This guide presents a description of solid solution austenitic stainless steels and the most commonly used welding processes and procedures for joining these materials. The most commonly used welding processes, including shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), submerged arc welding (SAW), and flux cored arc welding (FCAW), are discussed in detail; laser beam, electron beam, plasma arc, resistance, and braze welding are not covered in great detail.

The welding processes discussed in this guide include recommended welding parameters, filler metals, shielding gases, and fluxes. Procedure qualifications, inspection and repair considerations and methods, and cleaning and safety considerations are also discussed. Practical information has been included as figures, tables, and graphs that should prove useful for determining the capabilities and limitations in the joining of austenitic stainless steels. This guide does not address martensitic, ferritic, or duplex stainless steels.

Although this guide is not written with mandatory requirements, mandatory language, such as the use of “shall,” will be found in those portions of the document where failure to follow the instructions or procedures could produce inferior, misleading, or unsafe results.