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No 4-1985
AVESTA CORROSION MANAGMENT

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.

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. 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 1 Elevated temperature properties 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.

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

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

%C 253 MA Alloy 800H 0.090 0.084 % Mn 0.56 1.05 % Si 1.52 0.37 %S 0.001 0.002 %P 0.024 0.004 % Cr 20.80 19.28 % Ni 11.20 31.13 % AI 0.23 %N 0.179 Others 0.05 Ce 0.34 Ti

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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). 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 3 Hot ductility test

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

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Welding procedures
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 A
Weld preparation Welding sequence

Weldment B
Weld preparation
Welding sequence

Weldment C
Weld preparation Welding sequence

Table 2-4: Welding parameters Weldment A Base material Plate thickness Filler material Preheat Heat input Avesta 253 MA 12 mm Coated electrode - 253 MA ( = 3.25 and 4 mm) No 1.3 kJ/mm Weldment B Avesta 253 MA 12 mm Coated electrode E309-16 No 1.3 kJ/mm Weldment C Avesta 253 MA 12 mm Coated electrode E310-16 No 1.2 kJ/mm

Chemical analysis (weight percent)

C Base material Weldment A Deposited weld metal Weldment B Deposited weld metal 3.25 4.00 Weldment C Deposited weld metal 0.09 2.60 0.73 0.007 0.011 25.0 19.8 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 0.039 0.77 1.68 0.004 0.015 21.0 10.2 ND ND 0.09 Mn 0.56 Si 1.52 S 0.001 P 0.024 Cr 20.8 Ni 11.2 Ce 0.05 N 0.179

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Tensile test results

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. 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. 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.

Table 6: Tensile test results (weld metal) -2 Strain rate: 1 10 mm/sec

Test temp. (C) 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 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 10.0 337 270 165 90 58 12.0 6.0 4.0 5.6 46.7 40.7 26.0 19.0 17.8 550 500 437 342 235 125 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 0.2% Yield strength (N/mm2) Ultimate tensile strength (N/mm2) Elongation (%) Reduction in area (%)

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 (%) 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 Reduction in area

800

(%)
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)

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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. 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.
Figure 7 LSRTT test specimen (dimension in mm)

Figure 8 Low strain rate tensile test curve

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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) Base metal 253 MA 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 s (N/mm2) 150.2 109.0 68.3 45.8 165.0 128.1 87.7 63.2 140.6 104.0 88.7 48.9 97.0 78.3 51.2 37.9

Weldment A

Weldment B

Base metal Alloy 800H

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

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

Microstructural and fractographic examinations (253 MA Base Material)

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.

Figure 12 Influence of 1000h ageing on room temperature ductility

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

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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

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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

B: x 550

C: x 400

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

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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. 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 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 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

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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

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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).

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.

A: x 570

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

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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

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.

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Acknowledgments
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. 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.

References
1 Technical documentation Avesta, Sandvik. 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.

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.

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