Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
BY A. C. H U N T , A. O . KLUKEN A N D G . R. E D W A R D S
Introduction
KEY WORDS
The use of microalloyed steel weldments in critical structural applications
such as offshore platforms and arctic installations has prompted the evaluation
of factors affecting weld metal microstructure and mechanical properties.
A. C. HUNT is with Hunt Integrated Technologies, Oklahoma City, Okla. A. O.
KLUKEN is with SINTEF, Division of Metallurgy, N-7034 Trondheim, Norway. G. R.
EDWARDS is with Center for Welding and
Joining Research, Colorado School of Mines,
Golden, Colo.
SAW
Weld Metal
Microalloyed Steel
Heat Input Effects
Dilution Effects
Microstructure
Mechanical Properties
Chemical Composition
Cooling Rate
Weld Dilution
(a)
(b)
(a)
(c)
(d)
(b)
Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of the sequence used for producing the low-dilution welds. A V-groove machined along
the base plate centerline; B high heat input weld deposited
into the V-groove; C reinforcement of high heat input weld
bead removed; D deposition of experimental weld on top
of the high heat input weld bead.
Series No.
I
II
Weld No
Dilution
Amperage
(A)
Voltage
(V)
Travel Speed
(mm/s)
Heat Input
(k]/mm)
34
34
34
34
34
34
34
i4
11.5
7.0
5.0
4.3
11.4
6.9
5.0
4.3
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
34
34
34
34
34
34
34
34
10.9
6.8
4.9
4.2
11.2
6.8
4.9
4.2
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
high
low
low
low
low
680
680
680
665
670
670
670
670
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
high
high
high
high
low
low
low
low
640
660
660
660
660
660
660
660
high
high
high
Note: W i r e feed speed was maintained at 72 m m / s and electrode extension was kept at 19 m m (0.75 in.) for all welds.
10-s I J A N U A R Y 1 9 9 4
grit blasted to remove oxide scale. A special overwelding technique was used to
produce the low-dilution welds (40% dilution). Specifically, the procedure involved machining of a single V-groove
in the base plate followed by deposition
of a high heat input weld in the groove.
The reinforcement of the high heat input
weld bead was subsequently removed,
and the test weld was deposited on top
of that bead. Thus, the test weld was contained entirely within the first weld bead,
as shown in Fig. 1, and represents the
case of a multipass weld. The heat input
of the test welds was systematically varied from 2.0 to 5.3 kj/mm (51 to 1 35
kj/in.), both for the high- and the low-dilution welds. To minimize variations in
metal transfer mode, the heat input was
solely varied through adjustments of the
weld travel speed.
Table 1 contains details of operational
conditions for the two weld series.
0.35
300
E
a.
dilution welds
low
0.30
Series
Series
Series
Series
1 low
1 high
II low
II high
'
dilution welds
dilution welds
dilution welds
dilution welds
^8
tn 2 0 0
o^^^
0.25
'00
^sm
Heat
Input
0.20
"
0.15
Wefd No. : 6
3.3
13
5.3
Heat
2.0
Input
4
(kj/mm)
(kJ/mm)
Fig. 3 Effect of heat input and weld metal dilution on the arithmetic mean particle diameter.
Chemical Analysis
The carbon, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen contents of the experimental welds
were individually determined on Leco
analyzers, whereas the remaining elements were analyzed with an emission
spectrometer.
Quantitative Metallography
The experimental welds were sectioned both transverse and longitudinally
to the welding direction for metallographic examination, as shown schematically in Fig. 2. The specimens were mechanically polished to 0.05-pm alumina
finish. The weld metal microstructure
was revealed by etching in a 2 % nital so-
lution. The volume fraction of the different microconstituents was obtained from
more than 1000 point counts carried out
at a magnification of 500X, using the
guidelines set forth in IIW Doc. IX-1 37785. The acicular ferrite interlath spacings
were determined using a circular intercept method described in ASTM Standard E112-84. To reveal the prior austenite grain boundaries, longitudinally sectioned specimens were etched in 4 %
aqueous picric acid with HCI and a wetting agent. The prior austenite grain sizes
were determined by means of the mean
linear intercept technique (Ref. 1 8) for
all welds except Welds 7, 14 and 1 5. In
these welds, grain boundary definition
was insufficient to allow accurate measurements.
Weld
No.
1a
2a
3a
4
5"
6b
7b
8b
II
10a
11 a
12 a
13b
14 b
1 5
16 b
Base Plate
Mn
Si
Cr
Ni
0.77
0.75
0.75
0.73
0.54
0.55
0.53
0.53
1.39
1.44
1.49
1.50
1.87
1.89
1.87
1.90
0.96
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.72
0.75
0.75
0.77
0.98
0.98
0.97
0.98
0.29
0.27
0.26
0.27
0.26
0.25
0.24
0.24
0.009
0.010
0.010
0.010
0.012
0.011
0.012
0.012
0.007
0.006
0.006
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.005
0.52
0.50
0.50
0.49
0.41
0.42
0.40
0.40
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.79
0.82
0.85
0.86
1.10
1.11
1.10
1.12
0.54
0.35
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.39
0.38
0.39
0.40
0.33
0.011
0.011
0.012
0.012
0.013
0.014
0.013
0.014
0.006
0.007
0.007
0.007
0.007
0.006
0.005
0.006
0.006
0.006
0.56
0.55
0.55
0.54
0.53
0.52
0.52
0.51
0.73
Mo
Nb
Cu
0.23
0.23
0.24
0.24
0.27
0.27
0.26
0.27
0.033
0.032
0.032
0.031
0.020
0.021
0.020
0.019
1.19
1.05
1.04
1.04
0.85
0.81
0.82
0.82
0.28
0.29
0.31
0.31
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.37
0.20
0.033
0.032
0.032
0.031
0.021
0.020
0.021
0.020
0.048
0.96
0.92
0.89
0.87
0.57
0.56
0.57
0.55
1.28
Ti
Al
I i m
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.007
0.007
0.007
0.007
0.010
0.010
0.009
0.009
0.021
0.018
0.018
0.017
0.014
0.015
0.014
0.013
250
190
210
210
240
230
230
210
21
21
25
25
26
26
21
25
0.220
0.212
0.214
0.215
0.210
0.209
0.204
0.197
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.008
0.007
0.007
0.008
0.007
0.004
0.005
0.004
0.005
0.006
0.005
0.006
0.006
0.002
0.020
0.019
0.017
0.016
0.016
0.015
0.014
0.014
0.038
210
190
210
200
220
220
220
210
15
14
14
17
12
II
13
11
4
0.227
0.227
0.232
0.230
0.235
0.234
0.235
0.234
0.218
a high dilution,
b l o w dilution.
Si
Pom - C +
30
M n + Cu + Cr
20
Ni
+
Mo
^ + 5 B
10
...
."
'
, . * . * ,
2 0
As expected, the inclusion size distributions for all welds exhibited a lognormal distribution. The arithmetic
mean particle diameters for the inclusions extracted from selected weld metals are shown in Fig. 3. As can be seen
from the figure, the low-dilution welds
exhibited a larger mean particle size
than the corresponding high-dilution
welds for a given welding wire and heat
input. Although the coarsening was not
dramatic, the trend was consistent. Contrary to previous findings (Ref. 25), it was
noted that the mean particle diameter
appeared to be independent of the heat
input. At present, this observed discrepancy cannot be easily explained. The
apparent inclusion coarsening observed
for the low-dilution weld metals may be
related to the special overwelding technique used to produce these specimens,
although it is difficult to understand how
the short thermal excursion associated
with remelting and resolidification could
allow sufficient coarsening time.
Clearly, further research to characterize
the effect of multiple thermal cycles on
weld metal inclusions is required.
pm
Fig. 5 Microstructures of welds deposited at a heat input of 3.3 kj/mm. A dilution); B Weld 14 (low dilution).
Weld 10 (high
Table 3 - - Summary of Weld Metal Microstructure, Acicular Ferrite Lath Spacing, and Prior Austenite Grain Size
Series
No.
I
II
Weld
No.
Dilution
GBF
Heat Input
(k)/mm)
(vol-%)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
high
high
high
high
low
low
low
low
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2
2
3
4
1
1
7
11
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
high
high
high
high
low
low
low
low
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2
3
3
3
3
5
9
9
PF
(vol-%)
AF
(vol-%)
FS(A)
(vol-%)
FS(NA)
(vol-%)
Acicular Ferrite
Lath Spacing (/im)
Prior Austenite
Grain Size (jim)
3
15
89
85
4 I
91
87
80
95
83
8
8
3
6
105
140
163
200
106
158
5
5
41
48
89
84
82
83
93
92
54
47
5
7
5
5
3
4
2
6
7
2
2
3
4
4
3
3.3
3.4
2.2
2.4
2.3
2.3
3.7
4.2
2.3
2.9
2.8
2.7
Note: CBF; Grain Boundary Ferrite, PF: Polygonal ferrite. AF: Acicular Ferrite. FS{A); Ferrite with Aligned Second Phase, FS(NA): Ferrite with Non-Migned Second Phase
207
79
83
83
96
85
111
80
Series H
Serie;
60
^
low dilution w sids
[y^j high dilution w aids
E
a.
40
20
A
A
A *
Series
Series
Series
Series
1 low
1 high
II low
II high
dilution
dilution
dilution
dilution
welds
welds
welds
welds
50
100
150
200
Prior Austenite Grain Size (/im)
Weld No. :
Fig. 6 Effect of prior austenite grain size on the weld metal acicular ferrite content.
Hi m
4
16
12
5.3
5.3
Heat Input (kj/mm)
4|
"s
mi
< ; * . ,
Ijp*
'7 %
' u 9\
...
J.
JC
F*'
f y
Sjfi
.V
mj 4^
/
'
^f
j>+
V 10
*
jjm
Yield Strength
(MPa)
50% FATT
(C)
257
227
224
226
234
217
213
209
649
576
556
538
571
561
552
541
6
-10
-40
-60
-126
-126
-106
-106
II
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
high
high
high
high
low
low
low
low
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2.0
3.3
259
239
223
230
252
24 l
231
229
678
636
601
585
592
555
547
543
6
7
-15
-40
-73
-64
-68
-64
|"
f
Hardness HV0.5
(kg/mm 2 )
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
2.0
3.3
4.6
5.3
Heat Input
(k|/mm)
high
high
high
high
low
low
low
low
iH,
Jf j 1 s V.
<%V
Dilul
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
'
Weld
No.
'
A A
Sii
\t* V
Series
No.
4.6
5.3
50
-5G
-100
Fig. 9 Effect of weld
metal acicular ferrite
content on the 50%
fracture appearance
transition temperature,
50% FATT.
Series
Series
Series
Series
dilution welds
dilution welds
dilution welds
dilution welds
-150
b o t h series e x h i b i t e d an increase in t h e
acicular ferrite content w i t h increasing
austenite grain size [i.e., i n c r e a s i n g heat
i n p u t ) . T h i s is e s p e c i a l l y t r u e f o r t h e
w e l d s w i t h i n Series I. For t h e l o w - d i l u t i o n w e l d s , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , the w e l d
m e t a l a c i c u l a r f e r r i t e c o n t e n t is seen t o
be i n d e p e n d e n t of the prior austenite
grain size. This o b s e r v a t i o n is rather surp r i s i n g i n v i e w of p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s (Refs.
1 7 , 14) a n d m a y be d u e t o t h e s p e c i a l
w e l d i n g p r o c e d u r e a p p l i e d in t h e p r e sent i n v e s t i g a t i o n .
Figure 7 s h o w s a p l o t o f t h e average
a c i c u l a r ferrite lath s p a c i n g for t w o c o m p a r a b l e w e l d s w i t h i n e a c h series. As
seen f r o m t h e f i g u r e , a l o w w e l d m e t a l
d i l u t i o n gives rise to a r e f i n e m e n t of t h e
a c i c u l a r f e r r i t e m i c r o s t r u c t u r e . This o b servation is further e v i d e n c e d by the m i c r o g r a p h s c o n t a i n e d in Fig. 8.
Weld Metal Mechanical Properties
A summary of the mechanical p r o p erties f o r a l l w e l d s is g i v e n i n T a b l e 4 .
A n i n s p e c t i o n o f the data s h o w s that the
yield strength decreased w i t h increasi n g heat i n p u t . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e h i g h d i l u t i o n welds exhibited a higher yield
strength c o m p a r e d to the c o r r e s p o n d i n g
l o w - d i l u t i o n w e l d s . These f i n d i n g s m a y
be a t t r i b u t e d t o the o b s e r v e d shifts in the
w e l d metal microstructure. The meas u r e d hardness v a l u e s also t e n d to p a r allel the y i e l d strength b e h a v i o r w i t h respect to the heat i n p u t .
A p l o t of t h e subsize C V N 5 0 % f r a c ture appearance transition temperature
( 5 0 % FATT) vs. the w e l d m e t a l a c i c u l a r
ferrite c o n t e n t is s h o w n in Fig. 9. As seen
f r o m t h e f i g u r e , the 5 0 % FATT decreases
w i t h i n c r e a s i n g c o n t e n t o f a c i c u l a r ferrite. T h i s o b s e r v a t i o n is c o n s i s t e n t w i t h
p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s (Refs. 1-6), a n d s h o w s
that the a c i c u l a r ferrite m i c r o c o n s t i t u e n t
provides o p t i m a l w e l d metal toughness
in m i c r o a l l o y e d steel w e l d metals at the
5 0 0 to 7 0 0 M P a y i e l d strength level.
I low
I high
II low
II high
20
40
60
80
100
Conclusions
T h e m a j o r f i n d i n g s of t h e present i n v e s t i g a t i o n c a n be s u m m a r i z e d as f o l lows:
For t h e w e l d i n g c o n s u m a b l e s a n d
base p l a t e u s e d in t h i s s t u d y , t h e w e l d
m e t a l h a r d e n a b i l i t y (as m e a s u r e d b y
P c m ) was not significantly affected by
an increase in w e l d m e t a l d i l u t i o n f r o m
4 0 to 7 0 % .
L o w - d i l u t i o n w e l d s p r e p a r e d b y an
o v e r w e l d i n g ( d o u b l e pass) t e c h n i q u e exh i b i t e d a s l i g h t l y larger m e a n i n c l u s i o n
s i z e t h a n t o h i g h - d i l u t i o n ( s i n g l e pass)
w e l d s . T h e l o w - d i l u t i o n or d o u b l e pass
w e l d s also e x h i b i t e d h i g h e r f r a c t i o n s o f
f i n e r a c i c u l a r f e r r i t e c o m p a r e d to h i g h d i l u t i o n or single pass w e l d s .
The microstructure and toughness of
l o w - d i l u t i o n , d o u b l e pass w e l d s w e r e
f o u n d t o be i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e heat
i n p u t w h i l e h i g h - d i l u t i o n , s i n g l e pass
w e l d s w e r e f o u n d to be v e r y sensitive t o
v a r i a t i o n s in t h e heat i n p u t .
T h e results of this study p o i n t o u t the
c o m p l e x i t y o f phase t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s in
m i c r o a l l o y e d steel w e l d metal s u b j e c t e d
to m u l t i p l e t h e r m a l c y c l e s , a n d e m p h a size the need for further research o n the
effect of m u l t i p l e t h e r m a l c y c l e s o n w e l d
metal i n c l u s i o n s .
Acknowledgments
The authors a c k n o w l e d g e the support o f t h e O f f i c e of N a v a l Research. A .
O . K l u k e n w o u l d also l i k e t o t h a n k t h e
Royal N o r w e g i a n C o u n c i l for S c i e n t i f i c
and Industrial Research, the Janson
F o u n d a t i o n of N o r w a y a n d S T A T O I L for
their f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t .
References
1. Abson, D. )., Dolby, R. E., and Hart, P.
H. M . 1978. The role of nonmetallic i n c l u sions in ferrite nucleation in carbon steel weld
materials.
23,Burford,D. A. 1984.The effect of grain
size on the microstructure and deformation
behavior of dual phase steels. M . Sc. Thesis
No. T-2944, Colorado School of Mines,
Golden, Colo.
24. Liu, S. 1984. The role of nonmetallic
inclusions in controlling w e l d metals m i crostructures in niobium micro-alloyed steels.