Abstract
Flash butt welding is a high-efficiency welding technology that is widely used in industrial development. However, the inclusions and defects generated during the process are unacceptable. The presence of inclusions is one of the main factors affecting the quality of flash butt welding. Suitable flash butt welding parameters such as the preheating temperature and upset distance are essential to eliminate inclusions. In this study, because the number of inclusions on the end face is greatly affected by the flash welding time and upset distance, the impact of different upset distances on the number of inclusions was studied by fixing the flash welding time. Further observations were conducted using a scanning electron microscope. Image analysis software was used on the obtained photos to quantitatively analyze the inclusions on the welding surface. A statistical analysis of the experimental data showed that the upset distance was related to the number of inclusions, and the total number of inclusions on the welding surface had a negative impact on the strength of the product.
Highlights
Flash butt welding (FBW) is a type of resistance welding
Failure analyses of FBW [7,8,9,10,11] in low-carbon steel have shown that failures are most often the result of excessive heat input. This causes the production of Widmanstatten ferrite at the welding joint, which affects the plasticity of the joint, resulting in low toughness [12,13,14,15,16], as well as the decarburization and softening of the heat-affected zones
It can be seen that the production time for mm upset distance was only approximately 6 s
Summary
Flash butt welding (FBW) is a type of resistance welding. In the initial preheating and flashing stages, energy is obtained through the contact resistance of the two surfaces by the application of a voltage, which softens the end face areas. FBW is a single pass welding process with a simple flat face weld joint. Many ferrous alloys can be FBW, including low-carbon steel, medium-carbon steel, and high-strength low-alloy steel (HSLA) [4,5,6]. Failure analyses of FBW [7,8,9,10,11] in low-carbon steel have shown that failures are most often the result of excessive heat input This causes the production of Widmanstatten ferrite at the welding joint, which affects the plasticity of the joint, resulting in low toughness [12,13,14,15,16], as well as the decarburization and softening of the heat-affected zones.
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