Bulging Distortion of Austenitic Stainless Steel Sheet on the Partially Penetrated Side of Non-Penetration Lap Laser Welding Joint

Non-penetration laser welding of lap joints in austenitic stainless steel sheets is commonly preferred in fields where the surface quality is of utmost importance.However,the application of non-penetration welded austenitic stainless steel parts is limited owing to the micro bulging distortion that occurs on the back surface of the partial penetration side.In this paper,non-penetration lap laser welding experiments,were conducted on galvanized and SUS304 austenitic stainless steel plates using a fiber laser,to investigate the mechanism of bulging distortion.A comparative experiment of DC01 galvanized steel-Q235 carbon steel lap laser welding was carried out,and the deflection and distortion profile of partially penetrated side of the sheets were measured using a noncontact laser interferometer.In addition,the cold-rolled SUS304 was subjected to heat holding at different temperatures and water quenching after bending to characterize its microstructure under tensile and compressive stress.The results show that,during the heating stage of the thermal cycle of laser lap welding,the partial penetration side of the SUS304 steel sheet generates compressive stress,which extrudes the material in the heat-affected zone to the outside of the back of the SUS304 steel sheet,thereby forming a bulge.The findings of these experiments can be of great value for controlling the distortion of the partial penetrated side of austenitic stainless steel sheet during laser non-penetration lap welding.

Lap-Shear Performance of Weld-Bonded Mg Alloy and Austenitic Stainless Steel in Three-Sheet Stack-Up

With the growing interest in utilizing Mg and austenitic stainless steel(ASS)in the automotive sector,joining them together in three-sheet configuration is inevitable.However,achieving this task presents considerable challenges due to the large differences in their physical,metallurgical and mechanical properties.To overcome these challenges,the feasibility of using weld-bonding to join Mg alloy/ASS/ASS was investigated.The nugget formation,interface characteristics,microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints were investigated.The results show that the connection between the Mg alloy and upper ASS was achieved through the combined effect of the cured adhesive and weld-brazing in the weld zone.On the other hand,a metallurgical bond was formed at the ASS/ASS interface.The Mg nugget microstructure exhibited fine columar grains composed predominantly of primaryα-Mg grains along with a eutectic mixture ofα-Mg andβ-Mg17Al12.The nugget formed at the ASS/ASS interface consisted largely of columnar grains of austenite,with some equiaxed dendritic grains formed at the centerline of the joint.The weld-bonded joints exhibited an average peak load and energy absorption of about 8.5 kN and 17 J,respectively(the conventional RSW joints failed with minimal or no load application).The failure mode of the joints changed with increasing welding current from interfacial failure via the Mg nugget/upper ASS interface to partial interfacial failure(part of the Mg nugget was pulled out of the Mg sheet).Both failure modes were accompanied by cohesive failure in the adhesive zone.

Robust Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Modeling the Effectof Oxides Thermal Properties on AMIG 304L Stainless Steel Welds

There are several advantages to the MIG(Metal Inert Gas)process,which explains its increased use in variouswelding sectors,such as automotive,marine,and construction.A variant of the MIG process,where the sameequipment is employed except for the deposition of a thin layer of flux before the welding operation,is the AMIG(Activated Metal Inert Gas)technique.This study focuses on investigating the impact of physical properties ofindividual metallic oxide fluxes for 304L stainless steel welding joint morphology and to what extent it can helpdetermine a relationship among weld depth penetration,the aspect ratio,and the input physical properties ofthe oxides.Five types of oxides,TiO_(2),SiO_(2),Fe_(2)O_(3),Cr_(2)O_(3),and Mn_(2)O_(3),are tested on butt joint design withoutpreparation of the edges.A robust algorithm based on the particle swarm optimization(PSO)technique is appliedto optimally tune the models’parameters,such as the quadratic error between the actual outputs(depth and aspectratio),and the error estimated by the models’outputs is minimized.The results showed that the proposed PSOmodel is first and foremost robust against uncertainties in measurement devices and modeling errors,and second,that it is capable of accurately representing and quantifying the weld depth penetration and the weld aspect ratioto the oxides’thermal properties.

Effect of Ni content on the weldability of middle-chromium hyperpure ferritic stainless steels 00Cr21Ti

Excellent weldability substantially contributes to the intrinsic quality of steels,while appropriate chemical composition plays a primary role in the essential weldability of steels.The poor weldability of ferritic stainless steels could be improved through modification with minor alloy elements while minimally increasing the cost.Therefore,studying the effect of minor alloy elements on the weldability of steels is of considerable importance.In this study,several steels of middle-chromium hyperpure ferritic stainless 00Cr21Ti with different Ni content(0.3%,0.5%,0.8%,and 1.0%)were developed,and their weldabilities of butt joint samples welded using the metal inert gas welding process,including the influence of welded joints on the microstructure,tensile performance,corrosion resistance,and fatigue property,were investigated.Results show that the steels with w(Ni)≥0.8%exhibit excellent mechanical properties compared with those with low-Ni content steels,further,their impact toughness at normal atmospheric temperature meets the industrial application standard and the fatigue property is similar to that of 304 austenitic stainless steel.Moreover,results show that the corrosion resistance of all the samples is almost at the same level.The results acquired in this study are supposed to be useful for the optimization of the chemical composition of stainless steels aiming to improve weldability.

Electron beam welding of 304 stainless steel to QCr0.8 copper alloy with copper filler wire

Electron beam welding （EBW） of 304 stainless steel to QCr0.8 copper alloy with copper filler wire was carried out. Orthogonal experiment was performed to investigate the effects of process parameters on the tensile strength of the joints, and the process parameters were optimized. The optimum process parameters are as follows：beam current of 30 mA, welding speed of 100 mm/min, wire feed rate of 1 m/min and beam offset of-0.3 mm. The microstructures of the optimum joint were studied. The results indicate that the weld is mainly composed of dendriticαphase with little globularεphase, and copper inhomogeneity only occurs at the top of the fusion zone. In addition, a melted region without mixing exists near the weld junction of copper side. This region with a coarser grain size is the weakest section of the joints. It is found that the microhardness of the weld decreases with the increase of the copper content in solid solution. The highest tensile strength of the joint is 276 MPa.

Achieving a high-strength dissimilar joint of T91 heat-resistant steel to 316L stainless steel via friction stir welding

The reliable welding of T91 heat-resistant steel to 316L stainless steel is a considerable issue for ensuring the safety in service of ultrasupercritical power generation unit and nuclear fusion reactor,but the high-quality dissimilar joint of these two steels was difficult to be obtained by traditional fusion welding methods.Here we improved the structure-property synergy in a dissimilar joint of T91 steel to 316L steel via friction stir welding.A defect-free joint with a large bonding interface was produced using a small-sized tool under a relatively high welding speed.The bonding interface was involved in a mixing zone with both mechanical mixing and metallurgical bonding.No obvious material softening was detected in the joint except a negligible hardness decline of only HV~10 in the heat-affected zone of the T91 steel side due to the formation of ferrite phase.The welded joint exhibited an excellent ultimate tensile strength as high as that of the 316L parent metal and a greatly enhanced yield strength on account of the dependable bonding and material renovation in the weld zone.This work recommends a promising technique for producing high-strength weldments of dissimilar nuclear steels.

Thermal fatigue behavior of copper/stainless steel explosive welding joint

Thermal fatigue performance of copper/stainless steel explosive welding joint was investigated by using a highly effective thermal fatigue test device. The testing device adopted induction coil to heat and carry out two groups of thermal fatigue test at the same time. Metallurgical microscope and scanning electron microscope were used to respectively measure the surface crack and cross-section crack propagation morphology of the explosive welding joint specimen that were conducted thermal cycling for different upper limit temperatures and different cycle time.Experimental results indicated that the cyclic thermal stress and oxidation corrosion was the major factors for fatigue damage behavior of explosive welding joints, where the oxidation corrosion of the interface has become more serious with the increasing the upper limit temperature or the number of cycles rising. Thermal fatigue cracks initiation was mainly beginning from the wavy interface between copper and stainless steel, the vortex-like cast microstructure formed by explosive welding can prevent the crack from propagating along the interface edge and change the direction of crack propagation.The initiation and expansionof thermal fatigue cracks were observed in the copper matrix.

Electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 titanium alloy to 304 stainless steel with copper interlayer sheet

Electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 titanium alloy to 304 stainless steel with a copper sheet as interlayer was carried out.Microstructures of the joint were studied by optical microscopy(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and X-ray diffractometry(XRD).In addition,the mechanical properties of the joint were evaluated by tensile test and the microhardness was measured.These two alloys were successfully welded by adding copper transition layer into the weld.Solid solution with a certain thickness was located at the interfaces between weld and base metal in both sides.Regions inside the weld and near the stainless steel were characterized by solid solution of copper with TiFe2 intermetallics dispersedly distributed in it.While weld near titanium alloy contained Ti-Cu and Ti-Fe-Cu intermetallics layer,in which the hardness of weld came to the highest value.Brittle fracture occurred in the intermetallics layer when the joint was stretched.

Gas tungsten arc welding of CP-copper to 304 stainless steel using different filler materials

The dissimilar joining of CP-copper to 304 stainless steel was performed by gas tungsten arc welding process using different filler materials. The results indicated the formation of defect free joint by using copper filler material. But, the presence of some defects like solidification crack and lack of fusion caused decreasing tensile strength of other joints. In the optimum conditions, the tensile strength of the joint was 96% of the weaker material. Also, this joint was bent till to 180° without any macroscopic defects like separation, tearing or fracture. It was concluded that copper is a new and good candidate for gas tungsten arc welding of copper to 304 stainless steel.

Temperature and stress fields in electron beam welded Ti-15-3 alloy to 304 stainless steel joint with copper interlayer sheet

Electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 alloy to 304 stainless steel （STS） using a copper filler metal was carried out. The temperature fields and stress distributions in the Ti/Fe and Ti/Cu/Fe joint during the welding process were numerically simulated and experimentally measured. The results show that the rotated parabola body heat source is fit for the simulation of the electron beam welding. The temperature distribution is asymmetric along the weld center and the temperature in the titanium alloy plate is higher than that in the 304 STS plate. The thermal stress also appears to be in asymmetric distribution. The residual tensile stress mainly exists in the weld at the 304 STS side. The copper filler metal decreases the peak temperature and temperature grade in the joint as well as the residual stress. The longitudinal and lateral residual tensile strengths reduce by 66 MPa and 31 MPa, respectively. From the temperature and residual stress, it is concluded that copper is a good filler metal candidate for the electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 titanium alloy to 304 stainless steel.

Welding of shape memory alloy to stainless steel for medical occluder

Dissimilar metal joining between NiTi shape memory alloy（SMA） and stainless steel was conducted.A cluster of NiTi SMA wires were first joined with tungsten inert gas（TIG） welding process,then the NiTi SMA TIG weld was welded to a stainless steel pipe with laser spot welding process.The microstructure of the welds was examined with an optical microscope and the elemental distribution in the welds was measured by electron probe microanalysis（EPMA）.The results show that TiC compounds dispersively distribute in the NiTi SMA TIG weld.However,the amount of TiC compounds greatly decreases around the fusion boundary of the laser spot weld between the NiTi SMA and stainless steel.Mutual diffusion between NiTi shape memory alloy and stainless steel happen within a short distance near the fusion boundary,and intermetallic compounds such as Ni3Ti＋（Fe,Ni）Ti appear around the fusion boundary.

Discussion on the physics phenomena and the mechanism of forming weld joint in the process of copper－stainless steel friction welding

The physics phenomena of copper and stainless steel in the process of forming friction welding joint are recorded and observed by the interrupted test method.The test shows that the butt friction welding process of copper and stainless steel bar can be divided into three stages approximately: the adhesion at the beginning friction stage, the friction inside the copper and the plastic ring expansion, and the friction on the bound surface of copper-stainless steel and in stainless steel. During the process,the friction surface was transformed twice.

Influences of different filler metals on electron beam welding of titanium alloy to stainless steel

Electron beam welding experiments of titanium alloy to stainless steel were carried out with different filler metals, such as Ni, V, and Cu. Microstructures of the joints were examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Mechanical properties of the joints were evaluated according to tensile strength and microhardness. As a result, influences of filler metals on microstructures and mechanical properties of electron beam welded titanium-stainless steel joints were discussed. The results showed that all the filler metals were helpful to restrain the Ti-Fe intermetallics. The welds with different filler metals were all characterized by solid solution and interfacial intermetallics. For each type of the filler metal, the type of solid solution and interfacial intermetallics depended on the metallurgical reactions between the filler metals and base metals. The interfacial intermetallics were Fe2Ti＋Ni3Ti＋NiTi2, TiFe, and Cu2Ti＋CuTi＋CuTi2 in the joints welded with Ni, V, and Cu filler metals, respectively. The tensile strengths of the joints were dependent on the hardness of the interfacial intermetallics. The joint welded with Ag filler metal had the highest tensile strength, which is about 310 MPa.

Friction welding influence on microstructure,microhardness and hardness behavior of CrNiMo steel(AISI 316)

For joining high Cr,Ni and Mo austenitic stainless steel(AISI 316)by direct drive friction welding(DDFW),with friction weld-ing conditions:rotation speed of 3000 r/min,friction time of 10 s,friction pressure of 130 MPa,forge time of 5 s and forge pressure of 260 MPa.The results of microstructure showed that the temperature at the interface reached 819℃while forge applied between 357-237℃,which subdivided welded joint into four distinct regions of highly plastically deformed zone(HPDZ),thermo-mechanically affected zone(TMAZ),heat affected zone(HAZ)and the base metal,with grain size about 10µm,100µm,90µm and 30µm respectively.These re-gions were created due to dynamic recrystallization(DRX)at the interface and thermo-mechanical deformation with heat diffusion in the neighboring regions.Whereas,high level of microhardness about 300 HV0.1 and hardness roughly 240 Hv10 at the interface due to HPDZ creation while low level of 240 HV0.1 for microhardness and moderately of 205 HV10 for hardness in neighboring regions.

Welding of nickel free high nitrogen stainless steel: Microstructure and mechanical properties

High nitrogen stainless steel(HNS) is a nickel free austenitic stainless steel that is used as a structural component in defence applications for manufacturing battle tanks as a replacement of the existing armour grade steel owing to its low cost, excellent mechanical properties and better corrosion resistance.Conventional fusion welding causes problems like nitrogen desorption, solidification cracking in weld zone, liquation cracking in heat affected zone, nitrogen induced porosity and poor mechanical properties.The above problems can be overcome by proper selection and procedure of joining process. In the present work, an attempt has been made to correlate the microstructural changes with mechanical properties of fusion and solid state welds of high nitrogen steel. Shielded metal arc welding(SMAW), gas tungsten arc welding(GTAW), electron beam welding(EBW) and friction stir welding(FSW) processes were used in the present work. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction were used to characterize microstructural changes. Hardness, tensile and bend tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of welds. The results of the present investigation established that fully austenitic dendritic structure was found in welds of SMAW. Reverted austenite pools in the martensite matrix in weld zone and unmixed zones near the fusion boundary were observed in GTA welds. Discontinuous ferrite network in austenite matrix was observed in electron beam welds.Fine recrystallized austenite grain structure was observed in the nugget zone of friction stir welds.Improved mechanical properties are obtained in friction stir welds when compared to fusion welds. This is attributed to the refined microstructure consisting of equiaxed and homogenous austenite grains.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of friction stir-welded C71000 copper–nickel alloy and 304 austenitic stainless steel

Dissimilar joints comprised of copper–nickel and steel alloys are a challenge for manufacturers in modern industries, as these metals are not thermomechanically or chemically well matched. The present study investigated the effects of tool rotational speed and linear speed on the microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir-welded C71000 copper–nickel and 340 stainless steel alloys using a tungsten carbide tool with a cylindrical pin. The results indicated that a rotational-to-linear speed ratio of 12.5 r/mm did not cause any macro defects, whereas some tunneling defects and longitudinal cracks were found at other ratios that were lower and higher. Furthermore, chromium carbide was formed on the grain boundaries of the 304 stainless steel near the shoulder zone and inside the joint zone, directing carbon and chromium penetration toward the grain boundaries. Tensile strength and elongation percentages were 84% and 65% of the corresponding values in the copper–nickel base metal, respectively.

An insight into microstructural heterogeneities formation between weld subregions of laser welded copper to stainless steel joints

The effect of laser beam welding(LBW) process on the microstructure-mechanical property relationship of a dissimilar weld between the copper(Cu) and stainless steel(SS) was investigated.Backscattered electron(BSE) based scanning electron microscopy(SEM) imaging was used to characterize the highly heterogeneous microstructural features across the LBW(Cu-SS) weld.The BSE analysis thoroughly evidenced the complex microstructures produced at dissimilar weld interfaces and fusion zone along with the compositional information.Widely different grain growths from coarse columnar grains to equiaxed ultrafine grains were also evident along the Cu-weld interface.A highresolution electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD) analysis confirmed the existence of the grain refinement mechanism at the Cu-weld interface.Both tensile and impact properties of the dissimilar weld were found to be closely aligned with the property of Cu base metal.Microhardness gradients were spatially evident in the non-homogeneous material composition zones such as fusion zone and the Cu-weld interface regions.The heterogeneous nucleation spots across the weld sub-regions were clearly identified and interlinked with their microhardness measurements for a holistic understanding of structure-property relationships of the local weld sub-regions.The findings were effectively correlated to achieve an insight into the local microstructural gradients across the weld.

Optimization of gas tungsten arc welding parameters for the dissimilar welding between AISI 304 and AISI 201 stainless steels

This present study applied gas tungsten arc welding in order to join AISI 304 and AISI 201 stainless steels.The objective was to find the optimum welding condition that gave a weld bead in accordance with DIN EN ISO 25817 quality level B, pitting corrosion potential of the weld metal of not less than that of the AISI304 base metal and a ratio of delta-ferrite in austenite matrix of the weld metal of not lower than 3%.Such a ratio is a criterion widely accepted to protect the weld metal from solidification cracking. At the welding current of 75 A and by using pure argon as a shielding gas 0 to 8 vol.% and applying a welding speed in the range of 2-3.5 mm·s^(-1) was found to give a complete weld bead with an increased depthper-width ratio(promote weldability). For welding speed in the range of 3 and 3.5 mm·s^(-1)(promote corrosion resistance). Increasing the welding speed in such a range decreased the amount of delta-ferrite in the austenite matrix, and increased the pitting corrosion potential of the weld metal to be 302 mV_(SCE).This value was still lower than the pitting corrosion potential of the AISI 304 base metal. Mixing nitrogen in argon shielding gas increased the nitrogen content in the weld. The optimum condition was found when using a welding speed of 3 mm· s^(-1) and mixing 1 vol.% of nitrogen in the argon shielding gas(promote weldability and corrosion resistance). Pitted areas after potentiodynamic test were observed in the austenite in which its Cr content was relatively low.

Effect of welding process on the microstructure and properties of dissimilar weld joints between low alloy steel and duplex stainless steel

To obtain high-quality dissimilar weld joints, the processes of metal inert gas （MIG） welding and tungsten inert gas （TIG） welding for duplex stainless steel （DSS） and low alloy steel were compared in this paper. The microstructure and corrosion morphology of dissimilar weld joints were observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）; the chemical compositions in different zones were detected by en- ergy-dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）; the mechanical properties were measured by microhardness test, tensile test, and impact test; the corro- sion behavior was evaluated by polarization curves. Obvious concentration gradients of Ni and Cr exist between the fusion boundary and the type II boundary, where the hardness is much higher. The impact toughness of weld metal by MIG welding is higher than that by TIG weld- ing. The corrosion current density of TIG weld metal is higher than that of MIG weld metal in a 3.5wt% NaC1 solution. Galvanic corrosion happens between low alloy steel and weld metal, revealing the weakness of low alloy steel in industrial service. The quality of joints pro- duced by MIG welding is better than that by TIG welding in mechanical performance and corrosion resistance. MIG welding with the filler metal ER2009 is the suitable welding process for dissimilar metals jointing between UNS $31803 duplex stainless steel and low alloy steel in practical application.

Optimization of process parameters of the activated tungsten inert gas welding for aspect ratio of UNS S32205 duplex stainless steel welds

The activated TIG(ATIG) welding process mainly focuses on increasing the depth of penetration and the reduction in the width of weld bead has not been paid much attention.The shape of a weld in terms of its width-to-depth ratio known as aspect ratio has a marked influence on its solidification cracking tendency.The major influencing ATIG welding parameters,such as electrode gap,travel speed,current and voltage,that aid in controlling the aspect ratio of DSS joints,must be optimized to obtain desirable aspect ratio for DSS joints.Hence in this study,the above parameters of ATIG welding for aspect ratio of ASTM/UNS S32205 DSS welds are optimized by using Taguchi orthogonal array(OA)experimental design and other statistical tools such as Analysis of Variance(ANOVA) and Pooled ANOVA techniques.The optimum process parameters are found to be 1 mm electrode gap,130 mm/min travel speed,140 A current and 12 V voltage.The aspect ratio and the ferrite content for the DSS joints fabricated using the optimized ATIG parameters are found to be well within the acceptable range and there is no macroscopically evident solidification cracking.