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Dissimilar Metal Weld Joints of P91/Ni Alloy: Microstructural Characterization

of HAZ of P91 and Stress Analysis at the Weld Interfaces

Article  in  Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance · July 2018

DOI: 10.1007/s11665-018-3502-8

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2 Dissimilar Metal Weld Joints of P91/Ni Alloy:

3 Microstructural Characterization of HAZ of P91 and Stress

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45 Analysis at the Weld Interfaces
6 Javed Akram, Prasad Rao Kalvala, Pradeep Chalavadi, and Mano Misra

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7 (Submitted November 16, 2017; in revised form June 20, 2018)

89 Microstructure evolution and hardness were evaluated at the interface of two friction-welded transition
10 joints between P91 and AISI 304 fabricated applying Inconel interlayers, viz. single-interlayer weld (P91/

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11 IN600/AISI304) and three-interlayer weld (P91/IN625/IN600/IN800H/AISI304). The welds were subjected
12 to post-weld heat treatment at 1023 K for 1 h followed by air cooling and a long-term exposure at 973 K for
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13 100, 250, and 500 h. A soft zone with the absence of lath martensite was noticed in both the welds which was
14 located at the intercritical heat-affected zone of the welds. This zone was found to be extending with time
15 toward the fine grain heat-affected zone by carbide precipitation and coarsening at the grain boundaries.
16 Soft zone formation at the interface of the welds was found to be due to carbon diffusion. The presence of
17 high-nickel-content alloy at the interface was proven to be beneficial in stopping carbon diffusion at the
18 interface. Though soft zones existed in both the welds, better creep rupture life was observed for three-

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19 interlayer welds. Finite element analysis of these weld joints was performed for thermal loading followed by
20 tensile loading. The results from this analysis indicated that thermal expansion also plays an important role
21 in the failures of these dissimilar weld joints by creating high stress at the interface due to incompatibility.
22
23 for these failures are (1) the mismatch between the coefficients 50
Keywords carbon diffusion, coefficient of thermal expansion,
51
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24 dissimilar metal weld, finite element analysis, modi- of thermal expansion (CTE) between ferritic and austenitic
fied 9Cr-1Mo steel (P91), soft zone formation stainless steel (Ref 5-8) and (2) carbon migration from ferritic 52
25
26
to austenitic steel (Ref 5, 7-11). In terms of CTE, ferritic steels 53
exhibit an average linear CTE of 13.2 9 10 6/K, while 54
austenitic stainless steels exhibit 18.0 9 10 6/K (Ref 12, 13) 55
27 1. Introduction in the temperature range of 294-873 K. William (Ref 13) 56
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suggested that at elevated temperature, large local tensile 57

28 High efficiency thermal power plants, using pulverized coal, stresses develop at the interface due to mismatch of CTE values 58
29 capable of operating at high temperatures and high steam which leads to the failure of these joints (Ref 13). Lee et al. 59
30 pressure to provide relatively low cost power with much less (Ref 14) have adopted few innovative methods to have a 60
31 pollution (Ref 1, 2), are under development. To sustain such transition in CTE in fusion welds. These include using filler 61
32 high steam temperatures and pressure, high-Cr ferritic–marten- metals with an intermediate CTE or using an alloy with a CTE 62
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33 sitic steels (P91 and P92) are developed which provides higher intermediate between two metals. The filler materials are 63
34 creep strength required for this application (Ref 3). These steels mainly nickel-based alloys which provide transition in CTE as 64
35 (P91 and P92) are used in the steam header section which are well as proven to be beneficial for stopping the carbon diffusion 65
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36 welded with boiler super heater tubes made up of austenitic from ferritic to austenitic side compared with conventional 66
37 stainless steels (AISI 304H, 316 or 347H) (Ref 4). The main austenitic base filler (Ref 7, 9, 15). Though these modifications 67
38 reasons these two sections are not built with same materials are helped extend the life of weldment, they did not provide a 68
39 cost and operating limitations. The steam oxidation resistance permanent solution to this problem. Several failures were 69
40 of P91 and P92 steels limits the operating temperature to 883 K reported to occur at the weld joint interfaces made with Ni- 70
41 for P91 and 893 K for P92 (Ref 3). The required operating based filler materials (Ref 16-19). 71
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42 temperature of boiler super heater tubes is around 903 K; In our previous work (Ref 20), we developed a novel weld 72
43 hence, austenitic stainless steels are used for this section which transition joint to overcome this problem by employing three 73
44 can sustain temperatures up to 953 K (Ref 4). Therefore, nickel-based super alloys as interlayers: Inconel 625, Inconel 74
45 dissimilar welding becomes necessary and thousands of these 600, and Inconel 800H in between modified 9Cr-1Mo steel 75
46 joints exist in a typical boiler. (P91) and austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 through friction 76
47 Though dissimilar welding has been practiced for many welding method. These three-interlayer materials were chosen 77
48 high-temperature tubular applications, failures have been based on their CTE values ((Inconel 625 (14.40 9 10 6/K), 78
49 reported in these welds (Ref 5, 6). The main reasons reported Inconel 600 (15.30 9 10 6/K), and Inconel 800 79
(16.02 9 10 6/K)) such that the change in CTE from P91 80
side (13.18 9 10 6/K) to AISI 304 (18.0 9 10 6/K) is grad- 81
Javed Akram, Prasad Rao Kalvala, and Mano Misra, Department ual. Results showed better creep rupture lives of three-layer 82
of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
UT 84112; and Pradeep Chalavadi, 3DSIM, 1794 Olympic Pkwy
welds (P91/IN625/IN600/IN800H/AISI304) compared with 83
#110, Park City, UT 84094. Contact e-mail: Prasad.Kalvala@utah.edu. single-layer welds (P91/IN600/AISI304), and the creep defor- 84

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 85 mation mechanism was found to be viscous glide due to solute 2.2 Welding Procedure 108
86 drag (Ref 20). All the failures were located at the heat-affected
To develop the transition joints, rotary friction welding 109
87 zone (HAZ) of P91 where lath martensitic structure was absent.
method was adopted using following welding parameters: 110
88 The absence of lath martensitic structure was correlated with
friction pressure: 160 MPa; upset pressure: 280 MPa; rotational 111
89 viscous glide deformation mechanism (Ref 20). Our previous
speed: 1500 rpm; and burn-off length (amount of material 112
90 work focused mainly on the creep behavior and the operating
which will be spent during welding): 5 mm. Two types of 113
91 creep deformation mechanism. The current work deals with
welds were fabricated for comparative purpose. Single-inter- 114
92 evolving microstructure and microhardness across the HAZ of

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layer weld (SLW) using Inconel 600 (P91/IN600/AISI304) and 115
93 P91 in weld transition joints affected by high-temperature
94 exposure and time to substantiate the mechanisms proposed in

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95 our earlier work. The results of the current study showed some
96 interesting results which will be useful for improving the
97 performance of dissimilar joints between P91 to AISI 304
98 austenitic steels.

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99 2. Experimental and Simulation Details
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100 2.1 Materials

101 The chemical composition of materials used in this study is
102 listed in Table 1. All the materials were procured in the form of
103 cylindrical rods (25.4 mm diameter). P91 steel rods were

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104 normalized at 1353 K for 1 h and tempered at 1033 K for 2 h
105 after receiving. Inconel rods (IN625, IN600, and IN800H) and Fig. 2 Friction-welded sample (3LW) showing all three Inconel al-
106 stainless steel rods (AISI 304) were received in hot-rolled and loys interlayers
107 annealed condition.

Table 1 Chemical composition of base materials

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Material Composition (in wt.%)

P91 0.12% C, 9.23% Cr, 1.14% Mo, 0.30% Ni, 0.30% Si, 0.38% Mn,
0.21% V, and balance Fe
IN625 0.03% C, 22.00% Cr, 0.10% Co, 8.70% Mo, 3.60% Nb + Ta, 0.20% Ti,
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3.90% Fe, and balance Ni

IN600 0.05% C, 16.50% Cr, 9.00% Fe, 0.30% Ti, 0.04% Co, 0.03% Nb + Ta,
and balance Ni
IN800H 0.07% C, 20.40% Cr, 45.40% Fe, 0.51% Ti, and balance Ni
AISI304 0.08% C, 18.60% Cr, 8.20% Ni, 1.00% Mn, 0.30% Si, and balance Fe
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Fig. 1 Stepwise illustration of transition weld creation by friction welding

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 116 three-interlayer weld (3LW) using Inconel 625, 600, and 800H Figure 1 illustrates the schematic of steps involved in making 120
117 (P91/IN625/IN600/IN800H/AISI304). The selection of Inconel of 3LW using rotary friction welding machine. The thickness of 121
118 600 for a SLW is based on its CTE value similar to Inconel 82 each interlayer in the final joint was 3 mm. The photograph of 122
119 which is used as filler material for conventional fusion welds. final friction-welded sample is shown in Fig. 2. 123

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Fig. 3 Model geometries of three simulation models: (a) 3LW, (b) SLW, and (c) DW specimens

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 124 2.3 Heat Treatment and Hardness loading steps are used to ramp the temperature and structural 161
load. 162
125 All the weld transition joints were post-weld heat-treated
126 (PWHT) at 1023 K for 1 h followed by air cooling. In order to
127 observe the microstructural changes that can take place on a
128 long-term exposure, the welds were heated to a temperature of 3. Results and Discussion 163
129 973 K for 100, 250, and 500 h. Microhardness survey was
130 conducted across the weld interface using VickerÕs hardness 3.1 Microstructure of Welded Specimen 164

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131 tester using 300-g load for 15 s.
In friction welds, microstructural evolution at the heat- 165
132 2.4 Microstructural Characterization affected zone (HAZ) is governed by exposure to frictional heat, 166

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strain, and strain rates (Ref 27). The microstructure in these 167
133 Microstructural analysis of the base metal, as-welded, and zones is very inhomogeneous and classified as follows: (a) 168
134 heat-treated weld samples was performed using optical and contact zone, (b) fully plasticized zone, (c) partly deformed 169
135 scanning electron microscope (SEM). Standard metallographic zone, and (d) un-deformed zone (Ref 27). Figure 5 shows the 170
136 procedure of hot mounting, grinding, and polishing was hardness profile across the HAZ of P91 (up to a length of 5 mm 171
137 performed to prepare the sample up to the surface roughness form the weld interface) of a 3LW after PWHT. The interlayer 172
138 of 0.05 lm followed by etching. P91 steel and Inconel alloys facing P91 at the interface is IN625. It can be seen from 173

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139 were etched using MarbleÕs reagent (50 mL distilled water + figure that the hardness in the HAZ of P91, very close to the 174
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140 50 mL hydrochloric acid + 10 g copper sulfate) and Kalling

141 reagent (100 mL ethanol + 100 mL HCl + 5 g CuCl2), respec-
142 tively. Detailed microstructural analysis was performed at the
143 interface of P91 steel using field emission gun SEM equipped
144 with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) detector.

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145 2.5 Finite Element Analysis
146 The ANSYS finite element analysis (FEA) package was
147 used to perform static structural analysis. The model geometry
148 mimics the specimen used for creep experiments (Ref 20).
149 Three types of specimens were simulated, i.e., 3LW, SLW, and
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150 direct weld (DW) as shown in Fig. 3. Temperature-dependent
151 materials properties for coefficient of thermal expansion (Ref
152 21-25), YoungÕs modulus (Ref 21-24, 26), and PoissonÕs ratio
153 (Ref 22-24, 26) of all the five materials used are as shown in
154 Fig. 4. The complete simulation was divided into two parts.
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155 First half of the analysis includes ramping the temperature from
156 room temperature to 923 K. During this stage, residual stresses
157 were developed due to incompatibility of thermal expansion of
158 materials at the weld interfaces. In the second half, the stressed
159 state of the specimen is further loaded axially in a quasi-static
160 manner keeping constant temperature of 923 K. Multiple Fig. 5 Hardness profile across the HAZ of P91 of 3LW after
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PWHT
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Fig. 4 High-temperature material property of P91, IN625, IN600, IN800H, and AISI304H (a) coefficient of thermal expansion (Ref 21-25), (b)
YoungÕs modulus (Ref 21-24, 26), and (c) PoissonÕs ratio (Ref 22-24, 26)

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Fig. 6 Microstructure of 3LW in PWHT condition at (a) interface of P91 and IN625, (b) FGHAZ of P91, (c) soft zone of P91, and (d) unaf-
fected zone of P91

interface, was relatively high compared to the base metal 175

hardness. 176
The increased hardness of 3LW near the weld interface is 177
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attributed to the grain refinement due to dynamic recrystalliza- 178

tion as shown in Fig. 6(a) and (b). It can be seen from Fig. 6(a) 179
and (b) that the microstructure near the interface and even away 180
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from the interface is composed of very fine lath martensite 181

structure. These fine grains were responsible for giving higher 182
hardness in these zones and also reported in various works (Ref 183
28-30). As one moves from the weld interface toward the base 184
metal side, approximately 2 mm away from the interface, a 185
sudden fall in hardness values was noticed. 186
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This lower hardness region prevailed for a length of 2 mm 187

followed by the unaffected base metal where hardness values are 188
equivalent to the base material. Figure 6(c) and (d) shows the 189
microstructures corresponding to the lower hardness region 190
(designated as the soft zone) and the unaffected zone, respec- 191
tively. The microstructure of the soft zone at HAZ of P91 192
consisted of big subgrains without the martensitic lath structure 193
as shown in Fig. 6(c) and 7 (EBSD orientation map). The absence 194
of lath martensite is mainly responsible for showing such lower 195
hardness in this region. The formation of the soft zone in the HAZ 196
during friction welding of P91 is not reported in the literature yet, 197
Fig. 7 EBSD map of the soft zone of P91 HAZ of 3LW in PWHT
condition
though it is commonly observed in fusion welds of Cr-Mo steels. 198

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Fig. 8
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Interface microstructure of 3LW(P91/IN625) as a function of heat treatment time (a) 100, (b) 250, and (c) 500 h at 973 K
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Fig. 9 Hardness profiles of HAZ of P91 (3LW) at the interface be-

Fig. 10 Chemical composition across the weld interface of P91 and
tween P91 and IN625 as a function of heat treatment time (a) 100,
IN625 (3LW-PWHT at 1023 K for 1 h)
(b) 250, and (c) 500 h at 973 K
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199 This soft zone in the HAZ is normally located at the Laha et al. (Ref 32) carried out the TEM studies on P91 208
200 intercritical heat-affected zone (ICHAZ) (Ref 31-33) where sample soaked at the intercritical region (1133 K) for 5 min 209
201 temperature during fusion welding reaches in between AC1 and followed by tempering at 1033 K for 1 h. Their results showed 210
202 AC3. The reduced strength in soft zone was attributed to the the absence of lath martensite, the presence of recrystallized 211
203 following reasons (Ref 32): (a) replacement of lath martensite grain, and coarsening of carbides. Similar results such as the 212
204 with large subgrains with low dislocation density, (b) coarsen- absence of lath martensite and the presence of recrystallized 213
205 ing of M23C6 carbides, and (c) reduction in misfit of grains in the soft zone HAZ of PWHT samples were observed 214
206 carbonitride (V/Nb) particles with matrix due to its shape as shown in the EBSD orientation map (Fig. 7). Therefore, the 215
207 change from needle to spherical. soft zone formation in friction-welded specimens could also be 216

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 217 attributed to microstructural changes induced due to thermal 3.2 Heat Treatment of 3LWs and SLWs Transition Joint 220
218 exposure at the intercritical region (1023-1433 K, above AC1
3.2.1 Interface Microstructure and Hardness of 3LW 221
219 and below AC3) during welding operation.
Samples. As mentioned earlier, 3LWs and SLWs were 222
subjected for high-temperature exposure at 973 K for different 223
durations, viz. 100, 250, and 500 h, in order to understand the 224
microstructure evolution and hardness across the weldment 225
w.r.t time. Figure 8 shows the interface microstructures of P91 226

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and IN625 at different durations of high-temperature exposure. 227
The lath martensite structure was intact at the interface of the 228
sample heat treated for 100 h as shown in Fig. 8(a). On the 229

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other hand, sample heat-treated for 250 h showed large grains 230
without lath martensite (Fig. 8b). With further exposure to 231
500 h, the large grain region is expanded as shown in Fig. 8(c). 232
The loss of lath martensite structure at the interface is also 233
reflected in hardness values as shown in Fig. 9. 234
It can be observed from hardness profile that sample heat- 235

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treated for 100 h showed almost similar hardness values at the 236
Fig. 11 HAZ of P91 in 3LW after heat treatment at 973 K for interface compared to the PWHT (1023 K for 1 h) sample. 237
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500 h 238
Initiation of the soft zone near the interface is seen first after

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Fig. 12 Line scan across hard and soft zones of 3LW heat-treated at 973 K for 500 h

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Fig. 13 SEM micrograph showing the presence of carbides at (a) soft zone and (b) hard zone in 3LW heat-treated at 973 K for 500 h

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Fig. 14 EDS spectrum on carbide particles of hard zone in 3LW heat-treated at 973 K for 500 h

239 250 h exposure as also reflected in sudden drop in hardness Carbon gradient drives the diffusion of carbon from the high 253
240 254
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values close to the interface. This soft zone was found to get
241 extended with time. At 500 h, the soft zone is extended
242 throughout the HAZ, starting from the interface till the
243 preexisting soft zone. This type of soft zone formation at the
244 interface of dissimilar welds between Cr-Mo steels and
245 austenitic steels was reported widely and attributed to carbon
246 diffusion (Ref 5, 7-11, 34). The carbon diffusion in such
247 dissimilar joints was driven by the presence of chemical
248 potential across the interface such as carbon, chromium, and
249 nickel gradient. Figure 10 shows the line scans of chromium,
250 nickel, and iron contents across the interface of P91 and IN625
251 of 3LW in PWHT condition. Figure 10 shows a sharp gradient
252 of all the three elements at the weld interface.
carbon (P91, 0.12 wt.% C) to low carbon (IN625, 0.03 wt.% C)
content side material due to the downhill diffusion as well as due 255
to chromium gradient from low-to-high-chromium content side 256
material, resulting in an uphill diffusion. As carbon diffusion 257
progresses with time, one zone is left behind with a zone which 258
is lean in carbon and the other side with enriched carbon content. 259
The carbon-enriched zone is mostly present at the interface and 260
grain boundaries as shown in Fig. 8(b) and (c) as dark etched 261
area. For better clarity, the microstructure of the 3LW sample 262
heat-treated for 500 h is shown in Fig. 11. The carbon-enriched 263
zones (dark etched area) are marked with arrows. 264
These zones are found to be more segregated at the grain 265
boundaries (located nonuniformly throughout the area) as 266

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Fig. 15
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Interfacial microstructure of P91 and IN600 (SLW) as a function of heat treatment time (a) 100, (b) 250, and (c) 500 h at 973 K

the scanned area (500 lm). It can be seen from the intensity 277
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peaks that the area corresponding to the hard zone (dotted 278
square box) shows high intensity of chromium and carbon 279
content as compared to the soft zone (solid square box). 280
Higher-magnification images corresponding to the hard zone 281
(dotted square box) and the soft zone (solid square box) are 282
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shown in Fig. 13. Figure 13(a) and (b) is the SEM micrographs 283
of the soft zone and the hard zone region, respectively, as 284
indicated in Fig. 12. It can be seen clearly that carbide density 285
at the hard zone is more as compared with the soft zone. EDS 286
analysis confirmed qualitative chemical composition of these 287
carbides as shown in Fig. 14. Peaks confirmed the presence of 288
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Cr, Mo, and C and mostly decorated along the grain 289
boundaries. Size of these carbides is found to be relatively 290
bigger than that reported for base metal of tempered P91. 291
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3.2.2 Interface Microstructure and Hardness of SLW 292

Samples. SLWs were also subjected for heat treatment at 293
973 K for different durations. Figure 15(a), (b), and (c) shows 294
the interface microstructures of P91 and IN600 heat treated at 295
Fig. 16 Hardness profile across P91 HAZ (SLW) as a function of 973 K for 100, 250, and 500 h, respectively. In all the cases, 296
heat treatment time (a) 100, (b) 250, and (c) 500 h at 973 K
the lath microstructure is intact on the P91 side and reflected in 297
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hardness values as shown in Fig. 16. As time proceeded, the 298

hardness values near the interface decreased; reduced hardness 299
267 shown in Fig. 11. These carbon-enriched zones also showed near the interface may be due to over tempering during heat 300
268 higher hardness values and are also reflected in hardness profile treatment. However, no soft zone formation near the interface 301
269 (Fig. 9) (third, fourth, and fifth indentations from interface) of was observed. This is in contrast to the 3LWs, where a soft 302
270 the 3LW, heat-treated for 500 h. Other features of these dark zone near the interface was noticed (Fig. 9). The difference in 303
271 zones are their alignment; mostly form in parallel lines such as microstructure could be attributed to the chemistry of alloy 304
272 along the boundaries of deformed grains commonly observed at present at the interface which slows down or stops the diffusion 305
273 thermo-mechanically affected zones of friction welds. Fig- of carbon. For example, in IN600, the weight percentage of 306
274 ure 12 shows the line scan of chromium and carbon near the nickel and chromium is 72 and 18, respectively, whereas in 307
275 hard zone. The bright zone which is marked with a dotted IN625, it is 65 and 22, respectively. Though they are nickel- 308
276 square box represents the hard zone, and the yellow line shows based alloys, percentage of nickel and chromium is different in 309

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Fig. 17 Soft zone formation after (a) post-weld heat treatment at 1023 K for 1 h, (b) heat treatment at 973 K for 100 h

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310 these alloys. It is reported in the literature (Ref 7, 10) that the
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311 diffusivity and activity of carbon are slower in high-nickel-

312 content alloy. Apart from nickel content, higher chromium
313 gradient at the interface is also another factor which enhances
314 the diffusivity of carbon. Therefore, the formation of a soft zone
315 at the interface of 3LWs could be attributed to carbon diffusion
316 due to lower nickel content and higher chromium gradient.

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317 3.2.3 Microstructure and Hardness at the ICHAZ
318 of 3LW and SLW Samples. The formation of soft zone
319 besides near interface is also observed at ICHAZ of 3LWs and
320 SLWs which is approximately 2 mm away from the interface.
321 This soft zone is existed right after the PWHT; however, as heat
322
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treatment duration increased, the width of this soft zone
323 increased and can be seen in the hardness profile of 3LWs and
324 SLWs as shown in Fig. 9 and 16, respectively. For comparison,
325 microstructures of the soft zone at ICHAZ of 3LW after PWHT
326 and heat-treated at 973 K for 100 h are presented in Fig. 17(a)
327 and (b), respectively. This region is seen to move toward the
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328 interface in the FGHAZ region as reflected in hardness profiles. Fig. 18 Comparison of rupture life of 3LWs and SLWs performed
329 Tendency of lath martensite structure to form subgrains at the at different temperatures and stress levels (Ref 20)
330 HAZ could be anticipated by considering the microstructural
331 damage induced during welding operation. This region during
332 welding operation experiences a temperature somewhere more
333 than AC3 (at FGHAZ) and in between AC1 and AC3 (at 3.2.4 Creep Performance of Weld Transition Joints. In 352
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334 ICHAZ), where it transforms to austenite, but due to short our previous work (Ref 20), it was demonstrated that creep 353
335 exposure, carbides dissolution is not complete (Ref 32). rupture life of 3LWs was better than that of SLWs and a 354
336 Therefore, it is likely that the transformed martensite would summary of the results is presented in Fig. 18. The failure 355
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337 have lean percentage of carbon after cooling which is unstable. locations of both these welds (3LW and SLW) were identified at 356
338 This damage is more severe at the ICHAZ due to partial soft zone of ICHAZ, and solute drag viscous glide was found to 357
339 transformation. Damage first starts at ICHAZ during PWHT be the operating creep mechanism. Dissolution of lath marten- 358
340 where new precipitates will nucleate and grow by taking the site into large subgrains through carbide precipitation and 359
341 carbon from the unstable martensite. This results in dissolution coarsening by carbon diffusion motivated due to local carbon 360
342 of martensite lath structure into large subgrains. Further with gradient shown in this current study support our previous 361
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343 additional heat treatment, the lath martensite structure at finding. It is observed that creep performance of 3LW is better 362
344 FGHAZ will dissolve by the carbon diffusion motivated by than that of SLW even though soft zone formation at the 363
345 the presence of carbon gradient between FGHAZ and preex- interface of 3LW was more severe. These results indicate that 364
346 isting soft zone at ICHAZ. Figure 13(b) also shows the stresses developed at the interface due to thermal expansion 365
347 evidence of excess precipitates in the hard zone which are play an important role in rupture life of these welds. FEM 366
348 larger in size and higher in number density next to the large analysis was conducted to support the argument that stresses 367
349 subgrains. Precipitate coarsening and high recovery rate of due to mismatch in thermal expansion and incompatibility at 368
350 excess dislocations are also reported in FGHAZ which leads to the interface in addition to the microstructure degradation is 369
351 large subgrain formation (Ref 35, 36). another factor which significantly contributes to the rupture 370

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Fig. 19 Equivalent stress (von Mises) distribution in the 3LW transition joint after (a) heating and (b) tensile loading following (a) at constant
temperature of 923 K. The dashed arrows indicate weld interfaces
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371 lives of these weld transition joints. Figure 19(a), 20(a), and throughout the gauge length of the sample due to axial loading. 386
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372 21(a) show the stresses distribution during heating at 923 K at During heating, the incompatibility in CTE values of the 387
373 the weld joints of 3LW, SLW, and direct weld (DW), joint metals is mainly responsible for introducing stresses at 388
374 respectively. It can be seen from the simulation results that the interfaces. DW joints simulation illustrates the severity of 389
375 the interface stresses are significantly higher for DW compared residual stresses if two metals are very incompatible in terms 390
376 to SLW which is still higher compared to 3LW. For example, of CTE. The stresses are combined stresses due to tensile 391
377 the maximum stress near the interface of P91 in DW, SLW, and loading and incompatibility in CTE values. The stresses 392
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378 3LW was approximately 445, 242, and 173 MPa, respectively. follow the same trend as followed during heating. However, 393
379 These stresses are mostly concentrated near the interfaces in all the magnitude of stresses may be higher than yield strength of 394
380 the cases. These residual stresses are carried on into further the material because the present model only considers the 395
381 axial loading steps. Figure 19(b), 20(b), and 21(b) show the elastic material model. We expect similar trends even if a 396
382 stresses attained after tensile loading of 125 MPa with a plastic material model was used. The simulation results 397
383 temperature of 923 K for 3LW, SLW, and DW, respectively. clearly show that 3LWs have minimum stresses at the 398
384 With this high-temperature tensile loading, the magnitude of interfaces during high-temperature loading as compared with 399
385 stress near interface was increased and stresses were distributed SLW. 400

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Fig. 20 Equivalent stress (von Mises) distribution in the SLW transition joint after (a) heating and (b) tensile loading following (a) at constant
temperature of 923 K. The dashed arrows indicate weld interfaces

401 It should be noted that these conclusions are drawn from (2) The soft zone at ICHAZ was located 2 mm away from 413
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402 short-term rupture tests, and therefore, long-term creep rupture the interface in both three-interlayer welds (3LWs) and 414
403 tests at low stress levels and high temperatures are required to single-layer welds (SLWs) which is attributed to the 415
404 find out the true nature of the failure. However, our study intercritical heating (between AC1 and AC3) during 416
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405 showed that by providing a gradual increase in thermal welding operation. The replacement of lath martensite 417
406 expansion between dissimilar welds and placing high-nickel- with large subgrains was responsible for the reduced 418
407 content material at the interface of ferritic steels could help hardness of this zone. 419
408 improve the performance of dissimilar joints. (3) The interface of P91 and IN625 in 3LW showed soft 420
zone formation which is attributed to the carbon diffu- 421
sion driven by high chromium and nickel gradient at the 422
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interface. 423
409 4. Conclusions (4) The weld interface between P91 and IN600 in SLW did 424
not show soft zone formation attributed to reduced car- 425
410 (1) Soft zones were observed at inter critical heat-affected
bon diffusion due to the presence of high nickel content 426
411 zone (ICHAZ) and at the interface of P91 in the dissimi-
and lower chromium gradient at the interface compared 427
412 lar metal welds between P91 and AISI 304. 428
to 3LW.

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Fig. 21 Equivalent stress (von Mises) distribution in the DW joint after (a) heating and (b) tensile loading following (a) at constant temperature
of 923 K. The dashed arrows indicate weld interfaces

429 (5) The moving front of soft zone was observed toward fine Technology for Ultrasupercritical Coal-Fired Boilers, in Advances in 447
430 grain heat-affected zone (FGHAZ). The transformation Materials Technology for Fossil Power Plants: Proceedings of the 5th 448
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International Coference, 2008, p 1–15 449

431 of unstable martensite (which was formed during weld- 450
2. R. Viswanathan, A.F. Armor, and G. Booras, A Critical Look at
432 ing operation) to subgrains at FGHAZ was driven by Supercritical Plants, Power Mag., 2004, 148, p 42 451
433 carbides precipitation and the presence of local carbon 452
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3. J.C. Vaillant, B. Vandenberghe, B. Hahn, H. Heuser, and C. Jochum, T/

434 gradient between the preexisting soft zone and FGHAZ. P23, 24, 911 and 92: New Grades for Advanced Coal-Fired Power 453
435 (6) FEA results showed lowest stress distribution in the Plants—Properties and Experience, Int. J. Press. Vessel. Pip., 2008, 454
436 3LW transition joints as compared to SLW, and DW 85(1–2), p 38–46 455
4. R. Purgert, P. Rawls, and V. Viswanathan, Coal-Fired Power Materials, 456
437 shows that by providing gradual transition in thermal Adv. Mater. Process. 2008, p 47–49, http://www.asminternational.org/ 457
438 expansion between dissimilar joints, the creep rupture emails/enews/amp_pdfs/amp16608p047.pdf 458
439 lives of these joints can be improved. 5. C.D. Lundin, Dissimilar Metal Welds—Transition Joints Literature 459
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Review, Weld. J., 1982, 61, p 58s–63s 460

6. K. Laha, K.S. Chandravathi, P. Parameswaran, S. Goyal, and M.D. 461
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440 Acknowledgment Austenitic Dissimilar Weld Joints of Different Grades of Cr-Mo 463
Ferritic Steels, Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2012, 43(4), p 1174–1186 464
441 The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial help rendered 7. J.N. Dupont and R.E. Mizia, Review of Dissimilar Metal Welding for 465
442 by National Science Foundation, USA (Grant No. 1234079), in the NGNP Helical-Coil Steam Generator, 2010 466
8. A.K. Bhaduri, Transition Metal Joints for Steam Generatore—An 467
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 475 12. J.C. Lippold, S.D. Kiser, and J.N. DuPont, Welding Metallurgy and 24. Special Metals, INCOLOY Alloy 800H & 800HT, 2004, p 1–16, http:// 512
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