A Review on Critical Aspects of 316ln Austenitic Stainless Steel Weldability.

Abstract

Austenitic stainless steels are widely used for different applications in chemical, petrochemical, fertilizer, food processing and nuclear industries. These steels posses good weldability but suffer from the problems like sensitization leading to inter­-granular corrosion, hot cracking or micro fissuring and stress corrosion cracking. Nitrogen alloyed austenitic stainless steels designated as 316LN contain low carbon due to which the risk of sensitization can be reduced. These steels are alloyed with nitrogen to compensate for the loss of strength due to decreased carbon content. Welding process like Tungsten Arc welding (TIG), Activated Tungsten Arc welding (A-TIG) and Multi Pass Tungsten Arc welding (MP-TIG) have been used for the fabrication of industrial components. This paper addresses the laser welding aspects, which may be of considerable interest because it offers several advantages over other welding processes.