Welding Processes and Technology for Stainless Steels

Abstract

Stainless steels (SS) can be defined as alloys that contain at least 10.5%Cr, no more than 1 .5%C, and more Fe than any other single element. There are five major families of SS, based on microstructure and properties:’ (i) martensitic SS; (ii) ferritic SS; (iii) austenitic SS; (iv) precipitation - hardening (PH) SS; and (v) duplex ferritic-austenitic SS. Each family requires different weldability considerations, because of the varied phase transformation behaviour on cooling from solidification to room temperature (RT) or below.