Study and prevention of cracking during weld-repair of heat-resistant cast steels

Heat-resistant cast steels are highly sensitive to cracking as they are weld-repaired because of their very low ductility. To prevent weld-repair cracking of three different heat-resistant cast steels used for the manufacturing of superplastic forming (SPF) dies, the effect of various welding parameters, such as the choice of the filler material, the number of weld passes and the pre-heating temperature has been investigated. The choice of an appropriate filler metal and the pre-heating to 400 °C of the material prior to welding drastically lower the propensity to cracking, but remain unable to eliminate cracks entirely. To further reduce weld-repair cracking and hopefully prevent it completely, a buttering technique has been developed. Buttering of the base metal surface with nickel alloys before weld-repair has been shown to prevent cracking of the base metal, but results in some hot-cracking of the buttering layer itself. On the other hand, buttering with Ni–Fe alloys, less sensitive to hot-cracking, results in crack-free weld-repairs.     

Fatigue and hardness effects of a thin buffer layer on the heat affected zone of a weld repaired Bisplate80

Heat-affected zones (HAZs) in extensively weld-repaired Bisplate80, or the parent metal (PM), have been studied and examined using hardness measurements in conjunction with fatigue crack growth measurements and detailed scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. Three different groups of specimens have been prepared, i.e. as-received PM, weld-repaired PM with a thin 4 mm BL between PM and weld metal (WM), and weld-repaired PM without BL. The extended compact tension (E-CT) specimens for fatigue measurements are prepared according to the ASTM specifications, which are also used for hardness measurements. Hardness and fatigue crack growth variations across the boundaries between WM, BL and PM have been measured together with detailed SEM observations. It has been found that the welding process without BL reduced both hardness and fatigue resistance, especially around the weld interface and within the HAZ. Incorporation of a thin soft BL between WM and PM has increased both hardness and fatigue resistance around the weld interface and within the HAZ.     

Mechanical properties of 422 stainless steel repaired via wire feed laser welding

Abstract

Laser welding with filler wire additions could be used in restoration of components that are of high cost or sometimes difficult to procure, such as steam turbine blades in fossil fuel power plants. In the present work, machined V groove specimens were employed to simulate laser repair of Carpenter 636 stainless steel (SS), which has a similar composition to a blade material, type 422 SS. Before repair welding, a heat treatment procedure including solution and temper treatments of the specimens was carried out according to the mechanical and microstructural analyses of a used blade after 20 years service at about 540° C. Tensile, impact, and fatigue crack growth tests of weld repairs using 410 SS filler wire were conducted. The weld repairs exhibited an impact toughness similar to that of the base metal and a lower fatigue crack growth rate than the base metal. However, the lower hardness associated with 410 SS filler metal led to tensile fracture in the weld metal of repaired specimens. Accordingly, the use of 410 SS filler metal for repair welding type 422 SS components should be limited to regions under low stress.     

为较高强度的结构钢选择焊接材料须考虑的两个因素

研究了焊缝金属相对宽度和焊缝金属强度对接头性能的影响。结果表明：随低强焊缝金属相对宽度变小,接头抗拉强度增大;焊缝金属相对宽度不大时,焊缝与母材实际等强的接头具有最优抗脆断性能,按实际等强原则选择焊接材料可提高焊接结构的可靠性,焊缝低强组配较超强组配合理。焊缝过分超强或过分低强均使接头抗脆断性能恶化。     

Numerical Investigation on Residual Stresses of the Safe-End/Nozzle Dissimilar Metal Welded Joint in CAP1400 Nuclear Power Plants

The residual stress evolution in a safe-end/nozzle dissimilar metal welded joint of CAP1400 nuclear power plants was investigated in the manufacturing process by finite element simulation. A finite element model, including cladding, buttering, post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) and dissimilar metal multi-pass welding, is developed based on SYSWELD software to investigate the evolution of residual stress in the aforementioned manufacturing process. The results reveal a large tensile axial residual stress, which exists at the weld zone on the inner surface, leads to a high sensitivity to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). PWHT process before dissimilar metal multi-pass welding process has a great influence on the magnitude and distribution of final axial residual stress. The risk of SCC on the inner surface of the pipe will increase if PWHT process is not taken into account. Therefore, such crucial thermal manufacturing process such as cladding, buttering and post-weld heat treatment, besides the multi-pass welding process, should be considered in the numerical model in order to accurately predict the distribution and the magnitude of the residual stress.     

The behavior of welded dissimilar metals structures under rotating reversed cyclic bending

A cantilever type rotating bending testing machine was used to test several welded specimens, these consisted of welding of steel ST60 to stainless steel SS304, and welding of steel ST60 to stainless steel SS316, using different filler types of stainless steel SS308, SS309 and SS310. The effect on the heat affected zone (HAZ) was investigated. Fracture surface examinations were also carried out. The numerical analysis adopted the finite element package ABAQUS^® to model the welded specimens. Elasto-plastic non-linear analysis was conducted for stress distribution contours. von Mises stresses were obtained as well as crack initiation fatigue life. Both numerical and experimental studies were carried out at four different levels of applied stress from 0.6S_y to 1.2S_y at steps of 0.2S_y. The developed maximum stresses exhibited linear behavior followed by non-linear behavior with further increase of applied stress. The filler type had a pronounced effect on the developed stress such that higher stresses were obtained for filler SS308 and lower stresses for SS309 and for SS310, respectively. The crack initiation fatigue life decreased non-linearly with increasing the applied stress and it was greatly affected by the type of filler material; filler SS310 had higher fatigue life cycles than SS309 while SS308 had the lowest fatigue life cycles. The crack initiation fatigue life (N_i) and failure life (N_f) exponentially decreased with the increase in the applied stress. The experimental and numerical results were in good agreement. The SS310 filler, which has the highest Cr%, Mn% and Ni% is the best filler for welding ST60 to SS304 and also for welding ST60 to SS304, and it is recommended for such welding applications.     

Fatigue life assessment of weld joints manufactured by GMAW and CW-GMAW processes

The fatigue strength of weld joints manufactured using gas metal arc welding and cold wire GMAW (CW-GMAW) was evaluated under stress-controlled cyclic loading. The material used in this study was class ASTM 131 grade A steel, joined using ER70S wire filler metal. The addition of cold wire led to a decrease in the amount of intergranular ferrite and an increase in hardness in the heat-affected zone. The assessment of fatigue life was performed by using the Weibull distribution and the results revealed that with a 99% reliability the joints produced using the CW-GMAW process have a longer fatigue life, especially as the stress amplitude increases.     

Tensile overload-induced plastic deformation and fatigue behavior in weld-repaired high-strength low-alloy steel

The effects of tensile over-load (OL) on fatigue crack growth behavior of a weld-repaired high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel were studied by measuring both the fatigue crack growth rate and sample-thickness variation along the fatigue crack growth path. The thickness variation, indicating the degree of plastic deformation (PD), provided an indirect measurement of associated residual compressive stresses at the crack-tip. The applied tensile OL with one-hour holding period in each test generated a damage zone at the crack tip. Microscopic details of the crack-tip damage zone were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Three groups of expanded compact-tension (E-CT) samples, 10 mm in thickness, were tested: weld-repaired HSLA without soft buffer layer (BL), and weld-repaired HSLA with 4 mm or 10 mm thick BL. The experimental results showed that the OL-induced PD, closely linked to the crack-tip residual compressive stresses, reduced the subsequent fatigue crack growth rate, and that the HSLA with a 10 mm BL had the lowest growth rate, indicating a soft BL with an adequate thickness could further improve the fatigue resistance.     

Effects of dilution and baseplate strength on stress distributions in multipass welds deposited using low transformation temperature filler alloys

Transformation plasticity can be utilised to control residual stresses in steel welds. This requires special filler alloys that transform at a sufficiently low temperature to compensate for accumulated thermal contraction strains. However, the welding parameters needed to optimise the effect in multipass joints have yet to be established. This topic has been investigated by characterising the residual stress distribution in multipass welds fabricated with different welding alloys and baseplates using neutron diffraction to assess the effects of dilution and baseplate strength. While the use of richly alloyed weld metal does enhance fatigue performance in single pass joints, the extent of stress relief that can be derived from transformation plasticity is reduced due to incomplete martensitic transformation when further layers are deposited. For all cases studied, compressive stresses were measured in the weld metal with balancing tensile stress in the heat affected zone of the plate. The magnitude of the tension was observed to be a function of the strength of the baseplate. Recommendations are also presented for the combination of welding and material parameters that lead to the optimum exploitation of transformation plasticity as a method for boosting the fatigue performance of multipass welded joints.     

Influence of Inter-Pass Temperature on Residual Stress in Multi-Layer and Multi-Pass Butt-Welded 9%Cr Heat-Resistant Steel PipesEI北大核心CSCD

9% Cr heat-resistant steels have been abundantly used in boilers of modern thermal plants. The 9% Cr steel components in thermal plant boilers are usually assembled by fusion welding. Many of the degradation mechanisms of welded joints can be aggravated by welding residual stress. Tensile residual stress in particular can exacerbate cold cracking tendency, fatigue crack development and the onset of creep damage in heat-resistant steels. It has been recognized that welding residual stress can be mitigated by low temperature martensitic transformation in 9% Cr heat-resistant steel. Neverthe-less, the stress mitigation effect seems to be confined around the final weld pass in multi-layer and multi-pass 9% Cr steel welded pipes. The purpose of this work is to investigate the method to break through this confine. Influence of martensitic transformation on welding stress evolution in multi-layer and multi-pass butt-welded 9% Cr heat-resistant steel pipes for different inter-pass temperatures (IPT) was investigated through finite element method, and the influential mechanism of IPT on welding residual stress was revealed. The results showed that tensile residual stress in weld metal (WM) and heat affected zone (HAZ), especially the noteworthy tensile stress in WM at pipe central, was effectively mitigated with the increasing of IPT. The reasons lie in two aspects, firstly, there is more residual austenite in the case of higher IPT, as a result, lower tensile stress is accumulated during cooling due to the lower yield strength of austenite; secondly, the higher IPT suppresses the martensitic transformation during cooling of each weld pass, thus the tensile stress mitigation due to martensitic transformation was avoided to be eliminated by welding thermal cycles of subsequent weld passes and reaccumulating tensile residual stress. The influence of IPT on welding residual stress relies on the combined contribution of thermal contraction and martensitic transformation. When the IPT is lower than martensite transformation finishing temperature (M-f), thermal contraction plays the dominant role in the formation of welding residual stress, and tensile stress was formed in the majority of weld zone except the final weld pass. While, compressive stress was formed in almost whole weld zone due to martensitic transformation when the IPT is higher than martensite transformation starting temperature (M-s).     

Evolution of residual stresses in dissimilar steel surfacing layers during process of post-weld heat treatment

Abstract

Residual stress relaxation during post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) is a thermodynamic process, which is affected not only by the heat treatment process, but also by the welding residual stress. In this study, the residual stresses in as welded and heat treated surfacing metal were measured using blind hole and X-ray method. The results reveal that the welding residual stresses are compressive at the surface of the weld and tensile at inner weld. However, after PWHT, the residual stresses at surface and inner weld change to the opposite state. Finite element simulations show that the differences of expansion coefficients between base metal and filler material are the main factor to the changes of stress state. The experimental results verify that the expansion coefficients of base metal and filler materials have been changed greatly after long soaking at high temperature.     

Effect of notch location on fatigue crack growth behavior of strength-mismatched high-strength low-alloy steel weldments

Welding of high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels involves the use of low-strength, equal-strength, and high-strength filler materials (electrodes) compared with the parent material, depending on the application of the welded structures and the availability of filler material. In the present investigation, the fatigue crack growth behavior of weld metal (WM) and the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of undermatched (UM), equally matched (EM), and overmatched (OM) joints has been studied. The base material used in this investigation is HSLA-80 steel of weldable grade. Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) has been used to fabricate the butt joints. A center-cracked tension (CCT) specimen has been used to evaluate the fatigue crack growth behavior of welded joints, utilizing a servo-hydraulic-controlled fatigue-testing machine at constant amplitude loading (R=0). The effect of notch location on the fatigue crack growth behavior of strength mismatched HSLA steel weldments also has been analyzed.     

BEHAVIOUR OF BUFFER LAYER IN JOINING OF SIALON CERAMICS TO STEEL 40Cr

The buffer layer material itself may be influential to the bond strength between active brazingfiller and ceramics.For Ag_(57)Cu_(38)Ti_5 filler metal,Cu or Ta is excellent buffer layer material,but Kovar or Ni-15Cr-15Co is worse.It was important to design a layer of soft buffer,suchas Cu,to relax interfacial stress rather than hard buffer layer,such as Mo,to avoid stress.There is an optimum thickness range of soft buffer layer,saying h/L=0.02—0.1. It was agood solution to the interfacial stress problem to use soft/hard buffer layer to increasemetal/ceramics joint strength.Finally,an idea of designing gradual materials as buffer layerbetween metal and ceramics was suggested.     

高匹配搭接角焊缝力学性能及应用效果分析

采用等匹配和高匹配焊材完成了高钢级B型套筒修复高钢级管道的试验研究. 结果表明,等匹配焊接和高匹配焊接的角焊缝焊接接头都具有良好的拉伸强度和冲击韧性,高匹配焊接接头熔覆金属的冲击韧性略低于等匹配,其焊接接头延展性略差;施焊后等匹配搭接角焊缝未发现焊接缺陷,焊接接头维氏硬度最大值为293 HV10,出现在角焊缝外表面与套筒搭接焊缝处;高匹配搭接角焊缝出现了起源于角焊缝外表面层的横向裂纹,且该焊接接头硬度整体偏高,最大值出现在外表面中心位置焊缝处,为403 HV10,与裂纹起裂位置对应,其产生原因与焊接过程中不同部位熔池金属冷却速率有关,尤其是外表面盖面焊处冷却速度较快,外壁层硬度值异常偏高,萌生裂纹.因此建议搭接角焊缝焊接焊材选择时,在不影响密封和承载前提下,可尝试降低焊缝匹配强度等级.     

Effect of PTA Hardfaced Interlayer Thickness on Ballistic Performance of Shielded Metal Arc Welded Armor Steel Welds

Ballistic performance of armor steel welds is very poor due to the usage of low strength and low hardness austenitic stainless steel fillers, which are traditionally used to avoid hydrogen induced cracking. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to study the effect of plasma transferred arc hardfaced interlayer thickness on ballistic performance of shielded metal arc welded armor steel weldments. The usefulness of austenitic stainless steel buttering layer on the armor grade quenched and tempered steel base metal was also considered in this study. Joints were fabricated using three different thickness (4, 5.5, and 7 mm) hardfaced middle layer by plasma transferred arc hardfacing process between the top and bottom layers of austenitic stainless steel using shielded metal arc welding process. Sandwiched joint, in addition with the buttering layer served the dual purpose of weld integrity and ballistic immunity due to the high hardness of hardfacing alloy and the energy absorbing capacity of soft backing weld deposits. This paper will provide some insight into the usefulness of austenitic stainless steel buttering layer on the weld integrity and plasma transferred arc hardfacing layer on ballistic performance enhancement of armor steel welds.     

Sialon陶瓷与40Cr钢连接中缓冲层的作用

本文研究了Sialon陶瓷与40Cr钢活性钎焊连接中缓冲层的作用.结果发现:缓冲层材料本身可能影响活性钎料与陶瓷的界面连接强度,对Ag_(57) Cu_(38) Ti_5活性钎料,Cu和Ta是较好的缓冲层材料,而对 Kovar,Ni-15 Cr-15Co则较差;用软性缓冲层如 Cu来松弛应比用硬性缓冲层如Mo来避免应力更加重要;软性缓冲层有一个合适的厚度范围,其h/L≈0.02—0.1;采用软/硬复合缓冲层可以有效的提高接头强度。最后作者提出了设计梯度材料作为专用缓冲层材料的设想。     

Selection of filler wire for and effect of auto tempering on the mechanical properties of dissimilar metal joint between 403 and 304L(N) stainless steels

Weldability of the dissimilar weld joint between austenitic 304L(N) stainless steel (SS) and martensitic 403 SS made by gas tungsten arc welding process using ERNiCr-3 filler metal has been studied. For this study, 12 mm thick plates of these two materials were joined using a K-type weld groove joint, with the straight edge on the 403 SS side buttered using ERNiCr-3 filler wire. Two types of weld joints were prepared—one using as-buttered 403 SS and the other one with buttered and post-weld heat-treated 403 SS plate. The joint made with the as-buttered 403 SS plate exhibits good bend ductility and toughness on the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the 403 SS side and it is comparable with that of the buttered and post-weld heat-treated 403SS weld joint properties. Thus, buttering of the 403 SS plate enabled dissimilar welding with the 304L(N) SS plate without any post-weld heat treatment because of auto tempering of the martensite present in the 403 SS HAZ formed due to weld thermal cycle.     

填充材料及稀土对压铸镁合金TIG焊接气孔的影响

采用挤压态AZ61镁合金和含有富钕(Nd)混合稀土元素的AZ61镁合金焊丝作填充材料对压铸AZ91D镁合金进行TIG填丝焊。为了对比焊缝气孔倾向,同时对压铸AZ91D镁合金进行了自熔焊接。采用扫描电镜(SEM)观察焊缝气孔形貌和分布,利用X射线能谱(EDS)仪分析焊缝成分。结果表明:在熔合线附近存在明显的微观和宏观气孔,前者应该主要为氢气孔,后者应该主要为遗传于母材的氮气孔;采用含气量低的挤压态AZ61作填充材料,能够较明显地降低焊接接头的气孔率,减小粗大气孔的尺寸和数量,应该是填充材料对熔池中气体的稀释作用所致;采用含富钕混合稀土的AZ61作填充材料,能够进一步降低焊接接头的气孔率,这应该是由于:富钕混合稀土通过增加镁合金对H的固溶度、与H反应生成稳定的氢化物和提高气泡溢出速度3种机制有效减少了氢气孔,并通过提高气泡溢出速度在一定程度上减少了氮气孔。     

Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior of Gas Metal Arc Welded AISI 409 Grade Ferritic Stainless Steel Joints

The effect of filler metals such as austenitic stainless steel, ferritic stainless steel, and duplex stainless steel on fatigue crack growth behavior of the gas metal arc welded ferritic stainless steel joints was investigated. Rolled plates of 4 mm thickness were used as the base material for preparing single ‘V’ butt welded joints. Center cracked tensile specimens were prepared to evaluate fatigue crack growth behavior. Servo hydraulic controlled fatigue testing machine with a capacity of 100 kN was used to evaluate the fatigue crack growth behavior of the welded joints. From this investigation, it was found that the joints fabricated by duplex stainless steel filler metal showed superior fatigue crack growth resistance compared to the joints fabricated by austenitic and ferritic stainless steel filler metals. Higher yield strength and relatively higher toughness may be the reasons for superior fatigue performance of the joints fabricated by duplex stainless steel filler metal.