A two stage approach for the validation of welding and heat treatment models used in product development

Abstract

Many components used in the aerospace industry have complex shape and are manufactured from high strength materials. Performing large scale tests is costly and time consuming, therefore, simulation tools are needed to support an effective product development process. Using manufacturing simulations during product development requires a validated model of the material and manufacturing process. In this paper, a validation scheme is proposed for thermomechanical models of welding and post-weld heat treatment. The scheme was investigated by comparing simulations using shell elements with experimental results, which showed good agreement when predicting residual stresses after welding, but an overestimation of the out-of-plane deformations when simulating both welding and heat treatment. However, the simulations showed that the outof-plane deformation is strongly influenced by the initial geometry. It can be concluded that the simulation model is adequately accurate to be used in concept evaluation.     

Effect of minor change in composition on toughness of weldmetal for repair of turbine blades made of martensitic stainless steel

Abstract

Repair welding procedure for cracked turbine blades, made of 13Cr–2˙6Ni–1˙1Mo martensitic stainless steel, has been developed using gas tungsten arc welding process and a twin wire filler metal. The twin wire consists of a 1˙5 mm diameter ER 16-8-2 and a 2˙0 mm diameter ER 410 filler wires tack welded along the length of the two filler wires. A two stage post-weld heat treatment at 675°C for 2 h and 615°C for 4 h, such that the first heat treatments is above the Ac ₁ temperatures of the weld metal and the second is just below its Ac ₁ temperature; has been found to be suitable for obtaining good mechanical properties for the weldment. The weldment has a good combination of transverse weldment strength and weldmetal toughness, with its room temperature yield strength and Charpy V notch impact toughness being similar to that of the turbine blade material.     

Laser cladding repair of turbine blades in power plants: from research to commercialisation

Abstract

Reliable and efficient power generation is a major global issue due to both political and environmental concerns. Nevertheless, many critical components, particularly the blades of the low pressure (LP) side of power generating steam turbines, are subject to failure due to severe erosion at the leading edges. Since taking machines offline for maintenance and removal of damaged blade for repair is extremely expensive, increasing the service life of these critical components offers significant economic and political benefits. Conventional techniques to increase service life include brazing of an erosion shield at the leading edge of the turbine blade, open arc hardfacing, and cladding with erosion resistant materials using gas tungsten, manual metal or plasma transferred arc welding. The authors have been investigating since 2001 the use of laser cladding technology to deposit a high quality and erosion resistant protection shield on the leading edge of LP blades. The project has demonstrated the feasibility of in situ repair of turbine blades in trials conducted at a power station using a fibre delivered diode laser and a robot. A company, Hardwear Pty Ltd, was established in late 2005 to commercialise this technology and has to date carried out successfully several commercial contracts involving the repair of 340 LP blades.     

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.     

Effect of post-weld heat treatment on joint properties of friction welded joint between brass and low carbon steel

Abstract

This paper describes the effect of post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) on joint properties of copper–zinc alloy (brass) and low carbon steel friction welded joints. The as-welded joint obtained 100% joint efficiency and the brass base metal fracture without cracking at the weld interface, and had no intermetallic compound layer. The joint efficiency with PWHT decreased with increasing heating temperature and its holding time, and its scatter increased with those increasing parameters. When the joint was heat treated at 823 K for 360 ks, it did not achieve 100% joint efficiency and fractured between the weld interface and the brass base metal although it had no intermetallic compound. The cracking at the peripheral portion of the weld interface was generated through PWHT. The cracking was due to the dezincification and the embrittlement of the brass side during PWHT.     

Residual welding stresses in laser beam and tungsten inert gas weldments of titanium alloy

Abstract

The residual welding stresses in laser beam (LB) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) weldments of a titanium alloy in thin plate form were investigated experimentally in the present work. A hole drilling technique was used to measure the residual stresses in the weldments. The effects of the welding method and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) on the residual stresses were analysed. The results show that (i) the residual stress distribution in the LB welded joints is similar to that obtained for traditional fusion welding processes, although the distribution zone is much narrower in LB welding, (ii) the residual stress in the heat affected zone for LB welding is about 100 MPa lower than that for TIG welding, and (iii) PWHT in vacuum greatly relieves the welding residual stress.     

Numerical modelling of 3D plastic flow and heat transfer during friction stir welding of stainless steel

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) viscoplastic flow and temperature field during friction stir welding (FSW) of 304 austenitic stainless steel were mathematically modelled. The equations of conservation of mass, momentum and energy were solved in three dimensions using spatially variable thermophysical properties using a methodology adapted from well established previous work in fusion welding. Non-Newtonian viscosity for the metal flow was calculated considering strain rate and temperature dependent flow stress. The computed profiles of strain rate and viscosity were examined in light of the existing literature on thermomechanical processing of alloys. The computed results showed significant viscoplastic flow near the tool surface, and convective transport of heat was found to be an important mechanism of heat transfer. The computed temperature and velocity fields demonstrated strongly 3D nature of the transport of heat and mass indicating the need for 3D calculations. The computed temperature profiles agreed well with the corresponding experimentally measured values. The non-Newtonian viscosity for FSW of stainless steel was found to be of the same order of magnitude as that for the FSW of aluminium. Like FSW of aluminium, the viscosity was found to be a strong function of both strain rate and temperature, while strain rate was found to be the most dominant factor. A small region of recirculating plasticised material was found to be present near the tool pin. The size of this region was larger near the shoulder and smaller further away from it. Streamlines around the pin were influenced by the presence of the rotating shoulder, especially at higher elevations. Stream lines indicated that material was transported mainly around the pin in the retreating side.     

Spatter reduction in gas metal arc welding of stainless steel sheets using controlled bridge transfer process

Abstract

In non-pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW), spatter can be reduced by controlling the short circuit current to a low level just before the re-arcing. The controlled bridge transfer (CBT) process, which optimises the accuracy of predicting the re-arcing in real time in response to the metal transfer, realises stable, low spatter level. In this research, the methods for controlling short circuit transfers to minimise spatter and realise stable arcs in GMAW of stainless sheet using argon rich shielded gases are investigated. The new CBT process has been developed by applying the specific arc length estimation method that is not affected by abnormal rise in arc voltage. This process can suppress the spatter generation caused by a fluctuation in the vibratory motion of the weld pool or inaccurate prediction of the re-arcing in the succeeding short circuit/re-arcing cycle, and thereby spatter free GMAW in the short circuit transfer mode can be carried out even on stainless steels.     

Friction welding of TiNi alloy to stainless steel using Ni interlayer

Abstract

Friction welding was carried out between TiNi alloy and austenitic stainless steel with and without a Ni interlayer. When TiNi alloy was welded to stainless steel without the Ni interlayer, a large amount of brittle Fe₂Ti intermetallic compound was formed at the weld interface. The formation of this brittle compound led to degradation of the joint strength. The Ni interlayer changed the microstructures at the weld interface and improved the joint strength. A fracture occurred at the interface between Ni and TiNi. The interface between Ni and TiNi was free from Fe₂Ti and consisted of mainly TiNi₃ and TiNi. After TiNi₃ was formed as the reaction layer, a eutectic reaction occurred between the TiNi₃ and TiNi base alloy. A reaction layer with a eutectic structure tends to form at the periphery, where the temperature would be higher than that of the central region.     

Influences of post-weld heat treatment on fatigue crack growth behaviour of strength mismatched HSLA steel welds

Abstract

Welding of high strength low alloy steels (HSLA) involves usage of low, even and high strength filler materials (electrodes) compared with the parent material depending on the application of the welded structures and the availability of the filler material. In the present investigation, the influences of post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) on fatigue crack growth behaviour of under matched (UM), equal matched (EM) and over matched (OM) weld metals has been studied. The base material used in this investigation is HSLA-80 steel of weldable grade. The Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) process has been used to fabricate the single 'V' butt joints. Centre Cracked Tension (CCT) specimens have been used to evaluate the fatigue crack growth behaviour of the welded joints. Fatigue crack growth experiments have been conducted using servo hydraulic controlled fatigue testing machine at constant amplitude loading (R = 0). From this investigation, it has been found that the fatigue performance of over matched joints is superior compared to under matched and equal matched joints. Moreover, PWHT reduced the magnitude of the tensile residual stress field in the weld region and subsequently enhanced the fatigue performance of the joints irrespective of weld metal strength mismatch.     

Angular distortion of fillet welded T joint using low transformation temperature welding wire

Abstract

A newly developed low transformation temperature welding wire, of which the transformation start temperature is lower than that of conventional welding wires, was applied to fabrication of fillet welded T joints. The welding angular distortion and the temperature profile of the weld metal were continuously measured during the welding process. The angular distortion of the fabricated T joint was reduced when the weld metal reached the martensitic transformation start temperature. The residual angular distortion was less with the low transformation temperature welding wire than that with the conventional welding wires. The welding distortion of T joints was calculated by a numerical simulation with consideration of the effect of phase transformation under weld thermal cycles. The welding distortion was reproduced with high accuracy in the numerical simulation. Results of the numerical simulation also determined that there was a direct correspondence between the transformation expansion of the weld metal and the angular distortion.