Investigation of Correlation Between Fracture Toughness and Charpy Impact Energy of Cryogenic Steel Welds

The high manganese steel was developed to improve the fracture toughness and safety at cryogenic temperatures, the austenite structure was formed by increasing the manganese (Mn) content. The developed weld high manganese steel was alloyed with austenite stabilizing elements (e.g., C, Mn, and Ni) for cryogenic toughness and fluxes contained less than 10% of acidic slag formers such as rutile (TiO2) and silica (SiO2). This paper describes the work carried out to enhance the fracture toughness of Mn contents in an economical way by means of increase of manganese up to 23% instead of using nickel (Ni) which has unique element to improve fracture toughness especially at cryogenic steel. The new cryogenic steels should be carefully evaluated in terms of safety for application in real structures including LNG ships. In this study, the fracture toughness performance was evaluated for recently developed cryogenic steels (high-Mn steels), especially the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) parameter was evaluated using the prediction formula proposed by conventional equation. The CTOD value was investigated the effect of microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe–C–Mn and Fe–C–Mn–Ni high manganese steel, it was revealed that the e-martesnsite phase formed in high manganese steel of 0.2C–20Mn and 0.4C–20Mn as a result of a low stability of austenite upon strain-induced phase transformation.

TECHNOLOGY FOR MAKING OF 12Х18Н10Т ALLOY IN INDUCTION-ARC FURNACES

A technology for making structural cryogenic steel 12Х18Н10Т from industrial waste has been developed. For it an induction plant was used which consists of two FS-series induction-arc furnaces. Problems of furnace charge preparation were considered: the fractional composition, oxidation, content of harmful impurities and a charging way. It made possible to ensure pot resistance and to decrease the melting period. Recommendations to decrease meniscus height on the melt surface are given.

On Mechanical Properties of Welded Joint in Novel High-Mn Cryogenic Steel in Terms of Microstructural Evolution and Solute Segregation

There is a growing demand for high-manganese wide heavy steel plate with excellent welding performance for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank building. However, studies on welding of high-Mn austenitic steel have mainly focused on the applications of automotive industry for a long time. In the present work, a high-Mn cryogenic steel was welded by multi-pass Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), and the microstructural evolution, solute segregation and its effect on the properties of welded joint (WJ) were studied. The yield strength, tensile strength and elongation of the WJ reached 804 MPa, 1027 MPa and 11.2% at −196 °C, respectively. The elongation of WJ was reduced with respect to the BM due to the poorer strain hardening capacity of weld metal (WM) at −196 °C. The WM and coarse-grained heat affected zone (CGHAZ) had the lowest cryogenic impact absorbed energy of ~55 J (at −196 °C). The inhibited twin formation caused by the higher critical resolved shear twinning stress ( τ T ) in the C-Mn-Si segregation band, the inhomogeneous microstructure caused by solute segregation, and the hardened austenite matrix deteriorated the plastic deformation capacity, finally resulting in the decreased cryogenic impact toughness of the CGHAZ. To summarize, the cryogenic toughness and tensile properties of the WJ meet the requirements for LNG tank building.