Effect of Chemical Composition and Ferrite Content on Room Temperature SCC Behavior of Austenitic Weld Metals

Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in the welded condition especially in chemical, petrochemical, thermal power, and nuclear industries where they are subjected to stresses in corrosive environments. Since austenitic stainless steel weld metals invariably contain some delta ferrite to avoid hot cracking, the effect of ferrite on the stress corrosion cracking behavior is important. Austenitic weld metals with different alloy additions and different ferrite contents were investigated for their resistance to room temperature stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in 5 N H₂SO₄ +0.5 N NaCl solution. It was found that the delta ferrite content in the weld metals had a predominant effect on the SCC resistance. Higher ferrite contents increased the tendency for SCC. Post-weld heat treatment of weld metals resulted in the improvement of the SCC resistance.