GUIDE FOR MATERIALS AND WELDING FOR STAINLESS STEELS DECEMBER 2020 American Bureau of Shipping Incorporated by Act of Legislature of the State of New York 1862 © 2020 American Bureau of Shipping. All rights reserved. 1701 City Plaza Drive Spring, TX 77389 USA Foreword This Guide has been developed to give minimum requirements for properties, manufacturing processes and fabrication techniques applicable to common types of stainless steels used in the marine and offshore industries. Austenitic stainless steels have different compositions and properties but also have many common characteristics. The materials cannot be hardened by heat treatment and are essentially nonmagnetic in the annealed condition. Austenitic stainless steels have excellent corrosion resistance, good formability and outstanding fracture toughness especially at cryogenic temperatures. Accordingly, austenitic stainless steels are widely used in the marine and offshore industries in structural members, pressure vessels and piping systems. Ferritic-austenitic (duplex) stainless steels are two-phase structures consisting of ferrite and austenite. The most attractive characteristics of duplex is the combination of properties including high strength and excellent resistance to chloride stress corrosion cracking. The standard duplex grade has 22 wt. % chromium and is not sensitive to inter-granular corrosion. For harsher environments, super duplex grade may need higher alloy elements such as 25 wt. % chromium for improved pitting resistance. Duplex stainless steels are also widely used in marine and offshore applications, such as chemical tankers and sour service environments. One challenge with stainless steels is that they may be susceptible to solidification cracking during welding. Cracking in stainless steel welds may be caused by low melting eutectic phases containing impurities, such as sulfur, phosphorus and other alloy elements. Nitrogen also has a complex effect on the weld metal microstructure and cracking. Nitrogen picked up during welding may significantly increase the risk of cracking. In addition, for duplex stainless steel welding, the ratio of ferrite to austenite may be difficult to control in the weld metal and heat affected zone. This Guide covers four chapters pertaining to materials and welding for stainless steels: ● Chapter 1 contains general requirements for austenitic and duplex stainless steels. ● Chapter 2 contains the requirements for rolled materials, forgings, castings, pipes and stainless steel clad plates. ● Chapter 3 contains the requirements for various types of welding filler metals and the applicable base metals. ● Chapter 4 contains the requirements for welding procedures and welder qualification, production welding and fabrication, fabrication verification and nondestructive testing of production welds. The general requirements and practices in this Guide provide qualification of materials and quality control in production and fabrication from raw materials to the end use in ships, offshore units, pressure vessels, piping systems or components. This Guide becomes effective on 1 April 2019. Users are advised to check periodically on the ABS website www.eagle.org to verify that this version of this Guide is the most current. We welcome your feedback. Comments or suggestions can be sent electronically by email to [email protected]. ABS GUIDE FOR MATERIALS AND WELDING FOR STAINLESS STEELS • 2020 ii GUIDE FOR MATERIALS AND WELDING FOR STAINLESS STEELS CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 General Requirements.........................................................................1 Section 1 General Requirements for Stainless Steels.......................3 Appendix 1 List of Destructive and Nondestructive Tests Required for Materials and Responsibility for Verifying..... 9 Appendix 2 List of Reference Documents...........................................11 CHAPTER 2 Requirements for Stainless Steels...................................................15 Section 1 Rolled Stainless Steel Plates, Sheet, Strip, Sections and Bars.......................................................................... 21 Section 2 Stainless Steel Forgings.................................................. 29 Section 3 Stainless Steel Castings.................................................. 40 Section 4 Stainless Steel Pipes....................................................... 50 Section 5 Stainless Steel Clad Plates..............................................58 Appendix 1 Procedure for the Approval of Manufacturers of Rolled Stainless Steels.................................................... 63 Appendix 2 Fatigue Properties of Stainless Steels (For Reference).. 78 Appendix 3 Corrosion Properties of Stainless Steels (For Reference)....................................................................... 83 CHAPTER 3 Stainless Steel Welding Filler Metals...............................................90 Section 1 Application of Stainless Steel Welding Filler Metals........ 92 Section 2 Approval of Stainless Steel Welding Filler Metals........... 95 CHAPTER 4 Welding of Stainless Steels............................................................ 104 Section 1 Welding Procedure Qualification................................... 108 Section 2 Welding Operator and Welder Qualification...................115 Section 3 Production Welding and Fabrication..............................121 Section 4 Fabrication Verification and Nondestructive Testing of Production Welds.......................................................128 Appendix 1 Guidance for Handling and Storage of Stainless Steels144 ABS GUIDE FOR MATERIALS AND WELDING FOR STAINLESS STEELS • 2020 iii CHAPTER 1 General Requirements CONTENTS SECTION 1 General Requirements for Stainless Steels...................................... 3 1 Scope..............................................................................................3 1.1 General.............................................................................. 3 1.2 Application......................................................................... 3 2 Testing and Inspection....................................................................4 2.1 General.............................................................................. 4 2.2 Approval of Manufacturers.................................................4 2.3 Test and Test Data ............................................................4 2.4 Certification on the Basis of the ABS Quality Assurance Program for Rolled Products........................... 5 2.5 Rejection of Previously Accepted Material ....................... 5 2.6 Calibrated Testing Machines .............................................5 2.7 Reference Documents....................................................... 5 3 Defects............................................................................................5 4 Identification of Materials................................................................5 5 Manufacturer’s Documentation.......................................................5 6 Marking, Retest and Rejection........................................................6 6.1 Identification of Specimens................................................6 6.2 Retests...............................................................................6 6.3 Marking.............................................................................. 6 6.4 Rejection............................................................................7 7 Standard Test Specimens...............................................................7 8 Charpy Test.....................................................................................7 9 Definition and Determination of Yield Point and Yield Strength......7 10 Elongation ......................................................................................7 11 Nondestructive Test .......................................................................8 12 Fracture Toughness Test................................................................ 8 APPENDIX 1 List of Destructive and Nondestructive Tests Required for Materials and Responsibility for Verifying........................................ 9 1 Test and Test Data..........................................................................9 APPENDIX 2 List of Reference Documents........................................................... 11 1 Reference Documents.................................................................. 11 1.1 Chapter 1, Section 1 General Requirements for Stainless Steels............................................................... 11 1.2 Chapter 2, Section 1 Rolled Stainless Steels.................. 11 ABS GUIDE FOR MATERIALS AND WELDING FOR STAINLESS STEELS • 2020 1 1.3 Chapter 2, Section 2 Stainless Steel Forgings................ 12 1.4 Chapter 2, Section 3 Stainless Steel Castings................ 12 1.5 Chapter 2, Section 4 Stainless Steel Pipes..................... 12 1.6 Chapter 2, Section 5 Stainless Steel Clad Plates............13 1.7 Chapter 2, Appendix 2 Fatigue Property of Stainless Steels...............................................................................13 1.8 Chapter 2, Appendix 3 Corrosion Property of Stainless Steels............................................................... 13 1.9 Chapter 3, Section 1 Application of Stainless Steel Welding Filler Metals....................................................... 14 1.10 Chapter 3, Section 2 Requirements for the Approval of Stainless Steel Welding Filler Metals...........................14