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- 2015 (10) (entfernen)
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- Englisch (10) (entfernen)
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- High-strength steels (3)
- Residual stresses (3)
- Hydrogen assisted cracking (2)
- MAG welding (2)
- Process parameters (2)
- Restraint (2)
- Welding (2)
- X-ray refraction (2)
- Acicular ferrite (1)
- Aluminium alloy (1)
Residual stresses are often the cause for cracks in weld constructions. That is why the residual stress level, induced by manufacturing process, plays a crucial role. The present study aims on the effect of multiple repair weld procedures on a high-strength structural steel S690QL. The widespread technology of carbon arc-air gouging was applied. The weld zone and the heat-affected zone (HAZ) were subjected to multiple thermal cycles by gouging and subsequent repair welding. The investigations were focused on the change of the residuals stresses, the impact on the microstructure and the changes for the mechanical properties of the repair welded joint. The residual stresses were determined by X-ray diffraction. The results have shown a significant dependence for the residual stress levels from the repair cycle. In addition, distinctive changes in microstructures and hence mechanical properties occurred. The fusion line of the repair weld and the adjacent HAZ are the most critical areas. This is where the loss of ductility is most pronounced.
Low transformation temperature (LTT) alloys allow to control residual stresses already during the welding process. Especially high-strength structural steel applications may benefit from the LTT effect as they are sensitive to residual stresses due to a limited ductility. Within this study, two modified LTT alloys were tested concerning their weldability under varying conditions. Beside the transformation behavior, basic material properties were determined from all weld metal. Hot cracking as well as cold cracking susceptibility was evaluated using specific tests. The materials' capability for residual stress control was characterized by online measurements of the occurring loads during double-sided multipass fillet welding in a special test facility. Varying heat control parameters were found to affect the stress buildup significantly. In the specific case, the results revealed that higher working temperatures may favor lower stress buildup despite the higher overall heat input. Local residual stress measurements using X-ray diffraction support this finding.
Neutron radiography and tomography have been used for a time resolved in situ analysis and a 3D mapping of hydrogen diffusion in iron and steel. Samples were electrochemically charged with hydrogen and afterwards neutron transmission images were taken. Hydrogen diffusion coefficients in duplex stainless steel were determined at 623 K by measuring and comparing the sample's mean intensity with a hydrogen-free reference sample and subsequent normalisation to standards with known hydrogen content. In technical iron and in supermartensitic stainless steel the hydrogen distributions have been investigated. The radiographic images in iron show blisters, cracks and the distribution of molecular hydrogen inside cracks. The analysis of the diffusion behaviour of hydrogen out of a blister illustrates the capabilities of the method with respect to time and spatial resolution. The neutron tomography of supermartensitic tensile stressed samples illustrates the capability to visualise hydrogen distributions three-dimensionally. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a utilisé la radiographie neutronique et la tomographie pour une analyse in situ à résolution temporelle et une cartographie 3D de la diffusion de l'hydrogène dans le fer et l'acier. On a chargé des échantillons par électrochimie avec de l'hydrogène et ensuite on a pris des images par émission de neutrons. On a déterminé les coefficients de diffusion de lhydrogène dans l'acier inoxydable duplex à 623 K en mesurant et en comparant l'intensité moyenne de l'échantillon avec un échantillon de référence sans hydrogène et une normalisation subséquente à des échantillons références à teneur connue en hydrogène. On a examiné la distribution d'hydrogène dans le fer technique et dans l'acier inoxydable supermartensitique. Les images radiographiques du fer montrent des soufflures, des fissures, et la distribution de l'hydrogène moléculaire à l'intérieur des fissures. L'analyse du comportement de diffusion de l'hydrogène hors d'une soufflure illustre les possibilités de la méthode par rapport à la résolution temporelle et spatiale. La tomographie neutronique des échantillons supermartensitiques chargés en traction illustre la capacité de visualiser les distributions d'hydrogène en trois dimensions.
Neutron tomography has been applied to investigate the mechanism of hydrogen assisted cracking in technical iron and supermartensitic steel. Rectangular technical iron block samples showed blistering due to intense hydrogen charging and the tomographic method revealed in situ the spatial distribution of hydrogen and cracks. Hydrogen accumulated in a small region around cracks and the cracks are filled with hydrogen gas. Cracks close to the surface contained no hydrogen. Hydrogenous tensile test samples of supermartensitic steel were pulled until rupture and showed hydrogen accumulations at the notch base and in the plastically deformed region around the fracture surface.
The application of high-strength fine-grained structural steels with yield stress ≥ 690 MPa permits significant weight reductions and cost savings. Since welding is the major joining technology, e.g. in mobile crane industry, the sustainable and economical application of these grades depends on the load-bearing capacity and safety of the welds. An economical processing of high-strength steels is determined above all by the avoidance of cold cracking, apart from achieving demand-oriented mechanical properlies in the weid area. High tensile residual stresses are disadvantageaus regarding the cold cracking resistance and strength of welded components. Furthermore, high restraints commonly appearing in component welds increase residual stresses. Hence, in this research the influences of heat control on residual stresses and the overall structural Ioad of welded structures were quantified. The relationship between the weid thermal cycle and the resulting residual stress under additional shrinkage restraint was analysed by a successive augmentation of the restraint intensity. This was achieved by systematic low Ioad and component weid tests. lt was observed that the heat control significantly affects the local residual stresses and the overall structural Ioad of welded structures. A high interpass temperature increases the global and local welding stresses in particular. Moreover, the transferability of experimental welding results obtained from small specimens according to applicable codes to real component geometries was investigated. With the help of these findings it is possible to improve existing heat control concepts for high-strength steel welding.
The application of high-strength fine-grained structural steels with yield strengths greater than or equal to 690 MPa expands because of present light weight design trends. The requirements regarding the welded components safety increased due to high loading capacity. This determines a sustainable and economic application as well. However, high welding residual stresses could diminish the components safety, especially due to high restraint conditions in component or repair welds. Therefore, this work is concerned with global and local welding stresses, especially crack-critical welding stresses in the HAZ and while root welding due to the restraint conditions. Restraint intensities of real components were analysed and realised with two different weld tests, alongside two different plate dimensions and steel grades. A comparison of the test results showed several significant effects for heat control and restraint intensity regarding restraint forces and local welding stresses. Among these effects, substantial influences were found for the filler metal selection with partially altered results for root and filler beads. Local stresses of weld seam and HAZ were affected differently.
The objective of the FATWELDHSS project was to study post-weld treatment techniques and their effect on the fatigue life of MAG welded attachments in High Strength Steel (HSS). Fatigue cracks in steel structures often occur at welded joints, where stress concentrations due to the joint geometry and tensile residual stresses are relatively high. Fatigue life improvement techniques, which rely on improving the stress field and/or the surface geometry around the welded joints, are generally known to be beneficial. Therefore, within the framework of this project, the following were examined: diode laser weld toe re-melting; High Frequency Mechanical Impact (HFMI) treatment; Low Transformation Temperature (LTT) filler wires Laser diode re-melting was used to improve the surface profile at the weld toe and thus reduce stress concentrations. HFMI treatment involving high frequency hammering of the weld toe is another technique that can produce a smooth weld toe profile but, more significantly, which also can introduce compressive residual stresses. Lastly, two new LTT filler wires were developed within the project as these can decrease or even remove tensile residual stresses resulting from weld zone shrinkage. An extensive fatigue testing programme was set up to establish the levels of improvement in the fatigue lives of the welded attachments achieved by application of the selected improvement techniques. Furthermore, two industrial demonstrators were selected that could show the project achievements in terms of facilitating the introduction of high strength steels by overcoming the limitations posed by the fatigue properties of the welded joints. In addition, modelling tools were developed to predict the residual stresses at the welded joint. Finally, practical guidelines were developed for enhancing the fatigue strength of HSS welded structures
Effect of cooling rate on microstructure and properties of microalloyed HSLA steel weld metals
(2015)
Two high strength Nb/Ti microalloyed S690QL steels were welded with identical filler material, varying welding parameters to obtain three cooling rates: slow, medium and fast cooling. As cooling rate increased, the predominantly acicular ferrite in Nb weld metal (WM) is substituted by bainite, with a consequence of obvious hardness increase, but in Ti WM, no great variation of acicular ferrite at all cooling rates contributed to little increment of hardness. The transition between bainite and acicular ferrite has been analysed from the point view of inclusions characteristics, chemical composition and cooling rate. Excellent Charpy toughness at 233 K was obtained with acicular ferrite as predominantly microstructure. Even with bainite weld of high hardness, the toughness was nearly enough to fulfill the minimal requirements. WM for Ti steel showed to be markedly less sensitive to the variations of cooling rate than that for Nb steel.
To better understand the mechanism of hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC), it is important to investigate the 3D structure of the cracks non-destructively. Since, cracks introduced by HAC are usually very small, conventional x-ray imaging methods often lack the required spatial resolution.
However, the detection of those cracks can be enhanced by taking advantage of refraction at interfaces within the sample.
To image this refractive deflection we employ analyser based imaging (ABI). In this work we aim at proving the enhanced crack detection of ABI by investigating an alluminum alloy weld.
Hydrogen in metals can cause a degradation of the mechanical properties with possible subsequent hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC). Though, the mechanism of HAC is not completely understood yet and thus suitable methods for in situ investigations to characterise the crack formation are needed. X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a well-known tool for analysing these properties. However, the effective resolution of the detector system limits the detection of small defects by CT. Analyser based imaging (ABI) takes advantage of x-ray refraction at interfaces between volumes of different density, i.e. of cracks, pores, inclusions, etc., within the sample to detect defects smaller than the resolution of the detector system. In this study, measurements on an aluminium alloy weld showed that ABI allows us to resolve the 3D structure of cracks undetected by absorption based CT. Prospective investigations will analyse HAC in steels.