Microstructure and residual stress variations in weld zone of flash-butt welded railroads

Abstract

In the weld zone and base metal contiguous to the weld zone in flash-butt welded rail, the web of the rail has high tensile residual stresses and the head and base of the rail have compressive residual stresses. The web region is susceptible to failure since most of the weld zone of the rail is coarse grained and has porosity, inclusions and defects resulting from rapid solidification of molten metal entrapment in the weld. Efforts to reduce the amount of these tensile residual stresses require recognition of their causes. In this research, microscopic and macroscopic studies were carried out on vertical and horizontal sections of the weld zone in the head, web and base of the rail. Just after flash-butt welding, the temperature of the web between the current carrying copper electrodes is higher than the temperature of the head and base of the rail. Therefore, by cooling the weld zone to room temperature, the amount of web contraction between the electrodes is higher than the amount of base and head contraction and consequently tensile residual stresses are produced in the web at and near the weld zone. In the head and base of the rail, compressive residual stresses are developed.     

基于同步辐射衍射技术的5A06铝合金焊接残余应力的测量研究

利用同步辐射X射线衍射技术测量了变极性等离子弧(VPPA)焊接5A06铝合金试样表面的残余应力,获得了该试样表面残余应力的分布规律,结合金相组织观察、EBSD、显微硬度测试等方法,分析了焊缝区、热影响区、母材区残余应力的产生及演化机制。结果表明:VPPA焊接5A06板材焊缝区晶粒粗大,热影响区晶粒细小,残余应力呈现出焊缝区域为压应力,热影响区为拉应力的"M"形状;在垂直于焊缝(TD)方向上存在75.79MPa的最大拉应力和159.34 MPa的最大压应力;在平行于焊缝(LD)方向上存在132.33 MPa的最大拉应力和89.38 MPa的最大压应力。相比于传统X射线仪器测量获得的残余应力变化趋势,同步辐射衍射测量的残余应力分布趋势与试样不同焊接区域显微硬度的变化趋势更加吻合。实验结果表明,相比于传统的X射线仪器测量残余应力,同步辐射X射线衍射测量的残余应力数据一致性更好。     

Distortion control in welding by mechanical tensioning

Abstract

This paper investigates the potential of mechanical tensioning (MT) to reduce the magnitude of residual stresses in welds and to eliminate buckling distortion. Both friction stir (FSW) and arc welds have been produced from the aluminium alloy AA2024, with different levels of tensile stress applied along the weld line either during or after welding. The resulting welds have been characterised in terms of out of plane distortion, residual stresses and microstructure. Buckling distortion was eliminated by stretching plates to between 35 and 70% of the yield stress of the material during welding. For each set of welding parameters investigated, an optimum tensioning stress has been identified, which eliminates the tensile residual stress peak across the weld zone, along with distortion. This optimum tensioning stress increases in line with the heat input of the welding process. When MT stresses are increased beyond this optimum value, then distortion arises once more and a band of compressive stress is formed across the weld zone.     

Residual stress measurement of Al/steel dissimilar friction stir weld

ABSTRACT

The dissimilar welds between aluminium (Al) alloy, A6061-T6, and stainless steel, type 304, were fabricated by a friction stir welding (FSW) technique. The FSW tool was offset to Al side and the probe was inserted only into Al plate. The softening occurred in Al side due to the heat input during FSW, while the hardness increased by the post-ageing treatment. Tensile strength of dissimilar weld also increased about 8.5% by the post-ageing. The residual stresses were measured based on the cos α method. The residual stresses parallel to the weld line, σ_xr, were predominantly tensile, while those perpendicular to the weld line, σ_yr, were compressive. Post-ageing treatment had little effect on the residual stresses.     

超声冲击改善6061铝合金焊接残余应力的数值模拟

运用ANSYS有限元软件对无应力和存在焊接残余应力的6061铝合金试板的超声冲击过程进行了数值模拟,并和实测结果进行了对比.结果表明,对于无应力试板,冲击中心表面为压应力,周围为拉应力;在冲击中心沿板厚方向,应力状态逐渐由压应力转变为拉应力,随冲击过程的进行,材料整体应力水平不断提高;对于存在焊接应力的试板,增加载荷位移,冲击区域的应力降幅也随之增大,最大拉应力逐渐向母材区转移且其峰值也不断下降,应力降幅符合实测结果.     

Microstructure,hardness and residual stress distribution in maraging steel gas tungsten arc weldments

Abstract

The distribution of residual stresses due to welding has been studied in maraging steel welds. Gas tungsten arc welding process was used and the effect of filler metal composition on the nature of residual stress distribution has been investigated using X-ray diffraction technique with Cr K_α radiation. Three types of filler materials were used, they include: maraging filler, austenitic stainless steel and medium alloy medium carbon steel filler metal. In the case of maraging steel weld, medium alloy medium carbon filler, the residual stress at the centre of the weld zone was more compressive while, less compressive stresses have been identified in the heat affected zone of the parent metal adjacent to the weld metal. But, in the case of austenitic stainless steel filler the residual stresses at the centre of the weld and heat affected zone were tensile. Post-weld aging treatment reduced the magnitude of stresses. The observed residual stress distribution across the weldments has been correlated with microstructure and hardness distribution across the weld.     

厚板钛合金电子束焊接残余应力分布特征

首先对50mm厚TA15钛合金平板分别采用堆焊和对焊两种方法进行电子束焊接,然后采用盲孔法测量了热处理和未热处理情况下焊接试件残余应力的分布情况.测量发现,对接焊和堆焊试件上表面纵向应力在焊缝和热影响区呈现较大的拉应力,且对接焊试件的纵向应力大于堆焊试件;上表面横向残余应力幅值较低,且整体呈现压应力分布.下表面的横纵应力整体上为压应力,且横纵应力的分布和大小非常接近.结果表明,热处理工艺造成各试板的横纵应力趋于一致,整个试板上的应力趋于均匀化,且堆焊试件的均匀化程度更明显.     

铝合金搅拌摩擦焊接头残余应力分布

采用小孔法对3 mm厚2024-T4铝合金板搅拌摩擦焊对接接头的残余应力分布规律进行研究.为了衡量钻孔引入应变对结果的影响,测量了退火2024铝合金板钻孔产生的应变,将其作为附加应变对焊接试件上测得的应变结果进行修正.结果表明,在试验条件下得到的焊接接头的残余应力以纵向应力为主,横向应力相对很小;纵向高应力区集中在轴肩作用区域,呈不对称分布,前进侧应力高于返回侧,在轴肩作用区域之外应力值迅速降低,在距焊缝中心较远的区域转变为压应力;纵向残余应力峰值为164.5 MPa.分析认为,机械搅拌和焊接温度场的叠加作用造成焊缝两侧纵向残余应力的不对称分布.     

TA12钛合金电子束焊接组织性能及残余应力分析

采用电子束焊接TA12钛合金薄板焊缝表面成形良好,焊缝区以马氏体组织为主,细小的稀土相呈均匀弥散分布状态;随着距焊缝距离的增加,稀土相尺寸逐渐增大,数量逐渐减少,并逐渐趋于球形,沿接头呈一定的规律性分布.小孔法残余应力测试结果表明,垂直于焊缝方向残余应力以纵向应力主,应力呈梯度分布,横向应力较低;焊缝区为纵向拉应力区,应力峰值低于其屈服强度,横向应力为较小的压应力;沿焊缝试板中心区(±20 mm范围内)焊接残余应力分布趋于稳定.     

焊接塑性应变演变过程——低碳钢、不锈钢及钛合金塑性应变演变特点及规律

采用数值模拟方法对低碳钢、不锈钢及钛合金3种材料薄板电弧焊接塑性应变演变过程进行了分析.结果表明,在焊接过程中,焊缝及近缝区内无论是纵向塑性应变还是横向塑性应变均为压缩塑性应变,熔池凝固及高温区冷却产生的拉伸卸载不足以完全抵消加热过程产生的压缩塑性应变,最终残留在焊缝及近缝区内的塑性应变仍保持压缩状态,压缩塑性区的宽度明显宽于材料"力学熔化"区宽度.     

Effects of welding parameters on weld shape and residual stresses in electron beam welded Ti2AlNb alloy joints

In order to estimate the residual stresses in Ti₂AlNb alloy jointed by electron beam welding (EBW), a computational approach based on finite element method was developed. Meanwhile, experiments were carried out to verify the numerical results. The comparison between the simulation results and measurements suggests that the developed computational approach has sufficient accuracy to predict the welding residual stress distributions. The results show that the central area of the fusion zone suffers tensile stresses in three directions. When the other parameters remain unchanged, the focus current has great impact on the weld shape and size, and then affects the residual stress level significantly. Moreover, the thick plate full-penetrated EBW weld suffers near 1000 MPa tensile stress of Z-direction in the center of the fusion zone. The wider weld has lower tensile stress in Z-direction, resulting in lower risk for cracking.     

铝合金薄板焊接应力三维有限元模拟

采用热弹塑性有限元方法,对铝合金薄板脉冲TIG焊接接头的焊接应力进行了三维数值模拟,考虑材料性能随温度的变化,对焊接残余应力进行测量.结果表明,铝合金薄板中的焊接应力产生、发展很快,加热结束后不久应力便趋于稳定.热源前缘和两侧区域存在数值很高的纵向和横向动态压应力,焊缝中心的纵向残余拉应力低于母材的屈服强度,距焊缝中心10 mm处的最大纵向残余拉应力达到母材的屈服强度,并且拉应力区较宽,远离焊缝区域的纵向残余压应力数值较大,因此铝合金薄板焊接结构易发生动态和焊后失稳,横截面上纵向残余应力的数值模拟结果与实测结果基本一致.     

补焊长度对P92补焊残余应力的影响

基于有限元模拟软件SYSWELD,通过建立P92钢板补焊过程的三维有限元模型,计算了补焊过程的温度场及应力场分布,讨论分析了不同补焊长度对残余应力分布的影响. 结果表明,无论是横向还是纵向残余应力,较大的拉应力水平都出现在焊缝和热影响区附近,同时在母材处应力值逐渐降低. 随着补焊长度的增加,横向残余应力在结构表面中心,热影响区和焊缝位置均存在下降趋势. 对于纵向残余应力来说,随着补焊长度的增加,应力值在焊缝位置呈下降趋势,而结构表面中心和热影响区变化较小.     

Finite element modelling of tungsten inert gas welding of aluminium alloy 2024

Abstract

A finite element model to predict the evolution of stress and distortion for a bead on plate tungsten inert gas (TIG) weld in aluminium alloy 2024 plate is described. The thermal model was calibrated against thermocouple measurements, and the mechanical model was validated against direct measurements of residual strain made using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Particular attention has been paid to the clamping arrangement, the transfer of heat between the plate and the copper backing plate, and the selection of appropriate thermal history dependent mechanical properties. The validated model has been used to determine the optimal arrangement for 'low stress no distortion' welding using laser heating applied to both sides of the joint line ahead of the TIG torch. In this manner it is predicted that the peak longitudinal tensile stresses in the weld region can be reduced to 15% of their normal values.     

Mechanical Characterization of Copper-Copper Wires Joined by Friction Welding Using Instrumented Indentation Technique

Friction welding samples of both the fire-refined high-conductivity (FRHC) and electrolytically tough pitch (ETP) copper alloy wires have been mechanically characterized by instrumented indentation technique and tensile test. Hardness profiles in the perpendicular direction to the weld interface, in both the central and peripheral zones, of the as-welded FRHC-FRHC and ETP-ETP samples have been investigated at nano-/micrometric scale. The microstructures of welds have been observed using both the optical microscopy and scanning electronic microscopy. The results show the typical friction welding zones: the interface zone, the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), and the transition zone between the TMAZ and the base metal zone (BMZ) that present a microstructure and hardness close to the base metal. No presence of a heat-affected zone is observed. Although both welds show the same tendency in hardness distribution, FHRC-FHRC weld presents a TMAZ narrower than ETP-ETP one, which produces a stronger drop in hardness with increasing of the distance from welding central line, and a higher difference in hardness between the central and peripheral zones. The tensile tests of ETP-ETP welds showed that all samples broke by the BMZ that is far away from the interface of the welded joint, while the most of the FRHC-FRHC welds are broken at the TMAZ region at low strengths. These appreciable differences in mechanical properties for the FHRC-FHRC welds are probably generated by a stronger variation in their microstructural properties. Therefore, it may justify the welding failures in the FHRC-FHRC weld at the typical tensile stress for an industrial cold-drawn process of wires.     

2195-F态铝锂合金TIG焊和FSW焊后残余应力分析

采用盲孔法和压痕法,分别对2195-F态铝锂合金手工TIG焊和FSW焊后残余应力进行测量. 结果表明,盲孔法的测量值普遍高于压痕法. 两种焊接方法,近焊缝区的纵向应力均高于横向应力;横向应力整体表现为压应力或小于50 MPa的拉应力;纵向应力在热影响区附近表现为大于焊缝的拉应力. 焊缝区附近,手工TIG焊纵向残余应力大于FSW,且纵向残余应力表现为较大的拉应力,最大值接近于接头的屈服强度;焊缝区外,手工TIG焊和FSW残余应力值相差不大,其横向残余应力基本表现为很小的拉应力或者压应力.     

Residual stress and softening in welded high-strength low-alloy steel with a buffering layer

Welding residual stresses, Vickers hardness and microstructure of welded high-strength low-allow steel, known for high strength and low carbon content, were studied under the following conditions: as-received high-strength low-alloy steel, welded high-strength low-alloy steel without a buffering layer, and welded high-strength low-allow steel with various thickness buffering layer. A soft buffering layer with a modest thickness between the parent metal and the weld metal could be incorporated to welded high-strength low-alloy steel to effectively reduce the widths of tensile residual stress zone and welding softening zone, to change the residual stress (in y-direction) nature at the weld root from tensile to compressive, and to refine the grains of the welded high-strength low-alloy steel. The width of the tensile residual stress (in x-direction) zone was approximately equivalently to that of the welding softening zone for those welded high-strength low-alloy steel with and without buffering layers.     

Process modeling for electron beam welding of Ti-6Al-4V

Using ANSYS software, a finite element model for electron beam welding of 14.5 mm thick Ti-6Al-4V alloy plate is developed by a sequentially coupled thermal-mechanical analysis method. For the purpose of model validation, welding trial is carried out. Meanwhile, fusion zone dimensions and residual stresses are measured. The fusion-boundary profile is reproduced accurately by using a conical volume heat source model. The predicted residual stresses are in reasonable agreement with the results determined by the hole-drilling method. Through the analysis of predicted residual stresses, it is found that the normal residual stress in the interior of plate can not be negligible and the maximum value of three dimensional residual tensile stresses arises at 10.15 mm depth in the weld zone.     

Process–microstructure–property correlations in Al–Li AA2199 friction stir welds

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of three friction stir welding process parameters on the residual stresses, hardness and distortion for butt welded aluminium–lithium AA2199 alloy, a novel, low density high strength alloy with potential in the aerospace sector. A systematic set of nine trial welds is examined at different tool rotation and traverse speeds as well as tool downforces. The tensile residual stresses (～50% of parent material yield strength) and the hardness drop in the weld line varied little with any of the friction stir welding process parameters. However, their breadth increased with rotation speed and downforce and decreased with increasing translation speed, which is consistent with increasing heat input. Weld distortion took the form of a saddle with the longitudinal bending distortion correlating strongly with the width of the tensile zone consistent with it being driven by the magnitude of the tensile buckling forces in the weld region.     

Sensitivity analysis of history dependent material mechanical models for numerical simulation of welding process

Abstract

Yield stress of 6013-T6 aluminium alloy was tested on Gleeble 1500D thermal–mechanical system at predesigned temperatures during different typical thermal cycles, in order to accurately reflect the influence of weld thermal history on material properties. The typical thermal cycles were referred to the temperature field simulation results of real welding process. The changes of yield stress were obtained directly from the stress–strain curves generated by the tensile tests. The tests were more accurate than previous publications, where only the yield stresses at room temperature after thermal history were tested or calculated from microstructure evolution model. Experimental results showed that the changes of yield stress during the cooling stage of typical thermal cycles followed one set of curves. These yield stress–temperature curves were different from those during the heating stage. Temperature and temperature history dependent material model M2 and M3 were established based on the experimental results. M2 model was perfectly plastic model while work hardening effect was considered in M3 model. Compared with conventional temperature dependent material model M1, the distributions of longitudinal residual stress and strain obtained with temperature and temperature history dependent models fit better with published results. Yield stress of the material at the weld zone decreased a lot after having experienced weld thermal history and longitudinal compressive plastic strain at the weld zone recovered to some extent during the cooling stage in M2 and M3 models. These were the main causes for lower peak longitudinal residual tensile stress in M2 and M3 models.