Residual Stress and Fracture Toughness Study in A516 Gr70 Steel Joints Welded and Repaired by Arc Processes

Structural components made of steel are used in several areas and require welding for assembly. In some situations, repair of the weld bead, also performed by electric arc welding, can be used to correct, and eliminate any discontinuities. However, electric arc welding causes the presence of residual stresses in the joint, which can impair its performance and not meet specific design requirements. In this paper, welded joints made of ASTM A 516 GR 70 steel plates, with a thickness of 30.5 mm, welded by the MAG—Metal Active Gas process (20% CO2) and using a “K” groove were analysed. The joints were manufactured with seven welding passes on each side of the groove. After welding, one batch underwent repair of the bead by TIG welding (Tungsten Insert Gas) and another batch underwent two repairs by TIG welding. Were presented results of the behaviour of the residual stress profile measured by X-ray diffraction and the Vickers microhardness profile in the joints as well the fracture toughness in the conditions only welded and submitted to repairs. The results indicated that the greater number of repair passes reduced the residual compressive stress values obtained in the material manufacturing process and caused a stabilization on the Vickers hardness values. It was concluded that compressive residual stresses did not play a major role in the R-curve results. The presence of discontinuities in the welded joint caused greater influence on the behaviour of the R curve.

Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis on Reeled Deepwater Steel Catenary Risers with Girth Weld Defects

In the present study, we simulated the reel-lay installation process of deepwater steel catenary risers（SCRs） using the finite element method and proposed multiaxial fatigue analysis for reeled SCRs. The reel-lay method is one of the most efficient and economical pipeline installation methods. However, material properties of reeled risers may change, especially in the weld zone, which can affect the fatigue performance. Applying finite element analysis（FEA）, we simulated an installation load history through the reel, aligner, and straightener and analyzed the property variations. The impact of weld defects during the installation process, lack of penetration and lack of fusion, was also discussed. Based on the FEA results, we used the Brown-Miller criterion combined with the critical plane approach to predict the fatigue life of reeled and non-reeled models. The results indicated that a weld defect has a significant influence on the material properties of a riser, and the reel-lay method can significantly reduce the fatigue life of SCRs. The analysis conclusion can help designers understand the mechanical performance of welds during reel-lay installation.

Evaluation on Fatigue Performance and Fracture Mechanism of Laser Welded TWIP Steel Joint Based on Evolution of Microstructure and Micromechanical Properties

The fatigue performance and fracture mechanism of laser welded twinning induced plasticity（TWIP）steel joint were investigated experimentally based on the evolution of microstructure and micromechanical properties.The optical microscopy was used to analyze the evolution of microstructure.The variation of composition and phase structure of fusion zone were detected by energy dispersive X-ray and X-ray diffraction spectrometers.The micromechanical behaviors of the various zones were characterized using nanoindentation.The static tensile test and high cycle fatigue test were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of welded joint and base metal.The microstructures,tensile properties and fatigue strength of base metal as well as welded metal were analyzed.The fatigue fracture surfaces of base metal and welded joint were observed by means of scanning electron microscopy,in order to identify fatigue crack initiation sites and propagation mechanisms.Moreover,the fatigue fracture characteristics and mechanisms for the laser welded TWIP steel joints were analyzed.

Influence of Spot Welding on Welding Fatigue Properties of CR340 Steel Joints

Total 72 lapped specimens including six different kinds of CR340 steel structures were prepared to study the influence of the spot welding technology on their fatigue characteristics.Fatigue test and group method were employed and performed on each sample to obtain the fatigue experimental data of each structure under four stress levels.The results show that the spot welding technology had a notable impact on the fatigue performance of both the shear and tensile joints.It can significantly improve the fatigue strength of the structure,the consistency and repeatability of experimental data,as well as the stability and reliability of the structure under dynamic load environment.The shear spot welding structure demonstrates the best fatigue performance which is very important for wide application in engineering of this method.

Low cyclic fatigue behavior of electron-beam-welded Ti–6Al–4V titanium joint

The low cycle fatigue（LCF） tests were carried out using symmetrical cyclic loading under total strain amplitude control conditions.The present paper is devoted to investigating the cyclic deformation response of Ti–6Al–4V titanium and the electron-beam-welded（EBW） joint in the following aspects,i.e.,cyclic deformation behavior,fatigue life and fatigue fracture behavior.The results show that the softening of the joint is significant at larger strain ranges,while not obvious at smaller strain ranges.The joint shows shorter fatigue life at larger strain ranges and equivalent fatigue life at smaller strain ranges compared with Ti–6Al–4V base metal.A fatigue crack of the joint not only originates at the surface or subsurface,but also at defects in the fusion zone（FZ）.The crack propagation zone of Ti–6Al–4V base metal shows ductile fracture mechanism,while the joint shows brittle fracture mechanism.In all the fatigue fracture zones many dimples appear,showing the typical ductile fracture.

Mechanical Properties of Resistance Spot Welded Components of High Strength Austenitic Stainless Steel

Resistance multi-spot welding （MSW） in column, triangle and tetragonal symmetry arrangements was prepared using cold-rolled 301L high-strength sheets, and their static and fatigue properties were in- vestigated. The effects of spot welds on the fracture strengths and fatigue limits were discussed. The results show that the static strengths can be estimated using an inherent linear relationship formula of the load versus the welding area. It was based on the 28%-33% volume fraction of α′ martensite induced at the interfacial spot weld fracture because of the failure deformation. The fatigue limits of the MSW nonlin- early increase with the number of spot welds. The arrangement of spot welds in the MSW significantly affects the average fatigue limit of each spot weld; its 26% maximum reduction occurred in the triangle, and the interaction stress between spot welds led to its 18% reduction in the tetragonal symmetry. The calculated fatigue stress of all MSW loadings with their mean fatigue limits was 230-270 MPa.

Effect of Sheet Configuration on Microstructure and Mechanical Behaviors of Dissimilar Al–Mg–Si/Al–Zn–Mg Aluminum Alloys Friction Stir Welding Joints

Friction stir welding（FSW） was used to weld dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg aluminum alloys in this work.Influences of sheet configuration on microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints were mainly discussed.Results showed that rather different joint cross sections were obtained when using different sheet configurations.Coarser β＇ phases can be observed at the heat affected zone（HAZ） of the Al-Mg-Si alloy side,which was the main factor affecting the tensile properties and the fatigue properties.Tensile strengths of the dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg joints using both configurations were higher than that of the Al-Mg-Si FSW joint.When the Al-Zn-Mg alloy was located at the advancing side（AS）,the joints owned better fatigue properties due to the bridging effect of the big secondary phase particles.

Microstructure characterization and HCF fracture mode transition for modified 9Cr-1Mo dissimilarly welded joint at different elevated temperatures

The high cycle fatigue（HCF） tests of modified 9 Cr-1 Mo dissimilarly welded joint were carried out at different elevated temperatures and the fracture mechanism was systematically revealed. The fatigue strength at 108 cycles based on S-N curve can be estimated as a half of weld joint＇s yield strength for all conducted temperatures, which can be a reliable criterion in predicting the fatigue life. The results show that the inter-critical heat affected zones（IC-HAZs） of both sides are the weak zones due to their low hardness and inferior fatigue resistance property. HAZ of COST-FB2（BM2） is the weakest zone at room temperature due to the existence of numerously distributed defects and the initiation of cracks, either in the surface or interior zone, impacting a crucial effect on the fatigue life of the joint. While at elevated temperatures, fatigue life was controlled mostly by the intrusion-extrusion mechanism at the specimen surface under high stress level and subsurface non-defect fatigue crack origin（SNDFCO） from the interior material under low stress amplitude. With increasing temperature, more and more fatigue failures began to occur at the HAZ of COST-E（BM1） due to its higher susceptibility of temperature. Besides, it is found that the-ferrite in the BM1 has no harm to the HCF behavior of the joint at the conducted temperatures.