Dissimilar joining of the martensitic grade P91 and Incoloy 800HT alloy for AUSC boiler application: Microstructure, mechanical properties and residual stresses

Abstract

The presented study intends to analyze the microstructure and corresponding mechanical characteristics of P91 and Incoloy 800HT dissimilar welded joint (DWJ). The thermo-physical property differences between P91 and Incoloy 800HT arise due to their complex alloying composition, making their weldability difficult. Incoloy 800HT is difficult to weld due to its high susceptibility to solidification cracking. The recommended nickel-based filler metals for welding Incoloy 800HT were employed to weld P91 and Incoloy 800HT using conventional gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). The welded joint morphology and characteristics were analyzed in as-welded (AW) and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) conditions. The PWHT was performed to observe changes in microstructural inhomogeneity and residual stress relaxation in weld after the heat treatment. An electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) was utilized to observe the distribution and segregation of elements in different weld regions. The deep hole drill technique was employed to find the distribution of bi-axial residual stresses in the weld fusion zone (WFZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) of base metals in both AW and PWHT conditions. The two nickel-based fillers, ERNiCr-3 and ERNiCrMo-3, were employed, and their weld characteristics were compared. The mechanical strength of ERNiCr-3 filler-based DWJ was found superior to ERNiCrMo-3 filler-based DWJ. The standard AW and PWHT ERNiCr-3 filler-based DWJ tensile specimen failed from Incoloy 800HT base metal with an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 570 ± 4 MPa and 650 ± 4 MPa, respectively. The ERNiCrMo-3 filler-based DWJ obtained the highest UTS of 679 MPa after PWHT in a subsize specimen. The microhardness for ERNiCrMo-3 WFZ was found to be higher than ERNiCr-3 WFZ microhardness, and PWHT successfully tempered the P91 HAZ. Further, the impact toughness for the ERNiCr-3 WFZ in AW condition was 86 ± 3 J and PWHT did not provide any significant improvements, while ERNiCrMo-3 WFZ had an impact toughness of 47 ± 10 J in AW state and 41 ± 10 J in PWHT state. Thus, a successful weld characteristic study of defect-free P91 and Incoloy 800HT DWJ was completed, and ERNiCr-3 filler was concluded to be an optimum choice of filler to make the DWJ between P91 and Incoloy 800HT.