Assessment of gas tungsten arc welding thermal cycles on Inconel 718 alloy

Heat moving source models along with transient heat analysis by finite element method were used to determine weld thermal cycles and isothermal sections obtained from the application of a gas tungsten arc welding beads on Inconel 718 plates. Analytical (Rosenthal’s thick plate model) and finite element results show an acceptable approximation with the experimental weld thermal cycles. The isothermal sections determined by numerical simulation show a better approximation with the experimental welding profile for double-ellipse model heat distribution than Gauss model. To analyze the microstructural transformation produced by different cooling rates in the fusion and heat affected zones, Vickers microhardness measurements (profile and mapping representation) were conducted. A hardness decrement for the heat affected zone (~200 HV0.2) and fusion zone (~240 HV0.2) in comparison with base material (~350 HV0.2) was observed. This behavior has been attributed to the heterogeneous solubilization process of the γ″ phase (nickel matrix), which, according to the continuous-cooling-transformation curve, produced the Laves phase,δ and MC transition phases, generating a loss in hardness close to the fusion zone.

Influence of pipe parameters and heat input on thermal cycle of in-service welding onto active gas pipeline

The software of SYSWELD was used to build model and simulate thermal cycle of in-service welding onto active gas pipeline. Influence of pipe diameter, wall thickness and heat input on thermal cycle was studied. The results show that t8/5 , t8/3 and peak temperature of inner surface decrease when wall thickness increases from 5 mm to 12 mm. But t8/1 will increases with the increase of wall thickness and will decrease after the wall thickness is larger than 7 mm. Pipe diameter has little influence on thermal cycle and that influence can be ignored when pipe diameter is greater than 273 mm. t8/5 , t8/3 , t8/1 and peak temperature of inner surface will increase with the increase of heat input.

Effect of Thermal Cycle on Microstructure and Fracture Morphology in HAZ of HQ130 Steel

The effect of different peak temperature(Tp) and cooling time (t8/5) on microstructure, hardness, impact toughness and fracture morphology in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of HQ130 steel was studied by using weld thermo-simulation test. Experimental results indicate that the impact toughness and hardness decrease with the decrease of Tpor increase of t8/5 under the condition of a single thermal cycle. There is a brittle zone in the vicinity of Tp= 800℃, where the impact toughness is considerably low. There is a softened zone in the vicinity of Tp=700℃, where the hardness decreases but the toughness increases. In the practical application of multi-layer and multipass welding, the welding heat input should be strictly limited (t8/5≤20s) so as to reduce the softness and brittleness in the HAZ of-HQ130 steel.

EFFECTS OF THERMAL CYCLE ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND FRACTOGRAPHY IN HAZ OF HQ130 STEEL

The effect of different peak temperature T_P) and cooling time (t_(8/5)) on hardness,impact toughness and fracture morphology in the heat--affected zone (HAZ) of HQ130steel was studied by using welding thermo--simulation test. Experimental results showthat the impact toughness and hardness decrease with the decrease of T_P or increase oft_(8/5) under the condition of a single thermal cycle. There is a brittle zone in the vicinityof T_P=800℃, where the impact toughness is considerebly low. There is softened zonein vicinity of T_P=700℃, Where the harkness decreases but the toughness increases. Inthe practical application of multi--layer and multi--pass welding, the welding heat inputshould be strictly limited (t_(8/5)≤20s) so as to reduce the softness and brittleness in theHAZ of HQ130 steel.

SIMULATION OF WELD THERMAL CYCLE USING THE MODEL OF CARBONITRIDE PARTICLES PRECIPITATION

Based on the chasteal nucleation theory, the kinetic precipitation model of carbon - nitride particles in weld HAZ is proposed. Using the model,welding simulation technology and the quantitative metallo- graphic analysis,the precipitation transformation temperatue (PTT) curve is obtained.The data from the simulated welds are in good apreement with the value that the PTT curves predicated.

Real-time measurement of welding temperature field and closed loop control of penetration

Colormetric method of images by using two different wavelength images is a new measuring method for welding temperature field on the basis of ordinary colorimetric method, which depends little on the measuring distance, emissivity of body etc. In this paper the real time measuring system and measuring principle of welding temperature field are described, the whole welding temperature field is real time measured, so the temperature distribution at the welding direction and its cross section is obtained, then parameters of thermal cycle. With data from the temperature closed loop control system of the parameters of temperature field is developed and tested. Experimental results prove that it has high measurement speed (time of a field within 0.5 s ) and good dynamic response quality. Weld penetration can be controlled satisfactorily under the variation of welding condition such as welding thickness, welding speed and weldment gap etc.

Numerical simulation of stress and deformation of in-service welding onto gas pipeline

SYSWELD was used to simulate in-service welding process of gas pipeline of X70 pipeline steel. Welding thermal cycle, stress and deformation of in-service welded joint were studied. The results show that peak temperature of coarse grain heat-affected zone （CGHAZ） of in-service welding onto gas pipeline is the same with routine welding, but ts/5, ts/3 and ts/1 decrease at certain degree. For the zone near welded seam, axial stress and hoop stress in the inner pipe wall are compressive stress when welding source passes through the cross-section that is studied, but residual axial stress and residual hoop stress after welded are all tensile stress. Transient deformation and residual deformation are all convex deformation compared with the original pipe diameter size. Deformation achieves maximum when welding thermal source passes through the cross-section that is studied and then decreases during the cooling process after welding.

Twin-wire Submerged Arc Welding Process of a High-strength Low-alloy Steel

The measurement of thermal cycle curves of a high-strength low-alloy steel （HSLA） subjected twin-wire submerged arc welding （SAW） was introduced. The thermal simulation test was performed by using the obtained curves. The impact toughness at -50 ℃ temperature of the simulated samples was also tested. OM, SEM and TEM of the heat-affected zone （HAZ） of some simulation specimens were investigated. The results showed that the HSLA endured the twin-wire welding thermal cycle, generally, the low-temperature toughness values of each part of HAZ was lower than that of the parent materials, and the microstructure of coarse-grained zone（CGHAZ） mainly made up of granular bainite is the reason of the toughness serious deterioration. Coarse grain, grain boundary carbide extract and M-A island with large size and irregular polygon, along the grain boundary distribution, are the reasons for the toughness deterioration of CGHAZ. The research also showed that selected parameters of twin-wire SAW can meet the requirements to weld the test steel.

Effect of Nb on Mechanical Properties of HAZ for High-Nb X80 Pipeline Steels

The mechanical properties of heat affected zone （HAZ） of two commercial high-Nb X80 grade pipeline steels with different alloy elements were investigated using thermal simulation performed on a Gleeble-3500 thermal simulator. The results showed that the high-Nb steels have excellent weldability. Ernbrittlement regions appear in coarse grain heat affected zone （CGHAZ） and intercritically heat affected zone （ICHAZ） ~ Softening region appears in fine-grain heat affected zone （FGHAZ）, and the strength here was even lower than 555 MPa as required in the standard. Meanwhile, with the increase of heat input, the strength and the toughness of HAZ of steel with high Nb, C and lower alloy decrease notably. Therefore, take into account the welding procedure during manufacture of weld pipe, suitable amount of alloy elements, such as Cr, Ni, Cu, Mo and so on, is necessary for high Nb X80 heavy- thick steel plate.