SS 304 4

[mielke]

We are having major problems with warping of SS 304 5/8" plate when we weld. We previously bought sheets of annealed metal. Is there any benifit of switching to forged sheets to limit the warpage?

 

[MikeMet]

Type 304 and any austenitic stainless steel warp when welded. It all has to do with thermal conductivity and residual stress. Annealed plate is about as good as it gets. There is not real benefit switching to a forging.

 

[unclesyd]

Adding to the above post by MikeMet warping of Austenitic SS is partially controlled by design, welding order, heat input and welding sequence. Things like not using long weld stringers, skip weld, back step welding are little things you can do mitigate some of the warping problems.
Normally you can't ever get rid of all the distortion but can help your self a little.

Here is a very inexpensive book that has some information on controlling distortion.

https://ssl.lincolnelectric.com/lincoln/apdirect/item.asp?prodnum=DW

There are several others out there but are out of print and are very expensive if you can find them. A very good one is authored by Stewart.

 

[arunmrao]

How large is the fabrication. Can you provide some cross bars on them after tag welding,to reduce distortion,finally can you consider putting them on a lathe/vtl and machiining out the distortion?

Finally why did you have to select 304 please ?

 

[desertfox]

Hi mielke

On the same site as unclesyd posted there is a section on minimising weld distortion have a look:-

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/distortion.asp

desertfox

 

[strider6]

Mielke

This is another good info on how to avoid weld distortion:
Avoiding distortion during welding stainless steels

http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=118

Vitt

Corrosion & Rust Prevention Control

 

[mielke]

thanks everyone. the customer originally suggested 409 but higher powers decided to go with 304. the worst part is welding a flange to a casing. the flange is 5/8" thick 1.5" wide and spans about 30 inches its welded to a 3/8" casing both 304.