Nickel Alloys Inconel Alloy 601 N06601


Product Data Sheet – Nickel Alloys
Inconel® Alloy601™ UNS N0776601

Inconel^® Alloy 601™ is a solid solution nickel chromium heat resisting alloy which gives outstanding performance at temperatures up to about 1200°C. Inconel 601 also has good aqueous corrosion resistance due to the high nickel content in combination with chromium. Strength and toughness are good, and are retained during extended service at high temperature.

Chemical Composition

ASTM B166 – Rod, Bar & Wire

Element	%
Nickel	58.0-63.0
Chromium	21.0-25.0
Iron	~ 16
Aluminium	1.0-1.7
Carbon	0.10 max
Manganese	1.5 max
Silicon	0.50 max
Sulphur	0.015 max
Copper	1.0 max

Specified Minimum Mechanical Properties

ASTM B166 – Bar (Annealed)

0.2% Proof Stress	Tensile Strength	Elongation
MPa	MPa	%
205	550	30

Typical Applications

Thermal processing equipment – baskets, trays, fixtures, radiant tubes, muffles, retorts, flame shields, woven wire conveyers, burner nozzles and electrical resistance heating wires. Other applications include thermocouple protection tubes, process heaters, condenser tubes, catalyst supports in nitric acid manufacture, exhaust systems in gasoline engines and combustion chambers, superheater tube supports and ash handling in power generation.

Description

Inconel 601 is a solid solution nickel chromium alloy for high temperature heat resistance. It has excellent oxidation resistance. Inconel 601 also has good resistance to carburising but should not be used in atmospheres containing sulphur, particularly reducing sulphur. Inconel 601 has good resistance to nitriding in dissociated ammonia, and is only outperformed by Inconel 600 in this application. Inconel 601 has good strength, ductility and toughness, and can be used at cryogenic temperatures.

Availability

Austral Wright Metals can supply Inconel 601 as plate, sheet and strip, rod and bar, seamless tube and pipe, wire, forgings and forging stock.

Oxidation Resistance

Inconel 601 has outstanding resistance to high temperature oxidation. It resists oxidation and spalling at temperatures as high as 1260°C. The protective oxide coating resists scaling even under severe conditions, and the alloy also has good resistance to carburisation and nitridation. Its resistance to sulphur is poor and it should not be used in atmospheres containing sulphur, particularly reducing sulphur.


Variation of tensile properties with temperature		Cyclic oxidation resistance of Inconel 601 at 1150°C

Each cycle was 50 hours at temperature, then air cooled to room temperature.

Pressure Vessels

Inconel 601 is qualified for use in pressure vessels in ASME Section VIII (Code case 1500) to 480°C. It is not pre qualified in AS1210.

Corrosion Resistance

Inconel 601 has excellent corrosion resistance to the mineral acids, similar to Inconel 600. Inconel 601 has good resistance to sodium hydroxide solutions and because of the high nickel content good resistance to chloride stress corrosion cracking. As with austenitic stainless steels Inconel 601 can be sensitised to intergranular corrosion in some aggressive media after heating in the temperature range 540 – 760°C. Please consult Austral Wright Metals for your specific application.

Fabrication

Inconel 601 is readily hot worked. Inconel 601 must be clean before heating is commenced and should not be heated in an atmosphere high in sulphur. This alloy can be cold formed similarly to austenitic stainless steel. Work hardening in cold forming may require intermediate annealing.

Machinability

Inconel 601 as a ‘C’ class alloy is fairly difficult to machine. Heavy machines, sharp tools, slow speeds and deep cuts to remove the work hardened layer are needed.

Weldability

Inconel 601 is readily weldable by the SMAW (manual), GMAW (MIG), GTAW (TIG) and SAW processes. Preheat or post weld heat treatment are not needed. Care must be taken to avoid contamination of the weld pool. Argon is used as the shielding gas.

Filler Metal Selection

	Normal Service	Higher Strength	Best Corrosion Resistance
Welding Electrode	Inconel WE 182	Inconel WE 117	N/A
Filler Metal	Inconel FM 82	Inconel FM 617	Inconel FM 601
Flux Cored Wire	Inco Cored 82DH	N/A	N/A

Heat Treatment

Inconel 601 is solution annealed at 1100 – 1180°C, and cooled quickly so as to avoid sensitisation to intergranular corrosion. Annealing time should be short to avoid excessive grain growth.

Equivalent Specifications

Country	Body	Grade
USA	UNS	N06601
France	AFNOR	NC 23 FeA
GB	BS	–
Germany	DIN	2.4851

Physical Properties

Property	Metric Units
Density	8,110 kg/m³ @ 20°C

Melting Point	1360-1411°C

Electrical Resistivity	1190 micro-ohm . m @ 20°C

Specific Heat	448 J/kg . °C @ 20°C
Mean Coefficient of Expansion	13.8 x 10^-6 / °C @ 20°C
Thermal Conductivity	11.2 W / m . °C @ 20°C
Curie Temperature	-320°C

Modulus of Elasticity
Tension	207 GPa @ 20°C
Torsion	81.2 GPa @ 20°C
Poisson’s Ratio	0.272 @ 20°C

ASTM Product Specifications

Specification	Title
B166	Nickel Chromium Iron and Nickel Chromium Molybdenum Rod, Bar and Wire
B167	Nickel Chromium Iron Seamless Pipe
B168	Nickel Chromium Iron Alloys and Nickel Chromium Cobalt Molybdenum Alloy Plate, Sheet and Strip

The technical advice and recommendations made in this Product Data Sheet should not be relied or acted upon without conducting your own further investigations, including corrosion exposure tests where needed. Please consult current editions of standards for design properties. Austral Wright Metals assumes no liability in connection with the information in this Product Data Sheet. Austral Wright Metals supplies a comprehensive range of stainless steels, copper alloys, nickel alloys and other high performance metals for challenging service conditions. Our engineers and metallurgists will be pleased to provide further data and applications advice.