Der verstärkte Einsatz höherfester Stähle und Zusatzwerkstoffe erfordert ein vertieftes Verständnis der Zusammenhänge zwischen Schweißverfahren, Wärmeeinbringung, Abkühlbedingungen sowie den daraus resultierenden metallurgischen Vorgängen in der Schweißnaht und deren Umgebung. Nur aus dem Zusammenwirken aller Einflussfaktoren lassen sich Strategien ableiten, mit deren Hilfe die Festigkeitseigenschaften bzw. die Lebensdauer von Schweißkonstruktionen in einem Maße verbessert werden können, die den Einsatz höherfester Werkstoffe rechtfertigen und somit deren Leichtbaupotenzial voll ausgenutzt werden kann. Vorgestellt werden einige beispielhafte Untersuchungen an Schweißverbindungen aus höherfesten Feinkornbaustählen zu Interaktionen der Haupteinflussgrößen auf die Kaltrissbildung.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The increased utilisation of higher-strength steels and filler materials necessitates more profound understanding of the connections between the welding process, the heat input, the cooling conditions and the resulting metallurgical processes in the weld and its surroundings. Strategies which help to improve the strength properties and service lives of welded structures to such an extent that the utilisation of higher-strength materials can be justified and their lightweight construction potential can thus be exploited to the full can only be derived from the interaction between all the influencing factors. Examples of a few investigations on welded joints between higher- strength fine-grained structural steels with regard to the interactions between the main variables influencing the cold cracking are presented in this article.
High-strength structural steels are used in machine, steel, and crane construction with yield strength up to 960 MPa. However, welding of these steels requires profound knowledge of three factors in terms of avoidance of hydrogen-assisted cracking (HAC): the interaction of microstructure, local stress/strain, and local hydrogen concentration. In addition to the three main factors, the used arc process is also important for the performance of the welded joint. In the past, the conventional transitional arc process (Conv. A) was mainly used for welding of high-strength steel grades. In the past decade, the so-called modified spray arc process (Mod. SA) has been increasingly used for welding production. This modified process enables reduced seam opening angles with increased deposition rates compared with the Conv. A. Economic benefits of using this arc type are a reduction of necessary weld beads and required filler material. In the present study, the susceptibility to HAC in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the high-strength structural steel S960QL was investigated with the externally loaded implant test. For that purpose, both Conv. A and Mod. SA were used with same heat input at different deposition rates. Both conducted test series showed same embrittlement index “EI” of 0.21 at diffusible hydrogen concentrations of 1.3 to 1.6 ml/100 g of arc weld metal. The fracture occurred in the HAZ or in the weld metal (WM). However, the test series withMod. SA showed a significant extension of the time to failure of several hours compared with tests carried out with Conv. A.