Dissimilar Welding of Austenitic and Martensitic Stainless Steel Joints for Nuclear Applications: a review

Abstract

Dissimilar Welding of Austenitic and Martensitic Stainless Steel Joints are commonly preferred in Nuclear Reactors where high temperature applications are needed. There has been a huge demand for materials which sustain corrosive environment with high rupture strength along with high temperature and pressure. These materials can be directly replaced with the traditional nickel based alloys to compensate for cost cutting and satisfy strength requirements. Dissimilar welding of these materials has been challenging due to the difference in its composition, properties and also heterogeneity in microstructure of these materials. A Study was done to identify what are the commonly used joining techniques, the mechanical properties of the joints and also the microstructure evolution of the dissimilar weld joints. This paper will emphasize on the work that was previously published in the area of dissimilar welding of these combinations of materials and also their challenges.