Simulating molten pool features of shipbuilding steel subjected to submerged arc welding

Submerged arc welding process has been simulated to investigate the molten pool features of EH36 shipbuilding steel.One case only involved the surface tension model,and another one involved both the surface tension model and the interface tension model.The role of interface tension during welding is revealed,and the evolution of molten pool morphology is understood by comparing the surface temperature distribution,surface tension and interface tension distribution,and the streamline of the molten pool for the two cases.When the interface tension model is disregarded,a flow conducive to the outward expansion is formed in the surface area of the molten pool,resulting in a small weld depth-to-width ratio.After applying the interface tension model,the expanding outward flow is restrained,which leads to a deep penetration morphology with a large weld depth-to-width ratio due to the inward flow governed by the Marangoni forces.The simulation results involving the interface tension model have been verified with satisfactory predictability.

Effects of Zr addition on evolution behavior of inclusions in EH36 shipbuilding steel： from casting to welding

The inclusions evolution behavior in the continuous casting slab, rolled plates, and simulated welding samples of EH36 steels with and without Zr addition has been systematically investigated. The inclusions in plain EH36 steel are almost composed of Al-Ca-S-O（-Mn） and undergo negligible changes during the whole process. With Zr addition, a large amount of individually fine MnS precipitates and Zr-containing inclusions are generated. In the rolled EH36-Zr sample, Zr-containing complex inclusions are effective to promote the nucleation of acicular ferrite on the surface, which are hardly found in the simulated welding sample of EH36-Zr steel due to the segregation of soluble Ti and Zr on the grain boundary.

Heterogeneous Microstructure-Induced Mechanical Responses in Various Sub-Zones of EH420 Shipbuilding Steel Welded Joint Under High Heat Input Electro-Gas Welding

Heterogeneous microstructure-induced mechanical responses in EH420 shipbuilding steel welded joint by electro-gas welding processed have been systematically studied by scanning electron microscopy,electron backscatter diffraction and mechanical testing.Comparing with the coarse-grained heat-affected zone(CGHAZ),the weld metal presents higher toughness(129.3 J vs.37.3 J)as it contains a large number of acicular ferrites with high-angle grain boundaries(frequency 79.2%)and special grain boundary∑3(frequency 55.3%).Moreover,coarse austenite grains in CGHAZ and slender martensite–austenite constituents between bainite laths may likely facilitate crack propagation.Polygonal ferrites and tempered pearlites formed at the junction of the fine-grained heat-affected zone and the intercritical heat-affected zone induced a softened zone with an average hardness of 185 HV0.5,which is the main reason for the occurrence of tensile fracture.

Influence of Ca treatment on particle-microstructure relationship in heat-affected zone of shipbuilding steel with Zr-Ti deoxidation after high-heat-input welding

The effects of Ca treatment on the particle, microstructure, and toughness of heat-affected zone (HAZ) of shipbuilding steel with Zr-Ti deoxidation after high-heat-input welding were investigated. The simulated welding at a high-heat-input welding of 200 kJ/cm was carried out using Gleeble-3800 welding simulation. Then, particle characteristics were characterized using an Aztec-Feature automatic particle analysis system. Additionally, an in-situ observation experiment was performed to study the relationships between particle and microstructure by high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy (HT-CLSM). The results indicated that the average HAZ toughness at -40 ℃ was increased from 183 to 290 J by adding 0.0026 wt.% Ca. Meanwhile, the formation of acicular ferrite ratio was increased from 49.34% to 60.28% due to the addition of Ca. The scanning electron microscopy results clearly showed that CaO-Al_(2)O_(3)-TiOx-ZrO_(2)-MnS particles could act as effective nucleation sites for the formation of acicular ferrite, which has been verified by the observation of the particle-microstructure relationship under HT-CLSM. Furthermore, particle characterization results show that the cumulative frequency of particles with the size of 1-3 lm was 33.2% in HAZ of Zr-Ti shipbuilding steel but 66.2% in HAZ of Zr-Ti-Ca shipbuilding steel.

Formability of friction stir processed low carbon steels used in shipbuilding

The stretch formability of a low carbon steel processed by friction stir processing （FSP） was studied under biaxial loading condition applied by a miniaturized Erichsen test. One-pass FSP decreased the ferritic grain size in the processed zone from 25 μm to about 3 μm, which also caused a remarkable increase in strength values without considerable decrease in formability under uniaxial loading. A coarse-grained （CG） sample before FSP reflected a moderate formability with an Erichsen index （EI） of 2.73 mm. FSP slightly decreased the stretch formability of the sample to 2.66 ram. However, FSP increased the required punch load （FEI） due to the increased strength by grain refinement. FSP reduced considerably the roughness of the free surface of the biaxial stretched samples with reduced orange peel effect. The average roughness value （Ra） decreased from 2.90 in the CG sample down to about 0.65 μm in fine-grained （FG） sample after FSP. It can be concluded that the FG microstructure in low carbon steels sheets or plates used generally in shipbuilding provides a good balance between strength and formability.

Probing microstructural evolution in weld metals subjected to varied CaF_(2)-TiO_(2) flux cored wires under high heat input electro-gas welding

Fused CaF_(2)-TiO_(2) fluxes have been designed,prepared,and applied in the flux cored wires to join EH36 shipbuilding steels under high heat input electro-gas welding.Ensuing microstructural evolution in the weld metals subjected to varied CaF_(2)-TiO_(2) flux cored wires has been fully documented.It has been demonstrated that as the content of TiO2 in the fused fluxes increases,columnar grain size increases,and major constituents in the weld metal change from lath bainite,to granular bainite,and then to acicular ferrite.Such phenomena are elucidated via salient chemical reactions involving oxygen pickup and concurrent titanium transfer.

Impact toughness variations of EH36 weld metal treated by CaF_(2)–SiO_(2)–MnO submerged arc welding flux

Fused ternary CaF_(2)–SiO_(2)–MnO fluxes have been manufactured and applied to join EH36 shipbuilding steel under high heat input submerged arc welding.Five fluxes have been designed to clarify the effect of MnO content in CaF_(2)–SiO_(2)–MnO flux on the impact toughness of the weld metal,with the added amount of MnO from 10 to 50 wt.%at the expense of CaF_(2).With the increase in MnO content,the Charpy impact energy increases first and then decreases,experiencing a maximum value at 30 wt.%MnO.Microstructure of the weld metals has also been studied to account for impact toughness variations.It has been demonstrated that the highest acicular ferrite volume fraction in the weld metal is achieved at 30 wt.%MnO,which is concurrent to the maximum value of Charpy impact energy.It is believed that the Mn and O content variations in the weld metal contribute synergistically to such an interesting phenomenon.