AWS T I T L E * B R M ** W 0784265 O032206 3

Keywords - brazing stainless steels, austenitic nonhardenable stainless steels,

ferritic nonhardenable stainless steels, martensitic hardenable
stainless steels, precipitation hardening stainless steels, duplex
stainless steels, stainless steel brazing processes
Chapter 24

STAINLESS STEELS

The term stainless steels describes a AUSTENITIC (NONHARDENABLE)

wide variety of chromium-containing iron STAINLESS STEELS
base alloys used primarily in applications
demanding heat or corrosion resistance.
This class of materials is brazeable by all These steels contain sufficient nickel or
processes, but with tighter process controls nickel plus manganese additions to (1) sta-
than required to braze carbon steels. bilize austenite down to room temperature,
The most rigorous requirements are im- and (2) cause these alloys to be nonmagnetic
posed by inherent chemical characteristics and nonhardenable by heat treatment.
of the stainless steels and the generally more Stainless steels of this class possess the high-
arduous service environments. Success in est heat and corrosion resistance. The Cr-Ni
brazing stainless steel components depends steels are designated by an AIS1 (American
on a knowledge of the properties of stainless Iron and Steel Institute) type number in the
steels and rigid adherence to the appropri- 300 series, and the Cr-Ni-Mn steels by a 200
ate process controls. series number. One commonly used ailoy is
Type 302 which contains nominally 18%
(by weight) chromium, 8% nickel.
In the 200 series stainless steels, some of
the nickel is replaced with manganese on a
BASE METALS ratio of approximately 2% of manganesefor
each percent of replaced nickel. Type 202,
Stainless steels may be grouped into five the parallel to Type 302, contains 18% chro-
categories: (1) austenitic (nonhardenable) mium, 5% nickel and 9% manganese.
steels, (2) ferritic (nonhardenable) steels, (3) Both torch brazing and furnace brazing
martensitic (hardenable) steels, (4) precipi- processes are used extensively to braze 300
tation hardening steels, and (5) duplex series (austenitic)stainless steels. These alloys
stainless steels. All these alloys are iron exhibit relatively high thermal expansions
based and contain chromium, the basic ele- and low thermal conductivities. Those prop-
ment that imparts corrosion resistance. The erties make thermal distortion a major con-
corrosion resistance of the stainless steels cern in furnace brazing large, complex
varies from one alloy to another, and for assemblies, or assemblies in which dissimilar
any given alloy varies from one corrosive materials are brazed to stainless steel. The de-
medium to another. If doubt exists about signers of fixtures, heat shields, and thermal
the proper stainless steel to use in a given cycles must consider the requirement of pro-
environment, standard reference works viding uniform heating and cooling.
(References 1-4) or manufacturers repre- In brazed assemblies where corrosion re-
sentatives should be consulted. sistance is important, precautions shouldbe
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 AWS T I T L E * B R M *i
336 / BRAZING HANDBOOK
taken to avoid sensitization to intergranular
corrosion. This problem is discussed more
fully in Chapter 2. Briefly, it occurs when
unstabilized grades of austenitic stainless
steel, such as Type 302 or Type 304, are held
at temperatures in the range from 800F to
160O0F(427"to SiS'C), and slowly cooled
through this range. The excess carbon com-
bines with chromium and precipitates as
chromium carbide along grain boundaries
of the austenite. The region around the pre-
cipitate is depleted of chromium and thus
becomes susceptible to corrosion.
There are several ways to prevent or min-
imize the harmful effects of carbide precipi-
tation. First, because the reaction is time
dependent, carbide precipitation can be
minimized by holding the braze thermal cy-
cle as short as possible. With short time cy-
cles, such as would result from torch or
induction brazing of small parts, even the
unstabilized grades can be brazed without
serious loss of corrosion resistance.
Secondly, the susceptibility to carbide
precipitation also increases with the carbon
content. Thus, Type 304 would be an im-
provement over Type 302, and the extra low
carbon grades, such as Type 304L, are rela-
tively insensitive to carbide precipitation.
For critical applications, Type 347, the co-
lumbium stabilized grade, is recommended.
It has good high temperature strength and can
be brazed without danger of impaired corro-
sion resistance. Type 321 is also a stabilized
grade, but it has slightly lower general corro-
sion resistance than Type 347 and is more dif-
ficult to braze because titanium is used as the
carbide stabilizing element. When high melt-
ing point filler metals are used, precipitated
carbides can be redissolved by heat treatment
after brazing. Alternatively, corrosion resis-
tance can be restored by diffusing chromium
back into the depleted area around the car-
bide precipitates in the process called stabili-
zation, The recommended stabilization heat
treatment temperature is 1750F to 2150F
(954C to 1177C).
While the 300 series stainless steels have
been widely used for brazed components, the
200 series have been used primarily in such
applications as railroad car sidings, tank cars,
sinks, hospital wares, or countertops, which
do not require brazing. More recently, these
Cr-Ni-Mn steels have been found promising
for use in structural components of supercon-
ducting
COPYRIGHT magnet
2003; American assemblies.
Welding Society, Inc. When the 200 se-
0784265 0032207 5
ries steels are used in furnace brazed assem-
blies, special care should be devoted to
precleaning and maintaining good at.mo-
spheres. The relatively high manganese con-
tent makes these alloys more difficult to fur-
nace braze in hydrogen atmospheres than the
Cr-Ni stainless steels. Manganese forms an
oxide that is not reduced readily by dry hy-
drogen at the furnace brazing temperatures
normally used for stainless steel.
All the chromium-nickel steels are sub-
ject to stress corrosion cracking when ex-
posed to molten brazing filler metals in a
stressed condition. Molten filler metal pen-
etrates the base metal along grain bound-
aries at the points of stress, producing a
greatly weakened structure. The stresses
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can be residual from cold forming opera-
tions on the assembly details or can result
from loads applied while the braze is being
made. To avoid this problem, the parts
should be stress relieved, either prior to as-
sembly or during the brazing cycle. In the
latter procedure, stress relief must be ac-
complished below the solidus temperature
of the brazing filler metal. The parts also
must be assembled and supported in a man-
ner to avoid thermal or mechanical stresses
during brazing. For further discussion of
this subject, see Chapter 2.
FERRITIC (NONHARDENABLE)
STAINLESS STEELS
These stainless steels are basically low carbon
alloys of iron and chromium, where sufficient
chromium has been added to the iron to sta-
bilize ferrite, the low temperature phase in
steels, over a wide temperature range. The
more common grades in this category are
AIS1 Types 405,430, and 446. Type 430 is a
widely used grade that is particularly subject
to a form of interfacial corrosion when brazed
with some BAg filler metals. The corrosion
apparently is caused by electrochemical ac-
tion whereby the bond between the base
metal and the filler metal is destroyed. This
action has been found to occur in many cases
even in the presence of tap water. The addi-
tion of small percentages of nickel to silver
base filler metals prevents interface corrosion
of brazed joints in most stainless steels.
Nickel-containing silver base filler metal is
not completely
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 Stainless Steels i 337

430, even though its use greatly reduces the
rate of attack. Aspecialsilver base filler metal
BAg-2 1 (63Ag-28.5Cu-6Sn-2.5Ni) has been
developed for Type 430.
The high temperature strength of the fer-
ritic stainless steels decreases drastically
above 1500F.Good fmturing is essential for
. furnace brazing with higher melting filler
metals such as the BNi classifications. Cau-
tion must be exercised to avoid differential
expansion between the part and the fixture.
Where possible, parts should be designed for
brazing without the need for fiituring.
MARTENSITIC (HARDENABLE)
STAINLESS STEELS
These are iron-carbon-chromium alloys of
two basic types: the low chromium, low car-
bon grades (Types 403,410, and 416) and
PRECIPITATION HARDENING
STAINLESS STEELS
Precipitation hardening stainless steels
have been developed for applications where
high strength plus heat and corrosion resis-
tance are required. These alloys are austen-
itic stainless steels to which alloying
elements such as aluminum, titanium, cop-
per, and molybdenum have been added,
The addition of these elements makes it
possible to precipitation-harden the alloys
by special heat treatments. The precipita-
tion hardening alloys are not completely
austenitic, since the hardening reactions are
quite complex and sometimes involve some
martensite formation.
Some of the designations of the precipita-
tion hardening stainless steels are 17-7 PH,
17-4 PH, 15-5 PH, PH 15-7MO,PH 14-8 MO,
and AM35O.l As in the case of the martensitic

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the high chromium, high carbon grades hardenable stainless steels, brazing thermal
(Types 440 A, B, and C). These steels are cycles used in joining these alloys must be
related closely to the ferritic nonhardenable compatiblewith their heat treatments. As the
grades, but have their alloy compositions heat treatments vary widely, specific brazing
balanced so that they are capable of being procedures are required for each alloy. S u p
hardened by heat treatment. pliers of these alloys and of brazing fder met-
A primary requirement in brazing com- als should be consulted. in some cases, it may
ponents made of hardenable stainless steel be necessary to compromise between opti-
alloys is to use a brazing thermal cycle com- mum heat treat and brazing cycles, particu-
patible with the heat treatment required by larly regarding cooling rates of complex parts.
the alloys. Selecting brazing filler metals The properties that will actually be achieved
with brazing temperatures high enough to should be determined for critical applica-
allow austenization of the base metal to take tions.
place at the brazing temperature is the first Alloys such as 17-7 PH or P H 15-7 Mo
step in creating a brazing cycle compatible which contain aluminum or titanium are
with the required heat treatment. The fur- difficult to wet in the usual furnace brazing
nace cycle must then provide rapid cooling atmospheres. Nickel plating is generally
from the brazing temperature to allow used as a surface treatment for furnace braz-
transformation of the austenite to martens- ing. Brazing under high vacuum may elimi-
ite. If high temperature nickel-base filler nate the necessity for plating.
metals are used, it is possible to reaustenize
the assembly by heat treatment after braz-
ing. Although this procedure increases
costs, it may be desirable to develop opti- DUPLEX STAINLESS STEELS
mum properties in critical components.
The thermal expansion coefficients of the The duplex stainless steels are a duplex of
martensitic stainless steels are relatively austenite and ferrite. They are character-
low, similar to those of the ferritic alloys. ized by high chromium contents, up to 28%.
One factor to consider is the dimensional At the time of publication, these alloys have
change that occurs at the austenite-to-mar- been available for about 30 years. Limited
tensite transformation. If the cooling rate application, by comparison to other stain-
within an assembly is not uniform, signifi- less steels, has caused the brazing experi-
cant stresses can be created as one section
transforms
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338 / BRAZING HANDBOOK

ence with these alloys to be very limited. closely as is required for BAg-1 and BAg-1 a.
Technical data for the specific alloy should However, BAg-2 filler metal should not be
be reviewed to determine such properties as used where the heating time is excessive due
thermal expansion rates, response to heat to its tendency to liquate.
treatment, precipitation of various phases, Where improved corrosion resistance is
and chemical compositions. Many of the needed, BAg-3 and BAg-24 are recom-
newer duplex stainless steels contain addi- mended over nickel-free silver base filler
tional nitrogen which can cause wetting metals. BAg-5 and BAg-6 are general pur-
problems during brazing. pose filler metals for higher brazing temper-
atures and are used where cadmium is pro-
hibited, along with BAg-24. Cadmium-free
BAg-7 and BAg-21, because of their white
FILLER METALS color, are useful for fabricating food han-
dling equipment. BAg-8, BVAg-86, BAg-18,
A wide variety of filler metals is available and BVAg-29 are often used for vacuum and
commercially for the brazing of stainless atmosphere brazing where freedom from
steel. Compositions and properties of braz- volatile cadmium or zinc is required. Two
ing filler metals are presented in Chapter 3. filler metals with 0.2-0.5% lithium (BAg-8a
The factors to consider in selecting a filler and BAg-19) show increased wettability on
metal for a particular application include stainless steels. BAg-I 9 is modified sterling
the following: silver and is used under the high tempera-
(1) Service conditions, including operat- ture required to combine base metal heat
ing temperature, stresses, and environment treatment and the brazing process. Silver-
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(2) Heat treatment requirements for mar- based filler metals for service above 800F
tensitic or precipitation hardening steels (427C) are generally furnace brazed in
(3) Brazing process high purity reducing atmospheres, inert at-
(4) cost mospheres, or in vacuum.
( 5 ) Special precautions, such as sensitiza- The BCu classification is the only copper
tion of unstabilized austenitic stainless base filler metal recommended for brazing
steels at certain temperatures. stainless steels. Brazing is usually per-
Commercially available brazing filler formed in a high purity reducing atmo-
metals used for joining stainless steels are sphere of low moisture content. RBCuZn
commonly the copper, silver, nickel, cobalt, and BCuP filler metals are not recom-
platinum, palladium, and gold based alloys. mended for use on stainless steels.
These may be conveniently grouped ac- Nickel base filler metals are used primar-
cording to service temperature as listed in ily where extreme heat and corrosion resis-
the chart below. tance are required. They are commonly
Of the BAg filler metals, BAg-1, BAg-la, used in the manufacture of components for
and BAg-2 are general purpose filler metals, jet and rocket engines, chemical processing
with good brazing characteristics, used equipment, and nuclear reactors. These
where corrosion resistance is not vital. filler metals normally are supplied in paste
BAg-2 requires a somewhat higher brazing form (atomized powder suspended in a
temperature. BAg-2 is particularly useful polymeric binder). They can also be ob-
when joint fitup cannot be controlled as tained as sintered or cast rods, preforms,

Service Temperature
"F "C Filler Metals
400 204 BAg-1 through -8a, and BAg-24
700 371 BAg-13, -19, -21
800 427 BCu
800-1000 427-538 Copper-Manganese-Nickel
1000andabove 538 and above BNi, BCo, BAU,BPd
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 AWS T I T L E b B R M bf ~ 07842b5 0012210 5 W

Stainless Steels I 339

plastic bonded sheet, plastic bonded wire, stainless steel microwave guide assembly
and tape. Many of these alloys are now are brazed with BAu-4.
available as metallic foils produced by rapid The advance of brazing technology in
solidification technology. Some composi- such industries as jet and rocket propulsion
tions also are produced by boronizing and nuclear energy mark the introduction
nickel or nickel-chromium foil and wire. of still more new and unique filler metals.
BNi filler metals commonly are used on These have not become sufficiently stand-
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stainless steels for oxidation resistance to ardized to be classified. Suppliers of brazing

temperatures up to 1800-2000F (982"- filler metals should be consulted where
1093C). Filler metals BNi-1, BNi-2, unique requirements must be met.
BNi-3, and BNi-4, which contain boron,
tend to erode thin sheet metal because of
their reaction with many base metalcompo-
sitions. Therefore, time at braze tempera- PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT
ture and the quantity of filler metal should
be carefully controlled when these filler Stainless steels can be brazed with any braz-
metals are used. Figure 24.1 shows a Type ing process. Specific information on each
347 stainless steel vacuum fitting brazed process can be found in other chapters in
with BNi-2. The boron-free filler metals this book. Much controlled atmosphere
BNi-5, BNi-6, and BNi-7 are suitable for brazing is performed on stainless steels, and
use in nuclear reactor components where the acceptability of this technique is attrib-
boron cannot be tolerated because it ab- uted to the ready availability of reliable at-
sorbs neutrons. Oxidation resistance of mospheres and vacuum furnaces. The
BNi-5 is good up to 2000F (1093C). primary requirements are that the furnaces
BNi-5 has the highest melting point of all have good temperature control at brazing
the nickel filler metals. temperature (plus or minus 15F [8"C] is
Filler metals based on gold, platinum, desirable) and be capable of fast heating and
palladium, and their alloys, such as gold- cooling. All gases used in atmosphere fur-
nickel, gold-nickel-chromium, gold-nickel- naces must be of high purity (>99.995 per-
palladium, copper-platinum, and silver- cent pure). Commercial vacuum brazing
palladium-manganese, are useful for braz- equipment operates at pressures varying
ing heat and corrosion resistant compo- from to 10-1torr (0.0015 to 13.5 Pa).
nents. BAU-4 is used where maximum The necessary vacuum level depends upon
corrosion resistance is necessary, such as re- the particular grade of stainless steel, with
sistance to sulphur bearing gases and com- those containing titanium or aluminum re-
pounds. Figure 24.2 shows a Type 304 quiring better vacuums.

PRECLEANING AND SURFACE

PREPARATION

Stainless steels require more stringent pre-

cleaning than do carbon steels. During the
heating cycle, residual contaminants often
form tenacious films which are difficult to
remove by fluxes or reducing atmospheres.
These films form as a direct reaction be-
tween the contaminant and stainless steel
surface.
Precleaning of stainless steels for brazing
.. .. . . .... -.. .- - should include a degreasingoperation to re-
move any grease or oil films. The joint sur-
Figure 24.1 - Brazed Type 347 Stainless faces to be brazed also should be cleaned
Steel Fitting mechanically or with an acid pickling solu-
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 340 / BRAZING HANDBOOK
Figure 24.2 - Brazed Type 304 Stainless Steel Microwave Guide Assembly
tion. Wire brushing should be avoided, but
if necessary, stainless steel brushes should
be used. Cleaned surfaces should be pro-
tected to prevent soiling by dirt, oil, or fin-
gerprints. For best results, parts to be
brazed should be brazed immediately after
cleaning. When this is not practical, the
cleaned parts should be enclosed in contain-
ers such as sealed polyethylene bags or des-
sicator jars to exclude moisture and other
contaminants until the part can be brazed.
FLUXES AND ATMOSPHERES
Stainless steel assemblies are routinely fur-
nace brazed in atmospheres of dry hydro-
gen, argon, helium, dissociated ammonia,
or vacuum, without the aid of flux. When
fluxes are required, there are a number of
special compositions available for use with
stainless steels. Chapter 4 covers fluxes and
COPYRIGHT 2003; American Welding Society, Inc.
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atmospheres in detail including the special
requirements for brazing stainless steel.
Dissociated ammonia atmospheres
should be used with caution. Certain stain-
less steels can be nitrided at some brazing
temperatures. Nitriding produces a hard
surface that can be either beneficial or detri-
mental depending on the service require-
ments of the component. Nitriding can be
detected by an increase in surface hardness
or by metallographic examination.
Oxides of aluminum and titanium cannot
be reduced in atmosphere furnaces at ordi-
nary brazing temperatures. If these oxides
are present in small amounts, satisfactory
brazes can be obtained by the use of high
purity gas atmospheres and vaporizing flux.
When these elements are present in quanti-
ties exceeding one or two percent by weight,
the metal surface should be cleaned and
nickel-plated instead of using fluxes or vac-
uum atmospheres. Nickel plating will pre-
vent the formation of harmful oxides and
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 AWS T I T L E r B R M ** W 0 7 8 4 2 b 5 O032232 9 W
can be an effective means of limiting em-
brittlement or erosion of base metals.
Thickness of the electrolytic nickel plating
should be kept in the range of 0.0002 to
0.002 in. (0.005 to 0.05 mm). The thickness
of plating should be controlled so that it is
dissolved into the brazing filler metal, pre-
venting the possibility of failure occurring
in the remaining plating layer.
POSTBRAZE OPERATIONS
Major stainless steel postbraze operations
that may be necessary are removal of flux or
stopoff residues and any required postbraze
heat treatment.
Depending on the materials used, flux or
stopoff residues can be removed by water
rinsing, chemical cleaning, or mechanical
means. With abrasive cleaning, the grit
should be sand or other nonmetallic mate-
rial. Metallic shot, other than stainless steel,
should be avoided because particles may
become embedded in the stainless steel sur-
face and cause rusting or pitting corrosion
in service.
Unless the brazing cycle is compatible
with the heat treating requirements of the
base metal, heat treatment after brazing will
be required for assemblies which are made
with martensitic or precipitation hardening
stainless steels. Since treatments vary so
widely, no general rules can be made except
that supplier recommendations should be
followed.
REPAIR METHODS
When furnace brazed assemblies contain
many joints, minor defects may occur that
COPYRIGHT 2003; American Welding Society, Inc.
Stainless Steels I 341
are beyond acceptance limits - but which
are not economically or technically feasible
to repair by rebrazing the entire assembly.
In some cases, repairs can be made by local-
ized rebrazing using oxyacetylene or gas
tungsten arc torches.
The oxyacetylene method requires use of
a high temperature nux. With martensitic
type alloys, care must be taken to avoid
stress cracking.
The manual gas tungsten arc method is
useful for braze fillet repairs on applica-
tions like turbine engine stators. The defec-
tive area should be cleaned properly to re-
move surface oxides. Brazing is performed
under an inert gas envelope, usually argon,
with approximately 20 amps power input,
Filler metal is added, as required. The
plasma needle arc process also can be used,
but requires a skillful operator. Prototype
work on a mock-up with proper evaluation
prior t o actual repair work is recom-
mended.
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REFERENCES
American Society for Metals. Metals
handbook, Vol. 3. Metals Park, O H Ameri-
can Society for Metals, 1980.
. Metals handbook, Vol. 6 Metals
Park, OH: American Society for Metals,
1983.
. Soimebook on brazing and braz-
ing technology, Metals Park, OH: American
Society for Metals.
Peckner, D. and Bernstein, I.M. Hand-
book of stainless steels. New York, N Y Mc-
Graw-Hill, 1977.
Pickering. The metallurgical evolution of
stainless steels. Metals Park, OH: American
Society for Metals, 1979.
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