KVA, Inc. / 124 S.

Market Place, Suite 200 /

Escondido, CA. 92029 U.S.A.
(760) 489-5821 phone
(760) 489-5823 fax
1-888-410-WELD
www.kvastainless.com

Seam Welded Air-Hardenable Corrosion

Resistant Steel Tubing:

Automotive Applications Overview

Danny Codd, P.E.

KVA Incorporated
April 5, 2005

KVA, Inc.

Page 1

4/5/2005

Automotive Applications Overview:

KVA has developed a proprietary method to produce welded tubular forms, and shelled
structures, using martensitic corrosion-resistant steels. High strength structural shapes can
now be integrated into high performance structural assemblies to reduce weight, increase
strength and stiffness, without significant cost increases. Entire assemblies can be heat
treated to uniform microstructures and hardness/strength levels tailored to the individual
application. Tensile strengths in excess of 200 ksi (1400 Mpa) are capable from simple
low-cost, air-hardening quench processes. Excellent mechanical properties, including
specific strength and stiffness, toughness and fatigue performance, in addition to
corrosion-resistance, can be achieved using martensitic stainless steels in place of other
materials.
KVAs technology has overcome the conventional limitations of high-speed welding airhardenable martensitic stainless steels. Previous production difficulties, such as coldcracking of the heat-affected-zone under mechanical straining and forming, have been
eliminated. The result is that martensitic stainless steels can now be used in a wide
variety of structural applications, without major cost increases.
Ideal applications of tubular/shelled welded martensitic structures in the automotive
industry include:
Removable chassis components (frame crossmembers, suspension
control arms, etc.)
Side impact intrusion beams
Vehicle seat frames and supports
Entire chassis frame rails
Entire vehicle spaceframes

KVA, Inc.

Page 2

4/5/2005

Material Description and Properties: Stainless Steels

As shown on the following specific stiffness vs. specific strength graph, there is a large
variation in mechanical properties among different metals and alloys. In the upper range
of specific strengths for metals lies the martensitic family of hardenable stainless steels.
They posses mechanical properties similar in performance to exotic composites,
expensive alloys and advanced lightweight metals.

Type 410 stainless

KVA, Inc.

Page 3

4/5/2005

However, what is usually not shown, strength vs. cost per pound, clearly shows the
benefits of using a hardenable stainless steel in a high-strength condition. Due to their
relatively simple chemical composition, martensitic stainless steels are only slightly more
expensive than low alloy steels, and significantly less costly than other stainless alloys,
magnesium, titanium, and composites.

Type 410 stainless

KVA, Inc.

Page 4

4/5/2005

Schaeffler constitution diagram for stainless steels

The above Schaeffler diagram plots nickel vs. chromium equivalents to depict the
relationship between composition and microstructure for stainless steels. The five main
groups are: martensitic, austenitic, ferritic, duplex, and precipitation-hardening stainless
steels. Descriptions of the most common groups are given below:
Ferritic stainless steels are chromium-containing alloys with body-centered-cubic (BCC)
crystal structures. They are magnetic, have good ductility and formability, but have
relatively poor strengths due to limited carbon content. As a result, they are not
hardenable by heat treatment. Corrosion resistance is fair in most environments. Type
409 (exhaust systems) and type 434 (trim) have been used in the automotive industry for
non-structural applications.
Austenitc alloys have a face-centered-cubic (FCC) crystal structure, through the liberal
use of austenitizing elements such as nickel, manganese and nitrogen. These steels are
non-magnetic and can be hardened only by cold working. Due to their high alloy content,
they possess excellent corrosion resistance, but they are expensive and not typically used
in automobiles.
Martensitic stainless steels are essentially alloys of chromium and sufficient carbon
content that transform into a distorted BCC martensite structure after hardening. They are
magnetic, and are formulated to respond well to heat treatment. Similar to non-stainless
hardenable steels, the maximum attainable hardness, and strength, is in direct proportion
to the amount of carbon present in the alloy. However, the chromium present in the alloy
alloys for maximum hardness to be reached in all but the thickest sections by

KVA, Inc.

Page 5

4/5/2005

austenitizing, and quenching in air (air-cooling). Corrosion resistance in common

environments is good; many times better than mild steel, but not to the level of austenitic
stainless grades. Martensitic stainless steels are specified when the application requires
good tensile strength, creep, and fatigue strength properties, in combination with
moderate corrosion resistance and heat resistance up to approx. 1200 F. Typical uses of
this grade include cutlery, turbine engines, petrochemical equipment, surgical and dental
instruments, scissors, valves, gears, cams and ball bearings.

Family relationships for austenitic stainless steels

KVA, Inc.

Page 6

4/5/2005

Family relationships for ferritic stainless steels

Family relationships for martensitic stainless steels

KVA, Inc.

Page 7

4/5/2005

Material Description and Properties: Martensitic Stainless Steels

Effect of Heat Treatments on the hardness of wrought martensitic stainless steels

Variation of mechanical properties with tempering temperature for type 410 (0.15% max
C), 420 (0.15% min C) and 431 (0.20% C, 1.25-2.50% Ni) stainless steels

KVA, Inc.

Page 8

4/5/2005

Depending on the carbon content, martensitic alloys can be capable of tensile strengths
approaching 300 ksi (2000 Mpa). The most common type, 410, can be hardened to
approximately 210 ksi (1400 Mpa) in an as quenched-state. However, a tempering
operation is usually performed to increase ductility and reduce brittleness.
It should be noted, like all BCC steels, martensitic stainless steels exhibit a decreasing
resistance to impact with decreasing temperature. The temperature range to which the
ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) appears is affected by heat treatment,
composition, and cold work. The following DBTT curve shows the effect of tempering
temperature on fracture toughness.

Typical Transition behavior of type 410 martensitic stainless steel.

KVA, Inc.

Page 9

4/5/2005

Martensitic Stainless Steels: Welding Behavior

Due martensitic stainless steels composition being specially formulated to render it heat
treatable by a quench and temper process, it presents some unique problems during
welding. The thermal cycle of heating and cooling, which occurs within the confined
heat-affected-zone (HAZ) during welding, is equivalent to a quenching cycle. The
resulting high carbon martensitic structure produced is extremely brittle in the
untempered condition. Cracking of the weld zone can occur for several reasons,
including:

Hydrogen induced cold-cracking, due to trapped hydrogen in the distorted BCC

martensite crystal structure. Tensile stress applied to the weld increases the risk of
cracking.
Thermal induced stresses, due to the heat input during welding, degree of joint
restraint, and the volume change upon martensite transformation.

These problems occur when welding martensitic steels regardless of the prior condition,
whether annealed, hardened, or hardened-and-tempered. They can occur with all types of
welding, including GTAW, GMAW, laser-beam, friction, resistance and electron-beam.
In all cases, the high-temperature HAZ will be fully hardened in the as-quenched
condition after welding.
Any mechanical straining after welding (i.e. continuous tube mill forming /straightening)
will cause the martensitic HAZ to crack. Conventional processes such as pre-heating and
post weld heat treatment (PWHT) do not lend themselves to cost-efficient, high-quality,
high volume production. KVAs proprietary methods overcome these difficulties and
enable the production of low-cost reliable weldments in martensitic stainless steels.

Phase diagram for 12% wt Cr (type 410) steel

KVA, Inc.

Page 10

4/5/2005

Four heat-affected-zone (HAZ) regions observed in martensitic stainless steel.

represents austenite.

Microhardness across a GTAW weld in HT9 stainless steel (12Cr-1Mo-0.3V, 0.170.23%C)

KVA, Inc.

Page 11

4/5/2005

Microhardness across a Electron-Beam weld in HT9 stainless steel (12Cr-1Mo-0.3V,

0.17-0.23%C)

Hardness across a Laser weld in HT9 stainless steel (12Cr-1Mo-0.3V, 0.17-0.23%C)

Microhardness across a Friction weld in type 440C stainless steel

KVA, Inc.

Page 12

4/5/2005

Test results: KVA processing technology

Several test samples were run at an independent testing lab, using KVAs proprietary
methods, on type 410 stainless steel in various thicknesses. Tensile, impact (Charpy), and
fatigue testing were performed, both in the as-welded and quenched-and-tempered
(Q&T) states. In all cases, failure occurred in the base metal, not in the weld zone, and no
HAZ failures were observed.

Modified-Charpy impact test specimens post test (16 ga. Type 410, Autogenous GTAW
as-welded, weld orientation perpendicular-left and parallel-right to test specimen)

Tensile test specimens post test (Type 410, 16 ga. Autogenous GTAW as-welded - left,
410 filler rod GTAW 14 ga. Q&T 600F right, weld orientation perpendicular to load)
KVA, Inc.

Page 13

4/5/2005

Potential Applications: Automotive chassis/structural components

Chassis Crossmembers (Ford F150 prototype 1B Crossmember)

Seat Frames and Support Structures

KVA, Inc.

Page 14

4/5/2005

Intrusion Protection Structures (side impact protection beam)

Suspension Components (TRUGGY control arms)

KVA, Inc.

Page 15

4/5/2005

Complete Vehicle Chassis

Complete Vehicle Spaceframes

KVA, Inc.

Page 16

4/5/2005

Appendix A: Corrosion Resistance of Various Metals & Alloys

Relative corrosion potentials of various metals and alloys in seawater

KVA, Inc.

Page 17

4/5/2005

General corrosion resistance of stainless steel in various environments

KVA, Inc.

Page 18

4/5/2005

Appendix B: Fabrication Process Suitability of Various Stainless

Steels

Relative ease of fabrication methods for various stainless steels

KVA, Inc.

Page 19

4/5/2005

Comparison of ductility for deep drawing of various stainless steels

KVA, Inc.

Page 20

4/5/2005

Comparative dynamic hot hardness vs. temperature (forgeability) for various ferrous
alloys

KVA, Inc.

Page 21

4/5/2005

General comparison of machinability of stainless steels compared to AISI B1112 using

high-speed tools.

KVA, Inc.

Page 22

4/5/2005

Appendix C: Transformation Diagrams: type 410 stainless steel

Time-Temperature Transformation (TTT) Diagram for type 410 stainless steel

KVA, Inc.

Page 23

4/5/2005

Continuous Cooling Transformation (CCT) Diagram for type 410 stainless steel

KVA, Inc.

Page 24

4/5/2005

Appendix D: References
Atlas of Isothermal Transformation Diagrams, 2nd edition, US Steel Corp., 1951
Atlas of Isothermal Transformation and Cooling Diagrams, American Society for Metals,
1977
M. Atkins, Atlas of Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagrams for Engineering
Steels, American Society for Metals, 1980
ASM Handbook, Volume 1, 10th edition, Properties & Selection: Irons, Steels, and High
Performance Alloys, American Society for Metals, 1991
ASM Handbook, Volume 4, 10th edition, Heat Treating, American Society for Metals,
1991
ASM Handbook, Volume 6, 10th edition, Welding, Brazing and Soldering, American
Society for Metals, 1993
SAE/AMS 2759C, Heat Treatment of Steel Parts: General Requirements, Society of
Automotive Engineers, rev. June 2000
SAE/AMS 2759/5D, Heat Treatment: Martensitic Corrosion Resistant Steel Parts,
Society of Automotive Engineers, rev. June 2004
MIL-H-6875, Military Specification: Heat Treatment of Steel, Process for, US
Department of Defense, rev. Feb 1999

KVA, Inc.

Page 25

4/5/2005