SAE TECHNICAL

PAPER SERIES 2000-01-0314

430LNb – A New Ferritic Wire for

Automotive Exhaust Applications
N. Renaudot, P. O. Santacreu, J. Ragot, J. L. Moiron and R. Cozar
Usinor Recherches

P. Pédarré
Ugine Savoie Imphy

A. Bruyère
Sprint Métal

SAE 2000 World Congress

Detroit, Michigan
March 6-9, 2000

400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Tel: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-5760
The appearance of this ISSN code at the bottom of this page indicates SAE’s consent that copies of the
paper may be made for personal or internal use of specific clients. This consent is given on the condition,
however, that the copier pay a $7.00 per article copy fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Operations Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 for copying beyond that permitted by Sec-
tions 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying such as
copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works,
or for resale.

SAE routinely stocks printed papers for a period of three years following date of publication. Direct your
orders to SAE Customer Sales and Satisfaction Department.

Quantity reprint rates can be obtained from the Customer Sales and Satisfaction Department.

To request permission to reprint a technical paper or permission to use copyrighted SAE publications in
other works, contact the SAE Publications Group.

All SAE papers, standards, and selected

books are abstracted and indexed in the
Global Mobility Database

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, in an electronic retrieval system or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

ISSN 0148-7191
Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Positions and opinions advanced in this paper are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of SAE. The author is solely
responsible for the content of the paper. A process is available by which discussions will be printed with the paper if it is published in
SAE Transactions. For permission to publish this paper in full or in part, contact the SAE Publications Group.

Persons wishing to submit papers to be considered for presentation or publication through SAE should send the manuscript or a 300
word abstract of a proposed manuscript to: Secretary, Engineering Meetings Board, SAE.

Printed in USA

430LNb – A New Ferritic Wire for
Automotive Exhaust Applications
N. Renaudot, P. O. Santacreu, J. Ragot, J. L. Moiron and R. Cozar
Copyright © 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
ABSTRACT
The increasing use of ferritic stainless steels (AISI 409,
439, 436 and 441) in automotive exhaust systems, espe-
cially for manifolds and catalytic converter canning, has
led the authors to develop a new ferritic welding wire,
designated 430LNb. This new material is recommended
for the GMAW and GTAW processes and provides better
metallurgical compatibility with the ferritic base metals, in
terms of both thermal expansion and microstructure.
The composition of the new welding wire has been
adjusted in order to guarantee an entirely ferritic structure
in the welds of ferritic sheet materials, together with good
resistance of the welds to both wet corrosion and high
temperature oxidation, corresponding to the conditions
encountered respectively in the colder and hotter parts of
the exhaust line. This is achieved by limitation of the C
(<0.02%) and N (<0.02%) contents, stabilisation with Nb,
such that Nb > 0.05 + 7 (C + N) and Nb < 0.5%, and a Cr
content of 17.8-18.8% .
GMAW weldability tests on 1 and/or 1.5 mm thick sheets
of AISI 409, 436 and 441 grades, using 1 mm diameter
430LNb welding wire, gave good quality beads (shape,
structure, tensile properties, bending, intergranular corro-
sion resistance), with a welding speed of the order of 2
m/min. The quality of the weld seams obtained was at
least as good as that of welds made on the same sheets
using austenitic filler materials (308LSi and 307Si). Tests
specific to the automotive exhaust application have been
undertaken in the laboratory in order to compare the ser-
vice behaviour of the welds with that obtained using aus-
tenitic filler wires. These included fatigue endurance tests
performed in the tension-compression mode between
300 and 950°C, thermal fatigue tests involving cycling of
restrained specimens between 250 and 900°C, and dip-
dry corrosion-oxidation tests simulating the combination
1
2000-01-0314
Usinor Recherches
P. Pédarré
Ugine Savoie Imphy
A. Bruyère
Sprint Métal
of salt attack and high temperature corrosion. All the
results obtained confirm that the 430LNb welding wire is
at least as good as the austenitic filler materials most
commonly employed in Europe. Tests carried out on real
components by exhaust system manufacturers also con-
firm the high productivity and good quality of the welds.
INTRODUCTION
The increasingly widespread use of ferritic stainless
steels (AISI 409, 439, 436 and 441) for automotive
exhaust systems has led USI (Ugine Savoie Imphy, a
subsidiary of Usinor) to develop a new ferritic stainless
steel welding wire adapted to this application, designated
430LNb. Until now, the welding wires most commonly
used in Europe are the 308LSi and 307Si austenitic
stainless steels, capable of welding both carbon steels
and austenitic and ferritic stainless grades. However, in
the USA, 409Cb wire has been employed for many years
for welding low Cr ferritic sheets.
The 430LNb 18% Cr welding wire has been developed to
meet the requirements associated with the increasing
use of high Cr (18%) ferritic stainless steel sheets, such
as AISI 441, due to the trend towards higher tempera-
tures in the upstream part of exhaust systems to improve
the efficiency of catalytic converters.
The present paper shows that the new wire has weldabil-
ity and service properties equal to, and in some cases
better than, those of the 308LSi and 307Si austenitic
grades. Weldability was evaluated by joining ferritic stain-
less steel sheets corresponding to AISI grades 409, 436
and 441. The functional properties were determined by
measuring the corrosion and oxidation resistance,
together with the mechanical and thermal fatigue
strengths. This was done with the aid of specially devel-
oped tests, which are briefly described below.
The results of industrial welding operations on real
exhaust system components using 430LNb wire are also
described.

MAIN SECTION
1.5 mm
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Materials – The 430LNb wire was used to weld AISI 409,

Figure 1. 441/441 assembly produced with a 430LNb
441 and 436 sheets and was compared with 308LSi and
wire.
307Si filler materials. A comparison in terms of weldabil-
ity was also made with a 409Cb wire, used to weld AISI
Dip-dry tests – From the corrosion standpoint, exhaust
409. The chemical analyses of the wires and sheets eval-
lines may be roughly divided into two parts :
uated are given in Table 1 below.
• the front part, subjected mainly to high temperature
Table 1. Chemical analyses of the welding wires and oxidation, together with short periods of wet corro-
sheets (wt. %). sion due to condensates (internal parts) or road salt
projections ( external parts ) ;
Sheets C Si S P Mn Ni Cr Mo Ti Nb N
• the rear part, exposed to lower temperatures, and
409 .007 .5 .004 .021 .2 .1 11.2 .01 .18 - .010 subjected mainly to wet corrosion by condensates
436 .040 .4 .004 .022 .5 .1 17.2 1.20 - .54 .024 (internal parts), or by road salt projections (external
441 .014 .5 .003 .020 .5 .2 17.5 .02 .15 .55 .018 parts).
Wires C Si S P Mn Ni Cr Mo Ti Nb N In order to simulate these conditions, USI has developed
307Si .077 .7 .009 .016 7.1 8.3 18.9 .12 - - .056 a specific “dip-dry” test, illustrated in Figure 2, which
308LSi .014 .9 .008 .018 1.8 10.3 19.9 .11 - - .045 involves the following cyclic procedure :
409Nb .056 1.3 .017 .020 1.6 .2 12.2 .06 .36 .93 .037 • periodic immersion into solutions carefully selected
430LNb .017 .4 .002 .018 .3 .3 18.0 .04 .01 .32 .017 to simulate exposure to condensates or saline
splashing, in order to reproduce wet corrosion mech-
anisms ;
Welding procedure – In order to enable mechanical test-
• transfer to a furnace simulating high speed running
ing of the welds, gapless MIG butt welding was per-
and the associated high temperature corrosion and
formed. The welding parameters were adapted to comply
oxidation mechanisms.
with standard exhaust system welding procedures:
Furnace Samples
• base metal thickness : 1.5 mm
• filler wire diameter : 1.0 mm
• voltage : U = 30 V
• current : I = 225 A
• welding speed : 208 cm/min Beakers, acid

• wire speed : 965 cm/min and/or salt solution

• heat input : 1.95 kJ/cm Figure 2. Principle of the dip-dry test (alternate
• shielding gas : EN 439-M3 (Ar + 2%O2) immersion in a solution and exposure in a
furnace). For example : urban cycle, internal
• back protection : EN 439 - I1 (pure argon)
parts → 18 immersions for 5 min in a
The same welding parameters were used for all the weld- synthetic condensate with pH = 3 at 50°C
ing wires tested : 308LSi, 307Si, 409Cb and 430LNb. separated by 5 min intervals, followed by 60
Figure 1 shows an example of the weld seams obtained min furnace exposure, for a total of 30 days;
(441/441 assembly with a 430LNb wire). motorway cycle, external parts → 1
immersion for 5 min in 0.5M NaCl, pH = 6.6,
Corrosion tests at 50°C + 120 min furnace exposure, for a
total of 30 days.
Intergranular corrosion test – 20 mm wide specimens
with a central weld, cut from the AISI 436 and 441 High temperature fatigue testing
assemblies, were subjected in the as-welded condition to
the ASTM A262-E test. In the case of AISI 409 assem- Mechanical fatigue – Figure 3a shows the drawing of the
blies, the “modified” ASTM A262-E test [1] was fatigue specimens cut from the weld assemblies. The lon-
employed. gitudinal specimen dimensions are chosen to allow for
the seam width “ w”. Special grips were made from a

2
nickel-base superalloy, designed to both clamp the speci- Thermal fatigue – A special thermal fatigue test has
men ends and to guide them to within 1.5 mm of the edge been developed to evaluate the thermal fatigue resis-
of the seam (Figure 3b), in order to avoid buckling during tance of stainless steel sheets. The testing rig and the
tension-compression loading (R = σmax/σmin = - 1). In experimental procedure are described in detail in refer-
the case of tests on unwelded sheet, the same type of ences [2] and [3]. In summary, thermal cycles are
specimen was used, conserving a free zone 3 mm long imposed on a clamped V-shaped specimen, by alternate
(twice the sheet thickness) between the guided parts. resistance heating and air cooling (Figure 4). Damage
accumulation at the top of the V due to the thermally-
Guided parts
(0.08 mm clearance on either side of the sheet) induced plastic strain eventually leads to failure of the
specimen. The thermal fatigue life of the specimen is
Clamped parts Clamped parts
expressed as the number of cycles to failure and
. depends on the maximum and minimum temperature
thickness = 1.5
during the thermal cycle, the specimen thickness, and
weld seam
the material concerned. The test has been adapted to
the case of welded specimens as shown in the insert in
Figure 4, in order to characterise the HAZ. The thermal
w
cycle is defined by a maximum temperature of 900°C and
45.5 15
(weld seam width)
1.5
a minimum temperature of 250°C, with no holding time.
The duration of each cycle is about 200 seconds. The
.
124 + w
thickness is kept constant and equal to 1.5 mm, 3 or 4
specimens being tested for each type of welding wire.
Homogeneous 441, 409 and 436 assemblies produced
(a) with the different welding wires were compared.

HAZ

FZ

Thermocouple


 

  

Figure 4. Schematic principle of the thermal fatigue
test.

(b) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 3. (a) Geometry of the mechanical fatigue Weldability and basic properties of the weld seams –
specimens - the dimensions are measured Weldability, in terms of fluidity, wettability and ease of
from the edges of the central weld seam; (b) execution, was essentially the same for all the welding
Specimen mounting system, with part of the wires tested. In contrast, large differences were observed
top grip removed and without the refractory in the microhardness of the weld seams :
string used to attach and protect the • with austenitic filler metals, there is a sharp disconti-
thermocouple. nuity in hardness between the fusion zone and the
ferritic base metal (cf. example hardness profiles for
Heating was performed in a radiation furnace. The tem- 409/409 and 441/441 assemblies in Figure 5b) ; this
perature was controlled by a thermocouple attached by is due to extensive martensite formation in the
refractory string to the free part of the specimen, the melted zone, especially in the 409/409 assembly.
string also protecting this zone from direct radiation. The
tests were performed on a 100 kN servohydraulic • with ferritic filler metals, especially 430LNb, the hard-
machine, at a frequency of 20 Hz, at temperatures from ness of the fusion zone is the same as that of the
300 to 950°C, to a maximum of about 2.105 cycles. base metal.

3
 Table 2. Ericksen cupping test results on weld
FZ assemblies compared to those for the base
BM
metal (BM)

HAZ HAZ Base

metal AISI 409 AISI 436 AISI 441
Filler metal Ericksen % Ericksen % Ericksen %
Figure 5a. Location of hardness measurements.
BM BM BM
Punch side top rear top rear top rear
AISI 409 307Si 68.5 70.8 66 63 86.6 86.6
400
308LSI
350 308LSi 77.6 78.8 76 77 90.4 87.3
4370M
Hardness HV100g

300
430LNb 409Cb 86.5 84 - - - -
250
409Cb
200 430LNb 98 96 93 93 96 94.5
150
100
50 Corrosion resistance
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Intergranular corrosion resistance – None of the assem-
blies tested (AISI 409, 441 and 436, with 430LNb, 308LSi
and 307Si filler metals) showed any sign of intergranular
400
AISI 441 corrosion.
350 308LSI
Dip-dry tests – In the temperature range studied (furnace
Hardness HV100g

300 4370M
250 430LNb
temperatures of 300°C- 800°C) , no significant difference
200 in corrosion resistance was revealed between assem-
150 blies produced with 430LNb wire and those made with
100 austenitic filler metals, whatever the corrosive medium,
50 either synthetic condensate (internal parts) or salt solu-
0 tion (external parts). Figure 6 shows an example of a
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 specimen after testing.

Figure 5b. Hardness profiles on 409/409 and 441/441

assemblies (1.5 mm thick sheet) made with
different welding wires (4370M = 307Si).

In order to characterise the drawability of the weld

seams, Ericksen cupping tests were performed on both
welded and unwelded specimens, the punch being
applied against either the top or rear surface of the weld.
The results are given in Table 2 in terms of the limiting
cup heights as a percentage of those obtained in the
absence of a weld. In this test also, ferritic filler metals,
and especially 430LNb, prove to be far better than auste- 308LSi 307Si 430LNb
nitic ones. Cross-weld tensile tests were also performed,
but essentially showed that fracture always occurs in the Figure 6. dip-dry test (urban cycle-synthetic
base metal. condensate-600°C-30 days) on 441/441
assemblies.

High temperature fatigue

Mechanical fatigue – The results of tests on specimens

with and without welds for AISI 441 and AISI 436 are
shown in Figure 7, together with the static tensile proper-
ties, for the 4 test temperatures studied (300, 750, 850

4
and 950°C). For both sheet alloys and for all test temper- Furthermore, the results on the welded assemblies are
atures, the stress for a life of 200000 cycles (σNf = 200000) close to those obtained on unwelded sheet, the values of
can be seen to vary very little with the type of filler metal σNf = 200000 being 10 to 25% lower at 300°C and slightly
employed. higher (2 to 15%) at 850 and 950°C. The ratio between
the endurance limit and the static tensile strength
500
300°C 500
(σNf = 200000/UTS) is logically less than 1 at 300°C (≈

UTS
300°C
450
0.45) and 750°C (≈ 0.70), but becomes greater than 1 at
UTS

450

400
400 850°C (≈ 1.25) and 950°C (≈ 1.45). This high tempera-
350
350
ture behaviour can probably be explained by the stability

0.2%YS
of strain hardening at the high strain rates employed in
300
σ Nf = 200000 300
σNf = 200000
stress (MPa)

0.2%YS

stress (MPa)
250
the fatigue tests, whereas dynamic recrystallisation dur-
250
ing the slower static tensile tests leads to relative soften-
200
200
ing.
150 150

100 100 Thermal fatigue – Figure 8 shows the results of thermal

50 50 fatigue lives obtained for 308LSi , 307Si and 430LNb
0 0
wires used for welding of 409/409 and 441/441 assem-
AISI 441
AISI 441

308LSi
307Si

308LSi
430LNb

307Si
AISI 441

AISI 436

430LNb
AISI 436
AISI 436

blies. We choose to express fatigue lives by the ratio of

the life of welded specimens over the life of the base
metal. 409 specimens welded using the 430LNb wire
AISI 441 AISI 436
exhibit a very good thermal fatigue resistance compare to
specimen welded using 308LSi and 307Si wires.
160
750°C 850°C 950°C
140
UTS

100
0.2%YS

120
90
100 σ Nf = 200000
stress (MPa)

Thermal fatigue ratio 80

σNf = 200000
80
100=base metal 70 Base metals
60 60
0.2%YS

409
σNf = 200000
UTS

0.2%YS

50 441
UTS

40
436
20
40

30
0
AISI 441
AISI 441

AISI 441

AISI 441
AISI 441

AISI 441

AISI 441
AISI 441

AISI 441
430LNb

430LNb

430LNb
308LSi

308LSi

308LSi
307Si

307Si

307Si

20

10

0
AISI441
308LSi 307Si 430LNb

160
Welding wires
750°C 850°C 950°C
140

Figure 8. Thermal fatigue lives for 409, 436 and 441

UTS
0.2%YS

120
assemblies produced with 307Si, 308LSi and
100 σNf = 200000 430LNb welding wires, expressed as a
stress (MPa)

percentage of the lives for the unwelded base

σNf = 200000
80

metals.
0.2%YS

60
σNf = 200000
UTS

0.2%YS

40
In the case of 441 and 436 assemblies, the fatigue ther-
UTS

20 mal life of the specimen welded with 430LNb wire is

0
always included in the range of lives of specimen welded
using 308LSi and 307Si (see figure 8) . Metallographic
307Si
430LNb
308LSi
AISI 436

430LNb
308LSi
307Si
AISI 436
AISI 436

AISI 436
307Si

AISI 436
AISI 436

AISI 436
308LSi
430LNb

AISI 436
AISI 436

observations evidence two type of thermal fatigue crack

propagation in specimen : in Heat Affected Zone (HAZ)
AISI 436
or Base Metal (BM) or at interface between HAZ and
Fusion Zone (FZ), as shown in Table 3 and Figure 9.
Figure 7. 200000 cycle endurance limits (σNf =
200000) for both weld assemblies (denoted
430LNb, 308LSi or 307Si) and unwelded
sheets; (a) AISI 441 and (b) AISI 436,
compared to the static tensile properties
(0.2%YS and UTS) of the unwelded base
materials, for test temperatures of 300, 750,
850 and 950°C.

5
 TESTS CARRIED OUT ON REAL EXHAUST
Table 3. Area of thermal fatigue cracks COMPONENTS – Within the framework of a partnership
Welding wires with Faurecia, a major exhaust system manufacturer,
Base metals 308LSi 307Si 430LNb MIG welding tests using both 430LNb wire and 308LSi
409
×
wire for comparison have been carried out on different
441 × ×
assembly configurations, two of which are shown in Fig-
436 × ×
ure 10.

× indicates a crack at interface between Heated Affected Zone and Fu-
sion Zone ;
indicates a crack in Heated Affected Zone or Base Metal.
The behaviours of the two filler wires are very similar. In
particular, the welding parameters are fairly close, with a
slightly higher welding current for 430LNb, probably due
to a difference in electrical conductivity. In the tests on the
racetrack converter can, somewhat higher welding
speeds were found to be possible with 430LNb wire.

(a)

(a)

(b)

Figure 3. Thermal fatigue cracks : a. 441 assembly

welded with 430LNb (crack in base metal/


HAZ, ) ; b. 441 assembly welded with 307Si
( crack at interface HAZ/FZ, ×).

The low resistance obtained for the assemblies welded

with 307Si wire can be explained by a systematic fatigue
crack propagation occuring at the interface the between
melting zone and the heat affected zone. In case of 409
assemblies the advantage of durability for the ferritic
welding wire is more evident. We can notice a larger plas-
tic strain of the melting zone in case of austenic wires
due to a higher thermal expansion coefficient compared
(b)
to ferritic base metals, and which can lead to a thermally-
induced deformation of the exhaust component near the
Figure 10. Fillet welds on Faurecia catalysts : (a) straight
welded seam (catalytic converter, manifold).
weld on an AISI 409 racetrack type catalytic
converter can; (b) circular weld on an
AISI 441 cylindrical catalytic converter can.

6
CONCLUSIONS
The aim of the present study was to determine whether
the 430LNb ferritic stainless steel welding wire developed
by USI (Ugine Savoie Imphy) could provide a satisfactory
new solution for welding the ferritic stainless steel sheets
containing 18% Cr (or less) used in automotive exhaust
systems.
GMAW welds were first of all made on 1.5 mm thick
sheets of AISI 409, 436 and 441 grades, using 1 mm
diameter 430LNb, 308LSi and 307Si welding wires.
Whatever the sheet material, the 430LNb wire gave good
quality beads (shape, structure, tensile and bending
properties, intergranular corrosion resistance), with a
welding speed of the order of 2 m/min. The quality of the
weld seams obtained was at least as good as that of
welds made on the same sheets using austenitic filler
materials (308LSi and 307Si).
Tests specific to the automotive exhaust application have
been undertaken in the laboratory in order to compare
the service behavior of welds produced using 430LNb
wire with that of similar welds obtained with austenitic
filler metals. These included dip-dry corrosion-oxidation
tests simulating the combination of salt attack and high
temperature corrosion, mechanical fatigue tests per-
formed in the tension-compression mode between 300
and 950°C, and thermal fatigue tests involving cycling of
restrained specimens between 250 and 900°C. All the
results obtained confirm that the 430LNb welding wire is
at least as good as the austenitic filler materials most
commonly employed in Europe, and sometimes better
(e.g. the thermal fatigue results on 409/409 assemblies).
Finally, tests carried out on real components by exhaust
system manufacturers also confirm the high productivity
and good quality of the welds.
REFERENCES
1. T.M. DEVINE and J. DRUMMOND : ‘An Accelerated
Intergranular Corrosion Test for Detecting Sensitiza-
tion in Low Chromium Ferritic Stainless Steel’, in
Corrosion NACE, 38 (6), 1982
2. H. SASSOULAS, P-O. SANTACREU : ‘Eléments
pour prédire la durée de vie en fatigue thermique
d’élements de lignes d’échappement réalisés en
acier inoxydable’, 18ème Journée de Printemps de la
SF2M- Dimensionnement en Fatigue des Structures :
Démarche et outils, Paris, 2-3 June 1999, p. 161.
3. P-O. SANTACREU et al. : ‘Thermal Fatigue of Stain-
less Steels and its Application to Life Prediction of
Automotive Exhaust Lines’, Thermal Stresses’99,
Cracow, Poland, June 13-17 1999, p. 245
CONTACT
1. N. Renaudot, Research Metallurgist, Usinor Recher-
ches, Centre de Recherches, 73403 Ugine cedex
(France), fax : 33 4 79 89 35 00
2. P.O. Santacreu, Research Metallurgist, Usinor
Recherches, Centre de Recherches, 73403 Ugine
cedex (France), tel: 33 4 79 89 35 43, fax: 33 4 79 89
35 00.
3. J. Ragot, Corrosion Laboratory Manager, Usinor
Recherches, Centre de Recherches, 73403 Ugine
cedex (France), tel: 33 4 79 89 38 35, fax: 33 4 79 89
35 00.
4. J.L. Moiron, Welding Laboratory Manager, Usinor
Recherches, Centre de Recherches, 71130
Gueugnon (France), tel: 33 3 85 85 78 53, fax: 33 3
85 85 79 56.
5. R. Cozar, Senior Research Metallurgist, Usinor
Recherches, Centre de Recherches, 58160 Imphy
(France), tel: 33 3 86 21 32 19, fax: 33 3 86 21 31 11.
6. P. Pédarré, Wire Rod Products Manager, Ugine
Savoie Imphy, Direction Commerciale, 73403 Ugine
cedex (France), tel: 33 4 79 89 30 08, fax: 33 4 79 89
31 92.
7. A. Bruyère, Welding Products Manager, Sprint Métal,
BP1103, Maginot, 01000 Bourg-en-Bresse (France),
tel: 33 4 74 45 94 20, fax: 33 4 74 45 94 19.