All rights reserved.

Comments and correspondence can be

directed to Dr Sten Nordin, Avesta Projects AB,
P.O. Box 557, S-651 09 Karlstad, Sweden. Tel. +46 (0)54-10 27 70.
Telex 66108 apab s. Telefax +46(0)54-18 82 54.

acom
No 4-1985

AVESTA CORROSION MANAGMENT

High Temperature
Behaviour of the Austenitic
Stainless Steel
ASTM UNS S30815
(253 MA) and Weldments
by
A. Dhooge, Head of the Welding Research Dept, Research Center of the Belgian Welding Institute, Gent, Belgium,
W. Hoek, Materials Engineer at DOW CHEMICAL (Nederland) B.V., Terneuzen, The Netherlands,
W. Provost, Research Engineer at the WTCM-CRIF, Gent, Belgium, and
M. Steen, Research Engineer at the Laboratory Soete for Strength of Materials and Welding Technology,
University Gent, Belgium

Introduction
Materials used in high temperature installations are
subjected to severe loads, such as creep, mechanical
or thermal fatigue, thermal shock, environmental attack
and their interaction. In order to obtain a safe and
reliable operation, the selection of the base material,
weld metal and welding procedures is very important
and must be based on a complete knowledge of operating environment, loads, temperature and external
loading conditions together with sufficient test data of
the potential materials.
The weldments are the most critical areas, as they are
obvious sites for crack initiation and propagation.
A correct selection of welding procedures and consumables is therefore vital for the construction to reach
the design lifetime. In general, sufficient test data are
available on base metals, but there is a lack of information about the behaviour of weldments at elevated
temperatures.

2
In this paper some high temperature data on the fully
austenitic Cr-Ni-N-RE material 253 MA* (ASTM UNS
S30815) and weldments are presented. According to
the data of high temperature material vendors (1),
253 MA shows some interesting advantages over the
common high temperature materials AISI type 304H
(UNS S30409) and Alloy 800H (UNS N08810):
- higher creep-strength than AISI 304H (Figure 1)
- lower coefficient of thermal expansion than AISI type
304H (Figure 2)
- only about 60% more expensive than AISI type 304H
while Alloy 800H is about 2.5 times more expensive.
In the present paper, no attention is paid to the influence, of the environment on the materials' high temperature behaviour, although it is recognized that such
influences may be very important. Attention is given to
the weldability and high temperature tensile and creep
properties of the base material and manual metal arc
(MMA) weldments.

Figure 1
Elevated temperature properties of three austenitic high temperature materials (1)

The hot cracking sensitivity is determined on the basis

of "hot ductility" tests, while the creep properties are
evaluated using a newly developed testing method
based on low constant strain rate tensile tests (2).
Finally, the metallurgical stability is evaluated by
mechanical testing and microscopic examinations after
laboratory ageing.
(*) 253 MA: tradename of Avesta/Sandvik

Figure 2
Thermal expansion coefficient of three austenitic high temperature materials (1)

Test material
The test specimens are taken out of a 12 mm thick
fully austenitic Cr-Ni stainless steel plate 253 MA; its
chemical composition is given in Table 1. In addition to
the conventional alloying elements, this grade contains
rare-earth-metals, added in very small but carefully controlled amounts, and has a high silicon content in order
to provide good oxidation resistance and high creep
properties. Some nitrogen is added to make the steel
fully austenitic and which, together with the comparatively high carbon content, provides good high temperature strength.
For comparison some specimens of Alloy 800H are
taken out of plate material of 15 mm thickness; the
chemical composition is also given in Table 1.

Table 1: Chemical composition of high temperature materials under investigation.

%C

% Mn

% Si

%S

%P

% Cr

% Ni

% AI

%N

Others

253 MA

0.090

0.56

1.52

0.001

0.024

20.80

11.20

0.179

0.05 Ce

Alloy 800H

0.084

1.05

0.37

0.002

0.004

19.28

31.13

0.23

0.34 Ti

acom No. 4-85

Hot cracking sensitivity

One of the problems encountered in welding high
temperature materials is the crack susceptibility in the
heat affected zone (HAZ). The cracks are predominantly hot cracks and are caused by low melting
eutectics which spread across the grain boundaries.
The stresses due to welding are then responsible for
the occurrence of cracks.
The hot cracking susceptibility of the 253 MA base
metal was determined by performing "hot ductility
tests" (3). In this test, specimens are subjected to a
weld thermal cycle and ruptured by high strain rate
tensile loading at different temperatures on heating or
on cooling (Figure 3).
In this way the temperatures at which respectively the
ductility and the strength drop to zero are determined.
Once these so called nil-ductility (TND) and nil-strength
(TNS) temperatures are defined, specimens are heated
to a peak temperature equal to the nil strength temperature and subsequently pulled to fracture on cooling. The reduction in area and the ultimate tensile
strength are determined and plotted versus the test
temperature (Figure 4). For materials which are prone
to the formation of hot cracks, a marked reduction in
temperature occurs before an acceptable ductility is
regained (TNS - T*ND >100C).

Figure 3
Hot ductility test

The test results obtained on 253 MA base metal

(Figure 4) reveal that this metal is not susceptible to
heat affected zone hot cracking. Indeed, both the ductility and the tensile strength recover rapidly when
testing specimens on cooling from the nil-strength temperature (TNS - T*ND = 30C).

Figure 4
Hot ductility results on cooling from TNS - 253 MA base
material

acom No. 4-85

Weldment A

Welding procedures

Weld preparation

12 mm thick plates are manually metal arc welded with

three different types of coated electrodes: one filler
metal is a matching electrode (weldment A), the others
a 309L type electrode (weldment B) and a 310 type
electrode (weldment C). The welding parameters are
given in Tables 2-4. These tables also show the weld
preparation, welding sequence, a macrograph and the
chemical analysis of deposited weld metal.

Weldment B

Welding sequence

Weldment C

Weld preparation

Weld preparation

Welding sequence

Welding sequence

Table 2-4: Welding parameters

Weldment A

Weldment B

Weldment C

Base material

Avesta 253 MA

Avesta 253 MA

Avesta 253 MA

Plate thickness
Filler material

12 mm
Coated electrode - 253 MA
( = 3.25 and 4 mm)
No
1.3 kJ/mm

12 mm
Coated electrode E309-16

12 mm
Coated electrode E310-16

No
1.3 kJ/mm

No
1.2 kJ/mm

Preheat
Heat input

Chemical analysis (weight percent)

Base material

Mn

Si

Cr

Ni

Ce

0.09

0.56

1.52

0.001

0.024

20.8

11.2

0.05

0.179

0.039

0.77

1.68

0.004

0.015

21.0

10.2

ND

ND

0.017
0.021

1.14
1.16

0.80
0.72

0.014
0.015

0.015
0.014

24.3
23.5

12.7
12.8

ND
ND

ND
ND

0.09

2.60

0.73

0.007

0.011

25.0

19.8

ND

ND

Weldment A
Deposited weld metal
Weldment B
Deposited weld metal 3.25

4.00
Weldment C
Deposited weld metal

acom No. 4-85

Tensile test results

Table 6: Tensile test results (weld metal)

-2
Strain rate: 1 10 mm/sec

Tensile tests are performed at a range of temperatures

between room temperature and 1000C on both base
metal and on welded specimens taken perpendicular
to the welding direction (cross weld specimens). The
base metal tensile tests are performed on an electromechanical test machine with furnace heating. The
weldments are tested both in a servo-hydraulic tensile
machine in which the specimen is resistance heated
(weldment A and B) and in an electromechanical
machine with furnace heating (weldment C). Resistance heating of the specimen has the disadvantage
of creating a thermal gradient along the specimen's
axis, but shows the advantage of probing the actual
weld metal properties instead of those of the weldment
as a whole. In the case of the furnace heated weldments C, however, the failure location was also situated
at the weld metal occupying the minimum cross section.

Test
temp.

The test results are listed in Tables 5 and 6 and shown

in Figures 5 and 6 (page 6).
Significant differences in strength properties are noted
between the base material and the weld metals. The
matching weld metal A and weldment C have higher
tensile strengths than weld metal B, but all weld metals
show ultimate tensile strengths inferior to that of the
base metal. In contrast, the 0.2% yield strength of the
310 type weldment C is slightly higher than that of the
base metal.

(C)

0.2%
Yield
strength
(N/mm2)

Ultimate
tensile
strength
(N/mm2)

Elongation
(%)

Reduction
in area
(%)

550
500
437
342
235
125
70

30.8
24.8
16.8
10.0
4.8
3.6
10.8

48.2
46.7
39.2
32.8
17.2
11.6
12.8

337
270
165
90
58

12.0
6.0
4.0
5.6

46.7
40.7
26.0
19.0
17.8

393
191
179
177
163
115
51

630
478
435
314
192
129
58

20.5
22.5
18.5
9.0
6.3
7.5
7.5

30.6
26.2
32.7
19.5
17.1
19.5
10.0

Weldment A:
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Weldment B:
600
700
800
900
1000
Weldment C:
20
500
600
700
800
900
1000

The base metal shows a pronounced ductility dip in the

temperature range 650-700C, while all weld metals
exhibit much lower high temperature ductility: for the
reduction in area this applies at temperatures above
700C, while for the elongation at all test temperatures.

800

Table 5: Tensile test results (base material)

-2
Strain rate: 1 10 mm/sec
Test
temp.
(C)
20
100
200
300
400
500
600
650
700
700
800
800
900
900
1000

0.2%
Yield
strength
(N/mm2)
330
280
235
201
196
172
168
153
165
143
151
400
113
98
67

Ultimate
tensile
strength
(N/mm2)
715
653
603
597
593
555
498
465
365
378
229
242
118
161
61

Elongation

Reduction
in area

(%)

(%)

60.5
52.2
47.0
47.5
49.3
45.0
43.0
43.8
31.8
46.7
78.8
78.8
51.6
84.0
62.0

73.7
73.7
71.0
68.1
68.1
62.1
58.9
34.4
40.8
38.4
52.0
52.0
90.5
68.0
93.4

Figure 5
Tensile test results (Strength)

acom No. 4-85

Figure 6
Tensile test results (Ductility)

Low strain rate tensile

testing (LSRTT)
Experimental procedure:
For each configuration a series of specimens is tested
-5
-8
with strain rates ranging from 10 to 10 mm/mm sec.
Therefore, cylindrical specimens are taken out of the
base material or over the weld to be tested and
machined according to Figure 7. In order to avoid
bending, the specimens are provided with very accurately machined endpieces for centering.
During the tests, the specimens are heated either by
resistance heating or by furnace heating in a three zone
split furnace. Temperature is controlled by a thermocouple, spotwelded in the centre of the specimen. The
first heating method allows very fast heating of the
specimen, but it has the disadvantage of a non-uniform
temperature distribution along the gauge length of the
specimen.

Figure 7
LSRTT test specimen (dimension in mm)

The elongation of the specimen is measured with a high

temperature extensometer, provided with two quartz
rods which are mounted on the specimen over a 25 mm
gauge length. When resistance heating is applied, the
deformation, calculated from the actual gauge length,
has to be corrected for the thermal gradient along the
specimen's axis.
Testing is performed either in a servo-hydraulic or in an
electromechanical closed loop tensile testing machine;
the tests are run under displacement and strain control
respectively. The control signal is produced by a precision low frequency ramp generator. A load-deformation
diagram is continuously registered; the tests are
stopped when the load reaches a steady state value
(Figure 8). It is normal practice that tests are carried
-5
-6
-7
-8
and 10
out over four decades: 10 , 10 , 10
mm/mm sec; nominal testing times range from 2 hours
to about 3 days.

acom No. 4-85

Figure 8
Low strain rate tensile test curve

Interpretation of low strain rate tensile test

results:
In low strain rate tensile tests, the load taken up by the
specimen reaches a saturation level that depends on
the imposed strain rate (fig. 8). This steady state condition is a manifestation of a dynamic equilibrium situation, comparable to the secondary or steady state
creep stage in a creep test under a constant applied
stress (fig. 9). The saturation stress s in LSRTT can be
considered as the resistance of the material against
slow straining, and thus against creep deformation.
Although the combinations of stress and strain rate in
creep and low strain rate tests are not equivalent (2),
the results of LSRTT can be used confidently for creeplife prediction purposes (4). The main advantage of
LSRTT is that the testing can be performed in a very
short time period.
Low strain rate tensile tests at 800C have been performed on 253 MA base material and cross weld specimens from weldments A and B. For comparison purposes, tests were also performed on alloy 800H base
material. The results are listed in table 7 and plotted
in figure 10. From this figure it can be observed that
the saturation or steady state stress of the alloy 800H
base material is lower than that of the 253 MA base
material, while the saturation values for both weldments
are still higher. Consequently, the following order in
creep strength is expected: weldment A >weldment
B > base material 253 MA > base material alloy 800H.

Figure 9
Creep curve

Table 7: Low strain rate tensile test results at 800C

253 MA and Alloy 800H
(s-1)

s (N/mm2)

Base metal 253 MA

10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8

150.2
109.0
68.3
45.8

Weldment A

10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8

165.0
128.1
87.7
63.2

Weldment B

10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8

140.6
104.0
88.7
48.9

Base metal Alloy 800H

10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8

97.0
78.3
51.2
37.9

Metallurgical stability
It is well known that austenitic stainless steels after
long-time exposure at high temperature (> 600C)
can give rise to sigma-phase formation. In the case of
253 MA, the formation of Pi-phase (Cr12Si12Fe4Ni2N4)
is also reported (1). These hard and brittle phases
usually adversely affect the mechanical properties,
particularly the impact strength at ambient temperature; the toughness at higher temperatures may remain
satisfactory.
Welded test plates (Weldment C) were artifically aged
up to 1000 hrs at 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900C, a
second series was aged up to 10,000 h at 550C only.
Subsequently, the mechanical properties were determined in conventional tensile testing at 20C and at the
ageing temperature; the room temperature toughness
was evaluated by means of Charpy-V notch impact
testing.

Figure 10
Low strain rate tensile test results at 800C

acom No. 4-85

8
Figures 11 and 12 respectively show the room temperature strength and ductility after 1000 hrs ageing at the
above mentioned temperatures. Both base metal and
weld metal strength remain approximately constant
after ageing at all temperatures. Although the weld
metal has initially a lower ductility than the base metal,
comparable values are found when tested at room temperature after ageing at temperatures above 700C.
For the base metal, there is a significant decrease of
elongation and reduction in area after 1000 hrs ageing
at 700C; this loss of room temperature toughness,
which is most pronounced at 800C, is also observed
by impact testing (Figure 13).
Figure 14 shows the elevated temperature strength and
ductility after 1000 hrs ageing. Strength values for both
base metal and weld metal, when tested at the ageing
temperature, hardly deviate from the results of the
unaged base and weld metal (Figure 5), obtained previously.
With regard to ductility, the following trends are found:
a. after 1000 hrs ageing at temperatures above 600C,
an increase in the elevated temperature ductility of
the base material is observed.

Figure 11
Influence of 1000h ageing on the room temperature strength

b. for weld metal, however, the elevated temperature

ductility decreases to 10-15% at 700C and remains rather poor up to 900C.
The influence of different ageing treatments on the
room temperature impact strength of both base metal
and weld metal C is shown in Figure 15. Even long-time
ageing temperatures as low as at 550C result in a
serious loss of toughness of the base metal; from
around 200 J in the as-received condition down to
about 40 J after 10,000 hrs.

Microstructural
and fractographic
examinations
(253 MA Base Material)

Figure 12
Influence of 1000h ageing on room temperature ductility

The techniques employed in this study are:

a. microstructural
examination
by
lightmicroscopy
(LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
The specimens for optical investigations were
mechanically polished using conventional polishing
techniques. The general microstructure was revealed by the mild Kalling reagent, sigma-phase was
electrolytically revealed with 1N KOH. For TEM
investigations both extraction replicas and thin-foils
were prepared.
b. scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and TEM of the
fracture surfaces from Charpy-V impact specimens.
For the latter carbon extraction replicas were prepared by using the direct stage carbon extraction
technique.
c. determination of the composition of the phases by
electron diffraction in a 120 kV TEM and by EDAXanalysis in SEM and TEM.

acom No. 4-85

Figure 13
Influence of 1000h ageing on the Charpy V notch impact
strength at room temperature

Figure 14
Influence of 1000h ageing on the elevated temperature
strength and ductility of 253 MA base material (Test temperature = ageing temperature)

Figure 15
Influence of different ageing treatments on the room temperature impact strength

acom No. 4-85

10

As received

1000h - 700C

1000h - 500C

1000h - 800C

1000h - 600C

1000h - 900C
Figure 16
Influence of artificial ageing on the microstructure of 253 MA
- x 400

A: x 250

C: x 400

B: x 550

D: x 2000
Figure 17
SEM-pictures - fracture surface of Charpy-V test specimen
artificially aged for 1000h at 700C

acom No. 4-85

11
The microstructural evolution after ageing for 1000 hrs.
at different temperatures ranging from 500 to 900C is
shown in Figure 16. Precipitation of carbides is clearly
visible after ageing at 600C, the M23C6-carbides being
mainly located at grain boundaries and along the crystallographic planes of the matrix.

randomly distributed flat areas (Figure 17). These flat

areas were recognized as the fracture-path through the
austenite/sigma-phase interphase of the twin boundaries, because of their favourable orientation in relation
to the impact direction.

After ageing at 700C the grain and twin boundaries are

heavily decorated with coarse precipitates while fine
precipitates are also found throughout the matrix.
These precipitates on grain and twin boundaries and
in the matrix were identified as Cr23C6 and sigmaphase. Nitrides could not be detected. SEM-investigations of the Charpy-V notch fracture surface of material
aged at 700C show a mainly intergranular fracture with

After 1000 hrs ageing at 800C a coalescence of precipitates was found. On the grain and twin boundaries,
Cr23C6-carbides, some Pi-phase and an almost continuous network of sigma-phase could be observed and
identified (Figures 18 and 19). The Pi-phase could be
discriminated from sigma-phase by EDAX-analysis from
a higher Si-content of the former. The fracture surface
shows an almost intergranular-ductile aspect with
locally some flat areas (Figure 20).

Figure 18
Optical micrograph - sigma-phase in 253 MA
after artificial ageing for 1000h at 800C etched
in INKOH

Figure 19
TEM-picture - carbon extraction replica from Charpy-V fracture surface (253 MA artificially aged for 1000h at 800C)
Fracture through sigma-phase x 10,500

A: x 570

B: x 1000

C: x 1600

D: x 6500
Figure 20
SEM-picture - fracture surface of Charpy-V test specimen
artificially aged for 1000h at 800C

acom No. 4-85

12

A: x 150

B: x 600

C: x 775

D: x 3100
Figure 21
SEM-picture - fracture surface of Charpy-V test specimen
artificially aged for 1000h at 900C

A: 1000h at 550C

B: 10,000h at 550C
Figure 22
Influence of artificial ageing at 550C on the microstructure
- x 500

acom No. 4-85

13
After ageing for 1000 hrs at 900C, coarse precipitates
are found at the grain and twin boundaries (coherent
and incoherent). The discontinuous network of precipitates on the grain boundaries could be clearly identified as sigma-phase by electron diffraction analysis.
SEM-investigations on the fracture surface show a combination of more ductile features (dimples) and intergranular decohesions (Figure 21).
Long time exposure (10,000 hrs) at 550C shows a
pronounced grain boundary and a slight twin boundary
precipitation (Figure 22B). The Charpy fracture surfaces show mixed intergranular and ductile features
(Figure 23). TEM-investigations on carbon-replicas
show the presence of only M23C6-carbides while no
embrittling phases, i.e. sigma or Pi, could be revealed
in this specimen (Figure 24).

A: x 570

Discussion
The fully austenitic stainless steels are generally sensitive to hot-cracking; however, the hot ductility tests
showed that 253 MA material in the as-received condition is not sensitive to the formation of heat-affectedzone hotcracks. Subsequent test welds with three
different types of coated electrodes confirmed this
result; indeed no welding problems such as (hot-)cracking were experienced.
253 MA base metal, in the as-received condition, has
a high strength at elevated temperature; short-time
elevated temperature tensile testing shows even better
results than given in the technical documentation. The
ductility at elevated temperatures remains on a high
level although in the temperature range 600-750C a
ductility dip was found. However, both reduction in area
and elongation are still acceptable (>30%) and superior to those of all investigated weld metals.

B: x 570
Figure 23
SEM-picture - fracture surface of Charpy-V test specimen
artificially aged for 10,000h at 550C (253 MA base metal)
-x 570

Figure 24
TEM-picture - carbon extraction replica from Charpy-V fracture surface (253 MA artificially aged for 10,000h at 550C)
-x 3900

acom No. 4-85

14
Limitations in application will be imposed by the low
ductility at elevated temperatures of the weld metal, if
a 309, 310 or a matching type of filler metal is used.
After ageing for 1000 hrs at several temperatures, the
room temperature and high temperature strength of
base metal and weld metal are almost unaffected.
However, the room temperature ductility of base and
weld metal has strongly decreased after ageing at
temperatures above 550C and most importantly at
800C; where low figures for ductility (15%) and absorbed energy (10 Joule) are obtained.
The room temperature embrittlement after ageing at
temperatures of 700, 800 and 900C can be attributed
to the formation of sigma phase which leads to mainly
intergranular fractures. Also Cr23C6-carbides were
formed and found along the grain boundaries and those
will also contribute to the embrittlement. This is
evidenced by the fact that a serious loss of impact
strength due to M23C6 precipitation only, is found after
extended ageing at 550C.
Other embrittling phases such as Pi-phase are found
in very small amounts after ageing at 800C only.
From these observations it is possible to summarize
the effect of ageing on the room temperature impact
strength in a time-temperature diagram (fig. 25). In this
diagram an "iso-embrittlement" corresponding to a
room temperature impact value of 30-50 J can be
drawn. It should be noted that this "embrittlement" is
found after ageing times as low as 100 hours and not
only after ageing for over 2000 hours (5). An interesting
feature is the stability of impact strength (about 50-60
Joule) after ageing between 10 and 1000 h at 900C.
Although sigma-phase is known to be present, the room
temperature impact strength remains relatively high;
coalescence of sigma-phase and a discontinuous network was found. These features seem to be very beneficial for the room temperature toughness. Because of
this, a further decrease in room temperature impact
strength and toughness is not expected, even after
longer exposure times.

The Low Strain Rate Tensile Testing-method has proved

to be a useful tool in selecting the appropriate filler
metal (and welding procedure) in order to obtain the
desired weldment creep strength. The results clearly
indicate that a weldment with the (253 MA) matching
electrode has the highest creep strength and is even
superior to base metal. In the case of this matching
electrode, however, no check was made on the metallurgical stability as no testing of weld metal after artificial ageing has been performed. Nevertheless, one
can expect that comparable results as with 253 MA
base metal will be obtained after ageing and mechanical testing.
A weldment with the 309 type of electrode however
shows a lower internal stress level than that of the weldment with the matching 253 MA electrode and has the
supplementary disadvantage that at lower strainrates
creep strength will fall below the base metal creep
strength. This is indicated by the 309-weldment curve
which converges with the base metal curve at those
lower strainrates (Figure 10). This is most probably
caused by the low carbon content of this weld metal
( 0.021% only).
Although LSRTT is not performed on the 310-weldment,
it can be expected that due to the higher carbon content a higher creep strength than that of the base metal
will be obtained. On the other hand, a serious loss of
ductility and impact strength was found for this weld
metal; although not examined, it is anticipated that
sigma-phase formation is the main cause for this embrittlement.
Therefore, weld metal selection for high temperature
service and applications shall be based on compromises between creep strength and metallurgical stability, especially embrittlement in the lower temperature range.
Remarkable is the lower creep strength (evidenced by
low strain rate tensile testing) of the Alloy 800H
compared to the 253 MA material. The only reason
therefore is that the low grain size of the tested Alloy
800H (ASTM 7-8) which is due to solution annealing
at too low a temperature (1150C). This highlights the
need for a correct solution annealing temperature
(1175C) to obtain the appropriate grain size (ASTM
4-5) of the Alloy 800H for high temperature applications (6-7).

Conclusions
1. The fully austenitic stainless steel UNS S30815
(253 MA) is not sensitive to heat affected zone hotcracking.
2. In high temperature applications i.e. 500 to 900C.
room temperature embrittlement due to sigmaphase formation should be taken into account.
3. At 800C, the creep strength of 253 MA is superior
to AISI type 304H and even better than that of the
tested Alloy 800H (solution annealed at 1150C).
Figure 25
Time-temperature diagram (Influence of ageing) encircled
numbers are impact values (J) at room temperature

acom No. 4-85

4. Selection of the appropriate weld metal must be

based on a compromise between creep strength
and metallurgical stability. The matching 253 MA
electrode shows the most promising results.

15

Acknowledgments

References

The authors acknowledge the financial support of B.I.L,

DOW Chemical Nederland B.V., I.W.O.N.L, N.F.W.O.
and W.T.C.M.

1 Technical documentation Avesta, Sandvik.

Thanks are due to the staff of the Laboratorium Soete

voor Weerstand van Materialen en Lastechniek, University of Gent, the Materials Investigation Department of DOW Chemical Nederland and the Laboratory
for Electronmicroscopy (dr. ir. K. Ostyn), where the
experimental work has been carried out. Also our
thanks to S.A. SOUDOMETAL - Brussels for welding
part of the test panels. Guidance and suggestions by
Ir. F.J. Vaes and Prof. Ir. A. Vinckier are gratefully acknowledged.

2 Steen M., Creep life assessment by low strain rate

tensile testing. Int. J. Pres. Vess. & Piping, 14, 1983.
3 Kreischer C.H., A critical analysis of the weld heataffected-zone hot ductility test. Welding Research
Supplement, Feb. 1963.
4 Provost W., Steen M., Dhooge A., Bepaling van de
kruipeigenschappen van hoge temperatuursmaterialen d.m.v. korte duurproeven (Creep life assessment by low strain rate tensile testing). Lastechniek,
November-December 1984.
5 Andersson T., Microstructure and properties of the
two high temperature steels SANDVIK 253 MA and
W.-Nr. 1. 4828. SANDVIK Technical Publication, (Jan.
1979).
6 Hoek W., The notch sensitivity of Alloy 800H under
creep conditions. To be published.

Avesta is very much obliged to the authors for their kind

permission to publish this report and to the Research
Center of the Belgian Welding Institute where the
research work was supervised.

acom is distributed free of charge to persons

actively involved in the development of the processing
industry and other areas where stainless steels are important.

7 Degischer H. P., Aigner M., Lahodny H., Spirader K.,

Qualification of stationary creep of the carbide precipitating Alloy 800H. Conference on High Temperature Alloys. Oct. 15-17, 1985, Petten, Nederland.

acorn appears four times a year, and we welcome

your application, as well as additional applications
from your friends and colleagues.

Name: ___________________________________________________________ Title: _____________________________________

Please type or write legibly.

Company: ________________________________________________________ Position: __________________________________

Mailing address: ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Postcode/City: _______________________________________________________________________________________________
Country: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please, add my name to your address list

acom 4-85

to Dr. Sten Nordin, Avesta Projects AB, P.O. Box 557, S-651 09 KARLSTAD, Sweden

acom No. 4-85