Compositional boundary between primary austenitic and ferritic Mn–Cr and Ni–Cr steel weld metals

The compositional boundary between primary austenitic and primary ferritic steel weld metals is revised. An extension that agrees with previously defined ones and expands the concept to leaner nickel compositions and richer manganese contents is proposed. In an effort to make this Creq/Nieq boundary as exact as possible for different alloying ranges, a change of the effect of manganese in the stabilization of austenite at different alloying levels in the form of a new coefficient is devised. The manganese (coefficient) effect is then compared with those from other studies to present a general panorama of its complex behavior.