Effect of Trace Element on Microstructure and Fracture Toughness of Weld Metal

The microstructure and fracture toughness of weld metal under Ti-free and Ti-containing different fluxes were investigated in this study.It was found that the trace element Ti of flux in submerged arc welding produced significant influence on the fracture toughness.The addition of 60 ppm Ti induced the sharp increase in J_(0.2) value from 232.78 to 364.08 kJ/m~2.Microstructure characterization revealed that a large number of oxide inclusions prompted the nucleation of acicular ferrites and refined grains,which improved the fracture toughness of Ti-containing weld metal greatly.Moreover,the crack propagation path was more tortuous and bifurcated due to the small amount of carbide precipitations along grain boundaries and blocky martensite-austenite islands for Ti-containing weld metal.Meanwhile,the large-angle grain boundaries caused crack deflection and increased the resistance of crack propagation compared to Ti-free weld metal.