Structure Character of M-A Constituent in CGHAZ of New Ultra-Low Carbon Bainitic Steel under Laser Welding Conditions

800 MPa grade new ultra-low carbon bainitic （NULCB） steel is the recently developed new generation steel. The microstructure in the coarse-grained heat affected zone （CGHAZ） of NULCB steel under laser welding conditions was investigated by thermal simulation. The influence of the cooling time from 800℃ to 500℃.t8/5 （0.3-30 s）, on the microstructure of the CGHAZ was discussed. The experimental results indicate that the microstructnre of the CGHAZ is only the granular bainite which consists of bainitic ferrite （BF） lath and M-A constituent while t8/5 is 0.3-30 s. The M-A constituent consists of twinned martensite and residual austenite, and the change of the volume fraction of the residual austenite in the M-A constituent is very small when t8/5 is between 0.3 and 30 s. The morphology of the M-A constituent obviously changes with the variation of t8/5.As t8/5 increases, tile average width, gross and shape parameter of the M-A constituent increase, while the line density of the M-A constituent decreases.

Effect of Heat Input and M-A Constituent on Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Heat Affected Zone in Low Carbon Steel

Microstructure evolution and impact toughness of simulated heat affected zone（HAZ） in low carbon steel have been investigated in this study. Thermal simulator was used to simulate microstructure evolution in HAZ with heat input of 10-100 kJ/cm welding thermal cycle. Results indicated that microstructure of HAZ mainly consisted of acicular ferrite（AF） inside grain and high volume fraction of grain boundaries ferrite（GBF） at prior austenite boundaries; the size of GBF and effective grain size increased with increasing heat input. Excellent impact toughness（more than 150 J at-40 ℃） was obtained in HAZ with heat input less than 50 k J/cm. When heat input was 100 kJ/cm, the impact toughness of HAZ decreased to 18 J because of the presence of large M-A constituent with lath-form in HAZ, assisting the micro-crack initiation and decreasing the crack initiation energy seriously. Effect of inclusions on acicular ferrite transformation in HAZ was also discussed.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN M-A CONSTITUENT AND CLEAVAGE FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF GRANULAR BAINITIC WELD METAL

The cleavage fracture mechanism of granular bainitie weld metal in 15MnVN steel has been investigated.SEM observation of a special specimen for revealing simultaneously fracture sur- face and microstructure shows that the cleavage of the weld is initiated by M-A constituent. The 95th percentile equivalent diameter of M-A constituent controls the cleavage fracture stress of the weld metal.

Prediction of M–A Constituents and Impact Toughness in Stir Zone of X80 Pipeline Steel Friction Stir Welds

This study explored a strategy for predicting the proportion of martensite–austenite(M–A)constituents and impact toughness of stir zone(SZ)on X80 pipeline steel joints welded by friction stir welding(FSW).It is found that the welding forces,including the traverse force(F_(x)),the lateral force(F_(y))and the plunge force(F_(z)),are the key variables related to the change of welding parameters and influence remarkably the characteristics of M–A constituents and impact toughness of SZ.The impact toughness of SZ is commonly lower than that of the base material due to the formation of lath bainite and coarsening of austenite.The characteristics of M–A constituents in SZ are sensitive to the variation of welding parameters and respond well to the change of welding forces.The proportion of small island M–A constituents increases with the decrease in rotational speed and the increase in Fz.The increase in the amount of island M–A constituents is beneficial to improve the impact toughness of SZ.Based on the above findings,a machine learning(ML)model for predicting the M–A constituents and impact toughness is constructed using the force features as the input data set.The force data-driven ML model can predict the M–A constituents and impact toughness precisely and exhibits higher accuracy than ML built with welding parameters.It is believed that the high accuracy is achieved because the force features include more details of FSW process,such as the heat generation,material flow,plastic deformation,and so on,which govern the microstructural evolution of SZ during FSW.

Microstructure and Property of Coarse Grain HAZ X80 Pipeline Steel

The coarse grain HAZ microstructure and property of X80 pipeline steel with different carbon content was investigated. The weld thermal simulation test was carried out on Gleeble 1500 thermal mechanical test machine. The Charpy tests were completed at --20 ℃ for evaluating the toughness of coarse grain heat affected zone （CGHAZ）. The microstructure was examined by optical microscope （OM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and the austenite constituent was quantified by X-ray diffraction. The results showed that the ultra-low carbon can improve the toughness of CGHAZ by suppressing the formation of carbide, decreasing the martensite austenite （M-A） constituent and increasing the residual austenite in the M A.

The welding application of high strength steels used in engineering machinery

With the rapid development of low alloy steel strength level,more problems caused by welding are exposed day by day.Recently,the efforts have been paid to improve or enchance the low toughness of heated affected zone and welded metal which can enchance the comprehensive mechanical properties that is the core scientific problems of its safe operation by researching crack initiation and crack propragation attracted a rapidly growing interest.This article focuses on the research status and progress of welding technology and joint microstructure and properties of advanced steel materials.The influence of shielding gas on the microstructure evolution of deposited metals,the effect heat input of welded joint performance,interpass temperature and alloy elements on welded joints microstructure and M-A constituent evolution and properties are reviewed in detail.And for the heat affected zone,the grain size and microstructure as well as the shape,size,and distribution of M-A constituent,have a significant impact on the impact toughness.This paper is an attempt to review the effect of different welding process parameters on welded metal and HAZ of HSLA steels.

Cold cracking susceptibility of X100 pipeline steel

The y-groove Tekken test has been performed to evaluate the cold cracking susceptibility of X100 pipeline steel.The impact of preheating state on the microstructure,distribution of hardness,and the stress-strain state in the welded joint was analyzed.The results show that X100 pipeline steel reveals a low susceptibility to cold cracking with cracking ratios below 20%.It is found that elevated preheating temperature leads to longer cooling time in the welded specimen and ultimately results in a lower cold cracking susceptibility.Preheating temperatures of up to 100℃ are favorable in decreasing the cold cracking susceptibility due to a relative fine microstructure and low M-A constituent amount in coarse grained heat affected zone,a low hardenability,and low-level residual stress and strain.However,excessive preheating temperatures of 150℃ and 200℃ lead to grain coarsening,higher M-A constituent amount,higher residual stress level and increasing strain level in the Tekken specimens.Preheating temperature above 150℃is not favorable for decreasing the cold cracking susceptibility of X100 steel.

Sensitivity of the Impact Toughness and Microstructure of 15CrNi3MoV Steel Under Different Quenching Rates

The sensitivities of the mechanical properties and microstructure of 15CrNi3MoV alloy steel under different quenching rates were investigated in the present study.After subjection to quenching with four different cooling rates(water cooling,forced air cooling,static air cooling and furnace cooling)followed by tempering,the microstructure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),electron back-scattered diffraction(EBSD),and transmission electron microscopy(TEM);and the low-temperature(−20°C)impact toughness was evaluated.The results showed that the tempered microstructure and mechanical properties had high sensitivity to the quenching rate.With a decrease in the quenching rate,the low-temperature impact energy of tempered specimens decreased with increasing fluctuation.Correspondingly,the fracture morphology changed from completely ductile to brittle.In addition,as the quenching cooling rate decreased,the as-quenched matrix changed from a lathy to a polygonal structure with the presence of carbides and martensite-austenite(M-A)constituents,and the effective grain size increased.Tempered martensite with dispersed fine carbides was found in the tempered water cooling specimen,and tempered bainite with a polygonal structure containing large carbides and rare incomplete undecomposed M-A constituents was found in the tempered forced air cooling,static air cooling and furnace cooling specimens.The small effective grain size and fine carbides contributed to the good temperature impact toughness of the tempered water cooling specimens.

Effects of rare earth on microstructure and impact toughness of low alloy Cr-Mo-V steels for hydrogenation reactor vessels

The effects of rare earth(RE) on the microstructure and impact toughness of low alloy Cr-Mo-V bainitic steels have been investigated where the steels have RE content of 0 to 0.048 wt.%. The results indicate that the normalized microstructures of the steels are typical granular bainite(GB) composed primarily of bainitic ferrite and martensite and/or austenite(M-A) constituents. The M-A constituents are transformed into ferrite and carbides and/or agglomerated carbides after tempering at 700℃ for 4 h. The addition of RE decreases the onset temperature of bainitic transformation and results in the formation of finer bainitic ferrite, and reduces the amount of carbon-rich M-A constituents. For the normalized and tempered samples, the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature(DBTT) decreases with increasing RE content to a critical value of 0.012 wt.%. Lower DBTT and higher upper shelf energy are attributed to the decreased effective grain size and lower amount of coarse agglomerated carbides from the decomposition of massive M-A constituents. However, the addition of RE in excess of 0.012 wt.% leads to a substantial increase in the volume fraction of large-sized inclusions, which are extremely detrimental to the impact toughness.

Simultaneously Improving Mechanical Properties and Stress Corrosion Cracking Resistance of High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel via Finish Rolling within Non-recrystallization Temperature

The effect of hot rolling process on microstructure evolution,mechanical properties and stress corrosion cracking(SCC)resistance of high-strength low-alloy(HSLA)steels was investigated by varying the finish rolling temperature(FRT)and total rolling reduction.The results revealed granular bainite with large equiaxed grains was obtained by a total rolling reduction of60%with the FRT of 950℃(within recrystallization temperature T_(r)).The larger grain size and much less grain boundaries should account for the relatively lower strength and SCC resistance.A larger rolling reduction of 80% under the same FRT resulted in the formation of massive martensite-austenite(M/A)constituents and resultant low ductility and SCC resistance.In contrast,a good combination of strength,ductility and SCC resistance was obtained via 80% rolling reduction with the FRT of 860℃(within non-recrystallization temperature T_(nr)),probably because of the fine grain size and M/A constituents,as well as a high density of grain boundary network.

Microstructural refinement mechanism and its effect on toughness in the nugget zone of high-strength pipeline steel by friction stir welding

High-strength pipeline steel was subjected to friction stir welding(FSW)at rotation rates of 400-700 rpm,and the grain refinement mechanism of the nugget zone(NZ)was determined.The thermomechanical process during FSW in the NZ was simulated by multi-pass thermal compression,thereby achieving the austenitic non-recrystallization temperature(T_(nr)).The austenitic non-recrystallization in the NZ at the lowest rotation rate of 400 rpm caused a significant grain refinement.Furthermore,the reduced rotation rate also resulted in the formation of a high ratio of island-like martensite-austenite(M-A)constituent.The toughness of the NZs was enhanced as the rotation rate decreased,which is attributed to the fine effective grains and homogeneously distributed fine M-A constituents dramatically inhibiting crack initiation and propagation.

Effect of Heat Input on Cleavage Crack Initiation of Simulated Coarse Grain Heat-affected Zone in Microalloyed Offshore Platform Steel

The combined effects of martensite-austenite（MA）constituent and pearlite colony on cleavage crack initiation in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone（CGHAZ）of V-N-Ti microalloyed offshore platform steel under different heat inputs were investigated.The results of welding simulation,instrumented impact test,and quantitative analysis indicated that the size of the MA constituent decreased with the increase in cooling time,and by contrast,the size of the pearlite colony increased.According to Griffith theory,the critical sizes of cleavage microcracks were calculated.With the increase of cooling time,the calculated microcrack size could be characterized by the size of the MA constituent first,and then fitted with the size of the pearlite colony.Moreover,the calculated microcrack size variation was opposite to the microcrack initiation energy.This phenomenon is probably due to the combined effects of the MA constituent and pearlite colony with increasing the cooling time of the specimen′s temperature from800 to 500 ℃.