• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.55-65
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• 1999

Metallurgical factors influencing toughness of the Intercritically Reheated Coarse-Grained Heat Affected Zone (ICCG HAZ) of multiple welded SA508-cl.3 Reactor Pressure Vessel Steel were evaluated. The recrystallized austenite formed along the prior austenite grain boundaries and late interfaced on heating to the intercritical range was transformed to bainite and/or martensite during cooling. The newly formed martensite always included some retained austenite(M-A constituents). The characteristics(amount, hardness, density, and size) of M-A constituents were found to be strongly associated with both peak temperature and cooling time(△t8/5(2)) of last pass. Toughness in the ICCG HAZ was deteriorated with increasing amount of M-A constituents which was increased with increasing the last peak temperature within the intercritical temperature range. Meanwhile, for the same intercritical peak temperature, toughness was decreased with increasing cooling time. When cooling time was short, the dominant factor influencing toughness of the ICCG HAZ was amount of M-A constituents. However, when cooling time was lengthened, the hardness difference between M-A constituents and softened matrix(tempered martensite) was found to be the dominant factor.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.51-60
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• 2008

This paper is to evaluate fracture characteristics of API 2W Gr.50 TMCP steel weldment typically applied for offshore structures, with the focus on the influence of heat input arising from flux cored arc welding. Based on the results and insights developed from this study, it is found that the toughness for both CTOD and impact exhibits a tendency to decrease as the weld heat input increases. The reheated zone of weldmetal exhibit lower hardness than solidified zone and microstructure that are liable to affect the toughness are acicular ferrite and martensite-austenite constituents (M-A). In particular, M-A is a more effective micro-phase for CTOD toughness than impact toughness.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.35-48
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• 1989

This study is concerned with a correlation of microstructure and local brittle zone (LBZ) in offshore structural steel welds. The influence of the LBZ on fracture toughness was investigated by means of simulated heat-affected zone (HAZ) tests as well as welded joint tests. Micromechanical processes involved in void and cleavage microcrack formation were also identified using notched round tensile tests and subsequent SEM observations. The LBZ in the HAZ of a multiphase welded joint is the interstitially reheated coarse grained HAZ, which is influenced by metallurgical factors such as effective grain size, the major matrix structure and the amount of high-carbon martensite-austenite (M-A) constituents. The experimental results indicate that Chirpy energy was found to scale monotonically with the amount of M-A constituents, confirming that the M-A constituent is the major microstructural factor controlling the HAZ toughness. In addition, voids and microcracks are observed to initiate at M-A constituents by the shear cracking process. Thus, the M-A constituent played an important role in initiating the voids and microcracks, and consequently caused brittle fracture.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.99-103
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• 2010

It is well known that martensite-austenite (M-A) constituents are formed in the intercritically reheated coarse grained heat affected zone (ICCGHAZ) of a multipass weld and they act on the local brittle zone (LBZ) in the welded structures. To investigate the effect of M-A constituents on the tensile properties of ICCGHAZ, specimens with M-A constituents of different volume fraction and size were prepared through the multipass welding cycles simulated by a Gleeble simulator and then tensile test was carried out. The results indicated that finely distributed M-A constituents contributed to decrease the yield ratio, which is mainly due to the increased tensile strength.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.164-169
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• 2007

Hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) was studied phenomenologically and the effect of microstructure on HIC was discussed for the steels having two different levels of nonmetallic inclusions. Steels having different microstructures were produced by thermomechanically controlled processes (TMCP) from two different heats which had the different level of nonmetallic inclusions. Ferrite/pearlite (F/P), ferrite/acicular ferrite (F/AF), ferrite/bainite (F/B) were three representative microstructures for all tested steels. For the steels with higher level of inclusions, permissible inclusion level for HIC not to develop was different according to steelmicrostructure. On the contrary, HIC occurred also at the martensite/austenite (M/A) constituents regardless of steel microstructure when they accumulated to a certain degree. It was proved that M/A constituents were easily embrittled by hydrogen atoms. Steels having F/AF is resistant to HIC at a given actual service condition since they covers a wide range of diffusible hydrogen content without developing HIC.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.57-63
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• 2004

Fracture toughness is an important parameter in designing offshore structures to ensure resistance to fracture at various temperatures. In this study, a series of experiments is carried out to obtain fracture toughness values (CTOD) of API 2W Gr.50B, welded using FCAW(Flux Cored Arc Weld). In particular, a comparison of absorbed impact energy and CTOD values are made with respect to two different welding groove shapes; double-V-groove and double-bevel-groove. Charpy impact tests are performed for specimens sampled near the root gap, and CTOD tests are carried out for three point bending specimens having the notch at weld zone. While Charpy impact test result is determined to be a good qualitative measure of fracture toughness, no quantitative correspondence between impact absorbed energy and CTOD values was found. Based on the experiment, it is observed that double-V-groove welds give lower transition temperature than those of double-bevel-groove.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.40-47
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• 2004

The influence of heat input on fracture toughness was investigated in SAW weldments, which were prepared at two different welding conditions in API 2W Gr.50 and EN10225 5420. By examining the fracture initiation point, refined areas(ICHAZ and SCHAZ) in weld metal was identified as local brittle zone, in which M-A constituents and coarsed grain size were observed. Impact values showed the most significant difference at root portion, and CTOD transition temperature was related with impact values obtained at root portion. Hardness values in refined area were less than columnar microstructure about 20 HV5.