Method of producing weld overlay of austenitic stainless steel

A steel mill roll comprising a core section of low alloy steel, and an annular outer section of a plurality of fused layers deposited by electric arc welding of an austenitic stainless steel filler which, prior to welding, consists essentially of, in weight percent, from about 0.015% to about 0.10% carbon, about 6.0% to about 10.0% manganese, about 2.0% maximum silicon, about 0.06% maximum phosphorus, about 0.06% maximum sulfur, about 13.0% to about 20.0% chromium, about 1.0% to less than 3.5% nickel, up to about 0.9% copper, up to about 1% molybdenum, 0.12% to 0.22% nitrogen, and balance essentially iron, said austenitic stainless steel having an instability factor ranging from about 4 to 8.2 calculated by the equation:

• Instability factor=37.2--51.25 (%C)--2.59 (%Ni)--1.02 (%Mn)--0.47 (%Cr)--34.4 (%N)--3 (%Cu), at least the uppermost of said layers being substantially fully austenitic.

A composite article comprising a core section of ferrous base metal and an outer section of a plurality of fused layers deposited by electric arc welding of an austenitic stainless steel filler, the top layer of the weld consisting essentially of, in weight percent, from about 0.015% to about 0.10% carbon, about 3.0% to about 10.0% manganese, about 2.0% maximum silicon, about 0.06% maximum phosphorus, about 0.06% maximum phosphorus, about 0.06% maximum sulfur, about 11% to about 20% chromium, about 1.0% to less than 3.5% nickel, up to about 0.9% copper, up to about 1% molybdenum, about 0.10% to 0.22% nitrogen, and balance essentially iron.