Microstructure Characteristics of Borated Austenitic Stainless Steel Welds

Borated austenitic stainless steel is used in nuclear industry due to the high neutron absorption efficiency. The plasma, laser and electron beam welding experiments were used for the study of the weld joints microstructure. The microstructure changes caused by welding process were observed by light optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The microstructural characterization and microchemical analysis showed significant changes of the phase composition in the weld metal mainly. The austenitic dendrites were surrounded by eutectics, which were the mixture of the M₂(C,B) and M₂₃(C,B) borocarbides, δ-ferrite and austenite.