Cruciform fillet welded joint fatigue strength improvements by weld metal phase transformations

Arc welding typically generates residual tensile stresses in welded joints, leading to deteriorated fatigue performance of these joints. Volume expansion of the weld metal at high temperatures followed by contraction during cooling induces a local tensile residual stress state. A new type of welding wire capable of inducing a local compressive residual stress state by means of controlled martensitic transformation at relatively low temperatures has been studied, and the effects of the transformation temperature and residual stresses on fatigue strength are discussed. In this study, several LTTW (Low Transformation‐Temperature Welding) wires have been developed and investigated to better characterize the effect of phase transformation on residual stress management in welded joints. Non‐load‐carrying cruciform fillet welded joints were prepared for measurement of residual stresses and fatigue testing. The measurement of the residual stresses of the three designed wires reveals a compressive residual stress near the weld toe. The fatigue properties of the new wires are enhanced compared to a commercially available wire.     

高强度焊条熔敷金属合金系研究

对MnNiCrMo和7％NiMo合金系的高强度焊条熔敷金属进行了试验研究.结果显示,MnNiCrMo系可在0.05％-0.07％碳含量条件下获得屈服强度大于900MPa的高强度焊缝金属,Akv-50℃40-60J,焊缝屈强比0.93-0.98,强度稳定;7％NiMo合金系可在≤0.05％碳含量条件下获得屈服强度大于90...     

Application of low Ms temperature consumable to dissimilar welded joint

Abstract

The welding of dissimilar joints is very common in systems used in oil exploration and production in deep sea waters. Commonly involves welding of low carbon steel pipes with low alloy steel forgings both with inner Inconel clad. The forged steel part undergoes a process of buttering with Inconel or carbon steel electrode before the weld of the joint. The buttering process is followed by a process of residual stresses relief. The conventional way of reducing the level of residual stresses in welded joints is to apply post welding heat treatments. Depending on the size and complexity of the parts to be joined, this can become a serious problem. An alternative technique for reducing residual stresses is to use an electrode that during the cooling process undergoes a displacive transformation at a relatively low temperature so that the deformation resulting from the transformation compensates the contraction during the cooling process, and, although many papers have been published in this direction using Fe–Cr–Ni alloys, most of them report a loss of toughness in the weld metal. Maraging steel is a family of materials with M_s temperature below 200°C and even without the final heat treatment of aging has superior mechanical properties to low alloy steels used in forgings. In this work, forged piece of AISI 4130 was buttered with Maraging 350 weld consumable and subsequently welded to ASTM A36 steel using Inconel 625 filler metal. In addition, the dissimilar base metal plates were welded together using Maraging 350 steel weld consumable. The levels of residual stress, and the toughness and microstructures of heat affected zone and weld metal were investigated.     

Fatigue crack propagation rates and threshold stress intensity factors for welded joints of HT80 steel at several stress ratios

Fatigue crack propagation rates and threshold stress intensity factors were measured for welded joints and base metal by using 200 mm wide centre-cracked specimens. The fatigue crack propagation properties of welded joints were similar in spite of the different zones in which the cracks propagated (ie, in the heat-affected zone and in the weld metal) and the different welding process used (submerged arc welding and gas metal arc welding). They were, however, inferior to those of the base metal. It was revealed by observation of the crack closure that the fatigue cracks were fully open during the whole range of loading, due to the tensile residual stress distribution in the middle part of the welded joints. This observation also explains the lack of a stress ratio effect on the fatigue crack propagation properties of welded joints, and their inferiority to those of the base metal.     

Carbide precipitates and mechanical properties of medium Mn steel joint with metal inert gas welding

Medium Mn steel was metal inert gas(MIG)welded with NiCrMo-3 and 307Si filler wires.The effect of filler wires on the microstructure and mechanical properties of joint was investigated,and the carbide precipitates were contrastively discussed.The results revealed that the microstructure of weld metal,heat-affected zone and base metal are austenite.Obvious grain coarsening occurred in the heat-affected zone(HAZ),and the maximum grain size grew up to 160 pm.In HAZ,C and Cr segregated at grain boundaries,the carbides was identified as Cr7C3.The dispersive(Nb,Mo)C phase was also found in weld metal with NiCrMo-3 filler wire.All the welded joints failed in HAZ during tensile tests.The tensile strength of welded joint with NiCrMo-3 filler wire was 675 MPa,which is much higher than that with 307Si filler wire.In comparison to base metal,higher microhardness and lower impact toughness were obtained in HAZ for these two welded joints,which was attributed to the precipitation of Cr7C3 phase and grain coarsening.The impact toughness around the fusion line is the worst for these two welded joints.     

热处理温度对TC17(α+β)/TC17(β)钛合金线性摩擦焊接头组织及力学性能的影响

对TC17(α+β)/TC17(β)钛合金线性摩擦焊接头进行热处理实验,采用光学显微镜(OM),扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和显微硬度仪等检测手段,研究不同热处理温度对焊接接头微观组织及力学性能的影响。结果表明:焊态下,接头焊缝区发生再结晶,界面处为亚稳定β相组织,显微硬度低于母材,接头高周疲劳强度为345 MPa。TC17(α+β)侧热力影响区因焊接速率过快,残留了大量的初生α相。经过焊后热处理,亚稳定β相分解,焊缝析出弥散的(α+β)相。随着热处理温度的升高,细小的次生α相长大,部分发生球化。热处理后,因亚稳定β相分解,焊缝及热力影响区的显微硬度大幅度升高,接头疲劳强度平均提高65 MPa;随着热处理温度的升高,接头热力影响区的断裂韧度增加。     

THE EFFECT OF UNDERCUT, MISALIGNMENT AND RESIDUAL STRESSES ON THE FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF BUTT WELDED JOINTS

Abstract— A mathematical model is developed to predict the effect of weld toe undercut, misalignment and residual stresses on the fatigue behaviour of butt welded joints subjected to zero-to-tensile loading. Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and superposition approaches have been used for the modelling. It has been found that an undercut at the toes of welded joints is one of the most important weld geometry parameters. The reduction of fatigue strength of welded joints with a weld toe undercut is at least twice that of joints without an undercut in comparison with flush-ground welded plate. A misalignment of 5% of plate thickness and an undercut of 2% of plate thickness are fairly representative for the lower boundary of S-N curves of butt joints. The improvement of fatigue limits by means of surface treatments is shown to be effective for both undercut and misaligned joints. This approach is practical for a "Fitness-for-Purpose" assessment of welded joints subject to fatigue conditions.     

Ti700sr高温钛合金TIG焊接接头组织及性能研究

采用TIG焊接方法对Ti700sr高温钛合金板材进行了焊接,研究了接头的组织形貌、硬度分布及力学性能。结果表明,Ti700sr高温钛合金板材焊接后的接头成形良好,焊缝区组织由粗大的柱状晶及细长的针状α相构成,热影响区组织由细针状α和残余β相构成,热影响区析出相得到有效控制,相边界上无明显硅化物析出;焊接热影响区的硬度相对较高,焊缝的硬度相对较低;接头室温抗拉强度约为903 MPa, 700℃高温抗拉强度为397 MPa,焊缝强度低于母材的。      

Low-temperature cyclic crack-growth resistance of hydrogenated welds

We study the influence of chemical and phase composition on the cyclic crack-growth resistance of non-hydrogenated and hydrogenated welded joints in low-alloy steel at normal and low (–70°C) temperatures. It was discovered that the increase in the nickel content from 0.06% to 3.27% induces an increase in impact toughness and cyclic crack-growth resistance at low temperatures which can be explained by the increase in the content of needle ferrite and by the substitution of uniformly distributed residual austenite for the pearlitic component in the zone characterized by the columnar structure of heat treated beads. Hydrogen saturation of the weld metal leads to a decrease in its cyclic crack-growth resistance at normal temperatures and produces almost no effect on this parameter at low temperatures (–70°C). The presence of the second austenitic phase in the low-alloy weld metal decreases its susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement in the case where finely divided austenite is uniformly distributed over the weld.Karpenko Physicomechanical Institute, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, L'viv. Translated from Fiziko-Khimicheskaya Mekhanika Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 62–68, March – April, 1995.     

Unique fatigue threshold and growth properties of welded joints in a tensile residual stress field

The fatigue threshold and high growth rate region properties were investigated on several kinds of welded joints. These properties became unique in spite of the variation of steels (ferrite-pearite, martensite, austenite), welding method, heat input and stress ratio. It was revealed that the unique properties occurred from the fully opened fatigue crack due to the tensile residual stresses. Based on these results, the equation of the fatigue crack growth curve for the design and inspection of welded structures was proposed. It is also suggested that the inducement of compressive residual stress at the fatigue critical zone is effective in improving the fatigue properties of welded structures.     

Fatigue properties of arc-welded lap joints with weld start and end points

Fatigue properties of arc‐welded lap joints with weld start and end points were investigated through experiments with 2.3‐mm and 3.2‐mm thick 440 MPa‐class steel sheets. Macroscopic fatigue crack‐initiation sites depended on the length of the weld bead to the specimen width. In joints with shorter weld beads, cracks mainly initiated at the toe of the weld start points, while joints with longer beads had initial cracks at the toe of the bead centre. Crack‐propagation analyses, taking stress distribution around the weld toe and residual stress into account, suggested that residual stress distribution could move crack‐initiation sites from the weld start point to the bead centre, although the applied stress at the toe of the weld start point remains the highest.     

Research on fatigue behavior and residual stress of large-scale cruciform welding joint with groove

Fatigue fracture behavior of the 30 mm thick Q460C-Z steel cruciform welded joint with groove was investigated. The fatigue test results indicated that fatigue strength of 30 mm thick Q460C-Z steel cruciform welded joint with groove can reach fatigue level of 80 MPa (FAT80). Fatigue crack source of the failure specimen initiated from weld toe. Meanwhile, the microcrack was also found in the fusion zones of the fatigue failure specimen, which was caused by weld quality and weld metal integrity resulting from the multi-pass welds. Two-dimensional map of the longitudinal residual stress of 30 mm thick Q460C-Z steel cruciform welded joint with groove was obtained by using the contour method. The stress nephogram of Two-dimensional map indicated that longitudinal residual stress in the welding center is the largest.     

Fatigue fracture and probabilistic assessments of a cone and pipe welded structure of stainless steels

Probabilistic assessments are important for weldments due to large scatters in the fatigue strength. Using thin-walled cone-pipe welded joints of stainless steels, fatigue tests under bending loads were carried out. The test data were statistically analyzed with the Benard's approximation, Gaussian, 2P-Weibull, and 3P-Weibull distributions. Stress–life curves at different failure probabilities by a uniform scatter band model were obtained. The metallographic structures were investigated, and the stress concentration states were analyzed to elucidate the causes of the strengths and scatters. In the high-cycle fatigue regime, the 3P-Weibull distribution was most matched with the Benard's approximation, and the coefficient of determination was 0.9817. The microstructure of the weld metal with a high weld opening angle was mainly ferrite phase with 20% austenite distribution, which had the high strength. The stress concentration factors depended on the weld opening angle, indicating the main factor that affected strengths and scatters.     

Research on fatigue behavior of welded joint spraying fused by low transformation temperature alloy powder

Modification of spraying fused (MSF) of plasma arc as heat source was used to improve the fatigue performance of welded joint, which both fundamentally reduced stress concentration at weld toe and achieved metallurgical bond between spraying fused coating and welding. The low transformation temperature alloy powder was applied to the method of MSF. After spraying fusion, especially spraying fused joint by low transformation temperature alloy powder, the distribution of residual stress is more difficult to be obtained. Finite element (FE) simulation as an important tool was used to determine the stress field and temperature field of spraying fused joint. Simulated results show that as-welded joint and welded joint spraying fused by conventional nickel base alloy powder (Conventional-joint) present tensile stress. The stress of welded joint spraying fused by low transformation temperature alloy powder (LTT-joint) is compressive stress. Fatigue test results indicated that under the condition of 2 × 10⁶ cycles, the fatigue strength of as-welded joint is 135 MPa, while that of Conventional-joint and LTT-joint is 218 MPa and 235 MPa, respectively. The fatigue strength of Conventional-joint increases by 61.48%, and fatigue strength of LTT-joint increases by 74.07%.     

Fatigue of high strength steel joints welded with low temperature transformation consumables

In the present paper constant (CA) and variable amplitude (VA) fatigue testing have been carried out on out-of plane gusset fillet welded high strength steel joints. The joints were welded with conventional weld filler material and martensitic low transformation temperature weld filler, LTT, in order to study the influence of the residual stress on the fatigue strength. Residual stress measurements were carried out close to the weld toe using X-ray diffraction technique in order to study the relaxation due to VA fatigue. The residual stress showed different level of relaxation depending on the VA spectrum loading used. The LTT joints show 40% increase in mean fatigue strength compared to the conventional joints in CA. The LTT joints show 12% increase in mean fatigue strength compared to the conventional joints. The LTT joints show 33% increase in mean fatigue strength in CA compared to VA testing. However, the improvement of the fatigue strength is less significant in variable amplitude testing mainly due to the relaxation of the compressive residual stresses.     

Microstructural creep damage in welded joints of 316L stainless steel

The present work has been undertaken to study creep damage in welded joints. The complex dual phase microstructure of 316L welds are simulated by manually filling a mould with longitudinally deposited weld beads. Most of the moulded specimens were then aged for 2000 hours at 600°C. High resolution scanning electron microscopy was extensively used to examine the microstructure of the welded material before and after ageing. Columnar grains of austenite constitute a matrix in which thin dendrites of δ-ferrite can be found. The ageing generates the precipitation of carbides, resulting in less transformation in the material. Smooth and notched creep specimens were cut from the mould and tested at 600°C under different stress levels. The creep life of the simulated welded material is shown to be lower than that of the base material. Microstructural observations reveal that creep cavities are preferentially located along the austenite grain boundaries. This analysis of intergranular damage on test specimens is conducted to obtain a predictive damage law which could be used to calculate the lifetime of welded joints.     

Synchrotron diffraction measurement of residual stresses in friction stir welded 5383-H321 aluminium butt joints and their modification by fatigue cycling

This paper presents two‐dimensional information on the residual stresses in 8 mm 5383‐H321 aluminium plates joined by double pass (DP) friction stir welding (FSW). It considers the inherent variability in residual stress magnitudes along 0.5 m lengths of weld pass, and their modification under a sequence of applied fatigue loads. This represents one of a planned series of experiments aimed at illuminating the effects of fatigue cycling on residual stress fields. In this particular case, the magnitudes of the bending fatigue loads (R= 0.1) were chosen to correlate with the measured proof strengths of the weld metal (approximately 160 MPa) and the parent plate (approximately 260–270 MPa). In four‐point bend S–N tests at R= 0.1 on 40 mm wide FS welded specimens of this alloy and plate thickness, these peak stress levels correspond to lives of around 10⁵ cycles and 10⁷ cycles, respectively. Results from the work indicate that significant variability exists among welded plates in peak compressive stress magnitudes (a range of perhaps ?50 MPa to ?140 MPa), although peak tensile stresses were relatively low and more consistent (from around 0 to 30 MPa). Fatigue loading accentuates the peak‐to‐valley stress change and causes an overall translation of the stresses to become more positive. Peak tensile stresses increase several‐fold during fatigue cycling.     

T91钢焊缝及热影响区显微组织图象分析

T91钢具有良好的高温抗氧化性和抗腐蚀性,该钢含8％－9．5％Cr,合金含量复杂,焊接难度大,运用金相显微镜和扫描电镜（SEM）分析了不同爆接工艺条件下T91耐热钢焊缝及热影响区或区域显微组织特征,利用XQF－2000型显微图象分析仪对显微组织中各相的相对含量和奥氏体晶粒度进行了测量,分析了焊接线能量对T91钢焊接接头区组织性能的影响,结果表明,采用多道焊焊接工艺,严格控制焊接线能量在16kJ/cm左右,可以防止T91钢焊缝区奥氏体晶粒粗大,避免在热影响区出现声状铁素体组织,从而保证焊接接头区具有良好的组织性能。     

高强钢低匹配焊接接头应用性能研究

本文采用低匹配焊条材料焊接了高强度钢材,对其焊接接头硬度、强度、抗弯性能、韧性和抗爆性能进行了综合试验研究,研究结果表明,对于屈服强度高达1,000 MPa的钢,其低匹配焊接接头如果采用常规焊缝余高控制工艺,将出现以下不利状况:(1)无余高焊缝金属承受横向拉应力,在母材及HAZ拘束下首先屈服时,发生低延性破坏;(2)有余高焊接接头在弯曲应力及弯曲、拉伸复合作用下,焊接接头易出现焊缝首先塑变破裂的低应力失效现象。其根本原因为焊接接头软质焊缝区塑性变形抗力的不足。此类破坏发生时,钢板尚未充分塑性变形,从承受应力水平和吸收能量能力来看,这将导致焊接接头系统的服役能力大为降低,因此提高低匹配焊接接头焊缝区塑性变形抗力变得极为重要。利用第三强度理论分析了低匹配焊接接头变形特点,并进行了此类接头焊缝余高的特殊设计,获得和传统等强匹配等效的焊接接头,即在服役状态下,确保焊缝金属不先于母材发生塑变集中而失效。     

316L/S32101异种金属焊接接头的显微组织与力学性能研究

目的 研究乏燃料水池用钢板316L与覆板S32101双相不锈钢的焊接性、接头不同区域显微组织特征及接头与母材之间的性能差异.方法 利用氩弧焊接技术对5 mm厚的316L底板与3 mm厚的S32101覆板以搭接的形式进行焊接,利用金相显微镜、扫描电镜、维氏显微硬度仪和电子万能材料试验机对焊接接头的宏观形貌、显微组织以及力学性能进行研究.结果 316L/S32101焊缝组织主要由铁素体基体、晶界树枝状奥氏体以及晶内细小片状奥氏体所组成;316L侧靠近焊缝处存在一个较窄的熔合区,其组织由奥氏体基体和少许细小分散的铁素体组成,而S32101侧靠近焊缝处组织则由粗大铁素体晶粒和沿晶粒边界分布的若干小块状奥氏体组成.从316L母材区到焊缝区,硬度显著增大,而从焊缝区到S32101母材区,硬度变化很小;焊接接头的抗拉强度高达510 MPa,为两侧316L和S32101母材强度的87.9％和88.6％.结论 在焊接电流为240 A和焊接速度为300 mm/min的条件下,可以通过氩弧焊获得成形良好的搭接接头,且接头的力学性能优异.