Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242

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Materials and Design

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Hybrid (plasma + gas tungsten arc) weldability of modified 12% Cr ferritic

stainless steel
Emel Taban a,*, Erdinc Kaluc a,b, Alfred Dhooge c,d
a
Mechanical Engineering Dept., Engineering Faculty, Kocaeli University, 41200 Kocaeli, Turkey
b
Welding Research Center, Kocaeli University, 41200 Kocaeli, Turkey
c
Research Center of the Belgian Welding Institute, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
d
Mechanical Engineering Dept., Engineering Faculty, University of Ghent, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper deals with the hybrid (plasma + gas tungsten arc) welding properties of 12 mm thick modified
Received 16 February 2009 12% Cr ferritic stainless steel complying with EN 1.4003 and UNS S41003 steels with a carbon content of
Accepted 24 April 2009 0.01% to improve the weldability. The root passes of the butt welds were produced with plasma arc weld-
Available online 3 May 2009
ing (PAW) without filler metal while gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) was used to accomplish filler
passes with 309 and 316 austenitic stainless steel type of consumables, respectively. The joints were sub-
Keywords: jected to tensile and bend tests as well as Charpy impact toughness testing at 20 °C, 0 °C and 20 °C.
Ferritic stainless steel
Examinations were carried out in terms of metallography, chemical analysis of the weld metal, ferrite
12% Cr stainless steel
EN 1.4003
content, grain size and hardness analyses. Although 309 consumables provided higher mean weld metal
UNS S41003 toughness values compared to 316 (90 J vs. 75 J), 316 type of consumables provided better mean HAZ
Hybrid welding toughness data for the joints (45 J vs. 20 J) at 20 °C. Toughness properties of the welds correspond with
Plasma + gas tungsten arc welding those of microstructural features including grain size and ferrite content.
Weldability Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction due to toughness reduction and high carbon levels, respectively.

Mild steels suffer from corrosion, however in many situations
galvanic protection or painting of a steel surface is not practical.
For long term service, corrosion protection requires maintenance
and highly expensive measures to prevent or delay the onset of
corrosion with associated expenses. Stainless steels are in many
cases a proper option to replace carbon steels for numerous struc-
tural applications. They have extensively been used in a variety of
industries and environments such as chemical and power engi-
neering, food and beverage industry, health applications, petro-
leum and petrochemical plants, textile plants, transportation,
elevated or cryogenic temperature applications, architecture etc.
[1–8]. For most cases, welding is an inevitable production tech-
nique in fabrication of stainless steels. In general, most grades
are considered as weldable, however many problems are associ-
ated with improper control of the weld microstructure and allied
properties, or the use of welding procedures that are inappropriate
for the material unless some rules have been followed. Good wel-
dability can be effective to determine common application of any
alloy and this factor alone has previously restricted the exploita-
tion of ferritic and martensitic grades more than any other mainly
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 614 906 0086; fax: +90 262 335 2880.
E-mail addresses: emelt@kocaeli.edu.tr, emel.taban@yahoo.com, taban.1@osu.
edu (E. Taban).
For instance alloy 420 is one of the few stainless steels with almost
no practical arc welding history. Development of new steels inev-
itably brings new problems in manufacturing and joining. There is
a continuous demand for increased productivity in welding, while
maintaining the parent metal properties. In almost all cases, weld-
ing results in a significant alteration of the weld metal and heat af-
fected zone (HAZ) microstructure relative to the base metal. This
can constitute a change in the desired phase balance, formation
of intermetallic compounds, grain growth, segregation of alloy
and impurity elements, and other reactions. In general, these lead
to some level of degradation in properties and performance and
must be factored into the manufacture [1–5]. Depending on the life
cycle costs analysis and improved steel producing technologies,
lean alloyed chromium stainless steels gained a new status based
on 10.5–14% Cr system. The reasons for the renewed interest in
this group of materials are that these steels can provide good
mechanical properties and useful corrosion resistance for many
applications and at a relatively low cost. 12% Cr stainless steels
are sufficiently corrosion resistant in atmospheric and non-aggres-
sive aqueous conditions in many applications and are widely used
as low cost, utility stainless steels. In some predominantly ferritic
steels, a small amount of austenite forms at high temperatures
and may transform to martensite on cooling. This property has
been used to develop 12% Cr transformable stainless steels with
better weldability than either fully ferritic or fully martensitic

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2009.04.031
 E. Taban et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242
steels. They should be produced with close control of the carbon
content and martensite/ferrite balance to avoid the extremes of
completely ferritic or martensitic structures. The hardness and det-
rimental effect of the martensite on toughness is limited by the low
carbon levels [1,3–5,9–16].
3Cr12 stainless steel which was developed with 0.03% C in the
late 1970s making use of the minimum chromium content re-
quired to impart acceptable corrosion resistance is known as the
first generation of 12% Cr steels. Originally 3Cr12 is a trademark
and was not included in any international specifications. However
a 12% Cr steel developed from 3Cr12 has been designated DIN type
1.4003 and ASTM/ASME 41003. 3Cr12 now appears in ASTM A240
as UNS S41003 and in Europe as Material Number 1.4003, although
the two specifications are not exactly the same. In particular, con-
formance to S41003 does not require nickel as an alloying element,
although it is permitted, while conformance to 1.4003 does require
some nickel. In addition to the composition ranges of S41003 and
1.4003, some suppliers, but not all include a deliberate addition
of titanium. Because of the low alloying content, 1.4003 alloys
may lie in the dual phase region consisting of a mixture of untrans-
formed delta ferrite, alpha ferrite which transformed from austen-
ite on cooling and martensite depending on the cooling rate,
consequently they are variously described as ‘‘ferritic” or ‘‘fer-
ritic–martensitic” 12% Cr stainless steel. In comparison to fully fer-
ritic grades like 409 and 430, 3Cr12 is considered to have better
weldability and HAZ toughness in thick as well as thinner gauges,
and it is supplied in thicknesses up to 30 mm. Relatively low frac-
ture toughness of the HAZ has restricted their use where dynamic
loads are concerned. Although 5Cr12HT was developed later as a
second generation to give better toughness, weldability remained
limited due to the carbon content [5,11,16–28].
It is clear from the previous published literature and industrial
applications that the 12% Cr type of steels had not achieved its full
potential so far, because the possible alloy combinations were not
fully understood. And usually weldability is not concerned a lot,
since 3Cr12 was mainly used for applications without welding.
There is limited weldability data in the published literature. EN
1.4003 steel is modified from conventional 3Cr12 stainless steel
by decreasing the C content to well below 0.03% which is regarded
as the limit for low carbon steels to improve the weldability. Also,
the amount of titanium is limited, because titanium tends to form
brittle carbide phases in the HAZ of a welded joint. Advanced steel
making technology now enables tight control of composition and
can provide extremely low levels of carbon and nitrogen with sig-
nificant improvement in the as welded HAZ properties, as well as
the reduction of chromium carbides which degrade corrosion per-
formance. Modified X2CrNi12 stainless steel still conforming to
grades 1.4003 in EN 10088-2 and EN 10028-7 and UNS S41003
in ASTM A240, with a quite low carbon level of 0.01% enhancing
the weldability and mechanical properties has recently been pro-
duced. This modified 12% Cr low carbon ferritic stainless steel pro-
vides an alternative which displays both the advantages of
stainless steels and engineering properties of carbon steels. In case
attention is paid for using the correct welding parameters to en-
sure good joint integrity, this combination opens up a wide range
of applications. Initial applications of these 12% Cr stainless steels
were consisted of materials handling equipment in corrosive envi-
ronments, but the 1.4003 type of steels are now extensively used in
the coal and gold mining industry, for sugar processing equip-
ments, road and rail transport, power generation, for petrochemi-
cal, metallurgical, pulp and paper industries and in aerospace
engineering. Although it has higher initial cost, modified X2CrNi12
stainless steel provides lower total life costs due to longer life with
less coating renewals and lower maintenance offering significant
economic and environmental advantage with regard to carbon
4237
steels. For other applications, it would be more economical com-
pared to higher alloyed stainless steels [3,14–18,22,29–49].
Recent years, the interest has been increased in applying plas-
ma arc welding (PAW) process in industry due to the higher weld-
ing speeds providing improved productivity and producing welds
with high penetration/width ratios [48]. Since modified X2CrNi12
stainless steel is relatively new, plasma arc or hybrid weldability
or welding properties of this modified 12% Cr stainless steel grade
has not been well determined yet. Taking into account of the
increasing interest in demands of using this steel as high strength
structural stainless steel and hybrid welding for industrial applica-
tions, this study focused on hybrid (plasma + gas tungsten arc)
welding of modified X2CrNi12 ferritic stainless steel plates.
In this study, properties of hybrid (PAW + GTAW) welded joints
of modified 12% Cr stainless steel conforming to EN 1.4003 and
UNS S41003 steels using austenitic stainless steel type of consum-
ables such as 309 and 316 have been investigated. Mechanical and
impact toughness testing and microstructural examinations
including macro-microstructures, grain size and ferrite content
analyses were carried out to evaluate the welds. Effect of consum-
able type on the properties has been discussed. In addition, prop-
erty-microstructure relationship was analyzed and explained.
2. Material and experimental studies
Chemical composition data obtained from chemical analysis
and transverse tensile properties provided from the steel producer
for the 12 mm thick modified 12% Cr stainless steel conforming to
grades 1.4003 and UNS S41003, respectively in EN 10088-2 and EN
10028-7 and in ASTM A240 are given in Table 1.
To ensure tougher weld metal yielding adequate properties re-
quired for structural purposes and to minimise the risk of heat af-
fected zone (HAZ) hydrogen cracking, austenitic stainless steel
filler metals are generally recommended in producing arc welds
of 1.4003 type of grades in applications where dynamic loading
is anticipated. [3,5,14,15,39]. Hybrid welded joints of modified
12% Cr stainless steel were obtained by hybrid (plasma + gas tung-
sten arc) welding process. Two types of hybrid welded panels were
produced with 309L and 316LSi type of austenitic stainless steel
consumables. The chemical composition of the filler metals are gi-
ven in Table 2. First welded joint-named as L9 was produced with
an ER309L wire of 1.2 mm diameter protected by Ar as plasma gas
and 30He/70 Ar as shielding gas. Y groove preparation with an
opening angle of 90° was used. Similar conditions were used with
an ER316LSi wire of 1.2 mm diameter to produce second welded
joint-named as L6. Root passes were produced with plasma arc
welding (PAW) in one pass while multi passes with gas tungsten
arc welding (GTAW) were used for filler passes for both joints,
The total heat input varied from 4.1 kJ/mm to 4.3 kJ/mm for each
weld.
Transverse tensile specimens were prepared with respect to EN
10002-1-EN 895 from both welds and tested at room temperature
by a servohydrolic tensile test machine at room temperature. Face
and root bend test specimens removed from both welds transverse
to the weld seam were prepared with a nominal specimen width of
30 mm, a mandrel diameter of 55 mm. Bending test was executed
till 180° according to EN 910 unless severe cracking was observed
before. Notch impact test samples were extracted transverse to
each weld and notched at the weld metal centre (WM), the fusion
line (FL), at the heat affected zone 2 mm from the fusion line
(FL + 2 mm). Testing was performed due to EN 10045-1 at
20 °C, 0 °C and 20 °C. Cross-sections from both welds were pre-
pared, polished and etched with proper reagent for metallographic
examination. Macro- and micrographs of the weld zones were ob-
tained. Complete HV5 traverses were made according to EN 1043-1
4238 E. Taban et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242

Table 1
Chemical composition (in wt.%) and tensile properties of the modified 12Cr ferritic stainless steel base metal.

C Si Mn P S Cr Cu Ni Mo Ti V Al Nb N (ppm)
0.01 0.32 0.97 0.033 0.003 12.2 0.39 0.52 0.14 0.001 0.039 0.027 0.031 90
Yield strength (MPa) Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) % Elongation
362–363 500–502 30–32

Table 2
Chemical composition in wt.% of the consumables [1].

Type of consumable C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Mo
309L 0.04 1.0 0.5–2.5 0.04 0.03 22.0–25.0 12.0–14.0 0.75
316LSi 0.03 0.65–1.0 1.0–2.5 0.03 0.03 18.0–20.0 11.0–14.0 2.0–3.0

at sub-surface from both face and root sides of each weld. Longitu-
dinal sections entirely located at the weld metal were prepared
perpendicular to the plate surface for the chemical analysis of all
weld metal samples. Three measurements were taken by glow dis-
charge optical emission spectrometry (GDOES) and averaged for
each element. Ferrite content of the weld metals for both joints
was calculated and predicted by chemical analysis results. Ferrite
content was determined by Fisher Ferritscope measurements
across the weld metal and compared with the predicted data.
Macro sections of all welds were examined at the HAZs adjacent
to the fusion line from both right and left sides and the ASTM grain
size numbers were measured at four thickness positions from sub-
surface to mid-thickness [32].
3. Results and discussion
Overmatching transverse tensile results were obtained while
fracture occurred at the base metal. Splitting close to the fracture
surfaces parallel with the plate surface was observed, Fig. 1. It is
attributed to intergranular decohesion along ferrite and martensite
grain boundaries [28].
sub-zero temperatures. When 27 J and 20 J at 20 °C are taken into
account as required mean and individual toughness values, respec-
tively [32,42–49], all samples from both joints passed the required
conditions by means of impact toughness except the samples from
the joint-L9 at the notch position of FL+2 mm.
Relevant photomacrographs obtained from the hybrid (plas-
ma + gas tungsten arc) welded joints of modified 12Cr ferritic
stainless steel are given in Fig. 3. Similar amount of distortion oc-
curred for both joints, while weld bead of the second joint-L6 pro-
duced with 316 type of consumables is wider with regard to that of
L9 with 309 type of consumables.
The microstructural examination has been carried out on the
metallographic specimens of the joints using a light optical micro-
scope (LOM) mainly with 200x magnification, Figs. 4 and 5. The
investigation of the welds has been performed from base metal
(BM) across the heat affected zone (HAZ) to weld metal (WM),
a 160
Mean impact energy (J)

None of the face and root bend samples failed during bending
revealing no defects after testing till 180°. The mean notch impact 120
values of the joints expressed in J are illustrated in Fig. 2. In general
WM
weld metal toughness values of weld L9 which was produced with
309 type of consumables reveal better results, Fig. 2a, compared to 80 FL
those from weld L6 with 316 type of filler metals, Fig. 2b. Although FL+2mm
309 consumables led increased weld metal toughness properties,
316 type of consumables provided better HAZ toughness data for
40
hybrid welded joints of modified 12% Cr ferritic stainless steel at
0
-40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (°C) - [L9]

b 160
Mean impact energy (J)

120
WM
80 FL

FL+2mm
40

0
-20 -20 -20
Temperature (°C) - [L6]

Fig. 2. Charpy impact toughness graphs of the hybrid welds of modified 12% Cr
stainless steel (a) Weld L9 with 309, and (b) Weld L6 with 316 type of consumables,
Fig. 1. Fractograph from Weld L9 exhibiting splitting of the base metal. respectively.
 E. Taban et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242 4239

Fig. 3. Macrographs from the hybrid welded joints (a) L9 and (b) L6.

Fig. 4. Micrographs of 12 mm thick hybrid (PA + GTA) weld with 309 type of filler metal (L9) (a) BM 200, (b) root WM by PAW without filler metal 200, (c) filler pass WM
by GTAW with 309 type of filler metal 200, (d) root HAZ 50, (e) face HAZ 50 and (f) face HAZ 200.
4240 E. Taban et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242

Fig. 5. Micrographs of 12 mm thick hybrid (PA + GTA) weld with 316 type of filler metal (L6) (a) BM 200, (b) root WM by PAW without filler metal 200, (c) filler pass WM
by GTAW with 316 type of filler metal 200, (d) root HAZ 50, (e) face HAZ 50 and (f) face HAZ 200.

respectively. WM of root pass by PAW and WM of filler passes by
GTAW are presented.
HAZ for 12% Cr stainless steels have two visually distinct zones,
the high-temperature HAZ (HTHAZ) and the low temperature HAZ
(LTHAZ) [14,15,32]. The steel is heated close to the liquidus during
welding and transforms completely to delta ferrite and rapid grain
growth occurs. On cooling, the reversion to austenite occurs and
the HTHAZ frequently consists of coarse-grained delta ferrite, Figs.
4d–f and 5d–f with islands of martensite at the grain boundaries.
For the sample from both welds, lath martensite has also been ob-
served at the fused metal, Figs. 4b and 5b. When the material tem-
perature reaches 1050 °C within 1–2 s, no reversion to austenite
occurs and the delta ferrite structure maintains to room tempera-
ture. However, material heated to the temperatures between Ac1
and Ac5 contains significant fractions of austenite which trans-
forms to martensite, results in a tougher finer-grained structure
[15,16], left parts of Figs. 4f, 5e and f. Depending on the austenitic
type of filler metals at the weld deposit, increased austenitic struc-
ture has been observed for both welds, Figs. 4c and 5c, compared to
root passes without filler metal, Figs. 4b and 5b. The microstruc-
tural and mechanical properties of the weld bead can be improved
by proper selection of filler metals by the addition of alloying ele-
ments or the electromagnetic stirring, however properties of the
HAZ are mainly dependent on the base metal’s [51]. This is con-
firmed by the weld metal toughness data which are better than
those of HAZ for both welds in Fig. 2.
The experimental data obtained from chemical analysis for the
all weld metal are given in Table 3.
Depending on the chemical composition of all weld metal data
obtained by GDOES and according to the Balmforth and Lippold
constitution diagram for as solidified weld metal [52], 15.4 and
3.38 were calculated as Creq and Nieq values of weld metal for weld
L9, while 16.21 and 3.89 were found, respectively for Creq and Nieq
of weld L6. When related data is shown on the diagram, the weld
metal was predicted to contain approximately about 70% ferrite
for L9 and about 75% ferrite for L6. Ferrite content of the weld me-
 E. Taban et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242 4241

Table 3
Chemical composition of the weld deposits (in wt.%) of modified 12% Cr stainless steel hybrid welds.

Joint code C Si Mn P S Cr Cu Ni Mo Ti V Al Nb
L9 0.01 0.35 1.07 0.030 0.003 14.80 0.34 3.03 0.14 0.003 0.053 0.029 0.001
L6 0.01 0.47 1.08 0.031 0.004 14.40 0.32 3.54 0.74 0.003 0.055 0.030 0.001

Table 4
Ferrite percentage analysis of the hybrid welded joints.

Joint code Root pass (PAW) (ferrite %) Filler passes (GTAW) (ferrite %)
1 2 3 4 5
L9 69.02 88.97 15.32 14.27 18.48
L6 36.83 89.33 17.63 25.97 19.96

tal of the samples prepared from hybrid welds were measured by
Fisher Ferritscope and the data are given in Table 4.
Approximately 15% and 20% ferrite were measured on GTAW
filler passes and 80% and 60% ferrite were measured on the root
passes of weld (fused) metals produced by PAW for weld L9 and
weld L6, respectively. Average weld metal ferrite content of
approximately 40% was measured for both joints which is far from
the predicted data due to two different types of processes used
with various consumables. Taking into account that the root passes
of both welds were produced with plasma arc welding process
without filler metal, more ferrite is expected and was measured
at the root parts (fused metal) of both welds. Depending on the in-
creased Mo and Ni content of 316 type of consumables, increased
ferrite content was determined at the GTA filler passes of weld
L6. On the micrographs as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, grain coars-
ening has been observed mainly at the root HAZs of both welds
since the solidification structure was almost 80% and 60% of ferrite
for the joints-L9 and L6 for root passes which was produced by
PAW without filler metal. According to impact testing results, it
is observed that the grain coarsening of the welded joints have af-
fected the low temperature (such as at 20 °C) impact toughness
300
(a)
Hardness (HV5)
values. One of the factors of resulting low toughness at the HTHAZ
of L9 might be this high level of ferrite at the root HAZ since no fil-
ler metal was used leading to 80% ferrite content at this particular
zone for weld L9. And due to the tougher austenitic type of filler
metal deposition for filler passes with GTAW in both welds, HAZ
reveals finer-grained structure compared to root passes with
PAW without filler metal. This microstructural difference between
filler passes and root passes are confirmed with the lower ferrite
content measurements of both L9 and L6 joints, Table 4.
ASTM grain size numbers were measured to investigate the cor-
relation between toughness and microstructure. In general poor
fusion line toughness corresponds with coarse grains such as ASTM
grain size numbers of about 4 at the FL notch position and about 3
at the FL+2 mm notch position of L9 while finer grain size such as
ASTM No. 4 or 5 was measured from the samples of L6 for FL and
FL+2 mm notch positions of 12% Cr stainless steel hybrid welds.
Studies [1,5,14,15,39,50] reveal that impact toughness of the HAZ
of 12% Cr steels are significantly affected by increased ferrite. In
general, microstructural properties in terms of micrographs, grain
size and ferrite content correspond to toughness properties of
the welds. Finer ferrite grain size led to improved toughness for
the hybrid welds of modified 12Cr ferritic stainless steels. The
presence of ferrite–austenite transformation in 12Cr ferritic (–mar-
tensitic) stainless steels leads decrease in grain coarsening of HAZ

280 compared to fully ferritic stainless steels providing better welda-

260 bility. Although martensite formation decrease toughness and duc-
240 Face tility deterioriating the mechanical properties, the martensite
220 Root formed in these type of steels is low carbon martensite which
200 has better ductility and toughness compared to high carbon mar-
180 tensite phase [5,51].
160
Hardness measurements carried out with 5 kg load over the
140
weld cross-sections are illustrated in Fig. 6.
H u
H Zu

M
M
M

H d
M

AZ
H M
HM

Wd
H Z
H Z

AZ

WM hardness for L9 varied between 166 HV5 and 190 HV5

Z
AZ
Z
A
A

B
W
B

B
B

A
A

while data between 162 HV5and 198 HV5 were measured for L6
L9 WM. Maximum hardness of 262 HV5 and 267 HV5 were measured
at the face of the HAZ for L9 and L6, respectively.
300
(b)
Hardness (HV5)

280
260 4. Conclusions
240 Face
220 Root Modified 12% Cr stainless steel with a carbon level of 0.01% con-
200 forming to EN 1.4003 and UNS S41003 steels were welded via hy-
180 brid (plasma + gas tungsten arc) welding process with austenitic
160 stainless steel consumables of 309L and 316LSi. The mechanical,
140 impact toughness and microstructural properties were investi-
gated. Main conclusions are as follows:
H u
H Zu

M
M
M

H d
M

AZ
H M
HM

Wd
H Z
H Z

AZ
Z
AZ
Z
A
A

B
W
B

B
B

A
A

L6 (1) Sound joints of modified 12Cr ferritic stainless steel could be

obtained by means of hybrid welding since tensile and bend
Fig. 6. HV5 graphs of (a) L9 and (b) L6. testing exhibited satisfactory results.
4242 E. Taban et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 4236–4242
(2) Toughness testing results at 20 °C, 0 °C and 20 °C reveal
that weld metal toughness values are generally better for
the joint-L9, compared to those from the joint-L6 due to
the tougher 309 type of consumables used to produce L9
while better HAZ toughness data were obtained from the
joint-L6 produced with 316 type of consumables for sub-
zero temperature.
(3) In microstructural examinations, some grain coarsening was
determined mainly at the HTHAZs and fused metal at the
root weld metal produced by plasma arc welding without fil-
ler metal. Coarse ferrite grains do not have any adverse
effect on tensile nor on bend properties but they lead to rel-
atively low impact toughness only for sub-zero temperature
depending on the amount of grain coarsened microstruc-
tures, such as ASTM numbers of between 3 and 4 deter-
mined by grain size analysis and ferrite content (in %), i.e.
between 60% and 80% for the fused metal at the root for both
welds.
(4) Hardness at the HAZ can be limited to 270 HV5 for the
hybrid welds which is within the safe frame for structural
applications.
In case the hybrid welding of modified 12% Cr ferritic stainless
steel with controlled welding conditions is provided and micro-
structure-property relation of the joints is well understood, the
productivity and the application of this modified low carbon 12%
Cr ferritic stainless steel as a high strength structural steel would
significantly increase.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge for the technical sup-
port of all colleagues at the Belgian Welding Institute and espe-
cially to Ir. Eddy Deleu. In addition, the support of IWT, Technical
Centre for Welding Applications (CTAS) at Paris, University of
Ghent, WTCM are very much appreciated and acknowledged. Very
much thanks to Ir. Eric Sterkx for his technical support. The first
author would like to thank to Tubitak for the support.
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