Influence of Filler Wires to Suppress the Microsegregation and to Improve Mechanical Properties of Conventional Arc-Welded Nickel-Based Superalloy Incoloy 20

Abstract

Elemental segregation leads to hot fissuring in the Incoloy 20. The present investigation examines the possibility of lessening the elemental segregation in the conventional arc welding techniques. In the present investigation, Incoloy 20 plates were fused by continuous current gas tungsten arc welding (CCGTAW) and pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding (PCGTAW) with two different nickel-based filler wires (ERNiCrMo-2 and ERNiCrMo-3). The result of the macroexamination shows that steady fluid flow with crack-free welding was succeeded in all the weldments. Optical and scanning electron microscope proves the columnar and cellular structure in CCGTAW specimens and fine equiaxed dendritic structure in PCGTAW specimens. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction results exhibit that the weld joint produced by CCGTAW ERNiCrMo-2 shows Cr segregation that leads to the formation of M23C6 phases in the interdendritic regions, whereas ERNiCrMo-3 shows the presence of NbC instead of M23C6. The elemental segregation is suppressed when it comes to PCGTA weldments in both filler wires. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis shows that the CCGTA weldments show coarser grain structure in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). In all the cases, the formation of secondary phases affects the strength of the weld joints at HAZ. Refined microstructure obtained in the PCGTAW in both filler wires shows the marginally higher ultimate tensile strength and toughness compared to the corresponding CCGTA weldments. From the corrosion study, PCGTAW specimens exhibit higher corrosion resistance than the CCGTAW specimens for both filler wires.