Difference: ASTM A249, ASTM A269

Both ASTM A269 and ASTM A249 can be used to weld stainless steel tubes.

ASTM A249/A249M standard specification for welding austenitic steel boilers, superheaters, heat exchangers and condenser pipes.

ASTM A269/A269M standard specification for seamless stainless steel pipes and welded stainless steel pipes for general service.

Comparison of ASTM A249 and ASTM A269

The ASTM A249 and ASTM A269 specifications are two standards for austenitic stainless steel pipes. They have the same technical requirements, but there are some differences.

Application Ranges

• ASTM A249 welded pipes are used in boilers, superheaters, heat exchangers, condenser systems, and pressure equipment to transfer heat. Similar to ASTM A213 for seamless steel pipe standard specification.
• ASTM A269 pipes are generally used for general purposes, usually used in equipment and instruments, and are also suitable for low or high temperature environments. Therefore, ASTM A269 pipes are also used for heat transfer equipment.

Materials & Grades

ASTM A249 and ASTM A269 Specifications indicate tube material is Austenitic Stainless Steel grades, which is wide used in stainless steel families, TP304, TP304L, TP316, TP316L, TP347, TP347H, TP321, TP321H, 904L grade is ideal material for various applications, they have some advantages that other steels do not have.

However, in some cases, Ferritic Stainless Steel Grade and Duplex stainless steel pipes are produced to comply with A249 or A269 standard, Ferritic steel pipes can reduce cost, and duplex steel tubes increase strength and longevity.

Common grades of ASTM A249

• ASTM A249 TP304
• ASTM A249 TP304L
• ASTM A249 TP316/316L
• ASME SA249 TP304
• ASME SA249 TP316L

Common grades of ASTM A269

• ASTM A269 TP304
• ASTM A269 TP304L
• ASTM A269 TP316
• ASTM A269 TP316L

Dimensions of ASTM A249 & ASTM A269

ASTM A249 pipe size and wall thickness are: 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) inner diameter to 12 inch (304.8 mm) outer diameter, 0.015 inch to 0.32 inch (0.4 – 8.1 mm). Pipe size and thickness in accordance with ASTM A269 are 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) on the inside diameter, which is larger, and 0.020 inch (0.51 mm) at nominal wall thickness or heavier.

Pipe dimensions are expressed in inches or millimeters, and sometimes specifications (BWG) are specified.

Tolerances of ASTM A249 & ASTM A269

The dimensional tolerances of ASTM A249 and ASTM A269 welded pipes comply with ASTM A1016, the differences are shown in the table below:

Manufacture Process

ASTM A249 indicates that welded pipes should be cold worked or cold drawn before final heat treatment. ASTM A269 pipes shall be cold or hot processed welded or seamless.

Testing And Quality Control

Surface: Both ASTM A249 and ASTM A269 specifications, after heat treatment, stainless steel tubings should be pickled free of scale, when bright annealing is used, pickling is not necessary.

Heat Treatment: All the pipes under ASTM A249 and ASTM A269 standards should be heat treated condition unless in special condition, there are different annealing temperatures for different materials.

Mechanical Properties:

• ASTM A249: flattening, flange and reverse bend, tensile testing and hardness.
• ASTM A269: flaring test for seamless tubing, flange test for welded pipe, reverse Flattening Test and hardness test.

Nondestructive Test: Each pipe should be conducted to the nondestructive test or the hydrostatic test, in many cases, nondestructive test refer to eddy current test or air underwater test.

Dual Certification Standard

Users should distinguish between ASTM A249 and ASTM A269 specification, although they are typical standards for stainless steel tube technical requirement, but different.

In some cases, users require stainless steel pipe conform to dual certified standard A249/A269, it means the pipes should comply to both ASTM A249 and ASTM A269, and get best value or result specified in the two specifications, the pipes will be high quality.

ASME SA249 is the same standard with ASTM A249 specification, ASME SA-249 is published by ASME, but ASME have no equivalent standard with ASTM A269.

Common Dimension Of ASTM A249 / A269 pipes