Abstract
Stainless steels is widely used in various industries due to its high strength and excellent corrosion resistance. However, in the case of fusion welding for stainless steel, chromium deficiency layer produced by chromium carbide precipitation during welding process causes corrosion-resistance to be lower and formation of intergranular corrosion. It requires a inevitable complex procedure such as pre-heating and post-heating process etc. to prevent such weld defects. From this viewpoint, the new welding process such as a solid state welding method is suited for welding of stainless steels due to its advantages over the fusion welding. Therefore this paper intends to investigate the research trend on friction stir welding, one of solid state welding processes for stainless steels.