE/UFRJ and
Petrobras for the support in the execution of the present work.
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