Ferrite Side Plate Research Articles

Effect of Cr Element in Gas-Shielded Solid Wire for Oil and Gas Long-Distance Pipeline on Microstructure and Low Temperature Toughness of Weld.

In this paper, the influence of Cr element on the mechanical properties of welded joints of gas-shielded solid wire used in oil and gas long-distance pipelines was studied by means of tensile test, impact test, and hardness test, and the microstructure and crack propagation path of weld were characterized by means of an optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, and electron backscattering diffraction. The results show that with the addition of Cr, the strength and toughness of the weld are significantly improved, in which the tensile strength is increased from 607 MPa to 656 MPa, and the impact toughness is increased from 126.37 J to 223.79 J. The proportion of the ferrite side plate in the weld structure is reduced by about 20%, and the effective grain size of acicular ferrite is reduced by about 15%. The reason is that the addition of the Cr element improves the hardenability of the weld structure, inhibits the formation of the ferrite side plate, and promotes the effective refinement of acicular ferrite, which increases the proportion of high-angle grain boundaries in the weld, effectively hindering the crack propagation, improves the crack propagation work, and thus improves the strength and toughness of the weld.

열가공제어한 저탄소강의 용접부 기계적성질에 미치는 용접기법의 영향

This study investigated the mechanical properties of thermal mechanical control process steel and obtained the following results. In a welded metal (WM) subjected to both single submerged arc welding (SSAW) and tandem SAW (TSAW), grain boundary ferrite (GBF) was generated along with a prior austenite grain boundary and ferrite side plate (FSP). In particular, TSAW with low basicity and a high heat input yielded coarser results than those of SSAW. In the heat affected zone (HAZ), as the heat input increased, the fraction of low-temperature transformation products such as bainite and acicular ferrite decreased, whereas the fraction of primary ferrites such as GBF, FSP, and polygonal ferrite (PF) tended to increase, and the grain size tended to coarsen. The hardness value of the WM increased in the order of electro gas welding, SSAW, and TSAW regardless of the heat input, and the hardness value of the HAZ tended to increase the softening width and decrease the minimum value with an increase in the heat input. Finally, the joint strength of the weld zone tended to decrease as the heat input increased. However, the joint strength of the weld zone under all the applied welding techniques met the value required by the base metal.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded 10 mm-thick Q345 steel joints

The present study systematically investigated the effects of a laser welding speed and a defocusing amount on the microstructure and mechanical properties of low alloy high strength Q345 steel joints. The macro-morphology, microstructure, Vickers microhardness, and tensile properties of as-welded joints were analyzed. The results indicated a significant correlation between the laser welding speed and the size of individual zones within the welded joint. As the laser welding speed increased, the size of each zone decreased noticeably. The microstructure of the fusion zone was composed of proeutectoid ferrite, ferrite side-plate, and acicular ferrite. An increase in welding speed and defocusing amount facilitated microstructural changes towards formation of ferrite side-plate and acicular ferrite. Maximum tensile strength and maximum elongation of as welded joints were measured to be 669 MPa and 21.8%, respectively. The joints with maximum tensile strength tended to fracture within the fusion zone. The increase in welding speed and defocusing amount caused a significant decrease in normalized enthalpy and volumetric energy density.

Effect of Al or Ti addition on the ferrite formation in ultra-low oxygen weld metal of low carbon steel

Effect of Al or Ti addition on the ferrite formation in ultra-low oxygen (about a few tens ppm) weld metal of low carbon steels were investigated. A bead-on-plate welding experiments were performed with a Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding system. The double nozzle was attached to the welding torch used, Ar was passed along the outer nozzle and He is added along the inner nozzle. Optical micrographs showed that primary ferrite appeared along prior austenite grain boundaries and that as the temperature is decreased ferrite side plates were grew into grain interior. Their formation positions were approached to the welding end as the decreasing Al and increasing Ti content. This change in ferrite formation position attributed on the ferrite formation temperature, which was assumed to increase as the decreasing Al and increasing Ti content. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis of inclusions showed that Al and Ti were mainly associated with 0, it was obvious that the inclusions in the steels were Al- and Ti- oxide inclusions. Al-oxide inclusions were not favourable acicular ferrite nucleation sites and the inclusions contributing to acicular ferrite formation were Ti-oxide ones. The number density of acicular ferrite was small. This indicated that acicular ferrite formation was suppressed because the number density of inclusions was low under the ultra-low oxygen welding condition.

Microstructure Characteristics and Mechanical Properties of Flash Butt Welded 590 MPa V-N Microalloyed Heavy-Duty Truck Wheel Steel

This study reports the welded joint of a novel 590 MPa V-N microalloyed wheel steel on microstructure and mechanical properties after flash butt welding. The welding parameters were flash current 48°/582.0 A, upsetting current 44°/516.6 A, and workpiece clearance 1.5 mm. The evolution of microstructure in the welded joint occurred as follows: welding seam (ferrite side plate + acicular ferrite +martensite)→coarse-grained zone (acicular ferrite + granular bainite)→fine-grained zone (fine-grained ferrite + M/A island)→base metal (equiaxed ferrite + pearlite). The standard impact energy value of welding seam, coarse grain zone, fine grain zone, and base metal at −40 °C was 116, 128, 144, and 88 J, respectively. The mechanical property of the joint was excellent. The microstructure, the number of grain boundaries, and the dislocation density directly affected the strength and hardness of the joint. The increase of large angle grain boundaries and the decrease of effective grain size were beneficial to the improvement of toughness. The hot-rolled 590 MPa V-N microalloyed wheel steel had superior weldability.

SSAW 용접기법이 강재의 용접부 미세조직에 미치는 영향

This study investigated the effects of self-shielded arc welding on the microstructures of welded parts in laminar-cooled-thermo-mechanical-controlled-process (LC-TMCP), titanium nitride (TiN), and B grade steels. The microstructure of the fusion zone was the same in all three samples, consisting of ferrite (grain boundary ferrite (GBF)+acicular ferrite+ferrite side plate) and pearlite phases, and the LC-TMCP and TiN steels had a higher volume fraction of ferrite and smaller grain sizes than those of the B grade steel. In all three samples, the microstructure near the fusion line consisted of ferrite and pearlite phases with a small amount of bainite, and the grain sizes of the LC-TMCP and TiN steels were smaller than those of the B grade steel. In addition, the TiN steel was smaller than the TMCP steel, and the volume fraction of ferrite (GBF, etc.) was the highest in the B grade steel and lowest in the TiN steel. The microstructure of the heat-affected zone included a phase in which a small amount of bainite was present in the ferrite and pearlite phases near the fusion line (1 mm) in all three samples. However, the shape was different from that of the base material, and the grain size was the largest in the B grade steel and smallest in the TiN steel. The volume fraction of ferrite (GBF, etc.) was the highest in the B grade steel and lowest in the TiN steel. All three samples had the same shape as the base metal phase at 5 mm from the fusion line. However, grain was growth.

Microstructure and Properties of High Frequency Pulse MAG Butt Welded Joints of S355 Steel with Different Diameters

In this paper, the diameter of 1.2mm and 1.6mm welding wires were used to carry out high-frequency pulse MAG butt welding process test on S355J2W+N weathering steel. The analysis of the microstructure characteristics of the welded joints under the two working conditions shows that there is little difference and both are ideal. There were more acculate ferrite (AF), less pearlite (P) and bainite (BG), and no larger Weisserite structure and less ferrite side-plate (FSP) structure. The weld is well formed, weld defects such as gas pores and cracks are not found. The impact test showed that the impact energy Akv (-40 °C) of the welded joint at -40 °C was higher than the specified minimum impact energy of 27 J. Compared with the 1.2mm welding wire, the impact energy of the 1.6mm welding wire is lower. Tensile test results show that the fracture occurs at the base metal position. and the fracture height is uneven, forming an angle of 45° with the tensile stress direction, which is a ductile fracture. When the bending angle of the butt joint samples reaches 180°, no cracks are both found on the tensile surface, and the plastic index of the welded joint samples is qualified and has good bending performance.

Study on Behavior of CO2 Gas Shielded Welding Joint of Ultrafine Grain Steel

This research paper mainly studied the microstructure and hardness of the weld bead and welding heat affected zone of ultrafine grain steel after CO2 gas-shielded welding. After normalizing and quenching heat treatment, the changes in microstructure and hardness of welded joints were studied. These experimental results showed that the microstructure of the weld bead of the welded joint was dendritic. The microstructure of weld bead was a mixed structure of proeutectoid ferrite, side plate ferrite, bainite, and pearlite. The microstructure of the overheated zone of HAZ under the as-welded condition was ferrite and pearlite with coarse grains, and the normalized zone was pearlite and ferrite with smaller grains than that of base metal. The microstructure of the normalized + quenched welded joint was a mixture of low carbon martensite, pearlite and ferrite, and the ferrite content was less. The hardness change of these welded joints was that the welded joint hardness after normalizing + quenching was significantly higher than that of welded joints before heat treatment.

Effect of boron treatment on the microstructure and toughness of Ti-containing steel weld metals

Ti-containing steel weld metals with boron addition contents of 0-85 ppm were prepared, and their microstructural characteristics as well as the impact toughness were investigated. The results show that in these microstructures, compared to the weld metal without boron, the addition of 22-39 ppm boron results in a remarkable increase in the amount of acicular ferrite at the expense of grain boundary ferrite, idiomorphic ferrite and side-plate ferrite. However, with a further increase in the boron content up to 61-85 ppm, the bainitic ferrite is formed, accompanied with a drop in the amount of acicular ferrite. In the acicular ferrite, the size of martensite-austenite (M/A) islands is much smaller, and the amount is much lower than those found in the bainitic ferrite. In the case of the weld metals primarily composed of acicular ferrite, during the fracture of the impact specimens, the crack propagation path is more bent in comparison with the weld metals with large amounts of grain boundary ferrite, idiomorphic ferrite, side-plate ferrite or bainitic ferrite, which that the presence of acicular ferrite improves the toughness of the weld metals. The coarse martensite-austenite islands readily induce micro-cracks at the interface between martensite-austenite islands and ferrite matrix, deteriorating the toughness. The weld metals with B contents of 22-39 ppm exhibit outstanding impact toughness because of high amount of acicular ferrite, accompanied with fine martensite-austenite islands.

Comparisons of laser and laser-arc hybrid welded carbon steel with beam oscillation

Laser welding and laser-arc hybrid welding of Q235 steel with and without beam oscillation were carried out, the weld formation, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. It was found that the width of the heat affected zone (HAZ) increased by beam oscillation during laser welding, while decreased during laser-arc hybrid welding. The side-plate ferrite (FS) increased by the beam oscillation, while the blocky ferrite (FB) was broken up and the proeutectoid ferrite (FP) was reduced. Moreover, the beam oscillation was beneficial to improve the elongation rate from 6.8% to 7.6% for laser welds and 8.3% to 9.8% for hybrid welds, while decrease the micro-hardness of the welds by 85 HV10 for the laser welds and 10 HV10 for the hybrid welds. Finally, the variation in width of HAZ was illustrated according to the heat distribution of the laser source, arc column and oscillating behavior of the laser beam. The relation between microstructure and mechanical properties was established, according to the stirring effect of the oscillated laser beam within the molten pool, and the solidification theories.

Effect of B Segregation at Prior Austenite Grain Boundaries on Microstructures and Toughness in the Heat‐Affected Zone of Mg‐Deoxidized Shipbuilding Steel Plates

The effect of B segregation at prior austenite grain boundary (PAGB) on the microstructure and toughness in the heat‐affected zone (HAZ) after high heat input welding at kJ cm−1 for Mg‐deoxidized shipbuilding steel plates is clarified. With 0.0022 wt.% B addition, B segregation occurs at PAGBs in two forms: solute B and fine Fe23(BC)6 precipitates. B segregation with a concentration of about 4 at.% decreases boundary energy by 0.13 J m−2, which reduces the nucleation density of boundary ferrites by increasing the critical activation energy of ferrite nucleation. Thus, coarse grain boundary ferrites (GBFs) and ferrite side plates (FSPs) are suppressed with film‐like allotriomorphic ferrites formed at PAGBs, and ferrite transformation temperature reduces from 712–543 to 679–541 °C. In B‐free steels, (Fe, Mn)3C particles form at PAGBs with the Mn‐depleted zone (MDZ) at around (Fe, Mn)3C, promoting GBFs and FSPs. However, (Fe, Mn)3C precipitates and MDZ are not observed at PAGBs with B addition, because B segregation delays Mn diffusion to PAGBs. Thus, GBFs and FSPs reduce, and intragranular acicular ferrites (IAFs) increase with B addition, making the dislocation density and high‐angle grain boundary density increase, which improve HAZ toughness at −40 °C from 40 to 141 J.

Three-Dimensional Morphology and Analysis of Widmanstätten Sideplates Ferrite

The three-dimensional (3D) morphology and crystal structure of Widmanstätten sideplate ferrite were simulated using a focused ion beam (FIB) scanning electron microscope equipped with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The primary Widmanstätten sideplates nucleated and grew directly at the austenite grain boundary (GB). A certain included angle between the sideplates and the austenite GB was observed. The sideplates grew approximately parallel to the grain, and were separated by a small-angle GB. The primary Widmanstätten sideplates are best described as “∃” shaped, with a long intermediate ferrite strip. The interface with the austenite GB was smooth and flat, and the sideplate surface contained pits and holes. The secondary Widmanstätten sideplates nucleated and grew on the surface of the proeutectoid GB ferrite, with the sideplates and GB ferrite perpendicular to each other. Sideplates parallel to one another grew into the grain, and were separated by small-angle GB. The 3D morphology was distinguished by its “comb” shape. The sideplates’ tail was clustered and its front end remained sharp. The contact side of the GB ferrite was smooth and flat. The surface contained several uneven pits and defects.

Effect of Al or Ti addition on the Ferrite Formation in Ultra-low Oxygen Weld Metal of Low Carbon Steel

Effect of Al or Ti addition on the ferrite formation in ultra-low oxygen (about a few tens ppm) weld metal of low carbon steels were investigated. A bead-on-plate welding experiments were performed with a Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding system. The double nozzle was attached to the welding torch used, Ar was passed along the outer nozzle and He is added along the inner nozzle. Optical micrographs showed that primary ferrite appeared along prior austenite grain boundaries and that as the temperature is decreased ferrite side plates were grew into grain interior. Their formation positions were approached to the welding end as the decreasing Al and increasing Ti content. This change in ferrite formation position attributed on the ferrite formation temperature, which was assumed to increase as the decreasing Al and increasing Ti content. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis of inclusions showed that Al and Ti were mainly associated with O, it was obvious that the inclusions in the steels were Al- and Ti- oxide inclusions. Al-oxide inclusions were not favourable acicular ferrite nucleation sites and that the inclusions contributing to acicular ferrite formation were Ti-oxide ones. The number density of acicular ferrite was small. This indicated that acicular ferrite formation was suppressed because the number density of inclusions was low under the ultra-low oxygen welding condition.

Microstructure and Fracture Characteristics of Heat‐Affected Zone in Shipbuilding Steel Plates with Mg Deoxidation after High Heat Input Welding

To clarify the microstructure and fracture characteristics of heat‐affected zone in shipbuilding steel plates with Mg deoxidation after high heat input welding, two steels with 0.0002 (2Mg) and 0.0049 (49Mg) wt% Mg are prepared and investigated with metallography and crystallography. Compared with 2Mg, TiN particles are incrementally refined in 49Mg, making the prior austenite grain (PAG) size decrease. In the large‐sized grains of 2Mg, there are preferentially formed coarse grain boundary ferrites (GBFs) and ferrite side plates (FSPs), followed by intragranular bainite ferrites (IBFs). The small PAGs of 49Mg make fine‐grained polygonal ferrites (PFs) dominate the microstructure. With Mg addition, the effective grain with θ > 50° refines and the high‐angle grain boundary density increases. The brittle transgranular fracture occurs around little‐deformed coarse GBFs, FSPs, and IBFs with θ < 15° in 2Mg, showing the weak crack resistance. However, in 49Mg, the ductile fracture occurs around fine PFs and IAFs with large plastic deformation. Although there is transgranular fracture in coarse PFs, it can be soon deflected and arrested by small‐sized PFs with θ > 50° in 49Mg. Thus, for 49Mg, the crack initiation and propagation energies increase with the toughness at −40 °C increasing from 20 to 167 J.

Effect of Ca on the evolution of inclusions and the formation of acicular ferrite in Ti–Mg killed EH36 steel

ABSTRACT The characteristics of inclusions and the formation of acicular ferrite (AF) in Ti–Mg-Ca killed EH36 steel were researched. Typical inclusions in the Ca-free samples were MgO·Al2O3 + MnS and pure MgO·Al2O3. With the addition of Ca, MgO·Al2O3 was modified into Mg–Ca–Al–O , which promoted MnS precipitating on those inclusions. Mg–Ca–Al–O+MnS/MnS–CaS was the nucleus of AF. While pure MgO·Al2O3 was inert for nucleation of AF. Therefore, the percentage of AF increased to 21% in the steel with 0.0017% Ca. However, 0.0051% Ca led to a rise of CaS content in the inclusions. Probability of AF nucleation on the inclusions was reduced due to high lattice mismatch between CaS and α-Fe. Area fraction of AF in the steel with 0.0051% Ca decreased while that of ferrite side plates increased. It is appropriate when the content of Ca is 0.0017% in this study.

Microstructure evolution and acicular ferrite nucleation in inclusion-engineered steel with modified MgO@C nanoparticle addition

To investigate the effect of surface-modified nanoparticles (NPs) on the inclusion refinement and microstructure evolution, deoxidized experiment ingots with different amounts of modified NPs were manufactured under different cooling conditions. Laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) was hereby used for in-situ observation of the phase transition and microstructural evolution during heat cycle process. The results revealed that the inclusion size was always smaller under water quenching than under air cooling, and the number of inclusions was greater under water quenching. After NP addition, the nucleant inclusions were identified as MgAl2O4 spinel and irregular TiN inclusion from SEM-EDS measurement and equilibrium calculations using Factsage thermodynamic software. The higher cooling rate under water quenching resulted in less polygonal ferrite decrease and the formation of bainite in the steel. The LSCM experiments showed that ferrite side plates (FSP) always formed on the boundary prior to the formation of acicular ferrite (AF) on the intragranular inclusions, and the start transformation temperatures of FSP and AF phases both lowered after NP addition. The higher cooling rate and NP addition contributed to AF formation and increased the degree of interlocking of the AF phase. Finally, the relationship between the characteristics of inclusions and the kinetics of AF was investigated.

A Comparative Study of Acicular Ferrite Transformation Behavior between Surface and Interior in a Low C–Mn Steel by HT-LSCM

In this study, the acicular ferrite transformation behavior of a Ti–Ca deoxidized low carbon steel was studied using a high-temperature laser scanning confocal microscopy (HT-LSCM). The in situ observation of the transformation behavior on the sample surface with different cooling rates was achieved by HT-LSCM. The microstructure between the surface and interior of the HT-LSCM sample was compared. The results showed that Ti–Ca oxide particles were effective sites for acicular ferrite (AF) nucleation. The start transformation temperature at grain boundaries and intragranular particles decreased with an increase in cooling rate, but the AF nucleation rate increased and the surface microstructure was more interlocked. The sample surface microstructure obtained at 3 °C/s was dominated by ferrite side plates, while the ferrite nucleating sites transferred from grain boundaries to intragranular particles when the cooling rate was 15 °C/s. Moreover, it was interesting that the microstructure and microhardness of the sample surface and interior were different. The AF dominating microstructure, obtained in the sample interior, was much finer than the sample surface, and the microhardness of the sample surface was much lower than the sample interior. The combined factors led to a coarse size of AF on the sample surface. AF formed at a higher temperature resulted in the coarse size. The available particles for AF nucleation on the sample surface were quite limited, such that hard impingement between AF plates was much weaker than that in the sample interior. In addition, the transformation stress in austenite on the sample surface could be largely released, which contributed to a coarser AF plate size. The coarse grain size, low dislocation concentration and low carbon content led to lower hardness on the sample surface.

Effects of Ti-bearing inclusions on intragranular ferrite nucleation

Abstract The effect of Ti-bearing inclusion characteristics, such as size and marginal composition, on intragranular ferrite (IGF) nucleation has been explored in single sample through SEM and EDS. It can be seen that Ti-bearing inclusions can induce IGF nucleation, and this nucleation ability was scaled by the number of its induced lathes. Statistical analysis suggested that this ability may be correlated with inclusion size, and independent of Ti2O3 content in inclusion. The former can be attributed to the classical theory of heterogeneous nucleation. The latter can be explained by the relationship between the diffusion quantity of Mn and its solubility in Ti2O3 based on the theory of an Mn-depletion zone. Moreover, a probabilistic feature was observed in the nucleation phenomenon which may be due to a small difference in formation energy between the ferrite side plate and the IGF. These results may be helpful to clarify the nature of oxide metallurgy of a Ti-bearing inclusion.

Uticaj bora i mangana na otpornost ka toplim prslinama i žilavost elektrolučno zavarenih spojeva punjenom elektrodnom žicom čelika klase zatezne čvrstoće od 550 MPa

The hot crack resistance and mechanical properties of flux cored arc (FCA) welds were investigated with three kinds of welding consumables having different boron (B) and manganese (Mn) contents for high strength carbon steel. The hot crack resistance measured from self-restraint testing strongly depended on the amount of B in the welding consumable. Welding consumable with higher B contents resulted in longer total crack length and an increased number of cracks. Boron was intensely detected near the grain boundary of the weld centerline by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis, and precipitated with boron carbide (Fe23(C,B)6), as analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This promoted hot crack propagation in the high strength carbon steel welds. However, removing B from the welding consumable decreased the low temperature toughness for root and face weld metal due to the growth of Ferrite Side Plate (FSP) in comparison with welding consumables having more B or Mn contents. The addition of Mn in the weld metal suppressed the formation of FSP and increased the low temperature toughness. Therefore, the minimization of B and the supplement of Mn successfully achieved hot crack resistance and low temperature toughness for high strength carbon steel welds of 550 MPa tensile strength.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of weld metal in laser and gas metal arc hybrid welding of 440-MPa-grade high-strength steel

Fiber laser and gas metal arc hybrid welding of 440-MPa-grade high-strength marine steel was carried out at different welding speeds. The influence of welding speed on the microstructure and mechanical properties of weld metal was investigated. The weld-metal microstructure mainly consisted of pre-eutectoid ferrite, side-plate ferrite, acicular ferrite and lath bainite at a low welding speed. With the increase in welding speed, acicular ferrite and lath bainite were the dominant weld-metal microstructures. All samples failed at the base metal during tensile tests, which indicates that there is no soft zone in the hybrid welds. The welding speed had a significant effect on the impact toughness of the weld metal. The impact absorbed energy of the weld metal increased from 35 to 105 J with the increase in welding speed from 0.8 to 2.0 m/min. Large amounts of acicular ferrite and lath bainite were formed in the weld metal at a high welding speed, which resulted in an excellent impact toughness.