Welding Guidelines

for
2RK65
Revision 0

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1. Introduction

Sandvik 2RK65 is an austenitic stainless ELC steel intended for use under severe corrosion conditions
within the process industry. Characteristic features and technical data can be found on Sandvik’s webpage,
www.smt.sandvik.com.

2RK65 possesses good weldability. Suitable welding methods are manual metal-arc welding with covered
electrodes (MMA/SMAW/111/111), tungsten inert gas welding (TIG/GTAW/141/141), metal inert gas
welding (MIG&MAG/GMAW/131&135), submerged-arc welding (SAW) and electro-slag welding (ESW).

Since the material is intended for use under severe corrosion conditions, welding must be carried out with
care and a thorough cleaning must be performed after welding to ensure that the weld metal and the heat-
affected zone will have corrosion properties close to those of the parent metal.

In common with all austenitic stainless steels, Sandvik 2RK65 has low thermal conductivity and high
thermal expansion. Welding should, therefore, be carefully planned in advance so that distortion of the
welded joint can be minimized. The welding of fully austenitic steels usually involves the risk of hot cracking
in the weld metal, particularly if the weldment is under constraint. However, since Sandvik 2RK65 is an
alloy with very low impurity content, it is not particularly prone to this type of cracking.

As a filler metal for gas shielded arc welding, Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu wire is recommended. For manual
metal-arc welding, covered electrodes of the Sandvik 20.25.5.LCuR type are recommended. Sandvik
27.31.4.LCu or 27.31.4.LCuR can be used to advantage in applications where particularly good pitting
resistance is required in the weld metal.

2. Welding consumables

Sandvik welding consumables for 2RK65 have a matching composition to the base material and are
designed to give optimum properties of the weld metal.

Table 1: Welding consumables for 2RK65

Welding process Filler metal Product Dimension range Ø (mm)
MMA/SMAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCuR Covered electrode 2,5 - 4,0
TIG/GTAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu Rod 1,6 - 2,4
MIG/MAG/GMAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu Wire electrode 1,0 - 1,2
1)
SAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu Wire electrode 2,4
2)
SAW/ESW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu Strip electrode 60x0,5
1)
For SAW with wire electrode, Sandvik flux 15W is recommended.
2)
For ESW Sandvik flux 37S, 47S or 49S can be used. For SAW with strip electrode, Sandvik flux 34S
or 10SW can be used.

3. Overlay welding

The following welding processes are recommended for overlay welding with 2RK65 material:

- MIG/MAG/GMAW
- Hot-wire and cold-wire TIG/GTAW welding (HW-GTAW, CW-GTAW)
- Shielded metal arc welding with covered electrodes (MMA/SMAW)
- Submerged arc welding (SAW)
- Electroslag welding (ESW)

Overlay welding of Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu can be performed directly on carbon steel. If the base material
demands PWHT, a normal stress-relieving anneal at approximately 600˚C for 1 hour can be done on the
final 20.25.5.LCu overlay. Another option is to weld the first layer with 309L type filler metal followed by the
PWHT. Subsequent layers can be made with 20.25.5.LCu after PWHT.

In order to counteract the effect of dilution from the base metal and thus achieve good weld metal
properties it is important to ensure that sufficient number of layers of 20.25.5.LCu is welded.

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4. Joint welding

A proper joint design is important to obtain a good quality of the welded joint. TIG/GTAW is strongly
recommended for root passes. Out of position welding is preferably performed with TIG/GTAW or
MMA/SMAW.

t (mm) d (mm)
t TIG/GTAW ≤3 0–1
MIG/GMAW ≤3 0–1
MMA/SMAW ≤3 1–2
d
t (mm) d (mm) k (mm) α (°)
α TIG/GTAW 2,5 - 8 1–2 1-2 60 - 70
t MIG/GMAW 3 - 12 1–2 1-2 50 - 60
1)
k MMA/SMAW 3 - 12 1–3 1-2 60 - 70
1)
d SAW 8 - 12 1–2 1-2 60 - 70

α t (mm) d (mm) k (mm) r (mm) α (°)

TIG/GTAW >6 1–2 1-2 6-8 15
r
MIG/GMAW >12 1–2 2-3 6 15
t
k MMA/SMAW >12 1–2 2-3 6 15
1)
SAW >12 1–2 1-3 6-8 15
d 1)
Root pass with TIG.
Figure 1: Joint preparation, one-sided welding.

t (mm) d (mm)
TIG/GTAW 3-5 1–2
t MIG/GMAW 1-6 1–2
MMA/SMAW 3-4 1–3
d
t (mm) d (mm) k (mm) α (°)
α TIG/GTAW 2,5 - 8 1–3 1-2 60 - 70
t MIG/GMAW 4 - 12 1–3 1-2 50 - 60
k
MMA/SMAW 4 - 12 1–3 1-2 60 - 70
d SAW 8 - 12 0 4-5 60 – 70
α
r t (mm) d (mm) k (mm) r (mm) α (°)
TIG/GTAW 2,5 - 8 1–3 1-2 6–8 60 – 70
t k MIG/GMAW 10 - 25 1–3 4-5 6 60 – 70
MMA/SMAW 10 - 25 1-3 1-3 6 60 – 70
d
SAW 10 - 25 0 4-5 6-8 70 - 90

Figure 2: Joint preparation, welding from both sides. Root grinding before welding of backside.

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5. Tube to tube sheet welding
TIG/GTAW or TIG and MMA is recommended for tube to tube sheet welding. Both manual and mechanised
TIG welding can be used. The most common types of joint design are suitable.

6. Handling of fluxes and covered electrodes

For SAW it is particular important to handle the welding fluxes properly. The flux should be dried prior to
welding at 350-370°C for minimum 4 hours. Recircula tion systems for flux, using compressed air, are not
recommended due to increased risk of porosity formation.

Covered electrodes should be dried at 300°C for min imum 2 hours, and then kept at 70°C until they are
used.

7. Welding settings

The recommended welding settings for different methods can be seen in table 2-10. Electrode negative
should be used for TIG/GTAW and electrode positive for the other methods. The diameter of electrodes
used in manual metal-arc welding should be max. 2,5 mm (3/32") for stock thicknesses up to 6 mm (1/4")
and max. 3,25 mm (1/8") for heavier stock gauges.

Table 2: Welding data for MMA/SMAW.

Covered Diameter [mm] Current Voltage
electrode [A] [V]
2,5 60-70 22-28
20.25.5.LCuR 3,25 90-110 22-28

Table 3: Welding data for TIG/GTAW, manual welding.

Rod Diameter Current [A] Voltage [V]
[mm]
20.25.5.LCu 1,6 80 – 140 10 - 14
2,0 80 – 160 10 - 14
2,4 80 – 200 10 - 14

Table 4: Welding data for TIG/GTAW, mechanized welding.

Wire Diameter [mm] Current [A] Voltage [V]
20.25.5.LCu 1,0 70 – 120 10 - 13
1,2 100 – 150 10 - 14

Table 5: Welding data for TIG/GTAW. Shielding gas and root gas.
Shielding gas Gas flow [l/min] Root gas Root gas flow [l/min]
Ar (99,99%) 9 - 12 Ar (99,99%) 4-8

Table 6: Welding data for MIG/MAG/GMAW, spray arc.

Wire Diameter Current [A] Voltage [V] Shielding Gas flow Wire feed
[mm] gas [l/min] [m/min]
1,0 150-230 26 - 31 Ar (99,99%) 20 6 - 12
20.25.5.LCu 1,2 200-280 26 - 32 Or 20 4-9
Ar + 30% He

Table 7: Welding data for MIG/MAG/GMAW, short arc.

Wire Diameter Current [A] Voltage [V] Shielding Gas flow Wire feed
[mm] gas [l/min] [m/min]
20.25.5.LCu 1,0 100-160 16 - 25 Ar (99,99%) 15 5-9
1,2 120-180 16 - 25 Or 15 5-9
Ar + 30% He

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Table 8: Welding data for MIG/MAG/GMAW, pulsed arc. Pulsed arc is the recommeded way of MIG
welding 2RK65.
Wire Diameter Current [A] Voltage [V] Shielding Gas flow Wire feed
[mm] gas [l/min] [m/min]
20.25.5.LCu 1,0 150-250 28 - 31 Ar (99,99%) 18 4 - 12
1,2 150-250 28 - 31 Or 18 3 - 10
Ar + 30% He
Pulse parametres: Peak current 300-400 A, background current 50-150 A, frequency 80-120 Hz.

Table 9: Welding data for SAW with recommended welding flux.

Wire/strip Diameter Current [A] Voltage [V] Welding speed
[mm] [mm/min]
20.25.5.LCu / 15W 2,4 250-400 28 - 32 250-450
20.25.5.LCu/ 34S 60x0,5 600-800 25 - 29 110-140

Table 10: Welding data for ESW with recommended welding flux.
Strip Diameter Current [A] Voltage [V] Welding speed
[mm] [mm/min]
20.25.5.LCu/37S 60x0,5 1000-1400 24 - 28 150-220
or 47S
20.25.5.LCu/49S 60x0,5 1200-2500 24 - 26 250-400

8. Thermal limitations
In order to avoid hot cracking, it is essential to control the heat input during welding.

Table 11: Heat control

Factor Limit Remarks
Preheat Not applicable A preheat of 50-70 °C can be done if there is a risk for condensed
moisture on joint surfaces, tube sheets etc. Preheating with open
flame shall be avoided.
Interpass temp. <100°C
Heat input <1,0 kJ/mm

9. Initial cleaning and post weld cleaning

Initial cleaning can be done by stainless steel brushing and/or grinding. Finish with a degreasing in acetone
to remove all contaminants. To maintain full corrosion resistance of the weld joint, welding must be followed
by thorough cleaning to ensure removal of all oxides and slag particles. Post weld cleaning can be done
mechanically by stainless steel brush, Scotch Brite grinding wheel (or similar), pickling with Sandvik
pickling paste or by combining mechanical cleaning and pickling. A combination of mechanical cleaning
and pickling generally gives the best result from a corrosion point of view.

10. Post weld heat treatment – PWHT

Since 2RK65 has low thermal conductivity and high thermal expansion, welding must be carefully planned
in advance to ensure that distortion of the welded joint can be kept under control. If the welding is correctly
performed, there will be no need for any subsequent heat treatment. However, if it is believed that residual
stresses might impair the functioning of the structure, it is recommended that the entire structure will be
solution annealed. The solution annealing should be performed at 1080-1150˚C for 5-30 minutes followed
by rapid quenching in air or water.

11. Microstructure
The microstructure of 2RK65 is totally austenitic.

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12. Mechanical properties of all weld metal

Table 12: Tensile strength of all-weld-metal, typical values.

Welding process Filler metal Rp0,2 [MPa] Rm [MPa] A5 [%] Z [%]
TIG/GTAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu 403 580 40 76
MMA/SMAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCuR 420 600 35 56
MIG/MAG/GMAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu 320 530 37 60
SAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu/15W 325 570 40 60
ESW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu 291 500 50 64

Table 13: Charpy-V impact strength of all-weld-metal, typical values full size specimens (10x10x50 mm)
Welding process Filler metal Impact strength [J]
RT -20˚C -60˚C
TIG/GTAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu 270
MMA/SMAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCuR 85 90
2
MIG/MAG/GMAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu 115
1
SAW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu/15W 125 143
3 4
ESW Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu 190
1) 104J at -40˚C 2) 103J at -196˚C 3) 193J at -40˚C 4) 133J at -196˚C

13. Corrosion resistance

The critical pitting temperature of welded 20.25.5.LCu has been measured with ASTM G48A, modified
version. The result is 30˚C for milled material and 20˚C with the surface as-welded. The corrosion rate of
welds in the Huey test (ASTM A262 C) is approximately 0,5 mm/year.

14. Dissimilar welding

2RK65 can be readily welded to various low alloyed and stainless steels using Sandvik 20.25.5.LCu filler
material. When Sandvik 2RK65 is welded to carbon steel, it is also possible to use nickel base filler metals.
If in doubt, contact Sandvik for advice.