Control of Weld HAZ Properties in Modern High Strength Pipeline Steels

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Barbaro ◽  
Lenka Kuzmikova ◽  
Zhixiong Zhu ◽  
Huijun Li
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
Weld Zone ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Alloy Design ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Precipitate Size ◽  
Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Austenite Grain

Critical performance of modern high strength linepipe is related to the ability of the steel to maintain mechanical properties in the weld heat affected zone (HAZ). The region most susceptible to mechanical property degradation is the coarse grained HAZ, however in multipass welds, the intercritically reheated CGHAZ (ICCGHAZ) also presents challenges to maintain toughness. Currently Ti is employed to minimise austenite grain coarsening through the grain boundary pinning action of TiN precipitates. This is effective because of the high thermal stability of TiN but control of the precipitate size distribution is very much dependent on alloy design and processing conditions to ensure final weld HAZ properties, particularly toughness. This can be difficult to maintain and alternative methods are required to further improve performance of the weldments. It is now evident that increased additions of Nb in modern high temperature processed (HTP) steels have demonstrated increased control of HAZ microstructures with improved fracture toughness [1, 2]. The present paper details the microstructure - property relationship of two pipe steel grades with different alloy designs. Evaluation of the critical CGHAZ was achieved by simulation techniques, calibrated using real weld thermal cycles, to determine the influence of alloy design and specifically level of Nb on weld zone properties. The results reveal that the fracture toughness of the simulated CGHAZ in the HTP steel is superior to that of a conventional microalloyed pipeline steel grade. Toughness was related to the distribution of martensite-austenite (M-A) constituent and the effective grain size which appeared to correspond to prior austenite grain size as evidenced by examination of cleavage facet size (CFS) on fractured Charpy specimens.

scholarly journals Overview of HSS Steel Grades Development and Study of Reheating Condition Effects on Austenite Grain Size Changes

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1988
Author(s):  
Tibor Kvackaj ◽  
Jana Bidulská ◽  
Róbert Bidulský
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
High Strength Steel ◽  
Single Phase ◽  
Hsla Steel ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Strength Properties ◽  
Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Austenite Grain ◽  
Steel Grades

This review paper concerns the development of the chemical compositions and controlled processes of rolling and cooling steels to increase their mechanical properties and reduce weight and production costs. The paper analyzes the basic differences among high-strength steel (HSS), advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) and ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS) depending on differences in their final microstructural components, chemical composition, alloying elements and strengthening contributions to determine strength and mechanical properties. HSS is characterized by a final single-phase structure with reduced perlite content, while AHSS has a final structure of two-phase to multiphase. UHSS is characterized by a single-phase or multiphase structure. The yield strength of the steels have the following value intervals: HSS, 180–550 MPa; AHSS, 260–900 MPa; UHSS, 600–960 MPa. In addition to strength properties, the ductility of these steel grades is also an important parameter. AHSS steel has the best ductility, followed by HSS and UHSS. Within the HSS steel group, high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel represents a special subgroup characterized by the use of microalloying elements for special strength and plastic properties. An important parameter determining the strength properties of these steels is the grain-size diameter of the final structure, which depends on the processing conditions of the previous austenitic structure. The influence of reheating temperatures (TReh) and the holding time at the reheating temperature (tReh) of C–Mn–Nb–V HSLA steel was investigated in detail. Mathematical equations describing changes in the diameter of austenite grain size (dγ), depending on reheating temperature and holding time, were derived by the authors. The coordinates of the point where normal grain growth turned abnormal was determined. These coordinates for testing steel are the reheating conditions TReh = 1060 °C, tReh = 1800 s at the diameter of austenite grain size dγ = 100 μm.

scholarly journals Effect of Carbon Partitioning, Carbide Precipitation, and Grain Size on Brittle Fracture of Ultra-High-Strength, Low-Carbon Steel after Welding by a Quenching and Partitioning Process

Metals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farnoosh Forouzan ◽  
M. Guitar ◽  
Esa Vuorinen ◽  
Frank Mücklich
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Carbon Steel ◽  
Weld Zone ◽  
Low Carbon Steel ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Precipitate Size ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Quenching And Partitioning ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

To improve the weld zone properties of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS), quenching and partitioning (Q&P) has been used immediately after laser welding of a low-carbon steel. However, the mechanical properties can be affected for several reasons: (i) The carbon content and amount of retained austenite, bainite, and fresh martensite; (ii) Precipitate size and distribution; (iii) Grain size. In this work, carbon movements during the partitioning stage and prediction of Ti (C, N), and MoC precipitation at different partitioning temperatures have been simulated by using Thermocalc, Dictra, and TC-PRISMA. Verification and comparison of the experimental results were performed by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscop (SEM), and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM), and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Electron Backscatter Scanning Diffraction (EBSD) analysis were used to investigate the effect of martensitic/bainitic packet size. Results show that the increase in the number density of small precipitates in the sample partitioned at 640 °C compensates for the increase in crystallographic packets size. The strength and ductility values are kept at a high level, but the impact toughness will decrease considerably.

scholarly journals Effect of Initial Microstructure on the Toughness of Coarse-Grained Heat-Affected Zone in a Microalloyed Steel

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4760
Author(s):  
Minghao Shi ◽  
Man Di ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Rangasayee Kannan ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Base Metal ◽  
Thermal Cycle ◽  
Microalloyed Steel ◽  
Charpy Impact ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Austenite Grain ◽  
Prior Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Prior Austenite Grain

Toughness of the coarse-grained-heat-affected-zone (CGHAZ) strongly depends on the prior austenite grain size. The prior austenite grain size is affected not only by chemical composition, thermal cycle, and dissolution of second-phase particles, but also by the initial microstructure. The effect of base metal microstructure (ferrite/pearlite obtained by air cooling and martensite obtained by water-quenching) on Charpy impact toughness of the CGHAZ has been investigated for different heat inputs for high-heat input welding of a microalloyed steel. A welding thermal cycle with a heat input of 100 kJ/cm and 400 kJ/cm were simulated on the MMS-300 system. Despite a similar microstructure in the CGHAZ of both the base metals, the average Charpy impact energy for the air-cooled base metal was found to be higher than the water-quenched base metal. Through thermo-kinetic simulations, it was found that a higher enrichment of Mn/C at the ferrite/austenite transformation interface of the CGHAZ of water-quenched base metal resulted in stabilizing austenite at a lower A1 temperature, which resulted in a coarser austenite grain size and eventually lowering the toughness of the CGHAZ.

Investigation of the Austenite Grain Growth in HY-TUF Steel

2020 ◽  
Vol 299 ◽  
pp. 482-486
Author(s):  
Mikhail V. Maisuradze ◽  
Maksim A. Ryzhkov
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Grain Growth ◽  
Heating Temperature ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Silicon Steel ◽  
Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Austenite Grain ◽  
Austenite Grains ◽  
Austenite Grain Growth ◽  
Intensive Growth

The high strength silicon steel HY-TUF, applied for manufacturing of the heavy loaded aerospace and engineering parts, was investigated. The effect of the heating temperature in the range 900...1000 °C on the austenite grain size was studied. The steel under consideration had a significant scatter of the austenite grain size. The most intensive growth of the austenite grains was observed in the temperature range 975...1000 °C.

Tempering of Direct Quenched Low-Alloy Ultra-High-Strength Steel, Part I – Microstructure

2014 ◽  
Vol 922 ◽  
pp. 316-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti J. Kaijalainen ◽  
Sakari Pallaspuro ◽  
David A. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Low Carbon Steel ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Steel Part ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Direct Quenching ◽  
Austenite Grain ◽  
Effective Grain Size

The direct quenching of low-carbon steel has been shown to be an effective way of producing ultra-high-strength, tough structural steels in the as-quenched state without tempering. However, in the present study, the influence of tempering at 500 °C has been studied in order to evaluate the possibilities of widening the range of strengths that can be produced from a single base composition. The chosen composition was 0.1C-0.2Si-1.1Mn-0.15Mo-0.03Ti-0.002B. In order to compare direct quenching with conventional quenching, two pre-quench austenite states were studied: a thermomechanically rolled, non-recrystallized, pancaked austenite grain structure and a recrystallized, equiaxed grain structure. Quenched and quenched-and-tempered microstructures were studied using FESEM and FESEM-EBSD. The as-quenched microstructures of the reheated and quenched and direct quenched specimens were fully martensitic and martensitic-bainitic, respectively. In both cases, tempering made the needle-shaped auto-tempered carbides of the as-quenched materials more spherical. In the case of the direct quenched (DQ) material, tempering led to a notable increase in the size of the grain boundary carbides. Prior austenite grain size and effective grain size after quenching were larger in the case of reheated and quenched material (RQ). Tempering had no effect on effective grain size. The crystallographic texture of the DQ material showed strong {112}<131> and {554}<225> components. The RQ material also contained the same components, but it also contained an intense {110}<110> and {011}<100> components. The effects of these microstructural changes on tensile, impact toughness and fracture toughness are described in part II.

Effects and Mechanisms of Niobium on the Fracture Toughness of Heavy Rail Steel

2010 ◽  
Vol 163-167 ◽  
pp. 110-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Jun Liu ◽  
Ya He Huang ◽  
Hong Liang Liu ◽  
Mao Fa Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Rail Steel ◽  
Vacuum Induction Furnace ◽  
Austenite Grain Size ◽  
Niobium Content ◽  
Austenite Grain ◽  
Heavy Rail ◽  
Heavy Rail Steel

Heavy rail steel was prepared by the process of vacuum induction furnace smelting, forge work and rolling. Effects and mechanisms of niobium on the fracture toughness of heavy rail steel were investigated. In addition, the appropriate range of niobium content for heavy rail steel was determined. With the niobium content increasing, both the austenite grain size and pearlite laminae distance of heavy rail steel were decreased gradually at first and then increased rapidly. When the niobium content was low, the precipitates containing niobium predominantly appeared in the cementite, which improved the toughness of heavy rail steel by fining the austenite grain size and pearlite laminae distance; when the niobium content > 0.024%, the fine dispersed precipitates containing niobium mainly occurred in the ferrite, which improved the toughness of heavy rail steel by pining dislocations and inhibiting crack growth; with the niobium content increasing, both the quantity and size of precipitates containing niobium were increased gradually; when the niobium content > 0.073%, most precipitates containing niobium could not pin dislocations and inhibit crack growth because the particles size was too big, thus the fracture toughness of heavy rail steel was bad. So the optimum range of the niobium content could improve the fracture toughness of heavy rail steel. In the present study, when the niobium content was about 0.053%, the fracture toughness of heavy rail steel was the best. The maximum plane-strain fracture toughness was 49.88 MPam1/2.

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