Bright and Solution Annealing 1

[MikeRCS]

Hello All,

We are purchasing some 316 tube from a supplier and the material has to meet NACE MR0175. The Standard states that Austenitic Stainless Steels shall be solution annealed and quenched. The supplier has came back to us and said that they can only offer bright annealed.

It is my understanding that solution anneal refers to the carbon staying in the solution of the metal, not actually annealing in a solution. Also bright annealing is annealing in a vacuum or controlled atmosphere to keep the surface free of oxidation and bright.

So my question is, if you solution anneal in a controlled atmosphere to keep the surface bright, can you have both solution and bright annealing?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[btrueblood]

The short answer is yes.

 

[EdStainless]

You really want a test to see if they have achieved a solution anneal.
There are two tests, one is A262 and the other is A249 S-7 weld decay. A properly made welded tube should easily pass both and meet your requirements.

Most tube annealing these days is done inline on the tube mills and the hold times are way to short to achieve the desired microstructure in the weld.

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Plymouth Tube