Stainless Steel - Grade 904L (UNS N08904)

Stainless Steel - Grade 904L (UNS N08904)

Chemical Formula
Fe, <0.02% C, 19-23% Cr, 23-28% Ni, 4-5% Mo, <2.0% Mn, <1.0% Si, <0.045% P, <0.035% S, 1.0-2.0% Cu

Topics Covered
Introduction
Key Properties
Composition
Mechanical Properties
Physical Properties
Grade Specification Comparison
Possible Alternative Grades
Corrosion Resistance
Heat Resistance
Heat Treatment
Welding
Fabrication
Applications

Introduction
Grade 904L stainless steel is a non-stabilized austenitic stainless steel with low carbon content. This high alloy stainless steel is
added with copper to improve its resistance to strong reducing acids, such as sulphuric acid. The steel is also resistant to stress
corrosion cracking and crevice corrosion. Grade 904L is non-magnetic, and offers excellent formability, toughness and weldability.

Grade 904L contains high amounts of expensive ingredients, such as molybdenum and nickel. Today, most of the applications that
employ grade 904L are replaced by low-cost duplex stainless steel 2205.

Key Properties
The following sections describe the properties of flat rolled products in ASTM B625. The specifications may not be identical for other
products such as bar, tube and pipe.

Composition
The table below provides the compositional ranges of grade 904L stainless steels:

Table 1. Composition ranges of grade 904L stainless steels

Grade C Mn Si P S Cr Mo Ni Cu

min. - - - - - 19 4 23 1
904L
max. 0.02 2 1 0.045 0.035 23 5 28 2

Mechanical Properties
The typical mechanical properties of grade 904L stainless steels are given in the table below:

Table 2. Mechanical properties of grade 904L stainless steels

Grade Tensile Strength Yield Strength 0.2% Elongation (% in 50mm) Hardness

(MPa) min Proof (MPa) min min

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Stainless Steel - Grade 904L (UNS N08904)

Rockwell B (HR B) Brinell (HB)

904L 490 220 36 70-90 typical 150

Physical Properties
The physical properties of grade 904L stainless steels are tabulated below:

Table 3. Typical physical properties of grade 904L stainless steels

Thermal
Mean Co-eff of Thermal
Elastic Conductivity Specific Heat
Density Expansion (µm/m/°C) Elec Resistivity
Grade Modulus (W/m.K) 0-100°C
(kg/m3) (nΩ.m)
(GPa) (J/kg.K)
0-100°C 0-315°C 0-538°C At 20°C At 500°C

904L 7900 190 15 - - 11.5 - 500 952

Grade Specification Comparison

The following table outlines the approximate grade comparisons of 904L stainless steels:

Table 4. Grade specifications of grade 904L stainless steels

Old British Euronorm

Grade UNS No Swedish SS Japanese JIS
BS En No Name

904L N08904 904S13 - 1.4539 X1NiCrMoCuN25-20-5 2562 -

Possible Alternative Grades

The suitable alternatives to 904L stainless steels are tabulated below:

Table 5. Possible alternative grades to grade 904L stainless steels

Grade Reasons for choosing grade 904L

316L A lower cost alternative, but with much lower corrosion resistance.

6Mo A higher resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion is needed.

A very similar corrosion resistance, with the 2205 having higher mechanical strength, and at a lower cost to 904L. (2205
2205
not suitable for temperatures above 300°C.)

Super
Higher corrosion resistance is needed, together with a higher strength than 904L.
duplex

Corrosion Resistance
Grade 904L stainless steels have excellent resistance to warm seawater and chloride attack. The high resistance of grade 904L

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Stainless Steel - Grade 904L (UNS N08904)

against stress corrosion cracking is due to the presence of high amounts of nickel in its composition. Moreover, the addition of copper
to these grades develops resistance to sulphuric acid and other reducing agents in both aggressive and mild conditions.

The corrosion resistance of grade 904L is intermediate between super austenitic grades, with 6% molybdenum content, and standard
316L austenitic grades. Grade 904L is less resistant to nitric acid than grades 304L and 310L, which are free of molybdenum. This
steel grade needs to be solution treated following cold working, to achieve maximum stress corrosion cracking resistance under
critical environments.

Heat Resistance
Grade 904L stainless steels offer good oxidation resistance. However, the structural stability of this grade collapses at high
temperatures, particularly above 400°C.

Heat Treatment
Grade 904L stainless steels can be solution heat-treated at 1090 to 1175°C, following by rapid cooling. Thermal treatment is suitable
for hardening these grades.

Welding
Welding of grade 904L stainless steels can be performed using all conventional methods. This grade does not require pre-heat and
post-weld heat treatments. Grade 904L can be subjected to hot cracking in constrained weldment. Grade 904L electrodes and rods
are used for welding grade 904L steels according to AS 1554.6.

Fabrication
Grade 904L stainless steels are high purity steels with low sulphur content. They can be machined using any standard methods.
These grades can be readily bent to a small radius under cold conditions. Although subsequent annealing is not required in most
cases, it should be carried out when the fabrication is performed under severe stress corrosion cracking conditions.

Applications
Some of the major applications of grade 904L stainless steels include:

Wiring in electrostatic precipitators

Oil refinery components
Seawater cooling devices
Gas scrubbing plants
Pulp and paper processing industries
Acetic, phosphoric and sulphuric acid processing plants

Date Added: Nov 7, 2001 | Updated: Apr 30, 2014

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