Correlation Between Microstructure and Low-Temperature Impact Toughness of Simulated Reheated Zones in the Multi-pass Weld Metal of High-Strength Steel

A large fraction of reheated weld metal is formed during multi-pass welding, which significantly affects the mechanical properties (especially toughness) of welded structures. In this study, the low-temperature toughness of the simulated reheated zone in multi-pass weld metal was evaluated and compared to that of the as-deposited zone using microstructural analyses. Two kinds of high-strength steel welds with different hardenabilities were produced by single-pass, bead-in-groove welding, and both welds were thermally cycled to peak temperatures above Ac₃ using a Gleeble simulator. When the weld metals were reheated, their toughness deteriorated in response to the increase in the fraction of detrimental microstructural components, i.e., grain boundary ferrite and coalesced bainite in the weld metals with low and high hardenabilities, respectively. In addition, toughness deterioration occurred in conjunction with an increase in the effective grain size, which was attributed to the decrease in nucleation probability of acicular ferrite; the main cause for this decrease changed depending on the hardenability of the weld metal.