With regard to stainless steel welding, what is creep resistance?
Creep is the phenomenon of continuing plastic strain over long periods of time at loads below the yield point. Creep only happens at high temperatures (around 900 degrees F and higher for stainless steels). Certain stainless steel weld metals have higher resistance than others to creep at high temperatures. For example, 308H (0.04 to 0.08 percent C) has higher creep resistance than 308L (0.04 percent C maximum), meaning that 308H can sustain a given load for a longer time than 308L, or it can withstand a higher load than 308L for the same length of time. But eventually, both will fail under load at high temperature.