Weld design for stainless steel

[DJR]

I have an opportunity to design a stainless steel weld. I am not sure if it will be stainless-to-stainless or stainless-to-A36 at this point. To complicate things some, it is SS400 stainless material too (I'm not sure which class of SS400 it is right now either).

I am familiar with the regular steel weld design, but haven't messed with stainless yet.

Is the design the same as regular steel, except the design strength for the weld material (stainless) changes? If it is only the design strength that changes, where can I find those values?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[kevo_55]

To start things out, I would take a look at ASCE 8-02. This code deals with stainless steel.

It is written much like the AISC 13th edition.

So you are somewhat right, it is similar to steel weld design.

 

[C-Dog]

What are the specific alloys you will be welding? 400 series SS can be ferritic or martensitic and are not the easiest alloys to weld, but they are weldable. The ferritic stainless steel have low toughness, especially in the welded condition and the martensitic are susceptable to cracking