TECH SPOTLIGHT

Color etching and

electrolytic
etching can help
metallographically
evaluate delta
ferrite content.

100 Pm

Fig. 2 Mill Clad 3 (MC3) is a weld cladding for rebuilding caster rolls, hot strip mill rolls, and other types of steel mill rolls. When the
as-welded steel is etched with the color etch, the delta ferrite as well as the general microstructure of the weld is revealed

Etching Stainless Steels for Delta Ferrite

suitable to actually measure the fer-
Dennis W. Hetzner* rite content of the weld metal. This 30
0% D

Timken Co. tech note will describe how color 10% D

Canton, Ohio
methodology for calculating the
A approximate ferrite content in
austenitic stainless steel welds
etching and electrolytic etching can
metallographically evaluate the delta
ferrite content of two martensitic
stainless steels as shown in the table.
The color etch in these examples 20
Austenite 20% D

40% D
Nickel equivalent, %

was first described by Schaeffler in was a modified potassium metabisul-

1949. Subsequently, the original di- fite etch composed of 1% HCl, 1g
agram was revised by DeLong, and K2S2O5, and 1g NH4HFH in 100 ml of A+M
80% D
later revised by the Welding Research distilled water. Approximately 15
Council several times (Fig. 1). seconds was required to etch the
Based on the composition of the specimens.
10
stainless steels being welded, a nickel The electrolytic etch was ASTM
and chromium equivalent of the E407 number 220. This etch is com- Martensite
weld metal is calculated using Equa- posed of 20g of NaOH in 100 ml of
tions 1 and 2. distilled water. The specimens were
etched at 6 volts for approximately M+F
Ferrite
Creq. = %Cr + 1.5 x %Si + %Mo + 30 seconds.
0.5% x (%Ta + %NB) + 2 x %Ti + 10 20 30 40
%(W + V + Al) (Eq. 1) Weld cladding Chromium
Mill Clad 3 (MC3) is a weld equivalent, %
Nieq. + %Ni + 30 x %Co + cladding for rebuilding caster rolls, Fig. 1 Modified Schaeffler diagram for
0.5 x %Mn + 0.5 x %Co (Eq. 2) hot strip mill rolls, and other types of the delta ferrite content in austenitic stain-
steel mill rolls. When the as welded less steel welds.
Because the actual amount of fer- Martensitic stainless steel compositions
rite in stainless steels depends on
non-equilibrium solidification pro- Element C Si Mn Cr Mo Ni V Co Cb (Nb)
cessing as well as composition, sev- MC3 Weld 0.12 0.40 1.1 12.7 1.4 2.8 0.2 0.2
eral different techniques would be
*Fellow of ASM International Wrought P675 0.07 0.40 0.65 13.0 1.8 2.6 0.6 5.4

ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/FEBRUARY 2007 33

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Fig. 3 Electrolytic NaOH. When the
specimen is etched with the electrolytic etch,
only the delta ferrite is attacked.
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50 Pm
Fig. 4 Alloy P675 is carburizable
bearing steel manufactured by Carpenter
Technology. For a specimen given a heat
Compliant with treating cycle similar to that for hardening
International Standards carburized components, the color etch clearly
reveals the delta ferrite as white stringers in
Analyze multiple samples the longitudinal microstructure.
from multiple heats
Multi-field mapping of entire
sample for validation
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50 Pm
Fig. 5 Electrolytic NaOH. After elec-
trolytic etching, the delta ferrite is once again
clearly revealed. However, the contrast be-
tween the delta ferrite and the unetched ma-
trix is not as high as that for the color etch.
steel is etched with the color etch, the
delta ferrite as well as the general mi-
crostructure of the weld is revealed,
Fig. 2. However, when the specimen
is etched with the electrolytic etch,
only the delta ferrite is attacked, Fig.
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ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/FEBRUARY 2007
3. For this field of view, the delta fer-
rite content of this weld appears to
be in the range of 10% to 15%.
Equations 1 and 2 show that the
chromium and nickel equivalents for
this alloy are 15.0% and 6.95% respec-
tively. Reference to the modified
Schaeffler diagram indicates that this
compositional point is in the M + F
phase field, and the exact amount of
each phase is difficult to predict.
Bearing steel
Alloy P675 is carburizable bearing
steel manufactured by Carpenter
Technology. For a specimen given a
heat treating cycle similar to that for
hardening carburized components,
the color etch clearly reveals the delta
ferrite as white stringers in the lon-
gitudinal microstructure, Fig. 4. Mi-
crostructural banding is clearly re-
vealed by the color etch as long dark
streaks in the microstructure. After
electrolytic etching, the delta ferrite
is once again clearly revealed. How-
ever, the contrast between the delta
ferrite and the unetched matrix is not
as high as that for the color etch, as
shown in Fig. 5.
Multiple fields of view for this
specimen indicate that the amount
of delta ferrite is less than 1%. For
this alloy, the chromium and nickel
equivalents are found to be 16.0%
and 7.7% respectively. Once again
this composition in contained within
the M + F phase field, Fig. 1.
Several interesting observations
can be made from these results. For
both alloys, electrolytic sodium hy-
droxide clearly reveals only the delta
ferrite. The same would be true for
revealing delta ferrite in austenitic
stainless steel welds. The color etch
clearly revealed the delta ferrite in
the wrought stainless steel. How-
ever, for the weld metal, the color
etch revealed several different mi-
crostructural features. Thus, the delta
ferrite was difficult to measure.
Although there was not a great
deal of difference in the chromium
and nickel equivalents for the alloys,
the processing greatly affected the
amount of delta ferrite in the steels.
All these facts are revealed by careful
metallography.
For more information: Dr. Dennis
Hetzner is a senior materials specialist at
the Timken Co., Canton, OH 44706; tel:
330/471-2150; dennis.hetzner@timken.com.