ASTM A 763 - 93 (Reapprived 2004) Standard Practices for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Ferritic Stainless Steels

ASTM 1993 (Reapprived 2004), 11p. A 763 Standard Practices for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Ferritic Stainless SteelsThis practices covers the detecting susceptibility to intergranular attack in ferritic stainless steel. Different method of preparing steel test specimens are presented. Four practices, including Practice W, X, Y, and Z, are used for determining susceptibility to intergranular attack in ferritic stainless steel. These practices cover the following tests; oxalic acid etch test, ferritic sulphate-sulfuric acid test, copper-copper sulphate-50% sulfuric acid test, and copper-copper sulphate-16% sulfuric acid test. Test specimens shall be examined for the ferritic sulphate-sulfuric acid test and copper-copper sulphate-50% sulphuric acid test under a binocular microscope at 40x magnification. The bend test evaluations for the steel test specimens are presentedScope
These practices cover the following four tests:
Practice W—Oxalic acid etch test for detecting susceptibility to intergranular attack in stabilized ferritic stainless steels by classification of the etching structures.
Practice X—Ferric sulfate-sulfuric acid test for detecting susceptibility to intergranular attack in ferritic stainless steels.
Practice Y—Copper-copper sulfate-50 % sulfuric acid test for detecting susceptibility to intergranular attack in ferritic stainless steels.
Practice Z—Copper-copper sulfate-16 % sulfuric acid test for detecting susceptibility to intergranular attack in ferritic stainless steels.
The following factors govern the application of these practices:
Practice W, oxalic acid test, is a rapid method of identifying, by simple, electrolytic etching, those specimens of certain ferritic alloys that are not susceptible to intergranular corrosion associated with chromium carbide precipitation. Practice W is used as a screening test to avoid the necessity, for acceptable specimens, of more extensive testing required by Practices X, Y, and Z. See Table 1 for a listing of alloys for which Practice W is appropriate
Practices X, Y, and Z can be used to detect the susceptibility of certain ferritic alloys to intergranular attack associated with the precipitation of chromium carbides or nitrides
Practices W, X, Y, and Z can also be used to evaluate the effect of heat treatment or of fusion welding on susceptibility to intergranular corrosion
Table 2 lists the identification ferritic stainless steels for which data on the application of at least one of the standard practices is available
Some stabilized ferritic stainless steels may show high rates when tested by Practice X because of metallurgical factors not associated with chromium carbide or nitride precipitation. This possibility must be considered in selecting the test method. Combinations of alloys and test methods for which successful experience is available are shown in Table
1. Application of these standard tests to the other ferritic stainless steels will be by specific agreement between producer and user.