The vulnerability of as-welded or improperly heat-treated unstabilized austenitic stainless steels to intergranular corrosion in certain types of corrosive media is well known. Several laboratory testing methods have been developed which have been employed for detecting susceptibility to intergranular corrosion. The use of such evaluation procedures permits prediction in advance as to whether or not the material represented by the test specimen will fail through intergranular corrosion when in service environments capable of attacking susceptible material in this manner. The three principal methods currently employed are the boiling 65 per cent nitric acid test, the acidified copper sulfate solution test, and the nitric-hydrofluoric acid test.

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