WELDING RESEARCH

SUPPLEMENTTO THE WELDING JOURNAL, JANUARY 1992

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Heat-Affected Zone Liquation Cracking in

Austenitic and Duplex Stainless Steels

Segregation-based grain boundary liquation models are incorporated

into a mechanistic explanation of HAZ liquation cracking.

BY J. C. LIPPOLD, W . A. BAESLACK III A N D I. V A R O L

ABSTRACT. The heat-affected zone
(HAZ) liquation cracking susceptibility
of several commercial austenitic and du-
plex stainless steels was evaluated using
the spot Varestraint test. Test results re-
vealed that among the austenitic stain-
less steels, the susceptibility to cracking
was a strong function of ferrite potential
(FP), a measure of the tendency for fer-
rite formation along HAZ grain bound-
aries adjacent to the fusion line derived
from a calculated ferrite number (FN).
Low FP heats (FP 0-1) of Type 304L were
found to be more susceptible to crack-
ing than a Type 304 alloy with FP 8. The
HAZ liquation cracking susceptibility of
the duplex stainless steels, Ferralium 255
and Alloy 2205, was roughly equivalent
to that of the low-FP austenitic stainless
steels.
J. C. LIPPOLD is with Edison Welding Insti-
tute, Columbus, Ohio. W. A. BAESLACK III
and I. VAROL are with The Ohio State Uni-
versity, Columbus, Ohio.
Paper presented at the 69th Annual AWS
Meeting, held April 17-22, 1988, in New
Orleans, La.
Metallographic and fractographic ex-
amination of the spot Varestraint sam-
ples revealed that cracking was charac-
teristically intergranular in all the alloys,
but that the amount of grain boundary
liquid associated with the HAZ cracks
varied considerably. Essentially no grain
boundary liquid films could be detected
in the duplex stainless steels or the high-
KEY W O R D S
HAZ Liquation Cracking
Austenitic Stainless Steel
Duplex Stainless Steel
Heat-Affected Zone
Varestraint Testing
Cracking Susceptibility
Calculated FN
Grain Boundaries
Microstructure
Segregation iVtechanism
FP austenitic stainless steel. Segregation-
based grain boundary liquation models
are reviewed and discussed in the con-
text of the observed cracking suscepti-
bility.
Introduction
Although the weld solidification
cracking susceptibility of austenitic
stainless steels has been studied exten-
sively, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) l i -
quation cracking behavior of these al-
loys has received limited attention (Refs.
1-6). In addition, essentially no infor-
mation exists regarding the HAZ liqua-
tion cracking susceptibility of duplex
stainless steels. The purpose of this in-
vestigation was to provide some c o m -
parative weldability test data for a range
of austenitic stainless steels and two du-
plex stainless steel alloys and to evalu-
ate the metallurgical factors that influ-
ence HAZ liquation cracking in these al-
loys. In order to provide a background
for this work, a brief review of the cur-
1
Incoloy is a trademark of the Inco family of
companies.

W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 1-s

rent understanding of the mechanistics
of HAZ liquation cracking is included.
HAZ Liquation Cracking
By definition, the region of the HAZ
within which liquation occurs is limited
to the partially melted zone (PMZ) and,
thus, hot cracking, or cracking resulting
from liquation, is indigenous to the PMZ
(Refs. 7, 8). Since the term hot cracking
has been generally used in the welding
literature to describe high-temperature
cracking in both the weld metal and
HAZ, its use is often ambiguous. As a
consequence, the terms weld solidifica-
tion cracking and HAZ liquation crack-
ing have been adopted here to more ac-
curately classify weld metal and HAZ
hot cracking, respectively.
The bulk of published research de-
voted to HAZ liquation cracking has fo-
cused on the behavior of the austenitic
stainless steels and the nickel-based su-
peralloys. Both alloy groups are used in
high-performance applications where
the integrity of the weld region is of crit-
ical importance and weld defects can-
not generally be tolerated. Austenitic
stainless steels w h i c h have been re-
ported to be susceptible to HAZ liqua-
tion cracking include the stabilized
grades containing titanium or niobium,
such as Type 321 (Refs. 3, 4) and Type
347 (Refs. 1, 3, 4), respectively, and
highly alloyed materials such as Incoloy'
Alloy 800 (Refs. 9-11) and A-286 (Refs.
1 1 , 12). HAZ liquation cracking has
been reported in both cast and wrought
versions of a wide variety of nickel-
based alloys, including Alloy 718 (Refs.
13-15), Hastelloy X (Ref. 16), and
Udimet 700 (Ref. 1 7). These alloys have
provided the basis for many of the HAZ
liquation cracking mechanisms that
have been proposed.
Penetration Mechanism
Mechanisms used to describe HAZ li-
quation cracking can be divided into
t w o general categories, namely, those
that support a grain boundary penetra-
tion mechanism and those in w h i c h
grain boundary segregation is important.
The penetration mechanism for HAZ li-
quation cracking involves the interac-
tion of a migrating HAZ grain boundary
with liquating matrix particles such as
carbides, sulfides, borides, etc. The met-
allurgical basis for this mechanism is a
phenomenon known as constitutional
liquation. Constitutional liquation was
first proposed by Savage from a strictly
theoretical standpoint in 1959. Subse-
quent experiments by his students (Refs.
1 8-21) proved the validity of this hy-
pothesis.
Constitutional liquation is a nonequi-
librium phenomenon associated w i t h
2-s I JANUARY 1992
the rapid heating rates experienced in
the HAZ adjacent to the fusion line. As
certain constituent particles are rapidly
heated to temperatures below the ma-
trix solidus temperature, localized liqua-
tion occurs along the particle-matrix in-
terface. This liquation is a consequence
of the rapid dissolution of the constituent
particle at elevated temperatures and the
resultant metallurgical reaction at the
particle/matrix interface. The amount of
liquid that forms along the interface de-
pends on the heating rate, the dissolu-
tion kinetics of the constituent particle,
and the diffusivity of solute atoms in the
matrix. For example, if heating rates are
extremely rapid, as in the HAZ of an
electron beam or laser beam weld, par-
ticle dissolution is negligible and con-
stitutional liquation w o u l d be m i n i -
mized. Conversely, if heating rates in
the H A Z are slow, as in an electroslag
w e l d , particle dissolution approaches
equilibrium conditions. Solid-state par-
ticle dissolution thus precludes the onset
of constitutional liquation. In practice,
constitutional liquation is most c o m -
monly observed when susceptible ma-
terials are welded using the more con-
ventional welding processes (SMAW,
GTAW, GMAW).
Constitutional liquation is not suffi-
cient, a priori, to support the penetra-
tion mechanism for HAZ liquation
cracking. Since HAZ cracking is a grain
boundary phenomenon, the migration
of grain boundaries and the interaction
of these boundaries with the constituent
particles are requisites of the mecha-
nism. (Unless, of course, constituent par-
ticles are already at grain boundary
sites.) Since grain growth is a thermally
activated process, a threshold tempera-
ture exists above which grain boundary
migration is favorable. In single-phase
materials, the locus of this temperature
generally represents the boundary of the
"true" HAZ. The rate of grain boundary
migration increases as a function of
proximity to the fusion line. In the re-
gion of the HAZ where constitutionally
liquated particles are usually observed,
grain boundaries are normally quite mo-
bile and the likelihood of the interaction
between a boundary and particle is high.
HAZ grain boundary liquation, as de-
fined by the penetration mechanism, re-
quires the simultaneous occurrence of
constitutional liquation and grain
boundary migration, again assuming
that the liquating species are not already
at grain boundary sites. The penetration
of the boundary by the liquid at the par-
ticle-matrix interface either pins the
boundary or significantly slows its rate
of migration and allows uniform wetting
of the boundary by the liquid. These liq-
uid films then serve to embrittle the HAZ
grain boundaries in the presence of suf-
ficient mechanically and/or thermally
induced restraint imposed during the
welding process.
Many investigators have used the
penetration model to explain HAZ hot
cracking in a variety of alloys. Duvall
and Owzarski (Refs. 14, 17) observed
the constitutional liquation of MC and
M 6 C alloy carbides and related this phe-
nomenon to HAZ embrittlement in a va-
riety of nickel-based superalloys. Sav-
age and Krantz (Ref. 16) associated HAZ
hot cracking in Hastelloy X with the con-
stitutional liquation of an M 6 C carbide.
Pepe and Savage (Refs. 20, 21) con-
cluded that HAZ grain boundary liqua-
tion in 18 Ni maraging steels was the re-
sult of the constitutional liquation of ti-
tanium sulfide particles that formed
along rolling bands in the base material.
In the family of austenitic stainless steels,
Tamura and Watanabe (Refs. 3, 4) re-
lated HAZ embrittlement in Type 347 to
the liquation of niobium carbides.
Recent studies by Thompson, ef al.
(Ref. 1 5), on Alloy 71 8 have suggested
that the thermodynamic feasibility of
constitutional liquation reactions involv-
ing Nb-rich carbides and the kinetics of
these reactions are strongly dependent
on both the composition of the sur-
rounding austenite matrix and the weld
thermal cycle. They have also reported
that the cracking of HAZ grain bound-
aries in this alloy is influenced by the
temperature range over which the Nb-
rich, grain boundary liquid solidifies
during the on-cooling portion of the
weld thermal cycle and composition-
and temperature-dependent distribution
of the liquid along the boundaries.
Segregation Mechanism
Despite the utility of the grain bound-
ary penetration mechanism, HAZ liqua-
tion cracking is often encountered in ma-
terials where constitutional liquation
does not, or cannot, occur. (For exam-
ple, in materials that do not contain in-
termetallic constituents.) As a result, a
liquation mechanism has evolved that
is not dependent on the interaction of a
mobile grain boundary w i t h a liquated
constituent particle. Many single-phase
materials that are relatively free of inter-
metallic and constituent particles have
exhibited susceptibility to HAZ liqua-
tion cracking. In general, the location of
embrittled grain boundaries in the HAZ
of these materials is nearly identical to
that of materials w h i c h are embrittled
by the penetration mechanism. As a re-
sult, a grain boundary segregation model
that rationalizes the onset of grain
boundary liquation in the absence of
constituent particle melting is often pro-
posed to explain HAZ liquation crack-
ing.
The segregation model in its simplest
form provides for solute/impurity ele-
ment segregation to grain boundaries, equilibrium segregation to grain bound- boundary sweeping in simulated HAZ
thereby reducing the melting tempera- aries is not sufficient to support liqua- microstructures in Alloy 800. Using an-
ture of the boundary relative to the sur- tion in the HAZ since the segregation alytical electron microscopy (AEM) tech-
rounding matrix. Above a critical tem- field is extremely localized. As a result, niques, no clear evidence for grain
perature during the HAZ thermal cycle, a boundary sweeping mechanism has boundary enrichment via a sweeping
preferential melting occurs along these been described (Refs. 3, 6, 10). As grain mechanism could be detected in sam-
boundaries effectively embrittling a nar- boundaries migrate upon heating above ples heated into the liquation tempera-
row region of the HAZ adjacent to the the threshold grain growth temperature, ture range and then quenched in-situ.
weld fusion zone. The actual mecha- solute and/or impurity atoms are swept Instead, a microconstitutional liquation
nism by w h i c h solute/impurity atoms into the boundaries and are dragged mechanism was detected whereby sub-
segregate to the HAZ grain boundaries along as grain growth proceeds. Again, micron Ti(C,N) particles react with the
is not clear. elements that are surface active and/or surrounding matrix and liquate. This li-
A possible mechanism for grain exhibit a low solubility in the matrix quation resulted in localized wetting of
boundary segregation invokes equilib- w o u l d have the highest probability of the grain boundaries and a subsequent
rium diffusion, where the segregated re- being swept into and assimilated w i t h loss in ductility, hence producing a crack
gion is localized within a few atom di- the boundary. As the temperature in the susceptible microstructure.
ameters on either side of the boundary. HAZ increases above the local grain Another mechanism for HAZ grain
This type of grain boundary segregation boundary melting temperature, liqua- boundary segregation is described by
is driven by the free energy difference tion occurs and the region of the HAZ the pipeline diffusion theory. Since weld
between a solute or impurity atom in a within a critical embrittlement tempera- solidification occurs via an epitaxial nu-
matrix site vs. a grain boundary site. ture range becomes susceptible to liqua- cleation process, grain boundaries are
Since the defect structure (in terms of tion cracking. continuous from the fusion zone across
atomic misfit and dislocations) in a grain Duvall and Owzarski (Ref. 22) have the fusion boundary into the HAZ. By
boundary is greater than that in the ad- argued that grain boundary migration the nature of the solidification process,
jacent matrix, a reduction in the local actually results in boundary breakaway partitioning of solute and impurity ele-
free energy can be achieved by diffusion from solute atmospheres and that the in- ments along the solidification grain
of the atom to the boundary site. This stantaneous composition of the mobile boundary results in solute/impurity en-
segregation is further enhanced when boundary reflects the local composition richment relative to the adjacent, epi-
the solute/impurity element is highly sur- of the matrix through w h i c h it is mov- taxial HAZ boundary. This boundary
face active and/or exhibits a low solu- ing. They provided metallographic evi- provides a diffusion pipeline for elemen-
bility in the base metal. In many of the dence for this argument by showing tal segregation and subsequent enrich-
high-performance structural steels and "ghost" grain boundaries in the HAZ at ment of HAZ grain boundaries. Since
stainless steels, elements such as sulfur, the sites where breakaway occurred dur- the rate of diffusion along grain bound-
phosphorus, carbon, antimony, tin and ing initial boundary migration. Lippold aries is greatly accelerated relative to
arsenic exhibit this behavior. The be- (Ref. 10) pointed out, however, that bulk diffusion (Ref. 24), this mechanism
havior of an individual element, how- while some solute elements are not mo- provides a plausible explanation for
ever, is a strong function of the base bile enough to migrate with the bound- grain boundary liquation adjacent to the
metal composition, metallurgical con- ary, others are extremely mobile and fusion boundary.
dition (annealed, heat treated, cold may either move with the original The mere occurrence of a liquation
worked, etc.) and thermal history. boundary or be swept from the matrix reaction, either by constitutional or
An equilibrium grain boundary seg- as the boundary migrates. Thus, larger, boundary segregation-induced liqua-
regation model is most tractable when slow-diffusing atoms remain behind to tion, is not sufficient to produce a crack-
one assumes that atomic rearrangement form ghost boundaries while surface-ac- susceptible microstructure. In order to
occurs at a static boundary. In the HAZ tive, fast-diffusing elements w i l l move embrittle the microstructure, it is essen-
of a typical fusion w e l d , grain growth with the boundary. tial that the liquid species penetrate and
begins above a threshold temperature More recently, Romig, etal. (Ref. 23), wet the boundary. If wetting is ineffec-
during the on-heating portion of the ther- has investigated the potential for grain tive, liquid will exist in isolated pockets
mal cycle and continues up to the local
peak temperature. Under these condi- </
u
tions, grain boundary liquation due to Table 1—Chemical Composition of Duplex and Austenitic Stainless Steels (wt-%) Q
equilibrium segregation then occurs h
once boundary motion has essentially Ferralium 255 Alloy 2205 304 304L-1 304L-2 M A286 2
stopped during the on-cooling portion u
of the thermal cycle. The HAZ embrit- Chromium 24.9 21.7 18.6 18.4 18.3 14.8
Nickel 5.4 5.8 8.0 11.9 12.0 29.6
a
tlement window, via this mechanism, is C
thus quite narrow since the grain bound- Silicon 0.54 0.48 0.39 0.53 0.43 0.02
Manganese 1.10 1.74 1.52 1.76 1.72 0.07 u
ary velocity must go to zero at a temper-
Copper 1.70 — 0.25 0.12 0.06 —
ature that is sufficient to promote melt-
Molybdenum 3.1 2.7 0.20 0.17 0.05 1.50 u
ing along the boundary. From a strictly Titanium
theoretical basis, grain boundary liqua-
— — — — — 2.20
c
Carbon 0.027 0.019 0.042 0.017 0.023 0.024 3
tion due to equilibrium segregation Nitrogen 0.17 0.13 0.052 0.038 0.038 0.004 C
would be enhanced by moderate to slow Sulfur 0.001 0.002 0.007 0.002 0.003 0.002 a
HAZ heating and cooling rates. For the Phosphorus 0.023 0.021 0.019 0.027 0.010 0.008 5<

austenitic stainless steels, this is, in fact, Base Metal FN (1) 79 76 0 0.5 0 0
u
u
what is normally observed; HAZ crack- Ferrite u
ing is almost never observed in electron Potential, FP (2) 105 95 8 1 0 0
a
beam welds or low heat input arc weld-
(a) Measured using the vlagne Gage.
ing processes. (b) Calculated FN f r o m the WRC-88 diagram (Ref. 25).
Alternatively, it has been argued that

W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 3-s


15.25 c m -
Cracks
£ f
©iijO
Spot w e l d
Specimen
r this paper, the term FP is used to define
V r—I
Die block
Force
£ ^ J_
2R
Fig. 1 — Schematic illustration of the spot Varestraint test.
allowing substantial solid-solid contact
along the grain boundaries. As wetting
becomes more effective, boundaries will
be uniformly coated with a thin liquid
f i l m . The wetting characteristics are a
function of the composition of liquid and
solid in contact, the crystal structure, or
structures, of the solid substrate, the rel-
ative surface free energies and the tem-
perature. It is frequently reported that
like boundaries (for example, austenite-
austenite, ferrite-ferrite) wet much more
effectively than two-phase boundaries.
Based on this contention, Kujanpaa, ef
al. (Ref. 6), postulated that the presence
of a small amount of ferrite along austen-
ite grain boundaries in the HAZ of an
austenitic stainless steel is effective in
reducing susceptibility to cracking rela-
tive to HAZ microstructures that were
fully austenitic. No clear metallurgical
evidence of this phenomena has been
reported.
This investigation evaluates the HAZ
liquation cracking susceptibility of three
types of stainless steels as distinguished
by their high-temperature HAZ m i -
4-s I J A N U A R Y 1992
'|5 4
Oil;© 2.5 cm
Top V i e w
GTAW torch
Side View
crostructures, namely, fully ferritic, d u -
plex austenitic-ferritic and fully
austenitic. HAZ cracking susceptibility
.among these alloys will be discussed in
the context of the liquation mechanisms
described above.
Experimental Procedure
Materials
Four austenitic and two duplex stain-
less steel alloys were evaluated during
this investigation. The austenitic stain-
less steels were selected to represent a
broad range of alloy compositions and
liquation cracking behavior and in-
cluded Type 304, two heats of Type
304L and a modified A286 alloy. The
two duplex stainless steels, Ferralium
255 and Alloy 2205, represent alloys
that have experienced widespread com-
mercial use. All materials were obtained
in wrought form (bar or plate) in the so-
lution-annealed condition. The chemi-
cal compositions of these alloys are
listed in Table 1. The selection of
Table 2—Spot Varestraint Test Conditions
Weld Pool
Alloy
Current Voltage
(A) (V)
Diameter
(mm)
Alloy 2205
Ferralium 255
Type 304
130
130
130
17
17
20.5
11.2
12.3
10.0
Type 304L-1 130 20.5 12.5
Type 304L-2 130 20.5 13.0
Modified A286 100 18.0 9.0
Process: C T A W , DCEN.
Electrode: W - 2 % T h 0 2 , 30-deg angle, 2.38-mm diameter.
Torch gas f l o w rate: 30 cfh
W e l d time: 20 s
Ram delay time: 0 - 5 ms.
austenitic stainless steel alloys was
based on their ferrite potential (FP). In
the tendency for ferrite to form in the
HAZ of austenitic and duplex stainless
steels and is determined using WRC-88
equivalents (Ref. 25). Thus, the FP rep-
resents a calculated FN but is not in-
tended to predict the amount of ferrite
that forms in the HAZ, i.e., it serves as
an index for the potential for solid-state
ferrite formation in the HAZ. Base metal
FN and FP for the austenitic and duplex
alloys are listed in Table 1. FN values
were determined using a Magne Gage,
calibrated according to AWS procedure
A4.2-74.
Spot Varestraint Testing
The spot Varestraint test (Ref. 26) was
used to evaluate the HAZ liquation
cracking susceptibility of the austenitic
and duplex stainless steels. A schematic
illustration of the spot Varestraint appa-
ratus is provided in Fig. 1. Laboratory-
scale samples 1 5.25 X 2.54 X 0.64 cm
(6.0 X 1.0 X 0.25 in.) are clamped into
the test fixture, as indicated in Fig. 1. A
gas tungsten arc (GTA) spot weld is ini-
tiated, and after a preselected time, a
pneumatically actuated ram is triggered,
forcing the sample to conform to the ra-
dius of a die block. The augmented tan-
gential strain imparted to the surface of
the test specimen is equal to approxi-
mately t/2R, where t is the specimen
thickness and R is the radius of the die
block. Augmented strains in the range
from 0.25 to 7% can be achieved by se-
lection of the appropriate die block.
The test conditions used during this
investigation are listed in Table 2. In an
effort to maintain a relatively uniform
weld pool size, a variety of welding pa-
rameters were employed for these ma-
terials in order to compensate for differ-
ences in penetration characteristics. De-
spite these efforts, only a 9.0-mm-diam-
eter ( 0.35-in.) pool could be produced
in the modified A286 alloy. At higher
heat inputs in this alloy, full penetration
of the specimen occurred and the weld ^k&\ >,; J
pool could not be maintained. An arc
time of 20 s was used to produce a rel-
atively shallow temperature gradient in
the HAZ surrounding the molten pool,
thereby providing a more extensive m i -
crostructural region conducive to HAZ
liquation.
The delay time between arc extinc-
tion and actual specimen/die block con-
tact is perhaps the most critical param-
eter in the spot Varestraint test. Since
weld pool solidification begins at the in-
MSi&ys
stant of arc extinction, long delay times
allow significant solidification, w h i c h
may promote cracking in the fusion zone
rather than the HAZ. Selection of the ap- -v ^ * "TO- _N* ^ ^ S q j f e s S g y p b ^ ^ ^ ^
propriate delay time is particularly criti-
cal in materials that are relatively resis-
tant to HAZ liquation cracking. For this i^^^^i *

aswe^M
reason, extremely short delay times, on
the order of 0 to 5 ms, were selected to
T.V«'
insure cracking was concentrated in the
HAZ.
All samples were tested at a single
augmented strain level of 5%. This level
was required to insure cracking in all
the alloys tested. The 1 5.25-cm (6-in.)
dimension of the samples was parallel
to the rolling direction, thus resulting in
crack propagation perpendicular to the
rolling direction. Alloy 2205 was also
tested in the transverse orientation.
Following testing, HAZ cracks were
W MM W-I.-3 .wfr

measured on the as-tested surface at 40X

magnification using a binocular micro-
scope equipped with a filar eyepiece.
Individual crack lengths were measured
and results for each specimen reported
in terms of number of cracks, total crack
length, maximum crack length and av-
erage crack length.

Microstructural Evaluation

Metallographic samples from repre-

sentative spot Varestraint specimens
(plan view) for each alloy were prepared
in order to evaluate the microstructural
features of the HAZ and relate these fea-
tures to cracking susceptibility. All sam-
ples were polished through 0.05 micron
alumina and initially etched using a
mixed acid solution containing equal
parts of hydrochloric, acetic and nitric
acids. In addition, several color-etching
techniques were used in conjunction
with the duplex stainless steels. These
included: 1) a modified Murakami's
technique (Ref. 27), 2) an iron colloid
technique (Refs. 28, 29), and 3) a two-
stage electrolytic technique using a 10%
oxalic acid etch followed by a 2 0 %
potassium hydroxide etch.
Regions of the spot Varestraint sam-
ples containing cracks were examined F/g. 2 — Representative base metal microstructures. A — Type 304/304L; B — modi-
using an optical metallograph at magni- fied A286; C — duplex stainless steel (Alloy 2205). 400X.

W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 5-s

 Spot-Varestraint Test Results m a k e s g r a i n size m e a s u r e m e n t d i f f i c u l t
a n d d o e s n o t a l l o w for r e a d y c o m p a r i -
at 5% Augmented Strain son w i t h the austenitic stainless steels.
15 0.75

TCL Spot Varestraint Test Results

MCL 0.60 E
1 2 A bar chart illustrating average v a l -
E
E ues o f b o t h t o t a l c r a c k length (TCL) a n d
m a x i m u m c r a c k length (MCL) at an a u g -
0.45 S m e n t e d s t r a i n l e v e l o f 5 % is s h o w n i n
o> 9
c Fig. 3. N o t e t h a t A l l o y 2 2 0 5 w a s tested
o both l o n g i t u d i n a l and transverse to the
a__
o O rolling direction. All the other alloys
o 0.30
__ E w e r e tested w i t h the s p e c i m e n axis l o n -
O g i t u d i n a l l y o r i e n t e d to t h e r o l l i n g d i r e c -
E
t i o n . In t h i s o r i e n t a t i o n , c r a c k s w h i c h
|2 0.15 form on the periphery of the w e l d pool
d u r i n g testing w i l l t e n d to p r o p a g a t e nor-
m a l , o r at an a n g l e n e a r l y n o r m a l , t o the
r o l l i n g d i r e c t i o n . In m a t e r i a l s t h a t e x -
2205-L 2205-T 255 304 304L-I 304L-2 A286-M h i b i t c o m p o s i t i o n a l b a n d i n g , this o r i e n -
t a t i o n s h o u l d r e d u c e the o v e r a l l level of
Fig. 3 — Spot Varestraint test results in terms of total crack length and maximum crack c r a c k i n g relative to crack propagation
length at 5% strain.
parallel t o the b a n d e d structure.

f i c a t i o n s up t o 5 0 0 X . These regions w e r e
also e x a m i n e d at h i g h m a g n i f i c a t i o n in
a s c a n n i n g e l e c t r o n m i c r o s c o p e (SEM)
e q u i p p e d w i t h an e n e r g y - d i s p e r s i v e
s p e c t r o m e t e r (EDS) f o r m i c r o c h e m i c a l
analysis. Selected samples w e r e also
c a r e f u l l y sectioned a n d fractured in
o r d e r to e x p o s e the l i q u a t i o n c r a c k frac-
ture surfaces for subsequent e x a m i n a -
t i o n in t h e SEM.
Results
Base Metal Microstructure
The m o d i f i e d A 2 8 6 alloy and o n e
heat o f T y p e 3 0 4 L , d e s i g n a t e d 3 0 4 L - 2 ,
w e r e f u l l y a u s t e n i t i c w i t h g r a i n sizes in
the range of A S T M 4 - 6 . The other heat
of Type 304L, designated 3 0 4 L - 1 , and
the Type 304 alloy contained ferrite
stringers o r i e n t e d p a r a l l e l t o t h e r o l l i n g
d i r e c t i o n . T h e l e v e l of f e r r i t e as m e a -
s u r e d u s i n g t h e M a g n e G a g e w a s less
than FN 1 .
Color metallographic techniques al-
l o w e d a clear distinction between the
ferrite a n d austenite in the d u p l e x stain-
less steels — Fig. 2 . S i n c e h o t w o r k i n g
of d u p l e x stainless steel is n o r m a l l y per-
f o r m e d in t h e a u s t e n i t e - f e r r i t e , t w o -
phase r e g i o n , the resultant m i c r o s t r u c -
t u r e t e n d s to be s t r o n g l y o r i e n t e d a l o n g
the w o r k i n g d i r e c t i o n . W o r k i n g a n d a n -
n e a l i n g in the t w o - p h a s e region also
a l l o w g o o d c o n t r o l of the ferrite/austen-
ite b a l a n c e w i t h t h e f i n a l p r o d u c t g e n -
erally tailored to c o n t a i n nearly equal
p r o p o r t i o n s o f these phases. T h e h i g h l y
d i r e c t i o n a l nature o f the m i c r o s t r u c t u r e
T h e m o s t c r a c k resistant o f the a l l o y s
tested w a s T y p e 3 0 4 . T h e b e h a v i o r of
t h e d u p l e x s t a i n l e s s steels w a s n e a r l y
identical and essentially equivalent to
the t w o heats of T y p e 3 0 4 L . N o t surpris-
ingly, the modified A 2 8 6 alloy exhib-
ited t h e largest s u s c e p t i b i l i t y t o H A Z l i -
quation cracking. W i t h the exception of
A l l o y 3 0 4 L - 1 , M C L a n d T C L s e r v e d as
e q u i v a l e n t measures of c r a c k i n g suscep-
t i b i l i t y for these materials. N o t e that
s p e c i m e n o r i e n t a t i o n w i t h respect to
r o l l i n g d i r e c t i o n had little effect on
c r a c k i n g susceptibility in A l l o y 2 2 0 5 .
T h i s is p r o b a b l y t h e r e s u l t o f t h e c o m -
plete t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the d u p l e x struc-
t u r e t o ferrite in the H A Z a d j a c e n t to the
w e l d fusion boundary. This transforma-
t i o n e f f e c t i v e l y e l i m i n a t e s a n y phase o r i -
e n t a t i o n residual f r o m t h e base m a t e r i a l .

^ 0 .' , •
jji-^t!

.i- '•:enj,r \ y\

Ifvi
•
i 55
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200 pm 5 0 Aim

Fig. 4 — HAZ cracking in Type 304 spot Varestraint sample. A — SOX; B — 400X. Arrows indicate ferrite along austenite grain boundaries.

6-s I JANUARY 1992

 ________________
W
*3y 9 * \ v • **" _/ __*

1, ,-\k

"">*-"
1 50 Mm | j • / B
Fig. 5 — HAZ cracking in Type 304L (FP 1) spot Varestraint sample. A — 50X, arrows indicate the fusion boundary; B — 400X, arrows point out
crack blunting at ferrite stringers.

Optical Microscopy curred along an epitaxial solidification
grain boundary in the fusion zone.
Austenitic Stainless Steels. Metallo- A spot Varestraint sample of Type
graphic sections revealing the top sur- 304L with FP 1 (304L-1) is shown in Fig.
face (plan view) of the spot Varestraint 5. Cracking in this sample is again re-
samples were prepared in order to de- stricted primarily to the HAZ. The adja-
termine the location and nature of HAZ cent fusion zone solidified as primary
cracking. The microstructure near the austenite and exhibits scattered ferrite
fusion boundary of a Type 304 sample along solidification subgrain bound-
is shown in Fig. 4. The fusion zone con- aries. Cracks in this alloy often took on
sists of a two-phase mixture of austenite an irregular, stair-step appearance as
and ferrite with a ferrite level of FN 8. dictated by the presence of ferrite
Note that the crack shown in Fig. 4A is stringers in the HAZ. Note that the crack
restricted to the HAZ with essentially no in the right-hand portion of Fig. 5A ex-
penetration into the fusion zone. This is hibits a distinct step. This stepwise prop-
a consequence of both the short delay agation is more clearly seen in Fig. 5B.
time employed during the test and the The ferrite stringers, w h i c h are nearly
high inherent resistance of the fusion perpendicular to the austenite grain
zone to weld solidification cracking. At boundaries at this location, act to arrest
higher magnification (Fig. 4B), ferrite is the crack along one grain boundary and
observed along austenite grain bound- transfer cracking to an adjacent bound-
aries in the HAZ adjacent to the fusion ary on the opposite side of the stringer.
boundary. The ferrite is present as a thin Ferrite was not observed along austen-
layer at these boundaries and extends ite grain boundaries in the HAZ of this
only 1 to 2 grain diameters away from alloy.
the fusion boundary. Also note in this
The microstructure adjacent to the
photomicrograph that cracking has oc-
fusion boundary of a Type 304L, FP 0
spot Varestraint sample is shown in Fig.
6. Again, cracking is restricted to the
HAZ and is associated w i t h austenite
grain boundaries. At higher magnifica-
tion (Fig. 6B), cracking is observed to
occur along a wide, diffuse boundary.
This boundary spreading is due to lo-
calized melting in close p r o x i m i t y to
the fusion boundary. Note that adja-
cent grain boundaries do not appear
to exhibit localized melting.
The HAZ microstructure of modified
A286 spot Varestraint samples was dra-
matically different from the other
austenitic stainless steels. As shown in
Fig. 7, cracks do not initiate at the f u -
sion boundary but, rather, are sepa-
rated from the fusion boundary by a
partially melted zone (PMZ). This PMZ
exhibits extensive liquation both
inter and i n t r a g r a n u l a r l y . The large
a m o u n t of l i q u i d a v a i l a b l e in the
PMZ acts to e f f e c t i v e l y heal any
cracks that f o r m in this r e g i o n . This
healing effect is apparent at the crack
tip shown in Fig. 7B. HAZ grain bound-
ary liquation was extensive in the

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-5:-;

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Fig. 6 — HAZ cracking in Type 304L (FP 0) spot Varestraint sample,A — 50X, arrows indicate the fusion boundary; B — 400X, arrows show a
widened, liquated grain boundary.

W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 7-s

modified A 2 8 6 alloy up to 10 to 20
grain diameters from the fusion bound-
ary (nearly 1 mm). The extent of liqua-
tion correlated well with the maximum
crack length measured on the sample
surface and the high overall crack sus-
ceptibility as determined by total crack
length — Fig. 3.
Duplex Stainless Steels
HAZ liquation cracking in the duplex
stainless steels was restricted to a nar-
row region adjacent to the fusion bound-
ary. Again, precise control of the ram
delay time was critical for restricting
cracking to the HAZ. Color metallo-
graphic techniques were used to reveal
the nature of cracking in the Ferralium
255 HAZ, as shown in Fig. 8. The two-
stage electrolytic technique (Fig. 8A) was
helpful in revealing both the fusion
boundary and the intergranular nature
of the HAZ cracks. Note that significant
microstructural modification has oc-
curred in the H A Z relative to the base
material — Fig. 2. At peak temperatures,
the microstructure adjacent to the HAZ
transforms almost entirely to ferrite. On-
cooling, austenite precipitates both inter
and intragranularly, but the structure re-
mains primarily ferritic. At higher mag-
nification and using a colloidal iron
technique (Fig. 8B), a crack at the edge
of the fusion boundary is shown to co-
incide w i t h austenite along the ferrite
grain boundary. Close inspection of this
photomicrograph reveals that austenite
is present on opposing sides of the crack,
indicating that cracking does not occur
along the ferrite/austenite interface.
Rather, the austenite forms on-cooling
on the crack surfaces.
HAZ cracking in an Alloy 2205 spot
Varestraint specimen is illustrated in Fig.
9. Similar to Ferralium 255, transforma-
tion to ferrite HAZ occurred adjacent to
200 Mm
Fig. 7 — HAZ cracking in modified A286 spot Varestraint sample. A — SOX, arrows indicate fusion boundary; B — 400X, arrows demarcate a
backfilled region at the crack.
8-s I J A N U A R Y 1 9 9 2
the fusion boundary with subsequent
precipitation of austenite on-cooling. In
general, the transformation region in the
Alloy 2205 HAZ was narrower than that
in Ferralium 255. A l l cracks were re-
stricted to this transformation region and
extended only 1- to 2-grain diameters
away from the fusion boundary. At high
magnification (Fig. 9B), the coincidence
of HAZ cracks and grain boundary
austenite is again apparent with austen-
ite appearing to precipitate on the crack
surface.
Fractography
The fracture surfaces of H A Z liqua-
tion cracks from Alloy 2205, Ferralium
255 and Type 304L (FP 0) spot Vare-
straint samples were examined in the
SEM to evaluate differences in cracking
behavior. Type 304 specimens were not
examined due to difficulties in obtaining
adequate samples. Cracks in this alloy
were extremely small and could not be
successfully isolated for sectioning. The
surface of liquation cracks sectioned
from welds in the duplex stainless steels
are shown in Fig. 10. The morphology
was clearly intergranular and relatively
smooth, consistent with the presence of
extremely thin liquid films. There is also
evidence of austenite precipitation, thus
corroborating the metallographic obser-
vations. In contrast, HAZ liquation crack
surfaces in the Type 304L (FP 0) speci-
men (Fig. 11) exhibited a more irregular,
nearly dendritic appearance, indicative
of a greater quantity of liquid along the
boundary prior to cracking.
Discussion
The results obtained during this in-
vestigation have provided a quantitative
measure of HAZ liquation cracking in
duplex stainless steels relative to
w
X-:
r.
r '. Ik- ,"..,• <_.i./__.-?;
50 pm
J
austenitic stainless steels of variable fer-
rite potential (FP). In addition, the met-
allurgical evaluation of the spot Vare-
straint samples used to generate these
data has provided some insight into the
mechanisms of HAZ liquation cracking
in both duplex and austenitic stainless
steels.
Relative Cracking Susceptibility
The use of simulative weldability
tests, such as the spot Varestraint test,
facilitates the assessment of weld crack-
ing susceptibility in engineering alloys.
The test is appealing in that it provides
a quantitative measure of susceptibility
that can be readily compared to other
materials tested under the same, or sim-
ilar test conditions. Some caution must
be exercised in the evaluation of test re-
sults, however, since the conditions
under which the materials are tested vary
significantly from those experienced
during actual welding fabrication. Thus,
the absolute value of TCL or MCL, as re-
ported in Fig. 3, has little practical sig-
nificance. Rather, spot Varestraint test-
ing provides a good relative measure of
HAZ liquation cracking susceptibility.
In general, the HAZ cracking suscepti-
bility of austenitic stainless steels as de-
termined by the spot Varestraint test has
correlated well with actual fabrication
behavior. (Ref. 30)
Based on the results of spot Vare-
straint tests, the HAZ liquation cracking
susceptibility of duplex stainless steels
can be expected to be intermediate be-
tween austenitic alloys with a FP greater
than 3 and those with FP 0. In practice,
austenitic stainless steels of the former
type are extremely resistant to HAZ li-
quation cracking. Even under the ex-
treme restraint conditions imposed in
the Varestraint test, the extent of crack-
ing is severely limited in these alloys;
~^m
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H'g. 8 — H A Z cracks in a Ferralium 255 spot Varestraint sample. A — WOX, two-stage electrolytic etch, arrows indicate the fusion bound-
ary; B — 400X, iron colloid technique, arrows point out austenite on opposing crack faces.

it 8 1

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F/g. 9 — H A Z cracking in SAF 2205 spot Varestraint sample. A — 50X, arrows indicate the fusion boundary; B — 400X.

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 9-s

Pig, 70 — Fracture surface morphology of HAZ liquation cracks in duplex stainless steels. A — Ferralium 255; B — Alloy 2205. 500X.
essentially no cracking occurs until aug-
mented strains exceed 2 % (Ref. 30). In
contrast, austenitic stainless steels with
FP 0 have been problematic with respect
to HAZ liquation cracking particularly
in alloys containing Ti, Nb, or high lev-
els of C, S, P and B. (Refs. 1 -6). Numer-
ous instances of cracking during fabri-
cation have been reported in a variety
of product forms and conditions. Under
Varestraint testing conditions, alloys
with FP 0 exhibit HAZ liquation cracks
at even the lowest levels of augmented
strain, i.e., 0.25% (Ref. 30).
In practice, few instances of HAZ li-
quation cracking in duplex stainless
steels have been reported. This is par-
tially due to the somewhat restricted use
of these materials, particularly in appli-
cations where restraint levels are ex-
Fig. 7 7 — Fracture surface morphology of an HAZ liquation crack in Type 304L (FP 0). A — 500X; B — 7500X.
10-s I J A N U A R Y 1992
treme, and to the generally low i m p u -
rity levels that are maintained in these
alloys. Based on the Varestraint data
generated during this investigation, it is
likely that these steels will exhibit a good
overall resistance to HAZ liquation
cracking under low to moderate restraint
conditions. As weld restraint becomes
more severe or if material composition
is not carefully controlled to minimize
impurities, cracking in these alloys may,
in fact, be significant.
Cracking Mechanisms
In stainless steels, the factors that in-
fluence HAZ liquation cracking can be
identified and categorized as either com-
positional or microstructural in nature.
Compositional factors include the ferrite
potential (FP) and impurity content while
microstructural effects include grain size,
nature and distribution of precipitates
and second phases, and base material
homogeneity. The complex thermal-me-
chanical history of the HAZ and an in-
adequate understanding of metallurgical
behavior at temperatures in the vicinity
of the material solidus complicate the
definition of a precise mechanism for
HAZ liquation cracking. These issues will
be discussed in the following sections in
the context of the microstructural obser-
vations reported previously.
Penetration Mechanism
Of the alloys evaluated during this in-
vestigation, only modified A286 exhib-
ited apparent constitutional liquation
and subsequent grain boundary pene-
tration. As is evident in Fig. 7, the con-
stitutional liquation of Ti-rich carbides
(Ref. 12) provides a large quantity of liq-
uid for grain boundary penetration and
wetting. In the vicinity of the fusion line,
essentially all the grain boundaries show
evidence of liquid and at higher magni-
fication a second-phase, identified as a
Laves phase (Ref. 12), forms upon reso-
lidification of the boundary on-cooling.
It is significant that this highly liquated
region of the H A Z does not exhibit
cracking. It is proposed that this immu-
nity is the result of crack healing by ex-
cess grain boundary liquid and backfill-
ing of liquid from the adjacent weld
pool. This healing effect is particularly
apparent at the tip of the crack shown
in Fig. 7B.
Perhaps the most interesting observa-
tion from Fig. 7A is that cracking is most
prevalent in the region of the HAZ
slightly removed from the fusion line
where only partial grain boundary liqua-
tion is evident. This behavior is not
unique to modified A286 and has been
reported previously for Incoloy Alloys
903 and 909 (Refs. 3 1 , 32) and Alloy
718 (Ref. 15). There are several possi-
ble explanations for this behavior.
1) The crack-susceptible region is suf-
ficiently remote from the weld pool that
significant liquid backfilling of cracks is
not possible.
2) Grain boundary liquation occurs
on a more localized scale than is appar-
ent with optical microscopy and, in fact,
all the boundaries are liquated.
3) Liquation, and subsequent crack-
ing, only occurs along boundaries that
have intersected a constitutionally l i -
quated particle.
4) Localized grain boundary strains
are much higher in this region than in
the mushy zone adjacent to the fusion
line.
5) Crack initiation may occur in the
heavily constitutionally liquated region
with propagation proceeding along
nonliquated boundaries via a l i q u i d -
metal embrittlement mechanism.
Despite the considerable study that
has been devoted to alloys that are sus-
ceptible to cracking via a constitutional
liquation/grain boundary penetration
mechanism, many of the significant as-
pects of this mechanism remain a mys-
tery. It is apparent, however, that the
constitutional liquation of intermetallic
constituents is an essential component
of the cracking in the modified A286
alloy evaluated in this study and in many
other engineering alloys reported in the
literature. Development of a more pre-
cise description of the penetration mech-
anism of HAZ liquation cracking re-
quires a more thorough treatment of the
issues enumerated above.
Segregation Mechanism
H A Z liquation cracking in the ab-
sence of a liquating particle relies on a
mechanism whereby grain boundary
melting is promoted by a localized vari-
ation in composition relative to the sur-
rounding matrix. This variation is driven
by segregation of solute and impurity el-
ements at high temperature. Several con-
cepts commonly used to rationalize such
a mechanism were reviewed in the in-
troduction. In this study, metallographic
and fractographic observations suggest
that HAZ liquation cracking in both the
duplex and 300-series stainless steels
occurs by a segregation mechanism.
This is supported by the fact that no li-
quating particles were observed in the
HAZ and the liquid films along HAZ
grain boundaries in the spot Varestraint
samples were either extremely thin (Figs.
5B and 6B) or essentially undetectable
— Figs. 4B and 12.
Previously, Kujanpaa, etal. (Ref. 6),
noted the relationship between weld fer-
rite content and HAZ liquation crack-
ing. The rationale was that ferrite along
HAZ grain boundaries inhibits wetting
by liquid films and limits diffusion of im-
purity elements. Another important ef-
fect of ferrite formation along austenite
grain boundaries is the restriction of
grain growth. This effect is apparent
when comparing Type 304 (FP 8) and
Type 304L (FP 0) — Figs. 4A and 6A.
The onset of ferrite precipitation at
the austenite grain boundaries tends to
anchor those boundaries, preventingfur-
ther growth and producing a relatively
fine-grained region at the fusion bound-
"- *':$&
50 M-m
Fig. 12 — Representative HAZ liquation crack in a duplex stainless steel (Ferralium 255). Note
the austenite that has precipitated along the grain boundary on-cooling from the crack- sus-
ceptible temperature range. 400X
W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 11-s
ary. The inverse relationship between
grain size and cracking susceptibility has
been demonstrated previously (Refs. 13,
1 5, 33) and may be rationalized based
on both a strain accommodation and liq-
uid distribution argument. As the grain
boundary area increases (smaller grain
size), the fraction of the total strain ac-
commodated by a single boundary de-
creases. Below some critical level of
strain the boundary will not crack, where
this level is determined by the nature of
the boundary with regard to metallurgi-
cal character and orientation. In addi-
tion, as grain size decreases for a fixed
volume percent of liquid, the boundary
liquid film becomes much thinnerordis-
continuous, both of which increase re-
sistance to cracking.
The extent of ferrite precipitation is a
function of the ferrite potential. As it in-
creases above approximately FP 3, the
tendency for ferrite formation increases
with a progressive decrease in the ini-
tial precipitation temperature, as dic-
tated by the phase diagram. Ferrite for-
mation at lower temperatures w o u l d
have a more potent effect on restriction
of grain growth. At high levels (greater
than FP 20), the HAZ becomes fully fer-
ritic and approximates the situation en-
countered w i t h the duplex stainless
steels. Thus, austenitic stainless steels in
the composition range from FP 3-20
would be expected to be more resistant
to HAZ liquation crack formation than
steels with FP 0 based solely on a grain
size effect. It is likely, however, that
other factors are involved.
Another important consideration re-
lates to the boundary affinity for solute
_____
 and/or impurity atoms and, subse-
Grain Boundary Sweeping quently, the nature of liquid films that
may form along these boundaries. The
difference in wetting characteristics be-
tween austenite-austenite and austen-
ite-ferrite boundaries is often quoted as
a major factor influencing liquation
Dissolution of second phases cracking of stainless steels and has been
and intermetallics on-heating used by Kujanpaa ,etal., (Ref. 6) in his
rationale for the effect of ferrite poten-
tial on cracking susceptibility. Although
. s . . f this hypothesis can be supported on a
strictly theoretical basis (Ref. 34), there
s S////A M WWWWWWY. is no experimental evidence of w h i c h
the authors are aware that supports this
Grain boundary migration contention. This may, in part, be the rea-
son for its popularity. It is possible that
other aspects of the grain boundary, such
as diffusivity, trapping potential for so-
lute/impurities, orientation and m o b i l -
ity, are far more important than bound-
^^n\\\\\\\\\%^- ary wetting characteristics.

Assimilation of melting point It is interesting to note, when exam-

ining the HAZ microstructures of the al-
depressant elements loys tested in this study, that no evidence
of liquid films can be found in Type 304
(FP 8) and the duplex stainless steels

y^m\\wm (Figs. 4B, 10 and 12). (In the duplex

stainless steels, direct observation may
be somewhat obscured by the precipi-
tation of grain boundary austenite.) If the
Boundary melting boundary wetting theory alone was in-
voked, then some liquid should be ob-
served, perhaps as discrete pockets
rather than as a boundary f i l m . In the
Fig. 13 — Schematic illustration of grain boundary sweeping in the weld heat-affected zone. absence of this, it is reasonable to con-
clude that the volume of liquid that
forms along ferrite-austenite and ferrite-
ferrite boundaries is probably far less
than that at austenite-austenite bound-
Pipeline Diffusion from the Fusion Zone aries given equivalent levels of impuri-
ties. Thus, the issues of boundary diffu-
sion, affinity, orientation and mobility
s S-L Interface would seem to be equally important as-
pects of the mechanism for HAZ liqua-
tion cracking in these alloys.
Partitioning during weld
Grain boundary segregation driven
solidification by boundary mobility or sweeping of-
fers a possible explanation for HAZ grain
boundary liquation. This phenomenon,
illustrated schematically in Fig. 13, is
supported by the fundamental work of
Kasen (Ref. 35), and Hillert and Purdy
Diffusion along epitaxial (Ref. 24). They have shown that segre-
boundary "pipeline" gation to moving boundaries may be
several orders of magnitude greater than
attributable to equilibrium behavior and
that diffusion within the moving bound-
ary is considerably greater than that
along a static boundary. The latter point
Boundary melting is also supported by the work of Smi-
doda, ef al. (Ref. 36), who showed that
the difference in diffusivity between mi-
grating and static boundaries in alu-
minum was almost four orders of mag-
nitude at temperatures near the solidus.
In the weld HAZ, the extent of grain
Fig, 14 — Schematic illustration of pipeline diffusion from the fusion zone to weld heat- boundary mobility is primarily depen-
affected zone. dent on the distribution of intermetallic

12-s I J A N U A R Y 1 9 9 2
and second phases and the metallurgi-
cal nature of the base material. In stain-
less steels, most base materials are pro-
vided in the solution-annealed condi-
tion, but may contain various carbides,
nitrides, sulfides, etc. As these particles
dissolve at temperatures approaching
the alloy solidus, grain growth occurs
and the remnant solute/impurity ele-
ments from the dissolution may be swept
into the boundary. Rapid boundary dif-
fusion insures that the boundary con-
centration equilibrates. As this concen-
tration exceeds some critical level in its
instantaneous temperature field, bound-
ary melting will occur as depicted in Fig.
13.
Coupled to this treatment of grain
boundary segregation is the pipeline dif-
fusion theory, as illustrated in Fig. 14.
Due to the epitaxial nature of weld so-
lidification, grain boundaries in the HAZ
are contiguous with solidification grain
boundaries in the fusion zone. As a con- Fig. 15 — HAZ/fusion zone crack along epitaxial grain boundary in Type 304 (FP 8) spot Vare-
sequence of solute partitioning during straint sample. 400X.
solidification in concert w i t h rapid
boundary diffusion, solute and impurity lute segregation was extremely sensitive structure, solute and impurity content,
elements can be rapidly transported to grain boundary energy, as influenced intermetallic and second phase con-
down the boundary pipeline into the ad- by its local crystallography. For exam- stituents, and prior metallurgical condi-
jacent HAZ. Thus, elements such as sul- ple, they showed that twin boundaries, tion (cold worked vs. annealed, for in-
fur, phosphorus, boron, titanium, sili- w h i c h are known to have low interfa- stance).
con and niobium, which are known to cial energy relative to grain boundaries, 3) The influence of grain boundary
partition to the solidification boundaries had no detectable segregation. This may energy and local crystallographic ori-
of austenitic stainless steels, may rapidly explain the absence of liquation along entation on segregation and subsequent
diffuse into the adjacent HAZ grain twin boundaries in Figs. 5B and 6B and liquation of both like- and dissimilar-
boundaries. the somewhat random nature of grain phase boundaries.
boundary liquation along other grain 4) The behavior of liquid films along
It is suggested that this mechanism is
boundaries. This same argument can of high-temperature grain boundaries with
not an alternative to the boundary
course be applied to higher FP austenitic respect to both wetting characteristics
sweeping mechanism, but rather that the
stainless steels and the duplex stainless and influence on boundary mobility.
two operate coincidental ly.
steels. In the former case, the grain 5) The mechanics of crack initiation
The existence of this grain-boundary
boundary energy will be influenced by and propagation along liquated bound-
pipeline, thus, allows rapid transport of
the presence of a second phase. aries including the influence of liquid
weld metal impurities to the HAZ grain
boundaries and may explain the crack- In contrast to the grain boundary pen- film thickness and capacity for liquid
ing of relatively clean base metals etration mechanism discussed earlier, penetration along solid grain boundaries
welded with filler metals of higher im- considerable conjecture and specula- (v/z. a viz., liquid metal embrittlement).
purity content. The local equilibration tion still exist regarding the issues con- 6) Strain accommodation and local-
of grain boundary composition via rapid tributing to grain boundary liquation in ization in polycrystalline materials at
diffusion may also explain why HAZ the absence of a liquating particle. The high temperature, including a treatment
cracks are often observed to propagate lack of fundamental high temperature of the influence of grain boundary liq-
into the fusion zone, or, conversely, how phenomenological data for common en- uid films.
fusion zone cracks span the fusion gineering alloys is the major impediment
boundary, terminating in the HAZ. An to the development of a more concise Summary
example of this behavior in the current segregation-based liquation mechanism.
study is shown in Fig. 1 5. In the context of the discussion in this The HAZ liquation cracking suscep-
paper, the information necessary to tibility of selected austenitic and duplex
Another, often overlooked, effect is
more rigorously define and formulate stainless steels was evaluated and com-
that of boundary orientation. In exam-
such a mechanism must include the fol- pared using the spot Varestraint w e l d -
ining spot Varestraint samples of the FP
lowing: ability test. These test results and metal-
1 and FP 0 austenitic stainless steels, it
is immediately apparent that only a small 1) Diffusion coefficients for both static lograph ic/fractographic observations
fraction of the boundaries exhibit liqua- and mobile grain boundaries in ferritic were then used as the basis for a more
tion and only some fraction of these are (BCC) and austenitic (FCC) materials. general discussion of the HAZ liquation
cracked. Thus, it seems likely that These coefficients should be applicable cracking phenomenon. The results of the
boundary orientation plays some role in at temperatures approaching the solidus weldability tests established a strong cor-
the liquation phenomenon and subse- for elements such as sulfur, phosphorus, relation between the composition-de-
quent cracking process. In studies of seg- boron, titanium, niobium and silicon. pendent ferrite potential (FP) and crack-
regation in copper alloys, Michael and 2) A thorough phenomenological ing susceptibility, with austenitic stain-
Williams (Ref. 37) showed via analyti- treatment of grain boundary sweeping less steels of low or negligible FP ex-
cal electron microscopy (AEM), that so- that considers the influence of crystal hibiting the highest susceptibility. The

W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 13-s

 b e h a v i o r of d u p l e x stainless steels w a s heat-affected zone of austenitic stainless
intermediate between the low-FP and steels. Trans. JWRI 4(1 ):30.
i n t e r m e d i a t e - F P (FP 8) a u s t e n i t i c s t a i n - 4. Tamura, H., and Watanabe, T. 1974.
Study on the behavior of grain boundary at
less steels. T h e highest c r a c k i n g suscep-
heat-affected zone of SUS 347 and SUS 321
t i b i l i t y w a s o b s e r v e d in a h i g h l y
austenitic stainless steels. Trans. JWRI
a u s t e n i t i c , m o d i f i e d A 2 8 6 a l l o y that u n - 5(1):47.
d e r w e n t c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l i q u a t i o n a n d ex- 5. Robinson, J. L., and Scott, M. H. 1980.
hibited considerable H A Z grain b o u n d - Liquation cracking during the w e l d i n g of
ary l i q u a t i o n . austenitic stainless steels and nickel alloys.
C r a c k i n g in the T y p e 3 0 4 , T y p e 3 0 4 L , Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London, A295:105.
A l l o y 2205 and Ferralium 255 alloys 6. Kujanpaa, V. P., D a v i d , S. A., and
c o u l d n o t be a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e c o n s t i t u - White, C. L. 1987. Characterization of heat-
affected zone cracking in austenitic stainless
tional liquation p h e n o m e n o n . Alterna-
steel welds. Welding Journal 66(8):221-s.
tively, the mechanism of H A Z liquation
7. Savage, W . F., Nippes, E. F., and Szek-
c r a c k i n g in these a l l o y s i n v o l v e s segre- eres, E. S. 1976. A study of w e l d interface
g a t i o n of m e l t i n g p o i n t depressant a l l o y phenomena in a low-alloy steel. Welding
and/or i m p u r i t y elements to H A Z grain Journal 55(9):260-s.
b o u n d a r i e s . A l t h o u g h the precise e x p l a - 8. Baeslack, W . A. Ill, Lippold, J. C , and
n a t i o n o f t h i s p r o c e s s is n o t p o s s i b l e Savage, W . F. 1 979. U n m i x e d zone forma-
based o n the current u n d e r s t a n d i n g of tion in austenitic stainless steel weldments.
the m e t a l l u r g y o f h i g h - t e m p e r a t u r e g r a i n Welding Journal 58(6):168-s.
9. King, J. F., and Reed, W . R., Jr. 1976.
boundaries, a potential mechanistic ap-
Weldability testing of Alloy 800. ORNL Re-
p r o a c h is discussed, i n c l u d i n g the i d e n -
port No. TM-6276.
t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e issues g e r m a n e t o t h e
10. Lippold, J. C. 1 983. A n investigation
d e v e l o p m e n t of a segregation-based l i - of heat-affected zone hot cracking in A l l o y
quation cracking mechanism. 800. Welding Journal 62(1 ):1 -s.
1 1 . Blum, B. S., and W i t t , R. H. 1963.
Acknowledgments Heat-affected zone cracking in A286 w e l d -
ments. Welding Journal 42(8):365-s.
12. Brooks, J. A. 1974. Effect of alloy mod-
The authors w o u l d like to a c k n o w l -
ifications on HAZ cracking of A286 stainless
edge the W e l d i n g Research C o u n c i l a n d steel. Welding Journal 53(11) :517-s.
Edison W e l d i n g Institute for p r o v i d i n g 13. Thompson, E. C. 1 969. Hot cracking
f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t for this w o r k . T h e g e n - studies of Alloy 71 8 weld heat-affected zones.
erosity of Haynes Alloys International, Welding Journal 48(2):70-s.
K o k o m o , Ind., Sandvik AB, Sweden, and 14. D u v a l l , D. S., and O w z a r s k i , W . A.
Sandia N a t i o n a l Laboratories, Liver- 1967. Further heat-affected zone studies in
heat-resistant nickel alloys. Welding Journal
m o r e , Calif., for p r o v i d i n g the F e r r a l i u m
46(9):423-s.
2 5 5 , A l l o y 2 2 0 5 a n d m o d i f i e d A 2 8 6 , re-
15. Thompson, R. C , and G e n c u l u , S.
s p e c t i v e l y , is also a p p r e c i a t e d .
1983. Microstructural evolution in the HAZ
of Inconel 71 8 and correlation with the hot
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1 6. Savage, W. F„ and Krantz, B. M. 1966.
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WANTED - MEMBERS FOR THE G2 SUBCOMMITTEE
O N STAINLESS STEEL WELDING
This subcommittee w i l l prepare a series of documents to provide recommended
practices for joining all types and forms of stainless steels. Initially, the Subcommittee will
prepare a guide to joining austenitic stainless steel sheet metal. Later documents will cover
ferritic, martensitic, duplex and precipitation hardening stainless steels in sheet, plate, bar
and cast product forms as well as austenitic stainless steels in product forms other than sheet
metal. The documents will describe the alloys and give typical uses, material preparation,
joint designs, joining parameters, postweld treatments, and precautions. All forms of arc
welding, resistance welding, electron and laser beam welding and brazing will be included
in each document. Persons interested in working with the Subcommittee should contact:
Leonard P. Connor
AWS Headquarters
800-443-9353, Ext. 299
liquation in the iron-iron carbide system, M.S.
thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy,
N.Y.
20. Pepe, J. J., and Savage, W . F. 1967.
Effects of constitutional liquation in 18-Ni
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:545-s.
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Olson, D. L. 1988. Ferrite number prediction
to 100 FN in stainless steel weld metal. Weld-
ing Journal 67(l2):289-s.
26. G o o d w i n , G. M., Savage, W . F., and
Nippes, E. F. 1977. Effects of minor elements
on hot cracking tendencies of Inconel 600.
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27. Nelson, D. E., Baeslack, W. A. Ill, and
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weld structure in a duplex stainless steel using
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28. Ginn, B. J. 1985. A technique for de-
termining austenite ferrite ratios in welded
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29. Varol, I., Baeslack, W . A. Ill, and Lip-
pold, J. C. 1989. Characterization of weld so-
lidification cracking in a duplex stainless
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30. Unpublished data generated by the
authors at Edison Welding Institute and The
O h i o State University from 1986 to 1 989.
3 1 . Baeslack, W. A., Ernst, S. C , and Lippold,
J. C. 1 988. Heat-affected zone cracking in a
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nal Mat. Sci. Letters, 7:1204.
32. Baeslack, W. A., Ernst, S. C , and Lip-
p o l d , J. C. 1989. W e l d a b i l i t y of a high-
strength, low-expansion superalloy. Welding
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33. Radhakrishnan, B., and Thompson, R.
G. 1990. The kinetics of intergranular liqua-
tion in the HAZ of Alloy 71 8. Recent Trends
in Welding Science and Technology, eds. S.
A. David and J. M. Vitek, ASM International,
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34. Borland, J. C. 1 960. The generalized
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35. Kasen, M. B. 1972. Some observations
of boundary segregation during grain growth
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36. Smidoda, K., Gottschalk, W., and
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15A:99.

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