Improvement of impact properties in the core of electroslag weld metal by variation in welding wire composition: Improvement of toughness properties of ESW weld metal in constructional steels (3rd report)

Abstract

Summary This paper describes an investigation of improvement of the impact properties of electroslag (ESW) weld metal using different types of welding wire. The tests were conducted with six types of welding wire and three levels of welding heat input, i.e. Q = 45.6, 79.0, and 126.7 kJ/mm. The results obtained may be summarised as follows: When a heat input at any level is applied, irrespective of any difference in the welding wire used, the impact value (vE value (J), 273 K) at the centre (core) is lower than that at the periphery (rim). No major improvement of the vE value of the core is found at Q = 45.6 kJ/mm (single‐layer standard heat input conditions for 40 mm thick plate) when wires A ∼ D are used. However, it is found effective to use Ni‐containing wire F (4.18%Ni) to improve the vE value of the weld metal core at Q = 45.6 kJ/mm. The differences in the vE values of the core and rim are closely related to the size of the prior austenite (γ) grains and the different precipitation conditions of the ...