In-depth and ion image analysis of minor and trace constituents in V–Cr–Ti alloy welds

Abstract

This paper describes the application of dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to the study of the chemistry of welds in V–Cr–Ti alloys and presents preliminary data on the distribution of minor and trace elements (H, C, N, O, P, S, and C1) in welds produced by gas tungsten arc (GTA) and electron beam techniques. The motivation for this research is to develop techniques that determine correlations between the concentration and distribution of trace elements in alloy metal welds and the physical properties of the weld. To this end, quantitative SIMS techniques were developed for N, O, and S analysis in vanadium alloy welds using an ion implantation/relative sensitivity factor methodology. The data presented in this paper demonstrate that trace compositions and distributions of selected welds correlate, at least qualitatively, with such properties as microhardness and tensile elongation. These data support continuing these investigations to develop microanalysis methods that quantitatively correlate weld composition with mechanical properties.