Dissimilar welding of AISI 310 austenitic stainless steel to nickel-based alloy Inconel 657

The current work was carried out to characterize welding of AISI 310 austenitic stainless steel to Inconel 657 nickel–chromium superalloy. The welds were produced using four types of filler materials; the nickel-based corresponding to Inconel 82, Inconel A, Inconel 617 and 310 austenitic stainless steels. This paper describes the selection of welding consumables for the joint. The comparative evaluation was based on hot-cracking tests (Varestraint test) and estimation of mechanical properties. According to Varestraint tests, Inconel A showed the least susceptibility to hot cracking. In tension tests, all weldments failed in the weaker parent metals (i.e., Inconel 657). Moreover, Inconel A weldment had the highest strength and total elongation. On the other hand, the weld metals failed by ductile fracture except Inconel 617, which exhibited mixed fracture mode. At last, it was concluded that Inconel A filler material offered the best compromise for the joint between Inconel 657 and 310 stainless steel.