TY - JOUR A1 - Gook, S. A1 - Gumenyuk, Andrey A1 - Rethmeier, Michael A1 - El-Batahgy, A.M. T1 - Laser and hybrid laser-arc welding of cryogenic 9 % NI Steel T2 - Global Nuclear Safety N2 - Heat treated 9%Ni steel is considered the most suitable and economic material for construction of large-size liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks which operate at cryogenic temperatures (-196°C). Strength above 700 MPa as well as a minimum impact value of 60 J are required to ensure reliable operation of the LNG tanks at operating temperature. Conventional arc welding processes, including shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding and submerged arc welding, are currently used in construction of LNG tanks. Ni based filler wire is the preferred filler metal of choice in LNG tank construction. The main problem with this choice is the lower mechanical properties, particularly tensile strength of the weld metal. To compensate, the wall thickness needs to be excessively thick to ensure the strength of the welded structures. Ni based filler material is expensive and a large quantity is needed to fill the multi-pass weld grooves. These factors significantly add to the cost in the fabrication of LNG storage tanks. For these reasons, exploration of new welding technologies is a priority. A big potential can be seen in laser based welding techniques. Laser beam welding results in much smaller fusion zone with chemical composition and mechanical properties similar to that of the base material. Laser welding is a much faster process and allows for a joint geometry which requires less filler material and fewer welding passes. The advantages of laser welding can help to overcome the problems pointed out above. Trials of autogenous laser welding, laser cold-wire welding and hybrid laser-arc welding conducted on the 9%Ni steel are presented in this paper. Chemical composition of the weld metal as well as effects of welding parameters on the weld formation, microstructure and tensile strength is discussed. Filler wire penetration depth as well as character of its distribution in the narrow laser welds was examined using EPMA - electron probe microanalysis. PB - Research Nuclear University MEPHl CY - Moskau, Russia KW - hardness KW - cryogenic steel KW - laser welding KW - microstructure KW - tensile strength PY - 2016 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/36553 AN - OPUS4-36553 UR - http://gns.mephi.ru/sites/default/files/journal/file/en.2016.1-4.pdf SN - 2499-9733 VL - 1 IS - 18 SP - 34 EP - 45 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany