TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 223/1983
By T G Davey, T G Gooch and J L Robinson
Background
A study has been made of flux-cored consumables for welding austenitic stainless steel. Work was based on Type 316L material. A range of commercial wires was obtained covering both self-shielded and gas-shielded types, and assessment made of tensile and impact toughness properties, and of resistance to intercrystalline corrosion and pitting attack. Fume measurements were carried out on selected consumables. While differences in deposit composition and microstructure were found, all consumables successfully gave welds fulfilling typical specification requirements. Weld metal tensile properties at room temperature were comparable to those of parent material, while impact toughness was reasonably high at temperatures down to -196°C. No sensitisation to intercrystalline attack was observed, and, with one exception, pitting test results indicated comparable weld metal resistance to that of parent material. Fume emission rates were similar to those of flux-cored ferritic consumables, or stainless steel manual metal arc (MMA) electrodes, although the presence of chromium in the fume implies consideration to ventilation will be necessary.