Tab

At 0 304 309

BY DAMUN J. KOTECKI
Q: We are having trouble qualifying weldersfor joining mild steelpipe to 304 stainlesspipe using 309L covered electrodes.The bend specimens frequently break and showeither a crack in the root passor a brittle break in the root. Our ProcedureQualification permits use of either one mild steeland one stainless steel pipe or two mild steel pipes.We have been running the testswith mild steelpipeon both sidesof thejoint becausemanagement doesntt want the expenseof stockingstainlessin the welding lab. I think we are wasting more moneyon reteststhan it would cost to stock the pipe. Do you think stainless pipon one side of the joint would improveour passrate? A: Yo.rr companyis not unique in this approach. In my opinion,your management is being penny-wiseand poundfoolish. 309L is an excellentelectrode for joining304 stainless to mild steel,but it is too lean in alloy contentfor joining mild steelto mild steel.If the welder can manageto produce a low-dilution root passin the mild steelto mild steeljoint, the root beadshouldbe stableaustenite with a little ferrite,whichshouldbe ductile and crack-free. In that case, the welderwould probablypassthe test becausethe remainingbeadswill be deposited, in part, on the stainlessfiller metal so more normal dilution can be toleratedand still obtain austenite with a little ferrite. If the welder gets a little more dilution in the root passwith mild steelon both sidesof the joint, the root pass will be austenitewith almost no ferrite. That microstructure is very susceptible to hot crackingalong the weld centerline.That is almost certainlywhat happenedwhen the bendtestsample faileddue to a preexistingcrack in the root pass. A pre-existing hot crackcan be identifiedby the discoloration (dull grayor blue) ofthe crack surfacewhen it is broken open. The weld metalwill slidifuasaustenite (and may hot crack again) if the welder getsmore or lessnormal dilution in the root pass. But, because it is still leanerdue to dilution,that austenite is not stableand transforms to martensite 9 | NOVEMBER 2001

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Ta AI 02 E 10 12 14 t6 18 20 22 :21 26 28 30 = %Cr+ %lto + 0,7(%Nb) Cr Equv, Dil 30' 4g

Fig. 1 - ASTM A106 GradeB weldedwith 309L on the WRC-1992 Diagram. A as T; si G fc ti

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Fig. 2 -ASTM 4106 GradeB weldedto 304 with 309L filler metal on the WRC-1992 Diagram.

'l

c t

r (
on cooling.The martensitein this case is brittle and fractureswith little bending. Ifthere is no hot crack,the fracture will be bright and silveryin color, with cleavage facets.If there is a hot crack, the fracture surfaceof the crackwill most likely be discoloreddull gray or blue. In either case.the bend test fails. Table 1 lists typical compositionsfor ASTM A106 Grade B pipe, which is a commonly used mild steel pipe, along with a typical 309L electrodecomposition and a typical 304 basemetal composition.Table 2 lists calculated root pass compositions when 309L is depositedon a joint where both sidesare
I

I I 1 I
t

Table | -

Typical Al0B %Mn

and 30{ Base Meral and 309L Filler Metal compositions %Si %Cr %Ni %Mo %C u

%c At0 B 0. t 0 304 0.04 3091 0.03

0.80 r.50 1.50

0.0s 0.40 0.40

0.t0 t8.s0 24.00

0.| 0 0.05 10.00 0.t0 13.00 0.r0

0.t0 0.| 0 0.t0

FN 0.008 0.030 3.5 0.060 t3.5

%N

Table 2 - Calculated Root PassCompositions for Various Dilutions A1068 Welded to Al0B wirh 309L Filler lrtetal Dilution 25% 30% 35% 40%

%c 0.047 0.05 | 0.055 0.058

o / "M n

%S

%Cr

| .33 1.29 1.26 t.27

0.3 | 0.30 0.28 0.26

t8.03 t6.83 15.64 t4.44

% Ni 9.78 9. t 3 8.48 7.81

"AMo 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.08

"ACu

0.r0 0.t0 0.t0 0.t0

%N 0.M7 0.044 0.042

FN t.7 0.4 0

Table 3 - Calculated Root PassCompositions for Yarious Dilutions Al0B Welded to 304 with 309L Filler Metal
Dilution %C "/ol4n % Si

30% 40%

0.042 0.04

r.,{0 0.3s t.3 0.33

% Cr t9.59 t 8. t 2

% Ni %M o 10.62 0.09 9.82 0.09

"ACu 0.10 0.t0

%N 0.048 0.044

FN 4.0 t.9

4106 Grade B steel and the dilution is as low as 25 through as high as 407o. Table3lists calculatedroot passcompositionswhen 309L is used to join A10 GradeB to 304stainless steel,but only for 30 and 407o dllution In the calculationsfor joining A1068 to 304,eachof the two basemetalsis assumed to contributeequallyto the dilution, so,when the dilution is 407o.20Vo is assumed to comefrom eachbasemetal. Figure 1 plots the A106 Grade B base metal and the 309L filler metal on the WRC-1992Diagram,with the axesextended to zero and the martensite boundaryfor lVo Mn included.A tieline is drawn betweenthe A1068 composition and the 309L composition,and all possiblemixturesof the two materials must lie along that line. Then the points corresponding to25,30,35, and 40Vodilution are plotted along the tie-line. There are two important criteria for predicting a crack-freeductile weld. First, the composition of the diluted weld metal should lie below and to the right of the dashedline that separates the FA region from the AF region. This dashed line is not exactlyparallel to any one isoferrite line; it extendsfrom over 6 FN at the upper right to about I FN at the lower left. Above and to the left of this dashedline, the solidification mode is predicted to be primary austenite (austeniteis the first phaseto freeze),

and the weld is predicted to be sensitive to hot cracking.Below and to the right of this dashed line, the predictedsolidification mode is primary ferrite (ferrite is the first phaseto freeze),and the weld is predicted to be highly resistantto hot cracking. The second important criterion is that the predicted compositionlie aboveand to the right of the martensiteboundary. Suchcompositionsare predictedto contain no martensitea$-welded, and are, therefore, expectedto be ductile. Below and to the left of this boundary,compositions are expectedto contain enough martensiteto make them brittle and fail a 2T bend test. Compositionswithin the shadedarea of the boundary are unpredictable. It can be seenin Fig. 1 that only the 25Vodilution point satisfies both criteria. Both 30 and 357odilution fail the first criterion. Thesecompositionsare expectedto be sensitiveto hot cracking because theyarepredictedto havenearly zero FN and to solidify as primary austenite.The 40Vodilution weld fails both criteria. Due to martensitepresence,evenif it doesn'thot crack,it is expected to be too brittle to passa bend test. Forty percent dilution may sound high for coveredelectrodes, but a root passwith a thin land, which is normal for full penetration from one side in pipe, can easilyachievethis level.

The analysisfor the caseof usingfwo mild steel pipes for the joint indicates only rather low-dilutionroot passes are likely to be successful. It is difficult for welders to produce such low-dilution root passes with completefusion of the root. Under thesecircumstances, it is not surprisingyou are having trouble with welder qualification. Contrastthis situationwith one using 304pipe, depictedin Fig. 2. Here, a tieline is first drawn betweenthe two base metals. Assuming each contributes equally to the root passweld dilution, the midpoint of this tie-line corresponds to a sort of syntheticbasemetal that is diluting the 309L filler metal.So,a second tie-line is drawn from this midpoint to the 309L composition.The diluted root passwill Iie along this secondtieline. Pointscorresponding to 30 and40Vo dilution are indicatedin Fig. 2. Both 30 and 407odilution root passes satisfythe criteria for crack-free ductilewelds.They are predicted to solidi4/ as primary ferrite and to containno martensite. Even more than40Vo dilution canbe tolerated. Therefore,weldsof 304to A1068 with 309L filler metal should be consistently crack-free and ductile. There should be no difficulty in passing bendteststo qualify welders. To conclude,I think you would obtain a much higher (and more realistic) rate of success in qualiffing weldersfor joining mild steel pipe to 304 stainless pipe by using304 stainless for one side of thejoint.a

DAMAN J. KOTECKI is TechnicalDirector for Stainless and High-Alloy Product Developmentfor The Lincoln Electric Co., Clcveland,Oho. He is a memberof the AWS A5D Subcommittee on StainlessSteelFiller Metals; AIryS Dl Structural Welding Committee, Subcommitteeon StainlessSteel Weldins; and a memberand past chair of the Welding ResearchCouncil Subcommitteeon Welding Stainless Steels and Nickel Base Alloys. Questionsmay be sent to Mr. Kotecki clo llelding Journal, 550 NW Leleune Rd., Miami, FL 3312 or via e-mail at Damian_Kotecki@lincolnelectric.mm.

Correction In the July 200L WeldingJoumal's Stainless Q&A column on page90, the equation "PREN= VoCr+ 3.3xVoMo * t6xVoMo" shouldhaveread"PRE = VoCr* 3.3x VoMo+ L6xVoN."

WELDTNG JOURNAL | 97

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