02 Whole

R,z
tßuc Ét
Department of Mechanical Engineering

TTN UNTVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
Australia
Understanding the Influence of Alloy Additions on

Microstructure añd Mechanical Properties of Weld Metal
from Gas-shielded Processes
By
Vinay K. TYagi
B.E.(Honours), M.E'(Honours)
AThesisSubmittedfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
N4.ay 2002
This work is dedicated
to my Father
Sri Ram Kishor Tyagi.
For him education is the beginning of
better life.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT vlll
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY xil
LIST OF FIGURES xiii
LIST OF TABLES xx
NOMENCLATURE xxii
ACRONYMS xxv
Chapter L. Introduction 1
1.1 Background to the Project 1
1.2 Scope of the Project 2
1.3 Main Outcomes of the Literature Survey 5
Chapter 2. Literature Review 7
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2The Gas-Shielded Arc Welding V/eld Metal 8

Table of Contents
2.2.1Solid Wire Gas Metal Arc Welding 11
2.2.2 Flux Cored Gas Metal Arc Welding 76
2.3Development of Weld Metal Microstructure T7
2.3 .l S olid- State Transformations 23
2.4 Refining Weld Metal Structures 28
2.4.1 Alloying Additions in Weld Metal 28
2.4.L 1 Effect of Alloy Addition on Microstructure and Mechanical
Properties 30
2.4.L 1.1 Effect of Carbon 32
2.4.1 .l .2 Effect of Manganese 38
2.4.L 1.3 Effect of Silicon 40
2.4.1.1.4 Effect of Titanium 43
2.4.1J.5 Effect of Aluminium 47
2.4.1.1.6 Effect of Boron 52
2.4.I.1.7 Effectof Nitrogen and Oxygen 55
2.5 Summary 62
Chapter 3. Experimental Procedure 64
3.1 Manufacture of Special Wires 64
3.2 Welding Procedure 72
3.3 Weld Composition 75

Table of Contents
3.4 Mechanical Testing 75
3.5 Metallography 76
3.6 Study of Inclusions 78
Chapter 4. Influence of Manganese and Silicon on Weld
Metal Properties 79
4.1 Introduction 79
4.2 Results 80
4.2.1 Weld Metal Compositions 80
4.2.2 Mechanical Properties 83
4.2.2.1 Tensile Properties 83
4.2.2.2 CVN Impact Results 84
4.2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure 87
4.2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions 94
4.3 Discussion 96
4.3.1 Weld Metal Tensile Properties 96
4.3.2 Weld Metal Impact Properties 96
Chapter 5. Influence of Titanium and Aluminium on Weld
Metal Properties 103
5.1 Introduction 103
ilt
Table of Contents
5.2 Results 105
5 .2.2 Mechanical Properties 108
5.2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure tt4
5 .2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions t20
5.3 Discussion 122
5.3.1 V/eld Metal Tensile Properties t22
Chapter 6. Effect of Stress Relief on Low and High
Titanium Containing Weld Metals t28
6.1 Introduction t28
6.2 Results r29
6.2.L Heat-Treatment t29
6.2.2 V/eld Metal Compositions t29
6.2.3.1 Hardness Testing 131
6.2.3.2 CVN Impact Results t3t
IV
Table of Contents
6.3 Discussion t36
Chapter 7. Influence of Boron on Weld Metal Properties 138
7.2 Results 140
7 .2.1 V/eld Metal Compositions t40
7 .2.2 Mechanical Properties 142
7 .2.2.1 Tensile Properties 142
7.2.2.2 CVN Impact Results r44
7 .2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure 147
7 .2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions 151
7.3 Discussion 154
7.3.I Weld Metal Tensile Properties 154
7.3.2 V/eld Metal Impact Properties 754
Chapter 8. Influence of Titanium and Boron on Weld
Metal Properties 160
S.l Introduction 160
8.2 Results r63

Table of Contents
8.2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions 180
8.3 Discussion 183
8.3.1 Weld Metal Tensile Properties 183
Chapter 9. Summary and Conclusions 189
9.2 Influence of Manganese and Silicon on Weld Metal Properties 193
9.2.1 Conclusions 195
9.3 Influence of Titanium and Aluminium on'Weld Metal Properties 195
9.3.1 Conclusions r97
g.4Bffectof Stress Relief on Low and High Titanium containing Weld
Metals t97
9.4.I Conclusions 198
9.5 Influence of Boron on Weld Metal Properties 198
9.6 Influence of Titanium and Boron on Weld Metal Properties 200
9.7 Combined Influence of Alloying Elements on Weld Metal Properties 203

Table of Contents
9.8 Recommendations for Future Work 209
References 210
Publications Originating from this Thesis Work 230
Appendix A 232
Compositions and Photomicrographs of Manganese and

Silicon Series
Appendix B 259
Compositions and Photomicrographs of Titanium Series
Appendix C 283
Compositions and Photomicrographs of Aluminium Series
Appendix D 301
Compositions and Photomicrographs of Boron Series
Appendix E 3L6
Compositions and Photomicrographs of Titanium and

Boron Series
Appendix F 334
Example of Publications
vil
Abstract
ABSTRACT
An investigation was undertaken to study the influence of alloying additions on weld metal
from gas-shielded, metal-cored wires used for welding structural gfade steel. Further it aimed
to provide an understanding for these effects through detailed assessment of the as-deposited
and reheated regions of weld microstructures and non-metallic inclusions.
Batches of specially formulated metal-cored wires were manufactured in which alloy

additions were varied over predetermined ranges. The alloying elements investigated were
manganese, silicon, titanium, aluminium and boron. From each of these wires, test plates were
welded (multi-pass weld metal) under a consistent set of conditions so that weld metal tensile
and low temperature impact properties could be assessed.
Results from welds in which manganese and silicon levels were varied showed that, while
tensile strengths increased with alloy level, the best low temperature impact properties were
observed when manganese was in the range 1.3 to I.6wt7o and silicon was in the range 0.3 to
O.jwtflo. These impact properties are better than those obtained from other welding processes
as Charpy-V-Notch values of 100J were achieved at temperatures lower than -40oC'
The titanium and aluminium additions had little influence on weld tensile properties but
considerable influence on impact properties. Either no added titanium or levels in the weld of
around 0.08wt7o gave the best low temperature impact properties while aluminium additions
were detrimental to impact properties over thé whole range tested. Similarly to titanium,
vlll
Abstract
boron additions had a significant influence on impact properties with the best low temperature
values occurring with no added boron and at levels of around O-Ol3wt%o.
In addition to the studies on the influence of alloying, some limited work was done on the
effect of stress relief heat treatment on impact properties. This was done for welds with
titanium levels found to give the best impact properties and showed that heat treatment over
the entire temperature range improved the impact values significantly for the optimum
titanium levels.
It was found that a large volume fraction of acicular ferrite (up to 957o) coúd be obtained by
maintaining the optimum boron and titanium contents. Addition of titanium or boron alone
had very little influence on acicular ferrite formation in the weld deposits. A direct
relationship between the acicular ferrite content and the low temperature impact properties of
the weld deposits was established.
No single microstructural feature provided an explanation for the variation in weld metal
mechanical (particularly impact) properties observed. Although a direct relationship exists in
many cases with low temperature properties, it is important to understand their relationship
with each other to optimise alloy composition. The proportion of fine-grained acicular ferrite
in the as-deposited part of the welds did have a bearing on impact properties but was not the
only or even the major factor. The number density of large non-metallic inclusions was also
found to have a significant influence on impact properties and the interaction between these
two factors provided some explanation for the observed behaviour. Several other
microstructural factors e.g. primary ferrite, reheated weld metal region, strength levels and
grain size, also appeared to influence the weld metal mechanical properties.
IX
Acknowledgements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work reported herein was undertaken as part of a Research Project of the Cooperative
Research Centre (CRC) for Materials Welding and Joining. The Cooperative Research Centre
for Materials Welding and Joining was established by and is supported under the Australian
Government's Cooperative Research Centre Program. CSIRO MST, WIA and The University
of Adelaide are core partners of this CRC and participated in the research project. This project
was done in collaboration with the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, USA. The author
would like to thank these institutions for their participation in this work.
I would like to thank my supervisor Ian H. Brown (The University of Adelaide) for much help
and support, and for all the efforts in reading this thesis. I would like to thank Ian E. French
my CSIRO MST supervisor, for his supervision of all the experimental work done.
I would like to thank Glyn M. Evans for his guidance in formulating the research
methodology for this research project.
x
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Glen Edwards, David LeRoy Olson and Stephen Liu of
Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, USA, for their suggestion, analysis and guidance to
conduct this work. I would like to thank them for their hospitality during my stay in Colorado.
I must also thank people from CSIRO MST who have lent assistance. These include Peter
Knott for making the experimental wires; Tom Gordon for welding test plates; Gellian
Laughton for assistance with the literature search and Trevor Kenyon for photography.
I also appreciate the assistance of John Terlet and the staff of CEMMSA for their assistance in
the SEM inclusion study.
Finally I would like to thank my father Sri Ram Kishor Tyagi and my mother Smt Champa
Tyagi for their inspiration, love and support. I would also thank my wife Alka, my sons Asvin
and Jay for their love and suPPort.
XI
Statement of Originality
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
To the best of my knowledge and belief all of the material presented in this thesis, except
where otherwise referenced, is my own original work and has not been presented previously
for the award of any other degree or diploma in any University. If accepted for the award of
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, I consent that this thesis be made available for loan and
photocopying.
Vinay K Tyagi
x11
List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure l.L: The relationship between weld metal microstructure and mechanical properties.
Figure 2.1: Effect of the weld metal manganese-to-silicon ratio on the resulting oxygen
concentrations [15].
0C'
Figure 2.22 Deoxidation equilibrium in liquid iron alloys at 1600
Figure 2.3: Schematics showing microstructure of solid-liquid interface for different modes
of solidification and the temperature gradients that generate each of the different
modes.
Figure 2.42 Plot of solute content versus solidification parameter to show the nature of
solidification 1341.
Figure 2.5: Schematic showing solute distribution at the dendrite or cell core and in the
intercellular or interdendritic regions.
Figure 2.6: (a) Relationship between microstructure and cleavage resistance;
(b) Effect of alloy content on cleavage resistance as a function of heat input [88].
Figure 2.72 Yariation of yield strength with the proportion of acicular ferrite for C-Mn-Nb
weld metals [89].
xlil
List of Figures
Figure 2.8: Variation of fracture appe¿ìrance transition temperature with the proportion of
acicular ferrite for C-Mn-Nb weld metals [89]'
Figure 2.9zThe effect of carbon equivalent on toughness and hardenability'
Figure 2.10: The 35-J transition temperature in the coarse-grained zone as a function of the
hardenability ofthe steels, expressed as P"..
(a) The relationship for a low heat input (l kJ/mm FCAW)'
(b) The relationship for 5 kJ/mm SAW t1081.
Figure 2.1,1: Eutectoid composition and its temperature in steels as influenced by alloying
elements [90].
Figure 2.122 Effect of manganese on Charpy V-notch toughness for multipass MMA C-Mn
steel welds [7].
Figure 2.13: Relative effectiveness of alloying elements commonly used in steels to
strengthen ferrite, the alpha phase (bcc) of iron [90]'
Figure 2.L4: Correlation between the oxygen content and the deoxidation parameter
(lZoSlll%oMrnl)-o'25.
Figure 2.152 Effect- of titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic flux MMA weld
deposits t1151.
Figure 2.16; Charpy-V curve for 100 J for multi-run basic flux MMA weld deposits:
(a) Ti-O series,
(b) Ti-N series U15l'
Figure 2.17t Effect of niobium with 35 ppm titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run
basic flux MMA weld dePosits [115].
xlv
List of Figures
Figure 2.18: Effect of aluminium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic flux MMA weld
deposits t1151.
Figure 2.192 ¡¡ffect of aluminium with 35 ppm titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run
Figure 2.20: Charpy transition curves for the metal-cored wire deposits, of various
aluminium contents (7.5 by 10 mm Charpy specimens)'
Figure 2.212 Effect of boron on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic flux MMA weld
deposits t1151.
Figure 2.22zp;ffect of boron with 35 ppm titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic
flux MMA weld dePosits [115].
Figure 2.23:lnfltence of the basicity index on oxygen content'
Figure 2.242 Diagram of the derived weld microstructure as a function of the oxide-forming
propensityto+(Si)14]andthehardenability(manganese)Í142].
Figure 2.252 A plot of oxide-forming propensity vs. hardenability. Notice that either an
increase in hardenability or a decrease in oxide-forming propensity will shift from
an acceptable microstructure to one of aligned carbide Í1421.
Figure 2.262 Photomicrograph of various ferrite morphologies in weld metal'
Figure 3.1: Schematic diagram of the metal-core wire manufacturing process.
Figure 3.2: pictures of CSIRO MST wire mill, for production of small batches of cored wires
for welding.
Figure 3.3: Cross-section of a metal-core welding wire produced using CSIRO MST wire
mill
Figure 3.4: Section through a test plate showing the position of impact specimens
XV
List of Figures
Figure 3.5: Micrographs of grade 250 steel base material (etched in 27o nital).
Figure 3.6: International Institute of Welding scheme for the classification of microstructures
in C-Mn weld metals [71].
Figure 4.1: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature and manganese content at
different silicon contents'
Figure 4.22 Yariation of the proportions of ferrite morphologies as a function of manganese
contents at different silicon levels.
Figure 4.3: Variation of the proportion of acicular ferrite (AÐ with weld metal manganese
content for all silicon levels.
Figure 4.42 Yariation of the proportion of acicular ferrite (AÐ with weld metal silicon
content for all manganese levels.
Figure 4.5. Plot showing the T100J values as a function of weld metal manganese and silicon
contents.
Figure 4.6: Number density of inclusions with diameter > 1pm as a function of increase in
manganese for all silicon levels in the weld metal'
Figure 5.1: Variations in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of
(a)
titanium and (b) aluminum content in weld metal'
Figure 5.2: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature (a) and titanium levels in
weld metal (b) and for aluminum levels in weld metal'
(a)
Figure 5.3: The upper CVN (J), lower CVN (J) and T100J (oC) values as a function of
titanium and (b) aluminum contents.
Figure 5.4: Variation in the proportion ferrite morphologies as a function (a) titanium levels
(b) aluminum levels.
xvl
List of Figures
(b)
Figure 5.5: photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with (a) O.0o54wtVo titanium
O.0852wt%o titanium in weld metal.
(b)
Figure 5.6: Phoromicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with (a) O'Ol33wtVo aluminum
0.05lowt7o aluminum in weld metal.
Figure 5.7: Variation of number/mm', 3D diameter and percent > lpm diameter of
^"un
non-metallic inclusions with increase in (a) titanium level (b) aluminium level.
Figure 5.8: Effect of proportion of AF on mean CVN impact energy corresponding to T100J'
for titanium and aluminum series of weld metals'

(a)
titanium and (b) aluminum in the weld metal'
Figure 6.1.: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature for low titanium
(0.0065wt%) levels in weld metal.
Figure 6.22 MeanCVN impact energy as a function of temperature for high titanium
(O.0656wt%o) levels in weld metal.
Figure 6.3: Microphotograph of the top pass of 0.044wtVo carbon and I '4wt%o manganese
deposits in the, (a) as-welded and (b) stress-relieved conditions.
Figure 6.4: Microphotograph of coarse-grained regions of 0.044wt7o carbon and 7 ' wt%o
manganese deposits in the, (a) as-welded and (b) stress-relieved conditions.
Figure 7.lz yaiations in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of boron
content in the weld metal.
Figure 7.22 MeanCVN impact energy as a function of temperature for various boron levels
in
the weld metal.
xvll
List of Figures
Figure 7.3: The upper cvN (J), lower cvN (J) and T100J(oc) values as a function of boron
content.
Figure i.4z yariation in the proportions of ferrite morphologies in as-deposited weld metal as
a function of boron content.

(b)
Figure 2.5: Photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with (a) 0.0005wt7oboton and
O.0 t'7 6w tVo boron c ontent.
Figure 7 .62 Y ariation of non-metallic inclusions number/mm', -"un 3D diameter and percent
> lpm diameter with boron content.
Figure 7.7: Number density of inclusions with diameter > 1pm as a function of boron
contents in the weld metal.
Figure 8.L: Variation in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of
titanium for (a) 0.0005wt% boron (b) 0.0100wt%oboron in the weld metal.
Figure 8.2: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature at different titanium and
boron levels in the weld metal
titanium contents for (a) 0.0005wt7o boron and (b) 0.0100wt% boron in the weld
metal.
Figure 8.4: Variation in the proportions of ferrite morphologies in as-deposited weld metal
as
a function of titanium contents at two boron levels'
Figure 8.5: photomicrographs of as-deposited and re-heated weld metal for various titanium
and boron levels.
Figure 8.6: Variation of non-metallic inclusions number/mm" -"un 3D diameter and

percenÞ1¡rm diameter with titanium level at two boron levels.
xvltl
List of Figures
Figure 8.7: Summary plot of the variation in weld metal T100J CC) temperature values as a
function ofproportions of acicular ferrite.
function of grain size of reheated zone (pm).
Figure 9.L: Photomicrographs of as-deposited weld metal with (a) 0.0570wt% aluminum,
(b)0.0176wtZoboron, (c) 0.01l2wt%o boron andO.O228wt7o titanitm in weld
metal.
Figure 9.2: Summary plot of the variation in acicular ferrite as a function of weld metal
T100J temperature values (oC).
Figure 9.3: Summary plot of the variation in ferrite with second phase as a function of weld
metal T100J temperature values (oC).
Figure 9.4: Summary plot of the variation in primary ferrite phase as a function of weld metal
Figure 9.5: Summary plot of the variation in acicular ferrite lath size (pm) as a function of
weld metal T100J temperature values (oC).
Figure 9.6: Summary plot of the variation in prior austenite grain size (¡rm) as a function of
Figure 9.7: Summary plot of the variation in grain size of reheated zone (pm) as a function of
Figure 9.8: Summary plot of the variation of percent inclusions with diameter>1pm as a
function of weld metal T100J temperature values (oC).
XlX
List of Tables
List of Tables
Table 2.1 Elements used for alloying irons and steels, and their influence on the crystalline
structure of the alloY.
Table 4.1.. Weld metal compositions (wt 7o).
Table 4.2. Weld metal tensile properties'
Table 4.3: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes.
Table 4.4: Non-metallic inclusions.
Table 5.1: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) with varying titanium levels.
Table 5.2: V/eld metal compositions (wt Vo) with varying aluminum levels.
Table 5.3: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes for titanium series.
Table 5.4: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes for aluminum series.
Table 6.L: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) for stress relieved titanium weld metal.
Table 6.22 Average Vickers hardness for stress relieved titanium welds.
Table 7.L: Weld metal compositions (wt Vo) with varying boron levels.
Tabte 7.2.. Columnar austenite grain width, acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes
for boron series.
Table 7.3. Non-metallic inclusions with varying boron levels.
XX
List of Tables
Table 8.1,: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) with varying titanium and boron levels.
'Weld
Table 8.2: metal tensile properties with varying titanium and boron levels.
Table 8.3: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes for titanium and boron series.
Table 8.4: Non-metallic inclusions with varying titanium and boron levels.
Table 9.1: Optimised weld metal composition (wt%o) with best low temperature properties'
Table 9.2: weld metal properties with optimised composition (wt7o) with best low
temperature properties.
xxl
Nomenclature
Nomenclature
0, Ferrite
ô Delta Ferrite
v Austenite
1 Metal Transfer Coefficient
Aer Eutectoid Temperature
AC Aligned Carbide
AF Acicular Ferrite
AI Aluminium
Ar Argon
B Boron
C Carbon
Cs Nominal Solute Content
COz Carbon deoxide
C.E. Carbon Equivalent
3D Three Dimensional
f Fill Ratio
xxll
Nomenclature
FC Ferrite Carbide Aggregate
Fe Iron
FS Ferrite with Second Phase
FS(A) Ferrite with Aligned Second Phase
FS(NA) Ferrite with Non-Aligned Second Phase
G Thermal Gradient in the Liquid
HAZ Heat AffectedZone
I Current (Amps)
KJ Kilo Joule
MAC Martensite, Austenite, Carbide Microphase
Mn Manganese
Mo Molybdenum
N Nitrogen
Nb Niobium
o Oxygen
ppm Parts Per Million
PF Primary Ferrite
PF(G) Grain Boundary Ferrite
PF(I) Polygonal (intragranular) Ferrite
r2 Coefficient of Determination
R Growth rate of the solid at a given point on the moving solidJiquid
interface
Si Silicon
xxlll
Nomenclature
T Temperature
TlOOJ Temperature at 100J Charpy V-Notch Strength
Ti Titanium
UTS Ultimate Tensile Strength (MPa)
V Volts
Xr Distance from Solid Liquid Interface
X wt%o of Alloy X
Xcons wt%o of Alloy X in Core
Xwnmvtgr¡r, wt%o of Alloy X in \ù/eld Metal
Xwnr wtVo of Alloy X in Wire
Xsrnp wt%o of Alloy X in StriP
YS Yield Strength (MPa)
xxlv
Acronyms
Acronyms
AIA Automatic Image AnalYsis
AC Alternating Current
AS Australian Standard
ASM International The Materials Information Society
ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials
AWS American Welding SocietY
BCC Body Centred Cubic (structure)
CRC-MWJ cooperative Research centre for Materials welding and Joining
C-Mn Carbon-Manganese (steel)
CMST CSIRO Manufacturing Science and Technology
CSIRO commonwealth scientific and Industrial Rese arch organisation
CVN Cha.py V-Notch
DC Direct Current
DCEN Direct Current Electrode Negative
XXV
Acronyms
DCEP Direct Cument Electrode Positive
FCAW Flux-Cored Arc Welding
FCC Face Centred Cubic (structure)
FESEM Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope
GMAW Gas-Metal Arc Welding
ICP-AES Inductively coupled Plasma Atomic Emission spectrometry
IIw International Institute of Welding
MAG Metal Active Gas Welding
MMAW Manual Metal Arc Welding
MIG Metal Inert Gas Welding
SAW Submerged Arc Welding
SEM Scanning Electron MicroscoPe
TEM Transmission Electron Microscope
TWI The Welding Institute
WDX Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Spectromeffy
WIA Welding Industries of Australia
WRC Welding Research Council
WTIA Welding Technology Institute of Australia
xxvl
Introduction
Chapter L. Introduction
1.1 Background to the Project
A previous investigation sponsored by the Corporative Research Centre for Materials
Welding and Joining (CRC for MW&J) (The Control of Weld Metal Microstructure from
Gas-Shielded Arc Welding Processes in Structural Steels)[l], showed the existence of a
relationship between the welding conditions - microstructure - mechanical properties for weld
metal from gas-shielded wires. In that project commercially available solid and flux-cored
wires were used and a great deal of practical information of benefit to users of these processes
was produced[2-61.
While results of this work suggested that the levels of alloying additions were important in
determining weld microstructure and hence mechanical properties, the use of commercial
wires did not allow a detailed and systematic study of these effects. The extensive work of
Evans on manual metal arc welding l7-l1l has demonstrated that major differences in
microstructure and mechanical properties (low tempetature impact toughness) can be
I
Introduction
achieved by controlled, often low level, additions of some elements (like aluminium, titanium
and boron). Comparable studies are not currently available for gas-shielded wires. However
this can now be done since the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization - Manufacturing Science and Technology (CMST) has a facility for
manufacturing small batches of well characterised experimental cored wires which are
essential for such a studY.
1.2 Scope of the Project
The gas-shielded continuous wire processes already accounts for the majority of structural
steel welding in industry and this process sector is increasing in market share. With the
growing importance of the gas-shielded processes an improved understanding of the effect of
alloying addition has a high probability of leading to significant advances in weld quality and
productivity via improvements in consumables.
As shown in figure 1.1, detailed knowledge of the influence of alloying and microalloying
elements on the weld microstructure and mechanical properties from these processes is
essential for designing optimum microalloyed consumables, resulting in best low temperature
impact properties.
This current study considers the controlled additions of alloying, and/or deoxidising, elements
in experimental metal-cored welding consumables for gas-shielded welding'
)
Introduction
The major components of the project are:
o The manufacture of a series of cored wire consumables from high purity materials;
o The welding trials using a shielding gas with ffgon + 5% COz;
o The detailed assessment of the weld metal microstructure development including:
o The as-deposited andreheated structure.
o The details of non-metallic inclusions'
o The relationships between microstructure and inclusions.
o The assessment of the weld mechanical properties.
3
Introduction
Influence of Alloying Additions on Weld Metal

S tructure-Prop erty Relationship s from Gas - Shielded,
Continuous Wire Welding

(Using Specially Prepared Metal-Cored Arc Welding Wires and Multi-pass
welds in Structtlral Steel)
Weld Composition Welding Conditions

(C,Mn,Si,Al,Ti,B,O,N) (Heat Input, Technique, Gas)
Weld Metal Non-Metallic

Microstructure Inclusions
(As-Deposited and (Size, Composition)
Reheated)
Weld Metal Mechanical ProPerties

(Strength, DuctilitY, Toughness)
Figure 1.1: The relationship between weld metal microstructure and mechanical properties.
4
Introduction
L.3 Main Outcomes of the Literature Survey
published work relating to the influence of alloy additions on microstructural and mechanical
properties of weld metal from gas-shielded processes was reviewed. This revealed that
detailed knowledge of the influence of alloying and microalloying elements on the weld
microstructure and mechanical properties from the gas shielded processes lags well behind
that available for other welding processes such as manual metal arc welding and submerged
arc welding.
The addition of alloying elements to iron to accomplish a desired improvement in properties
may require only a few tenths of one percent of the element. Sometimes improved properties
are gained by stringent control and/or reduction of an element that may have been tolerated as
a residual element in welding processes. This is a relatively new approach in alloying
technology which can be credited with improving the quality of welding consumables.
The austenite to cr-ferrite transformation is mainly affected by non-metallic inclusions, alloy
additions, cooling rate and prior austenite grain size. Acicular ferrite usually nucleates on
inclusions present in the columnar austenite grains, which stimulates the sympathetic
nucleation of other acicular ferrite plates. Particles of titanium oxide and titanium nitride are
most likely to nucleate acicular ferrite.
5
Introduction
Holvever, it is apparent that significant gaps exist in the detailed knowledge of the influence
of alloying and microalloying elements on weld metal microstructure and mechanical
properties for GMAW processes, and the purpose of the current study is to address this lack of
information.
6
Literature Review
Chaptet 2. Literature Review
2.L Introduction
Gas-shielded continuous wire processes already account for the majority of structural steel
welding in industry and are still increasing market-share [12]. These processes are often
used in applications where weld metal mechanical properties are critical' For C-Mn steels,
gas-metal-arc welding (GMAW) using solid wires accounts for more than 5O7o of the
amount of weld metal deposited in Europe. In addition use of cored wire (either metal-
cored or flux-cored) is also increasing rapidly in Europe. In the U.S. and Japan, the use of
cored wires is more common and accounts for about l57o of all welding consumables sold
in these countries.
The outer metal tube of a cored consumable is usually made from a low carbon steel strip
and alloying is facilitated through the use of powder mixtures in the core. For a metal-cored
wire the filling in the core is iron powder, with alloying elements and the addition of
deoxidants. Flux-cored wires have a core of minerals similar to those used for the coating
of covered electrodes. This provides a convenient way of changing the composition of
GMAW consumables. The practical importance of the gas-shielded processes suggests that
7
Literature Review
an improved understanding of these aspects (core materials) has a high probability of
leading to significant advances in weld quality and productivity via improvements in
consumables
The main objective of this chapter is to present a critical literature survey of the influence
of alloy additions on microstructural and mechanical properties of weld metal from gas-
shielded processes.
2.2The Gas-shielded Arc Welding Weld Metal
In GMAW, an extemally supplied gas or gas mixture acts to shield the arc that is
established between a consumable electrode (wire) and the molten weld pool'
Although the basic GMA\ry concept was introduced in the 1920s, it was not commercially
available until 194g. At first, it was considered to be fundamentally a high-current-density,
small-diameter, bare-metal electrode process using an inert gas for arc shielding' Its
primary application was aluminium welding. As a result, it became known as metal-inert
gas (MIG) welding, which is still a common nomenclature [13]'
Subsequent process developments included operation at low current densities and with
pulsed current, use of reactive gases (particularly carbon dioxide) leading to its application
to a broader range of materials, and gas mixtures. The latter development, in which both
inert and reactive gases are used, led to the formal acceptance of the term GMAW t13l'
The GMA'W process can be operated in semi-automatic and automatic modes. All
commercially important metals, such as carbon steel, high-strength low-alloy steel,

I
Literature Review
stainless steel and aluminium, copper, and nickel alloys can be welded in all positions by
this process if appropriate shielding gases, electrodes, and welding parameters are chosen.
The application of the process is dictated by its advantages, the most important advantages
are [13]:
o Continuous wire consumables do not have the restrictions of electrode length
encountered with manual metal arc welding (MMAW).
o Welding can be done in all positions, a feature not found in submerged arc welding.
o Welding speeds are higher than those of the MMAW process.
o Deposition rates are significantly higher than those obtained by the MMAW
process.
o Deeper penetration than for the MMAW process is possible, which in some
circumstances permits the use of smaller-sized fillet welds for equivalent strengths.
o Less operator skill is required than for other conventional processes, because the arc
length is maintained constant with reasonable variations in the distance between the
contact tip and the worþiece'
o Minimal postweld cleaning is required because of the absence of a heavy slag.
These advantages make the process particularly well suited to high-production and
automated welding application. With the advent of robotics, GMAW has become the
predominant process choice.
The chemical composition of the wire must be selected to achieve the desired properties in
the weld metal. The composition can be designed with extra deoxidisers or other
scavenging agents to compensate for reactions with the atmosphere and the base metal. The
9
Literature Review
deoxidisers most commonly used in steel electrodes are silicon and manganese. Silicon has
the additional effect of increasing weld metal fluidity'
The physical characteristics (finish, straightness, etc) of wires used in the GMAW process
are important to successful welding. The specifications for these wires establish
manufacturing requirements to ensure that users receive a uniform product that feeds
smoothly through the equipment [13] and has the following characteristics:
o Uniform winding on the spool or coil with no kinks or bends
o Smooth surface finish free of slivers, scratches, or scale
o Prescribed cast and helix
o Uniform diameter
Cast and helix refer to dimensions of a single coil of wire removed from a spool or coil and
layed (that is, cast) on a flat surface. If this coil is too small in diameter (cast) or shows an
excessive lift from the flat surface (helix), feeding problems during welding can be
anticipated [13]. Prescribed cast and helix can be obtained by both, wire straightening and
by work hardening of the wire during manufacturing by using thicker sheath material.
10
Literature Review
2.2.L Solid Wire Gas Metal Arc Welding
The primary function of the shielding gas in most welding processes is to protect the
molten metal from contact with the surrounding atmosphere. In the GMAW process, this
gas plays an additional role in that it has a pronounced effect on arc characteristics' mode
of metal transfer, depth of fusion, weld bead profile, welding speed, and cleaning action.
Inert gases, such as argon and helium, are commonly used, as is the active gas, CO2. It is
also common to use mixtures of these gases with small additions of oxygen [13]. The
oxygen addition improves the arc stability and bead morphology, but increases the oxygen
content in the weld metal and increases the losses of alloying elements [14].
Extensive investigations of the silicon / manganese deoxidation of steel weld metal in gas
metal arc welds, have clarified the mechanism controlling the separation of the precipitated
oxides from the weld pool. The final weld metal oxygen content is directly related to both
the total amount of silicon and manganese present and the resulting manganese to silicon
ratio. A decrease was observed in the weld metal oxygen content with increasing
manganese to silicon ratio until this reached a value of approximately 3.5. This is solely
attributed to a reduction in the silica activity of the deoxidation product (figure 2.1) [15].
The levelling off of the oxygen content is due to separation of precipitated oxides from the
weld pool. Figure 2.1 can be interpreted on the basis of the pseudo equilibrium concept
and oxygen
[15], which postulates that the final weld metal contents of silicon, manganese
are controlled by local equilibria established between the reactants and precipitated slag at
elevated temperatures in the weld pool.
11
Literature Review
t o.oe
f
0.0t
¡¡
u¡
o
o
r¡,
I
x
o
0.
0 246 å
MANGANESE 10 STLtCON RAfrO
Figure 2.1: Effect of the weld metal manganese-to-silicon ratio on the resulting oxygen
concentrations [15]
The weld metal oxygen level can range from 100 to 1000ppm, depending on the type of
welding consumable used. At the melting point, the solubility of oxygen in pure liquid iron
is approximately 1600ppm at 100kPa (latm) pressure. During solidification, solubility
decreases initially to about 860ppm at 15000C in ô-iron and then further decreases with õ-
iron-+y (austenitic)-+cx, (ferrite) iron transformation. Most of the alloying elements present
in liquid steel reduce oxygen solubility through deoxidation equilibrium [16]'
Deoxidation of the weld metal occurs in two separate steps, the first being the primary
deoxidation of the weld pool [17]. Secondary deoxidation occurs during solidification as
solute concentrations increase within the intercellular or interdendritic regions. The
secondary deoxidation will either form very small inclusions or will form a surface layer on
the interdendritically trapped primary inclusions.
Figure Z"Z lISl shows experimentally measured soluble oxygen concentrations for various
deoxidants (solid lines), along with deoxidation curves predicted by the solubility products
12
Literature Review
(broken lines). The experimental deviation is caused by interactions of the deoxidant with
other alloy elements. If the oxygen and metallic element concentrations resulting from the
welding process exceed the equilibrium concentration for a specific reaction, inclusions
will result. The ability to form a specific inclusion will correspond directly to the position
of the weld pool composition relative to the activity plot for this inclusion. Thus, the
thermodynamic order for the formation of primary oxides would be
AlzO:>TizO¡>SiOz>CrzO¿>MnO [ 1 6].
13
Literature Review
Oxygen concentration
Oxygen aalvitY (4) ' wt% O for %x* O
lron ofde saturation

aaaaaaaaaa
B¿o¡ Vzo. MnO
0.1
si02 co CroO..
Cr.O,
a
E
o
.t \Vao¡
o
ü, orz
s
c@
cr,
I
o
ïsot
lzo¡
1ù{
Alzor
lr.o, \\
1É
0,001 0.01 0.1 I 10
DeoidÞer in solutlon, wtl6
oc
Figure 2.2zDeoxidarion equilibrium in liquid iron alloys at 1600 Its]
The broken lines in figure 2.2 show the deoxidation equilibria predicted by solubility
product calculations. The solid lines show experimentally determined soluble oxygen
concentrations for various deoxidants. The experimental deviation is caused by variations
in the activity coefficients with increasing deoxidant concentration [18].
The influence of oxygen on notch toughness of weld metal deposits is well known lI9,2Ol.
Watanabe et al, working with silicon-manganese-molybdenum, titanium and titanium-

74
Literature Review
boron weld metals deposited by GMAW with various shielding gases, observed that 200-
300 ppm oxygen was associated with the lowest transition temperature in the weld metal.
The chemical reactions of the GMAW process have been studied by means of a 'melt
spinning' technique in order to suppress effectively the weld pool reactions [21]. Analysis
of chilled metal, of regular multi-run deposits and of collected electrode tip droplets were
compared for assessment of gas/metal interactions taking place at the electrode tip, in the
arc plasma and in the weld pool. Welding was performed in Ar-Oz and Ar-CO2 mixtures.
The results indicate that the oxidation of carbon occurs at the electrode tip and to a very
small extent, if at all, in the arc plasma. The most probable site for CO nucleation during
droplet formation will be at the large metal/atmosphere interface. It is probable that most of
the observed carbon oxidation occurs at the droplet surface, where the reaction is
thermodynamically favoured t211. At positions other than the surface the lower metal
temperature which is only slightly above the melting point of the consumable at the time of
detachment, together with silicon and manganese, protect the carbon from reactingl22l.
Carbon oxidation gradually levels off with increasing oxygen potential of the shielding gas,
which may be a result of build up of CO in the surrounding atmosphere. When the critical
CO gas pressure is reached the carbon reaction is blocked, which leads to the control of the
oxygen level by manganese and silicon. This critical CO gas pressure is reached much
earlier in the welding cycle when welding with shielding gases Ar-Oz than with Ar-COz
12L,231.
15
Literature Review
2.2.2 Flux Cored Gas Metal Arc Welding
Cored wires are filled with metal or flux powder. The filling in the core can either be iron
powder with the addition of alloying elements and some deoxidants, giving a metal-cored
wire, or it can contain minerals similar to those used for the coating of covered electrodes,
giving a flux-cored wire. The metal tube is usually made from a low carbon steel strip.
Changing filling in the core is a convenient way to change the composition of GMAW
weld metal. The alternative would be to change the composition of the solid wire, which is
likely to be much more expensive, and also rolling of alloyed wire is operationally more
difficult. Cored wires also have an advantage over solid wires when it comes to
productivity, penetration, and weld metal quality. Spatter may also be reduced when flux-
cored wires are used, but this is normally a function of the shielding gas and the metal
transfer mode.
Information on the effect of the slag system, shielding gas and heat input on the FCAW
weld metal is very limited 124-26). Higher amounts of aluminium found in some FCAW
welds influences the y -+ ü, transformation kinetics which determine the final weld metal
microstructure. Flux-cored arc welds ate thus expected to exhibit microstructures
dissimilar to submerged arc welds (SAW) or shielded metal arc welds (SMAW) [27]. This
was confirmed by Huseen, et al. [28] who compared the microstructures of SMA and FCA
ferritic welds. Furthermore, Mejias, et al. 1291, studied the microstructure and mechanical
properties of FCA welds produced with various electrode compositions and heat inputs and
suggested better parameters to achieve high toughness properties" Varying the basicity of
16
Literature Review
the slag system in FCAW metal effects the oxygen content of the weld metal. A basic slag
results in a lower oxygen level in the weld metal, as does the use of an Ar-CO2 mixture, as
it has a lower potential to oxidise weld metal than COz.
2.3 Development of Weld Metal Microstructures
In an alloy, constitutional supercooling allows non-planar solidification in a weld. The
lower the temperature gradient, the greater the degree of constitutional supercooling. The
effect of the degree of supercooling on the solid morphology is shown in figure 2-3
(a-e)-
Figure 2.3f indicates the degree of supercooling for various temperature gradients [30-35].
In general the cell size decreasos as the cooling rate increases [36], and the cell and
secondary dendrite arm spacings depend directly on the local solidification time 137-411.
Lanzafame et al l42l verified this effect of heat input on the dendrite arrn spacing. Also,
Brown et al [43] and Jarman et al [44] investigated the relationship between secondary
dendrite arm spacing and heat input on aluminium-copper alloys. They predicted
theoretically that the dendrite arm spacing in partial penetration welds deposited under
conditions of three dimensional heat flow on relatively thick plate would be related directly
to the square root of the heat input per unit length of weld'
l7
Literature Review
(where
Figure 2.4, which is based on experimental observations, relates the gradient G/Rl/2,
G is temperature gradient in the liquid adjacent to the solid, and R is the rate of growth of
solid), solidification rate, and composition to the type of structure developed [33-35]. The
is
center of each cell or dendrite behaves like the initial transient, that is, the solute content
low. The regions between the cells or dendrites behave like the final transients, that is, they
are enriched in solute. This is illustrated schematically in figure 2.5 Í451'
18
Literature Review
Fusion zono
Fusion zone
Base meta I sor¿i¡"d Liquid
Base mstal
-
Successive
Grain
positions of
Grain
No.1 rI Liquicl
solid-liquid
No" 1
interface < 100>
Grain
Grain No.2
No.2
growth 100>
dirs6l¡q¡
(a) (d)
Fusion zone
Solid Liquid Note the roughly

Base metal
A hexagonal shaPe
of subgrains
Grain x
No. 1
< tcto>
Subgrains \
l I
\ I
Grain
No. 2 Solid-liquid
interface \
I
A
Cross section
(bl A1 A-A
Fusion zone
(e)
Base metal
I sori¿¡r¡"¿
x *l abc d
Grain e
No. 1 Subgrain (D
2
<'t00> c
o
No.2 0,
Typical
cross section
xL
(c) (r)
Distonce from solid liquid interfoce.
Figure 2.3: Schematic diagram showing microstructure of solid-liquid interface for
different modes of solidification and the temperature gradients that generate each of the
(d)
different modes. (a) Planar growth. (b) Cellular gro\ /th. (c) Cellular dendritic growth.
Columnar dendritic growth. (e) Equiaxed dendrite. (f) Five temperature gradients versus
constitutional supercooling [34].

19
Literature Review
Equiaxed
dendritic Golumnar
dendritic
t growth
growlh
oo
,e
c
o
c Cellular
o
(¡ dendritic
o gK¡wth
o
n
o
-g Cellular
Ê
o growth
2
Planar
growth
SolidificatÍon paramet ar ß I Jñl
Figure 2.42 Plot of solute content versus solidification parameter to show the nature of
solidification [34]
20
Literature Review
t Solid-liquid interface I
tr
o B
() (, I
o
.=
E'
o
.=
Ìt
+
I
_r_ I
¡
0
Io Y
(, x x Y I
ct I
I
C*t
x Cr*t
I I
x I
6
c co
.t. €
ÊF
.9 !eo
€ 6
co
(¡
*l l*- between Distance
É
@
o I
c I I
solute- c Note greater distance
o o
(J I I rich c) between solute-rich
I I regions I regrons
Location Location
(a) (bt
Figure 2.5: Schematic showing solute distribution at the dendrite or cell core and in the
intercellular or interdendritic regions. (a) Cellular growth. (b) Dendritic growth [45]'
2t
Literature Review
Weld-pool microsegregation may lead to both a variation in mechanical properties and to
solidification cracking [46]. Miller l47l has established the presence of a solute rich layer
ahead of the advancing solid-liquid interface in the weld-pool and shown that the
equilibrium distribution coefficient is the same for weld-pool and ingot solidification. Bell
than within the substructure

[48] found that segregation will be greater at grain boundaries
composing the grain. The enhanced level of solute and impurity segregation at the
centerline of a bead can significantly lower the toughness of a weld deposit. The causes of
this low level of toughness at the weld centre line may include embrittlement due to grain
boundary precipitation or non-metallic inclusions 148,491. Also, elongated veins of

pro-
eutectoid ferrite are known to reduce the toughness of weldments compared to more
equiaxed structures [50-60].
Generally a planar solidification structure is difficult to maintain' As the boundary layer
becomes further established, the thermal gradient decreases and the solidification
rate
increases [61]. Due to the fact that nuclei survival is very limited 162lin the weld-pool,
equiaxed weld-pool solidification tends to occur unaided only in the region of the centre
line of the pool, where solidification rates are highest and the thermal gradients are lowest
due to the distance from the arc. This structure is generally associated with high welding
speeds 163,641and high alloy contents 147,641. The predominant solidification structure
in
many welds is a transition structure between cellular and cellular-dendritic [65,66], as the
interface becomes more unstable with increasing constitutional supercooling and secondary
affns grow from the primary arms [67-69]. It was found that the higher the alloy content
of
the weld-pool, or the lower the thermal gradient, the greater the tendency for cellular
dendritic or free dendritic growth modes to form. Columnar dendrites have been reported
1''
Literature Review
in Ti-6Mn welds t651. A range of substructures in melt runs in a given material can be
generated by varying the welding conditions [70]
2.3.1 Solid-State Transformations
During austenite decomposition a large variety of microstructures can develop, depending
on cooling rates and weld metal chemical composition. With approximately decreasing
order of transformation temperature these microstructures can be [71]:
PF - primary ferrite
PF(G) - grain boundarY ferrite
PF(I) - polygonal (intragranular) ferrite
FS(A) - ferrite with aligned second phase
FS(NA) - ferrite with non-aligned second phase
AF - acicular ferrite
FC - ferrite-carbide aggregate.
The microstructure of low-alloy steel weld metals consists of a mixture of grain boundary
ferrite (PF(G)), ferrite side-plates (FS) , acicular ferrite (AF) and small quantities of
,.microphas es"
l72l.It is generally accepted that the presence of substantial quantities of
grain boundary ferrite can lead to poor toughness in low-alloy steel weld deposits Í73-761.
The relatively large grains of ferrite offer little resistance to cleavage crack propagation'
Secondary ferrite side-plates [77] nucle ate at the ferrite-austenite grain boundaries
and
grow as sots of parallel plates separated by thin regions of austenite. The latter
'ra
Literature Review
to
subsequently being retained to ambient temperature or (perhaps partially) transforming
martensite and/or pearlite. These small quantities of retained-austenite, martensite and
degenerate pearlite mixtures are called "microphases" [78]. Primary ferrite

side-plates can
nucleate directly at y grain boundaries which are not covered by grain boundary
ferrite,
although its growth mechanism is identical to that of secondary ferrite side-plates'
Acicular ferrite is believed to form after ferrite side-plates during continuous cooling
experiments [79].
The austenite to cr-ferrite transformation behaviour is mainly affected by non-metallic
inclusions, alloy additions and prior austenite grain size [80]. The influence of non-metallic
is
inclusions on the austenite to ferrite transformation, as per classical nucleation theory,
that the nucleation of ferrite at inclusions is always thermodynamically more favourable
than homogeneous nucleation. AF usually nucleates on inclusions present in the

columnar
austenite grains, which stimulates other AF plates to nucleate autocatalytically
(sympathetic neucleation). Therefore a one to one cofÏespondence between the number of
active inclusions and the number of AF plates is not expected [81].
same time as FS(A) forms at the austenite grain boundaries, intragranular AF

may start
At
to nucleate at inclusions. AF is a very fine grained widmanstatten-type of ferrite and
nucleates in the transformation temperature range between grain boundary

ferrite and upper
bainite [82-85].
generated
Depending on the prior austenite grain size, abainitic or ferritic structure can be
under identical isothermal transformation conditions in an inclusion-rich steel'

To generate
bainite, the austenite grain size has to be small in order to ensure that most of the
24
Literature Review
'When
nucleation events occur at the austenite grain surfaces. the austenite grain size is
large and the density of inclusions relatively high, AF is obtained. However the formation
of AF may be completely suppressed in the absence of intragranular nucleation sites for
ferrite as is the case for a very low weld metal oxygen content. Under these conditions,
ferrite side plates and bainite will dominate the microstructure [86]. Depending on the
transformation temperature range and the weld chemical composition, carbon-rich
austenite may transform to pearlite, bainite or martensite. Occasionally intragranular
islands of retained austenite are observed [87].
The schematic relationship between AF and toughness, and the effect of alloying content
on heat input and toughness is shown in figure 2.6 (a) and (b). It appears that the optimum
level for cleavage resistance is at about 9O7o AF and at lower heat input levels [88]. Both
Charpy 'V' notch (CVN) toughness and yield strength show improvements with increasing
AF content as shown in figures 2'7 and2.8 [89].
25
Literature Review
high TRANSFORMANON TEMPERAruRE low
high
rmrtersile
lrJ
(,
t¡J
(.) c:
o obout 90clc
ocicuhr lerrite
UJ
() high
z,
g,
an
IJJ
G
low lol
INCREASE IN ACICUI-AR FERRITE ANO YIELO STRENGTH
+
high
¡.¡l lql low heot input

(9
<
t¡J
J
(J
o
l-
LU
(_)
z b.l high h€ot iñPut
g
vl
ut
G
(bl
low
ALLOY CONTENT f(Mn.Mo.Nil+
Figure 2.62 (a) Relationship between microstructure and cleavage resistance; (b) Effect of
alloy content on cleavage resistance as a function ofheat input [88].
26
Literature Review
600
550
500 ,/
CY ,t
a
a
lMPal ,,
450 a
aa /i
-Ç"1 -.tL
400 aa x
350
o 20 40 60 B0 r00
% ACICULAR FERBITE
C-Mn-Nb
Figure 2.72 yanation of yield strength with the proportion of acicular ferrite for
weld metals [89]
50
40
30
20 ^o rì\r
FRAGTUßE to ê ^a A
APPEARANCE a
o
\
TBANSITION
TEMPEFIATUFìE
('c) -to
'-o
-20 o ^ \
-30 \ \a \
o ^ \
-40 \\ \
-50 \
-60
20 ¿O 60 B0 roo
% ACICULAFI FEFIRITE
Figure 2.8: Variation of fracture appearance transition temperature with the proportion of
acicular ferrite for C-Mn-Nb weld metals [89]
,,,1
Literature Review
2.4 Refïning Weld Metal Structures
2.4.L Alloying Additions in Weld Metal
The addition of alloying elements to iron to accomplish a desired improvement in
properties may require only a few tenths of one percent of the element. In fact, most alloy
additions are less than 3 wt.%o. Generally improved properties are obtained by stringently
controlling elements that may have previously been tolerated as residual elements in
wrought products. This is a relatively new approach in alloying technology which has its
beginnings in welding consumables [90].
Many elements can be characterised as either a ferrite-fonner or an austenite-former (see
table 2.1). These classifications indicate the influence of the given alloying element on the
crystallographic inclination of iron in the matrix structure of the alloy. Carbon is the most
important element in terms of controlling microstructure, and its major effect is to control
the amount of carbides formed. Beyond that, carbon has a refining effect on the
microstructure t91l and influences the solidification substructure [8]. During grain
boundary transformation, the diffusion of alloying elements, mainly carbon, will occur
from the grain boundary regions towards the center of the gtain 192-981.
28
Literature Review
Table 2.L Elements used for alloying irons and steels, and their influence on the crystalline
structure of the alloy
Ferrite Formers Austenite Formers
Elements that favour the formation of Elements that favour the formation of
alpha phase in iron, ie, the ferritic (bcc) gamma phase in iron, ie, the austenitic
crystalline form in steel. (fcc) crystalline form in steel.
Aluminium Carbon
Chromium Cobalt
Molybdenum Manganese
Niobium Nickel
Silicon Nitrogen
Titanium
Tungsten
Vanadium
'When
added to iron, certain elements will favour the retention of the alpha iron or ferrite
crystalline structure (bcc) and in doing so will restrain the inclination for the allotropic
transformation to take place to the gamma iron or austenite in steel (fcc). A sufficient
quantity of one of these ferrite-formers (chromium, for example) will suppress the austenite
structure form completely, and the alloy will retain the ferrite structure at all temperatures
up to melting. Conversely, the addition of a sufficient amount of an austenite-former
(nickel, for example) can stabilise the austenite crystalline form, for temperatures ranging
from room temperature to the melting point.
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Literature Review
The effects of alloying elements on the crystallographic behaviour of the iron matrix
is
much more complex, because these effects involve not only the expansion or colraction
of
the phase fields for the respective crystalline structures, but also the alloying element's
valency interactions with iron. Aluminium has an fcc crystalline structure, but it is a
powerful ferrite-former when added to iron. In fact, the addition of little more than I wt.qo
aluminium to iron will completely prevent the allotropic transformation of alpha iron
to
gaÍìma iron. Silicon, is such a profound ferrite-former that a stable or perrnanent ferrite
structure is formed when this element is added to iron in an amount approaching about 3
on
wt.Vo.It seems that the crystalline structure of the alloying elements has no influence
whether it will be a ferrite- former or austenite-former. Whether a significant ferrite-
forming or austenite-forming effect will be observed in iron alloyed with multiple elements
will depend on the balance between the totals of the two classes of alloying elements
[90,99-101].
2.4.1.L Effect of Alloy Additions on Microstructure and Mechanical
Properties
Alloying not only allows control over the basic crystalline structure, but it is even more
effective in manipulating the nature of the matrix on an atomic scale [90]' When iron
is
alloyed to form steel, the effects involve the dissolution of phases and compounds
in the
microstructure by heating above a particular temperature. This effect is followed by

either
(2)
(1) retention of the elements in solid solution via cooling at some predetermined rate, or
if not held in this manner, their dispersal in some form in the microstructure. A final
important point concerning microstructure is that the rate of cooling from the solution-
30
Literature Review
treating temperature can have a profound influence on many micfostructural features, such
as grain size; formation of phases; and the distribution of phases, compounds, and
dislocations in the matrix structure [90].
Mechanical properties are generally discussed in terms of hardness, ductility and
toughness. At least five different mechanisms may act in an alloy to increase its mechanical
(tensile) properties. These mechanisms are:
1. solid-solutionhardening,
2. order-disorder hardening,
3. precipitation hardening,
4. dispersion hardening,
5. work hardening,
6. grain refinement, and
7. transformation hardening
It is often desirable to have a fine grain size, because this can increase both strength and
toughness. The most efficient way to decrease the effective grain size is to have many
nucleation sites to initiate transformation. The most effective nucleation sites are grain
boundaries, but impurity particles and deformation bands may also act as nucleants[102].
It is often found that microstructures containing large proportions of fine acicular ferrite
have good cleavage resistance, whereas those containing regions of coarse grain boundary
ferrite, or ferrite with aligned second phase (each colony of which behaves as one grain
during cleavage) tend to have poorer toughness t1021.
31
Literature Review
2.4.1.L.1 Effect of Carbon
Small amounts of carbon, less than 0.IwtTo by weight, can cause significant changes in
metallurgical behaviour and mechanical properties. An appreciable amount of carbon can
dissolve in gamma iron, where it forms an interstitial solid solution. However, the
solubility of carbon in ferrite (alpha iron) is very much lower, and the maximum that can
be held in interstitial solid solution is 0.0218 wt.qo at7270C t901. At room temperature,
solid solubility is only about 0.008 wt.%o. The carbon that cannot remain in solid solution in
ferrite generally forms a compound rather than existing as some form of free carbon. This
compound is iron carbide (Fe3C, also called cementite) and it is a material of very high
hardness. Microstructural evidence suggests that the strengthening of ferrous alloys by
carbon is principally due to morphology and distribution of the carbides which are formed,
although there will be a slight effect due to grain refinement. Studies on bead-in-groove
COz welds, found that carbon had a much smaller influence on yield stress than on tensile
strength of weld metal t103-1061. A martensitic microstructure with low carbon content
has appreciable toughness, whereas high carbon martensite is brittle' The low carbon
martensite will be autotempered during cooling, improving toughness. This is shown in the
schematic diagram, figure 2.9,where at high heat inputs steels with lower hardenablity
are
generally softer and thus have better toughness. The reduction in the carbon content of
steels that has taken place during the 1980s, probably has been the largest single factor
responsible for the improvement in toughness in thelH.ÃZ of welds [107]. However' this
relationship is not entirely straightforward. As shown by Harrison and Hart [108], low heat
input welding (l kJ/mm) gives better toughness in steels with higher hardenablity, while
high heat inputs (SkJ/mm) give the opposite result (figure 2't0)'
32
Literature Review
Low CE
Higlr
tu
B
.Ê
'cl
L
c, -:---r---- B--
Þ.
o,
F
û,
v
c
'o
6
u M M+B B
¿
6
ø
û,
É
'E
(E
J<
6.'
N
o
É
tú
k
òo
Ê
.9
Ps,
rú=
>,9
ô- tu
È.CL
.:t Ê
ÜE
I 16 32
Cooling timeÁt"r'(s)
Figure 2.92 The effect of carbon equivalent on toughness and hardenability [108].
33
Literature Review
Figure 2.9 ts an explanation for the toughness-hardenability results shown in figure

2.10'
Hardenability of steels, expressed as P"- (also known as the carbon equivalent) is

given by:
P"-=C+(Mn+Cr+Cu)/20+Si/30+V/10+Mo/15+Ni/60+58
Steels with high hardenability will have an autotempered martensite when welded with low
heat input (because the bainite nose is moved to the left and the M, temperature is
relatively high), as can be deduced from the schematic CCT diagram' The low
hardenability steels will have a bainitic structure. cross-over point A corresponds to such
low heat input that in the low hardenability steels autotempered martensite is also formed'
The critical value of heat input is below 1 kJ/mm. Point B corresponds to the
point where
the microstructures of all steels are bainitic and the steels with lower hardenability
will
then be softer, which should give them a better toughness u081.
34
Literature Review
-40
U
o fe
o'
q,
.a
ó
-s)
-80
E¡
ot Ë
È tu
À
b*o t
-120 Ë,
u)
(f¡ tô:
'x. t l,
Þ
|!
'mo o.
-160 E
U 0
-120
0
a
!
l&
e
c,
tI
o. E
(,
a q,
.o.
É
q,
ul
(ô
r As-welded o.
o PWHT r!
4
U
G18
Figure 2.10: The 35-J transition temperature in the coarse-grained zone as a function of the
hardenability of the steels, expressed as P",,'. (a) The relationship for a low heat input
(lkJ/mm FCAW). (b) The relationship for 5 kJ/mm SAW [108]'
35
Literature Review
The presence of additional alloying elements, as commonly found in steels, has a profound
influence on the critical temperatures, even when heating or cooling through the
transformation range is performed at the very slow rates employed for establishing
equilibrium temperature levels. Manganese and nickel additions shift the eutectoid
temperature (Aer) temperature downward from the 7270C level, while the elements
chromium, molybdenum, silicon, titanium, and tungsten raise the Aer temperature. The
presence of other alloying elements can also cause a significant shift in the eutectoid
carbon content, which 0.71 wt.To carbon in alloys consisting of only iron and carbon. As
shown by the lower graph in figure 2.1!, the addition of two percent chromium to an iron-
carbon alloy would lower the eutectoid composition to approximately 0'60wt7o catbon.
Additions of manganese, nickel, molybdenum, silicon, titanium, and tungsten act in a
similar fashion and will shift the eutectoid composition to lower carbon contents.
36
r=l
F
o ô
CD
ta Þ
o Fl
(D
o
a) b.J
F
(!
\o CARBON, PER CENT EUTECTOID TEMPERATURE, OC
(D
!
ln
o99P9999t¡o)\¡co(o6=Ñd
:¡1\¡(¡)à(llO¡{iÞOOOOOOCTOO {
o oooooooctooc¡oocroooo
CD
C)
vl I
I ¡
Þ N I /N \
()
J
,l /
tó 7 I \
à "=¡ / I
U)
o
t-
Í a,
-'1
,/, /
i\
o
< (r, I il
2
o
\ \
È I
fR / /
t- .@
v)
m
I I
@
o
H m
=
¡0 z -o
o --{
4
I ,// I
! \
m I
r_t ¡ ) I
o oÉ
m ,
/ I
U) {z
o J ¡ I
o 5
ct) )
¡ \
t, I
o¡
H:
É I I
I
o lt I I
@
C)
o
È sËËHËssÈËsËËËH EUTECTOID TEMPEFATURE, OF
o
J
(, 0q
\¡
Literature Review
It is generally accepted that the addition of carbon to low strength ferritic weld metal
causes the yield and tensile strengths to increase and ductility to decrease. Furthermore' the
hardness increases and, at a constant grain size, the yield-to-tensile strength

ratio decreases
t10g-1111. The effect of 0.05 to 0]5wt7o carbon on

the microstructure and properties of
MMAW welds containing 0.6 to l.8wtTo manganese has been investigated forbasic iron
powder electrodes. It was found that carbon promoted acicular ferrite, at the expense of
grain boundary polygonal ferrite, and caused grain refinement of the reheated regions.
With
regard to impact properties, it was found that carbon substantially reduced the degree of
scattering. Optimum toughness was achieved at a manganese level of l'4wt%o when the
carbon content was in the intermediate range, ie 0.07 to 0.09wt7o [8].
2.4.L.L.2 Effect of Manganese
The chemical properties and metallurgical characteristics of manganese enable it to
perform several helpful functions when alloyed in iron. As compared with iron, manganese
has a stronger affinity for oxygen, sulphur and carbon. When added to molten iron'
(MnO)' This
manganese reacts with oxygen contained in the melt to form manganese oxide
proceeds to a
reaction does not go to completion to take up all of the oxygen present, but
point of balance or equilibrium. Therefore, although manganese is a deoxidiser, it is not as
powerful in this respect as some other elements, like aluminium and silicon' The
manganese in the melt also will combine preferentially with any sulphul present to form
manganese sulphide (MnS), a compound which has only limited solubility in the molten
iron and rises to escape in the slag if conditions permit. Manganese sulphide also is
virtually insoluble in the solid metal, where it appears as non-metallic inclusions. Any
38
Literature Review
manganese, beyond the amount required to combine with all of the sulphur present, will
combine with the carbon in the steel to form manganese carbide, Mn3C, as the steel cools
through the Arr critical point, this phase is isomorphous with cementite and the actual
carbides which develop are complex (Fe,Mn)¡C. The properties of manganese carbide and
the appearance of particles of (Fe,Mn)3C in the microstructure are indistinguishable from
iron carbide.
Evans [7] investigated the effect of manganese in basic flux MMA welds and found that
increasing the manganese level from 0.6 to 1.8 wtVo progressively increased the acicular
ferrite (AF) content while reducing intragranular polygonal ferrite (PF(I)) and grain
boundary ferrite (pF(G)). Increasing the manganese level also refined the acicular ferrite
grain size. Another effect of manganese is the reduction of the austenite-to-ferrite
transformation temperature at almost all cooling rates for MMA weld metals, with the start
temperature of polygonal ferrite being depressed to a greater extent than the acicular ferrite
start temperature llI2,l13l. For MMA multilayer steel welds, the best impact properties
are attained at amanganese content of 1.5 wt.Vo as shown in figure Z.l2.The recorded peak
in toughness arises from a balance between the formation of a more favourable
microstructure on the one hand, and higher yield strength on the other [7].
39
Literature Review
Rô
o
tr'
l,r,J
2
ru-
Q:
t¡J
t¿¡
-30'oc
o
v)
= -6Ð"C
@
<'
o 0s
Figure 2.122 Effect of manganese on Churpy V-notch toughness for multipass MMA C-
Mn steel welds [7]
2.4.1.L.3 Effect of Silicon
Silicon is used mainly in steels as a deoxidising agent. Not only is it sufficiently strong
as
an oxygen-getter to remove unwanted amounts of oxygen, but the oxide formed as
The
inclusions in the metal ordinarily can be tolerated without significant adverse effects.
general effect of dissolved silicon is to lower the delta-to-gamma transformation range

in
iron, and to raise the gamma-to-alpha transformation range. In addition silicon is a strong
ferrite former
Silicon offers benefits as an alloying addition that have been utilised in certain steels,
usually with silicon contents exceeding 0.3 wt.%o. Silicon is a ferrite strengthener, and
it is
(see figure 2.13)'

stronger in this respect than most other commonly used alloying elements
40
Literature Review
Also, silicon is a strong promoter of hardenability, and additions as high as 2 wt.To have
been added to heat-treatable alloy steels for this reason
1000
140
nt 900
È 'õ
= 800 120
Å rsi Mn I
b bz
t/
z lPt
700 100 u
t¡¡
ÍE
tt / .-¿Mo b
600
trl
õ I /t 80J cn
llJ
z
lu
500
t// 3 0r 2
t¡J
V//
400 60
300 rw7
-1
40
I i1l
200
o246,8 10 12 14 16 18
ALLOY¡NG ELEMENT IN ALPHA IFON, PEHCENT
Figure 2.13: Relative effectiveness of alloying elements commonly used in steels to
strengthen ferrite, the alpha phase (bcc) of iron [90]'
Evans [9] also reviewed the role of silicon in weld metal from basic flux MMA
electrodes
in the range of 0.2 to 0.94 wt.qo andfound that increased silicon encourages the formation
of acicular ferrite, particularly when the manganese levels are below I wt.%o, but results in
silicon
lower values of upper shelf Charpy toughness. Court [114] noted that increasing the
level led to a decreased acicularity of the acicular ferrite and a transformation from lath-
like micro-phases to twinned martensite in intergranular regions of the microstructure.
Therefore silicon is considered detrimental to toughness even in small concentrations [80].
4t
Literature Review
The final weld metal oxygen content is related directly to both the total amount of silicon
and manganese present and the resulting manganese-to-silicon ratio' The combined effect
of these two contributions (see figure 2.14) has been included in a new deoxidation
parameter q7oStll7oly'rnl)-0". The small, negative exponent in the deoxidation parameter
indicates that control of the weld metal oxygen level through addition of deoxidants is
limited [15]. Silicon has a powerful solid solution hardening effect, but the basic reason for
adding silicon is to kill (remove oxygen from) the steel. A positive factor with silicon
killed steels is that they have a lower oxygen and nitrogen content.
0.10
â , Gil{ATVelding
ô\
{i. I
Ì 0.08 r SlvLA Welding I
\¡,
+.
xtl a
o
lt 0.06
ê
¡i
o
IJ
á t
OJ 0.04 I
r¡ I
t
x
0 002
0
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6
flSil tlvfni){'zs
Figure 2.142 Conelation between the oxygen content and the deoxidation parameter
q7oSlll7oMnl)-ozs. The points represent measurements, while the solid lines represent
thermodynamical calculations. Data for both GMAW and SMAW are shown [15]'
42
Literature Review
2.4.1.1.4 Effect of Titanium
Unique effects are obtained by adding very small percentages of titanium to selected steels
in wrought form, in castings, and also as weld metal. To date, the benefits of titanium
additions in the range of only 0.005 to 0.06 wt.Vo are impressive. The effects of its use are
complex, and much research is continuing on the metallurgical mechanisms involved [90].
'When
titanium is added to molten steel, a complex interplay takes place with the oxygen,
nitrogen and carbon that is commonly present, because titanium has a strong affinity for all
three of these elements. Therefore, it is difficult to confine the activity of titanium to only
one function, that is, only deoxidising, only nitride-forming, or only carbide-forming.
Because of titanium's strong affinity for oxygen, much of a small titanium addition to
molten steel would be relegated to the formation of titanium oxide unless the melt has low
oxygen content; for instance, approximately 0.01 wt.%o. A suitable dispersion of very small
titanium oxide particles in the melt can serve to nucleate finer grains during solidification
and during subsequent microstructural transformations. Titanium treatment of molten

steel
to produce very small oxide inclusions that remain dispersed in the solid steel is being
pursued as a steelmaking technique for steels that are resistant to excessive HAZ gtain
coarsening by welds made with very high heat input [90]'
A very small percentage of titanium can have profound beneficial effects on the mechanical
properties and the metallurgical behaviour of steel providing the proper technology is
applied in (1) making the titanium addition, (2) controlling the association of the titanium
with other minor elements that may be present, and (3) manipulating by hot working and/or
heat treatments the form of titaniferrous constituents that appear in the final microstructure.
43
Literature Review
Evans [115] investigated the effects of micro-alloying elements on toughness for multi-run
basic flux MMA weld deposits [95-97]. Titanium was found to be the most effective
element for enhancing the toughness of as-welded deposits. Its effect on toughness is
significant (Figure 2.15) and a titanium content of about 30 ppm is considered optimal
titanium content,
[11]. Abson [116] developed a formula for the optimisation of the
Ti=(S+O)/15
which was confirmed by reducing the weld metal oxygen by 150 ppm. This was also
observed by Evans [11] illustrated in figure 2.16 (a) at the optimum titanium content of 20
ppm. Adding nitrogen by nitrided-manganese leads to slightly higher optimal titanium
(and
levels figure 2.16 (b). An important role of titanium is to protect boron from nitrogen
oxygen) and reduce the level of free nitrogen in the weld metal. The optimum content of
titanium will be a function of the weld concentration of nitrogen and nitride formers (V,
Nb, Al, and Ti). With low levels of titanium, niobium additions led to a significant
decrease in toughness (figure 2.Il), and acicular ferrite was replaced by aligned ferrite in
as-deposited and reheated regions t1171. These facts led to the conclusion that niobium
should be as low as possible in micro-alloyed C-Mn weld deposits.
44
Literature Review
(t,
CE
t¡¡
20
t¡¡ .E.u
o
tu E
Ð .cL
',8
E
o
(n
@
10
o o
-roo - go - 60 -40 -20 0 t2O r4O
TEST TEMPERATUNE ,rc
Figure 2.15: Effect of titanium ppm on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic flux MMA
weld deposits [115].
4S
Literature Review
t
-3
(, t
t¡J
É,
GE
r¡¡
è
t=
¡¡
.n
t¡¡
;
CL
-eo
É
9xYgçn
É-roo o -21Q PP m
c)
cr - 28O
-110 ô -35O
o -41O
-120
o 20 40 60 ao 10()
T¡TANIUM IN WELD; PPrn.
(a)
10e.¡
c)
o
t¡,
G
J
E
l¡¡
-20 N
CL
=
u¡,
':4O 160 N
t-
tO
t¡J
l-
60 aoN
I
CL
A5 WELDED
200 800
T¡TANlUill lN WELD.PPm-
(b)
Figure 2.162 Charpy-V cufve for 100 J for multi-run basic flux MMA weld deposits
(a) Ti-O series, (b) Ti-N series t1151'
46
Literature Review
250
30
|5Ëppmit
--
20
(, 150 G
E
É, u
t¡¡
z
l¡l a I
E
CL
o / .Í
l¡¡
1
o
@
cÉ
o
an
l/ 10
fû 50
-oo -5o -4O -2O 0 20

TEST TEMPERATURE ..C
Figure 2.lTzFjffect of niobium with 35 ppm titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run
2.4.L.1.5 Effect of Aluminium
Aluminium plays important roles in steel as a deoxidising agent, as a nitrogen fixation

additions of
agent,and as a grain-refining additive. These functions require only very small
aluminium.
The amount of acicular ferrite increases with increasing amounts of aluminium in SAW
to
weld metal t11sl. However, when all of the available oxygen was tied up by aluminium
form y-alumina (when the Al:O ratio was 1:1.13), there was an abrupt decrease in the
acicular ferrite content. This behaviour probably occurs because at low aluminium
47
Literature Review
y-
concentrations, the aluminium oxide is in the form of galaxite (MnO.AlzO3) rather than
alumina, the former being very effective as a nucleant of acicular ferrite according to lattice
matching theory. The observations of Terashima and Hart [119] on the effect of small
variations of aluminium on impact toughness in SAW weld metals are however an
indication that there is a practical problem associated with obtaining the correct type of
particles to act as nucleation sites for acicular ferrite'
Adding aluminium powder at low titanium levels in basic flux MMA welds results in an
and
increase of the lower shelf energy (figure 2.18), but an optimum level was not observed
the microstructural changes were insignificant tl151 When titanium was present (figure
2.I9) degradation in toughness was observed at 80 ppm aluminium and at higher levels.
The acicularity of the initial microstructure ,was modified and the non-metallic inclusions
contained increased amounts of aluminium indicating that aluminium modified the role
of
titanium [10].
48
Literature Review
30
2æ
o
G 20
t¡J 'c
zl¡J ç
u
o È
r¡J
Íl J
cL
E
o
UI 10
@
o o
-100 .80 -60 -40 -20 0 .20 .4O
TEST TEMPERATURE,9C.
Figure 2.18: Effect of aluminium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic flux MMA
weld deposits [115]
35ppm Tl
190At
o
G
< 5Al
¡¡J
20
3404t F
UJ tr
U
o
UJ
610Ar
E
@ 78Ar È
E .)ú
o
Ø
49041
@
ro
o o
-1O0 gO - 60 _4O -2O O )2O
_ .,4O
OC
TEST TEMPERATURE,
Figure 2.L92 Effect of aluminium with 35 ppm titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-
run basic flux MMA weld deposits [10].
49
Literature Review
Abson lL20l studied the effect of aluminium (Al) and alumina (Al2O3) on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of metal-cored and basic-flux FCA weld metals
using the metal-active-gas (MAG) process. In the metal-cored deposits, aluminium gave a
substantial increase (approximatellylsEo) in the strength accompanied by a similar increase
in the proportion of acicular ferrite. Cleavage resistance changed little with the lowest
aluminium additions, before decreasing with the higher levels (see figure 2.20).
The AlzO: additions to the metal-cored wires produced a modest microstructural
improvement, but the inclusion content increased substantially, and many of the inclusions
were large. The detrimental influence of large inclusions on resistance to cleavage fracture
is well known, the mechanism being that cleavage fracture is initiated at or immediately
adjacent to inclusions. However, the fractographic evidence did not support inclusion
initiation of cleavage in all instances, and this indicates a probable change in the
microphases with increasing aluminium. The decrease in upper shelf toughness with
increasing aluminium additions, and with the AlzOg addition, at least in weld W33 (figure
2.20), in the metal-cored wires is associated with an increase in the mean inclusion
diameter
50
Literature Review
80
<5!( crysralinilyl
*
F
Upper shall |
Tr¡nútlon t!glon
Ldwôr.h.ll l>90t(
a
cq
È
õ
c
\
a
f
-tn -e0 -40 0 t10 -40.Q -r20 -æ -t0 0

ot Test lenperoluîe,"C b) lesl lenpemlure,?C c) lesl lenperature,"C
80 00
-t
i'
eù
q
'E s
tÈ
o
4
,20 -80 -10 0 +40 -120 -80 -tû 0 ç40 tm -M o

dt fest lenPerature,"( el Íesl ¡enpeloture,"C il Tesl tenperolure,"C
Figure 2.202 Charpy transition curves for metal-cored wire deposits, of various aluminium
and Al2O3 weld metals (7.5 by 10 mm Charpy specimens)
(a) Weld WZZF:AL addition (0.007 7o Ãl);
(b) Weld W24 FeAl addition (0.039 Vo Al);
(c) Weld W25 FeAl addition (0.075 Vo Al);
(d) WeldW26 FeAl addition (0.117 7o Al);
(e) Weld W23 Al2O3 addition (0.039 Vo Al);
(Ð Weld W33 Al2O3 addition (0.021 Vo Al) [120].
51
Literature Review
In the basic flux-cored deposits, the strength increase accompanying the increase in weld
aluminium content was less pronounced, in spite of a higher total aluminium addition'
Cleavage resistance improved as the proportion of acicular ferrite was increased by the
lowest aluminium addition; further increases in aluminium content had a deleterious effect
on both microstructure and cleavage resistance. The lower aluminium addition also
improved upper shelf toughness, but the highest aluminium addition was slightly
detrimental. The addition of AlzO¡ gave a weld with a lower proportion of acicular ferrite
than that with a comparable aluminium level produced with an aluminium addition,
probably because of an associated lower recovery of titanium in the inclusions; there was
a
consequent reduction in cleavage resistance. The AlzO¡ addition had minimal

influence on
upper shelf toughness [120].
powell [121] investigated the effect of metallic-aluminium and alpha-alumina additions on
the microstructure and mechanical properties of a microalloyed rutile weld metal and
found that toughness depends on the form in which aluminium is added to the flux cored
wire. In this case (micro-alloyed rutile) the alpha alumina additions significantly increased
the amount of acicular ferrite and therefore the toughness compared with metallic-
aluminium additions.
2.4.L.1,.6 Effect of Boron
Boron is added to alloy steels in very small amounts, perhaps as little as 0.003 wt.%o, to
increase hardenability. Boron is a very powerful promoter of hardenability on a

weight
percentage basis, but this effect is gained only with amounts of boron below approximately
52
Literature Review
0.010 wf.To. Any boron above this level is ineffective. Therefore, it has become a common
practice to "needle" some alloy steels with a very small addition of boron to obtain
increased hardenability. The benefit derived from this element is often measured and
controlled by means of hardenability testing. Chemical analyses reveal such low levels of
boron in the steel that the correlation between hardenability and boron level is not always
clear
Adding boron to high purity basic flux MMA electrodes [115] caused a substantial lateral
shift of the Charpy-V curves to lower temperatures as shown in figure 2.21' Boron
additions of about 140 ppm were considered optimal. When 35 ppm titanium was present
the addition of boron generally resulted in the displacement of Charpy-V curves to lower
temperatures (figure 2.22) and caused the elimination of grain boundary ferrite and a
change to a bainitic type structure. Several authors have reported that the formation of
grain boundary ferrite can nearly be eliminated by balanced alloying with boron and
titanium ÍI22-l2il. The mechanism for the hardenability of boron was based on the fact
that boron segregates extensively to the prior austenite grain boundaries, whete it reduces
the grain boundary energy t1281. The reduction in grain boundary energy will then
increase the energy barrier to nucleation by lowering the surface free energy ratio
and
therefore suppress the formation of grain boundary ferrite facilitating nucleation on oxide
inclusions 12,129).
53
Literature Review
<5 Tl 30
j to9
(,
CE 20
Lrj 146
z
rU
ts
U
o
É, E
c0 648 cl
É æ t
o
.n 6B ro
dt
1B
B
o o
-ioo -8o-60 -4o o -2o .20
TESÎ TEMPERATURE, "C
Figure 2.212 Flffect of boron on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run basic flux MMA weld
deposits [115]
3 T¡ 30
3
t5 140 B
cÊ
UJ 1t2 B
zt¡¡ 92E¡ 'E
u
o
u¡
338 =
@
É 1
Í CL
o
UI
70ts
10
trl
o o
-100 - go -60 -4O -2O O '2O
.4O
TEST TEMPERATURE, "C
Figure 2.222 Effect of boron with 35 ppm titanium on the Charpy-V curve for multi-run
basic flux MI\{A weld deposits [115].
54
Literature Review
The influence of boron on increasing the proportion of acicular ferrite in weld metal is
minor without a sufficient titanium addition. The influence of titanium was also very small
without sufficient levels of boron. A large volume fraction of acicular ferrite (up to 957o)
can be obtained by maintaining boron and titanium contents between 40-45 ppm and 400-
500ppm, respectively. This is based on a 2.23kJlmm heat input on 25 mm thick
microalloyed steel plate. The decrease in low-temperature toughness with excess boron
and titanium contents can be explained by an increased volume content of upper bainite
t1301.
Optimum concentrations of boron and zirconium additions to low carbon steel weld metals
produced predominantly acicular ferrite microstructures. Boron in weld metal is protected
from oxygen and nitrogen by both zirconium and titanium. Elemental boron hinders the
formation of grain boundary ferrite resulting in increased undercooling of weld metal
austenite, and this promotes the nucleation of fine intragranular acicular ferrite' The
inclusion size distribution in zirconium-containing weld metal was similar to or finer than
that for titanium-containing weld metal. The specific inclusion concentration and size
distribution, with proper protection of weld metal boron, are the primary factors in
achieving high intragranular acicular ferrite contents U311.
2.4.I.1.7 Effect of Nitrogen and Oxygen
Although the reactions with oxygen are the most important from the aspect of properties of
the weld metal, nitrogen also has significant effects on the weld metal properties.
55
Literature Review
The solubility of nitrogen in solid steel undergoes sharp changes as the metal cools,
particularly as the crystalline structure undergoes allotropic transformations. The bcc

oC)
ferrite form of steel just below the Arr (approximately 727 critical temperature is able
to hold only about O.lO 7o nitrogen in interstitial solid solution. Excess nitrogen forms iron
nitride and other complex nitride particles. These particular particles exert only a minimal
influence on mechanical properties. Also, the presence of other alloying elements will
influence the amount of nitrogen that actually is retained in solid solution. Carbon, silicon
and oxygen decrease nitrogen solubility in ferrite; whereas a number of alloying elements,
including chromium, manganese, titanium, zirconium, and vanadium, increase solubility
te0l.
Weld metals from rutile MMAW electrodes usually have high contents of both oxygen and
nitrogen, with nitrogen levels around 200 ppm. This is probably due to comparatively low
amounts of shielding gas generated by this type of coating' Basic-type coatings give
nitrogen contents of around 50 to 100 ppm. In SAW welds, the nitrogen content is the
same as that in the wire [108].
As stated by Kotecki 1132,1331, nitrogen additions are intentionally made to austenitic and
phase
duplex austenitic - ferritic stainless steel deposits, where it has a strong effect on the
balance. However, in the case of C-Mn steel deposits, nitrogen is often, but not
always,
detrimental to properties. Excess nitrogen usually causes porosity, and shielding efficiency
is known to be dependent on electrode type, polarity, coating thickness and the baking
temperature. The lowest nitrogen levels down to 35 ppm have been achieved
experimentally by combining argon protection with a short arc length [134,135]'

56
Literature Review
The effect of oxygen on weld metal microstructure has been discussed by many
researchers t136-1401. The impact toughness is especially dependent on the oxygen
content of the weld metal. Rutile type welds having higher oxygen contents (600 to 1000
ppm by weight) generally produce welds of lower impact toughness. They are usually
tested at 00C. As a consequence of the high oxygen content, rutile-type electrodes have
quite a low manganese content (around 0.5 wt%o), because this gives a lower strain
hardening. With variants that are slightly more basic (ie, rutile-basic), acceptable impact
toughness at-200C can be achieved. Basic electrodes (oxygen content around 300 to 400
ppm) usually have good impact toughness down to at least -400C and sometimes even
lower temperatures. In these types of electrodes higher manganese contents can be used
teel.
Oxygen combines with elements such as silicon and manganese to form slag particles.
These may serve as initiation points for cleavage fracture if retained in the weld metal. The
slag particle content also affects the ductile fracture energy, in that higher amounts lead to
decreased toughness. Oxygen often coprecipitates with sulphur to form oxysulphides. It is
important to prevent sulphur from combining with iron, leading to liquid phase
embrittlement. The oxygen content decreases with an increased basicity index (see figure
2.23) andthis is of the utmost importance, because it creates the possibility of improving
the toughness of weld metals t1411. The most accepted basicity index (BI) is given below:
31= [CaO+CaF2+MgO+K2 O+NazO+LizO+B aO+SrO+ 1 /2(MnO+FeO)l
[S iOz+ 1 /2(AlzO:+TiO 2+ZtO 2]
57
Literature Review
.10
ic
5 .os
o
å
>ì
.06
xo
.g
o,
.0{
E
:6
g .vz
0
0 I 2 3
Basicity index
Figure 2.23z\nftuence of the basicity index on oxygen content [141]
The oxygen content of the weld metal decreases rapidly when going from an acid to a
medium basic slag. When all SiOz is used, no further reduction of the oxygen content
occurs I1411.
For C-Mn steel weld metals, the analytical oxygen content normally falls within the range
calculated for equilibrium with silicon and manganese at 1800 to 1900 oC (see figure
Z.I4).In this range the oxygen concentration arises from the fact that the separation of
deoxidation products from the pool is strongly influenced by the operational conditions
applied. Any change in welding parameters or flux or shielding gas composition, which
alters the fluid flow-field in the weld pool, directly affects the oxygen level. This is done
by moving the zone for possible inclusion removal towards either higher or lower metal
temperatures. Thus, the choice of operational conditions finally determines the degree of
deoxidation that can be achieved I151.

58
Literature Review
plots of inclusion-forming agent vs. hardenability agent can be used to predict the
microstructure of GMA weld metal. For a particular cooling rate that crosses into the grain
boundary ferrite region, changes in composition, which result in an increase in the
manganese or a decrease in the oxide content, will shift the initiation curve as illustrated in
figure 2.24. This can result in the formation of acicular ferrite. Likewise, an acceptable
microstructure from a particular cooling curve can be lost by shifting out of that acceptable
(acicular fenite) region by either increasing the manganese or decreasing the oxide content
into the aligned ferrite or bainite region (figure 2.25). The volume fraction of acicular
ferrite is influenced by the oxygen and carbon dioxide content in the argon cover gas
(figure 2.26) ll42).
low o
Hèat ln m co¡um o
'h¡9h a
0-r9
o -^c
À .AF
O -GB
o.rI
0 r7
0.r6
o
0.r5
0.r¡
0.r3
0. r 2 1,0
t1 1.2 1,3 1-4 1.s
lMn! e'.
Figure 2.242 Dtagram of the derived weld microstructure as a function of the oxide-
forming propensity [o + Si I 4] andthe hardenability (manganese) u421.
59
Literature Review
*
rt
+
o
lMnl 7.
Figure 2.252 Aplot of oxide-forming propensity vs. hardenability lI42l'
It should be noted form the above figure that either an increase in hardenability or a
decrease in oxide-forming propensity will shift from an acceptable microstructure to one
of aligned carbide ll42l.
60
Literature Review
Figure 2.262 Photomicrographs of various ferrite morphologies in weld metal ll42l
The figure 2.26 shows (a) photomicrograph showing blocky, grain boundary ferrite weld
metal. This weld was made at 25Y and 3904 using argon plus 757o carbon dioxide,
ER70S-6 welding wire and a 7.5- in./min travel speed. (b) Photomicrograph showing
Widmanstatten side plates growing from the prior austenite grain boundary' This
6l
Literature Review
microstructure was produced by welding at 25V, 3804 and using ER70S-6 weld wire,
argon plus 37o oxygen cover gas and 7.5 in./min travel speed' (c) and (d)
photomicrographs showing coarse and fine acicular ferrite weld metal. Both welds were
produced using 25v and 3804. Weld c was produced using argon p]rus 3vo oxygen'
ER70S-3 welding wire and 15 in./min travel speed. The fine structure in weld D was
produced using argon plus 237o carbon dioxide, ER70S-6 welding wire and 30in./min
travel speed. (e) Photomicrograph showing the microstructure described as aligned carbide
or upper bainite. The weld was made at 25Y and 3904 using argon plus 23Vo carbon
dioxide and ER70S-3 welding wire. The travel speed was 15 in'/min ll42l'
2.5 Summary
The addition of alloying elements to iron to accomplish a desired improvement in
properties may require only a few tenths of one percent of the element' Sometimes
improved properties are gained by a stringent reduction of a harmful element that may
have previously been tolerated as a residual element. This is a relatively new approach in
alloying technology, which can be credited with improving welding consumables.
The austenite to cr-ferrite transformation behaviour is mainly affected by non-metallic
inclusions, alloy additions, cooling rate and prior austenite grain size. Acicular ferrite
usually nucleates on inclusions present in the columnar austenite grains, which stimulates
other acicular ferrite plates to nucleate autocatalytically. Particles of titanium oxides and
nitrides are most likely to nucleate acicular ferrite.
62
Literature Review
published work relating to the influence of alloy additions on microstructural and
mechanical properties of weld metal from gas-shielded welding processes has been
reviewed. This revealed that detailed knowledge of the influence of alloying and
microalloying elements on the weld microstructure and mechanical properties from these
processes lags well behind that available for other welding processes, such as manual
metal arc welding and submerged arc welding.
From this literature review, it is apparent that significant gaps exist in the detailed
knowledge of the influence of alloying and microalloying on weld metal microstructure
and mechanical properties for these processes. The purpose of the current investigation is
to address this lack of information.
63
Experimental Procedure
Chapter 3. Experimental Procedure
3.L Manufacture of Special Wires
For the present investigation, special metal-cored wires were manufactured. Figure 3.1 shows
the schematic diagram of the metal-core wire manufacturing process, while figure 3.2 shows the
CSIRO MST wire mill, capable of producing small batches of cored wires for welding. Figure
3.3 shows the cross-section of a metal-core welding wire produced using the CSIRO MST wire
mill
The sheath material was cold-rolled mild steel of approximate composition 0'O57o carbon,
0.22Vo manganese , 0.OlVo silicon and O.0l57o aluminium. Core ingredients used included iron
powder, silico-manganese, ferro-silicon, electrolytic manganese, titanium metal, aluminium
metal and ferro-boron powders. All of these were commercial powders normally used for arc
welding consumable manufacture. The wires were manufactured with a nominal core weight to
total wire weight of 2l/o and were drawn to a final diameter of 1.6 mm.
64
To calculate the final chemical composition of the weld metal for a given welding condition, the
following procedure was used:
(a) The metal transfer coefficient for each metal was determined using;
Xwplovrntnl T Xwrnr (3.1)

=
t = Metal Transfer Coefficient
X= wt Vo oïalloy
(b) The cofe composition of each alloying element was determined using;
Xwrnn= f Xconn + (1-ÐXsrrup (3.2)
f= Fill Ratio (2l%o)
After calculating the wt%o alloy needed in the core for each alloy, the wire was manufactuted,
the weld metal deposited and its chemical composition checked. When the desired composition
had been achieved a test plate was welded to confirm the analysis.
The content of the cores in the initial series of wires was varied to yield deposited weld metals
containing nominally 0.35, 0.6 and 0.8 wt.7o silicon. At each of these silicon levels different
amounts of manganese were added to the core to produce three nominal levels of manganese in
the deposited weld metals, l.l, 1.4 and 1.6 wt.Vo manganese. In addition, the weld metal carbon
content was maintained at a nominal level of O.O5 wt.%o, for all wires.
õ5
Whilst maintaining the manganese and silicon content of the wires constant to yield weld metal
containing nominally O.6O wt.%o silicon and I.34 wt.Vo manganese, different amounts of
titanium, aluminium and boron were added to the core to produce eight levels of titanium, in the
ranges 0.005 to 0.095 wt.To, six levels of aluminium, 0.013 to 0.065 wt.Vo and six levels of
boron, 0.0005 to 0.018 wt.Vo, in the deposited weld metals.
Finally to study the combined effect of titanium and boron, a titanium-boron series of wires was
manufactured. In this series, three levels of titanium 0.0054, 0.0230 and 0.0458 wt.To were
studied. For each level of titanium two levels of boron 0.0005 and 0.0100Vo were used. Carbon,
manganese and silicon levels were nominally constant at 0.04 to 0.05 wt.%o, I.26 to 1.49 wt'To
and 0.58 to 0.68 wt.7o respectively. The levels of the remaining metallic elements were
relatively low and constant throughout the series.
66
Strip rêel
Flux hopper -\\
Flux poured
ål this poin:
"U" formÍng rolls
Draw die
"U" closing rolls
Heel with formed êlectrode
Figure 3.1: Schematic diagram of the metal-core wire manufacturing process
67
Figure 3.2(a) Sheath forming rolls
l :,
Figure 3.2(b) Core metal powder feeder with electronic feed controller
68
Figure 3.2(c) Closing rolls.
Figure 3.2(d) Reducing rolls.
69
i
i
i
Figure 3.2(e) Three hydraulic power rollers to pull the wire'
Figures 3.2: Photographs (a)-(e) of CSIRO MST wire mill, for production of small batches of
cored wires for welding.
70
Figure 3.3: Cross-section of a metal-core welding wire produced using the CSIRO MST wire
mill
71
3.2 Welding Procedure
The joint geometry shown in figure 3.4 (b) was used for all test-plates as this allowed a welding
(figure 3'4
sequence comprising of three beads per layer to be used, as shown in the macrograph
(a)). This permitted the placement of the notch in the impact specimens at the centre of the
The
middle bead where their was approximately 607o as-welded and 407o reheated weld metal.
pafent plate material was AS Grade 250 steel. Figure 3.5 shows micrographs of the base
material used for all trials (etched inZVo nital) [143].
Welding was done in the flat position (lG) under mechanised conditions. The total number
of
passes required to fill the individual joints was 15. Direct current electrode positive was used
with a welding current of 3004 and a welding voltage of 30V. Heat-input was nominally 1'5
kJ/mm. The shielding gas used was argon with 57o CO2. The inter-pass temperature
was
oC.
standardised at 150
72
\ I
20 mm I
(a)
(b)
Figure 3.42 (a) Schematic diagram of a test-plate section showing the position of impact
specimens and (b) macrograph of test-plate section showing bead placement and showing
location of the impact specimen and the notch. Point count shows approximately 6o%o as-welded
and.407o reheated weld metal exists in the notch area'
73
(a) tow magnification
(b) higher magnification
Figure 3.5: Micrographs of AS Grade 250 steel base material (etched in27o nital)
74
3.3 Weld Composition
Chemical analyses of the all-weld-metal deposits were carried out with an optical emission
spectrometer. The vanadium, titanium, aluminium and boron contents of the experimental welds
were determined to four decimal places so that small variations could be detected. Oxygen and
nitrogen levels in the weld metal were determined using a Leco TC136 analyser.
3.4 Mechanical Testing
The impact toughness of each weld metal was assessed by the Cha.py V-notch (CVN) test
(as
per AS154 4.2 and. A52205.7 .l). The (10x10mm) cvN specimens were orientated transverse to
the welding direction and notched on the weld centre line with the notch axis perpendicular to
the plate surface. Tests were carried out at -60, -40, -20, O, and 20oC in order to obtain a
transition curve for each weld. Three specimens were tested at each temperature and the mean
absorbed energy c alcul ated.
An all-weld metal tensile test was carried out (as per 452205.2.2) on a tensile specimen of
10mm gauge diameter and 60mm gauge length extracted from each weld with the longitudinal
axis of the specimen parallel to the longitudinal axis of the weld. These specimens were aged at
25Oocfor 16 hours for hydrogen removal, prior to testing.
't5
3.5 Metallography
Transverse sections were prepared and detailed examination was carried out on the top beads
and on the adjacent reheated zones. The specimens were mechanically polished to a lpm
diamond finish and weld metal microstructure revealed by etching in a 27o nital solution. The
volume fraction of the different micro-constituents in each sample was obtained from point
counts on more than 1000 points, using the IIW Guidelines (see figure 3.6) t711. The prior
austenite grain sizes were determined (as per 451733-1976) by means of the mean linear
intercept technique for all welds as were the lath widths of the acicular ferrite.
76
14Q2
. )-ì
oP367 |
r .¡ll-
Kev
PF Fr¡màry lerrite
PF(G) Gråin boundary ferrite
PFtr) lnlragranular polygonal ferr¡lê
AF Acicular lêrrite
Ës(Al Fèrrite w¡th aligned second Þhase
FS(NA) Ferrite with non-aligned second
phase
FC Ferrìte carbide aggregâte
(¡ncludes pearl¡tel
M Martèns¡le
,2oPA
As-depos¡ted weld n¡crostructurcs showing the

various microstructural const¡tuents. oL3096
Figure 3.6: International Institute of Welding scheme for the classification of microstructures
in C-Mn weld metals [71].
77
3.6 Study of Inclusions
The size distribution and composition of non-metallic inclusions in polished specimens of the
as-deposited weld metal were examined, using an SEM-based automatic image analyser.
Inclusion size distributions were measured with a PHILIPS XL2O scanning electron microscope,
with facilities for automatic image analysis (AIA), particle sizing and chemical analysis' The
methods used were in line with those detailed in ll44l. The AIA unit incorporates a computer
interfaced digital beam control system and a software-based energy dispersive X-ray analysis
system (EDAX) for micro-analysis. In the present investigation, a magnification of 10,000X, an
accelerating voltage of 15kV, a grid point spacing of 0.02 pm and a working distance between 8
and 10 mm were used.
78
Influence of Manganese and Siticon on Weld Metal Properties
Chaptet 4.Influence of Manganese and Silicon on
Weld Metal Properties
4.1 Introduction
Gas-shielded flux cored arc welding (FCAW-G) is a widely used welding process because
of its ease of use, high productivity and versatility. The main types of gas-shielded FCAW-
G wires available are rutile-flux, basic-flux and metal-cored. Of these, metal-cored wires
are popular for joining steels of thickness greater than about 3 mm because they offer a
high deposition rate with semi-automatic or mechanised processes and give weld beads of
good shape and minimal slag formation t1451. The core ingredients of metal-cored wires
essentially consist of the required alloying powders (often present as ferro-alloys) and iron
powder.
The applications for which metal-cored wires are suited often require premium weld metal
mechanical properties in multi-pass welds. It is therefore important that the influence of
alloying additions on mechanical properlies of welds from such wires should be well
understood so optimum wires can be produced for this high productivity process'
79
Influence of Manganese and Silicon on Weld Metal Properties
There is however only limited information available in the literature regarding the
influence of alloy additions in the metal-cored arc welding system. That information which
is available deals mainly with the influence of low levels of single elements, such as
aluminium t1201. This is in contrast to the detailed information available for other arc
welding systems, such as manual metal arc welding (MMAW) and submerged arc welding
1146l.
This chapter reports on a study of the influence of the major alloying/deoxidising
elements, manganese and silicon, on the mechanical properties of weld metal from
specially prepared metal-cored wires. The microstructural features of the welds have also
been examined in order to better understand the relationship between alloy level and
mechanical properties. The results are not only applicable to the metal-cored system but
also have some applicability to the solid wire gas metal arc welding (GMA'W) process
since only metallic additions were made to the wires.
4.2 Results
4.2.1 Weld Metal ComPositions
The chemical compositions of the all-weld-metal deposits studied are given in table 4'1.
Carbon was essentially maintained at a constant level between 0.04 to O-O\wt%o.
Manganese and silicon levels were varied between 0.98 and l.66wt7o and 0"34 and
O.84wt7o respectively" The levels of the remaining metallic elements were relatively low
80
and constant throughout the series with titanium being 0.004 to 0.006wt7o and aluminium
being 0.012 to 0.016wtVo.The oxygen levels in the welds were relatively constant and
were all in the range 0.042 to 0.057wt7o. Oxygen level did not appear to be strongly
dependent on manganese and silicon in the ranges tested although the highest oxygen did
correspond to the lowest manganese and silicon.
Only the nitrogen level found in the welds appeared to vary unexpectedly between the test-
plates. Most of the nitrogen values were in the range 0.004 to 0.01wt% which is
considered normal for this type of weld and process. Three nitrogen values however were
above O.OIwtVo and are considered high for this process.
81
Table 4.1. Weld metal compositions (wt 7o).
Si Mn C S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.009 001 8 o.o2 0.01 <00 I 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0040 0.0120 <0.0005 0.0570 0.0160
o.34 0.98 0.05
0.0 i 7 0.01 <0. 01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0051 0.0139 <0.0005 0.0430 0.0041
o.34 t.4 0.0s 0.009 o.o2
1.50 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.03 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0067 <0.01 0.0050 0.0t23 | <0.0005 0.0550 0.0063
0.39 I
0.0 I 6 0.014 0.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0100 |I <0.01 0.0066 o.0162 <0.0005 0 0500 0.0090
o.34 r.62 0.05
----1
I
I
<0.01 0.01 0.0063 <0.01 0.0045 0.0134 <0.0005 0.0470 0.0057

o.51 I 0.04 0.007 0.016 0.02 0.01
0.04 0.007 0.016 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.005 0.0140 <0.0005 0.0420 0.0106
0.61 r.27
0.0i4 0.0i <0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.01 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
0.64 r.34 0.04 0.0r2 0.02
0.007 0.016 0.02 0.0r <0.0i 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0060 0.0148 <0.0005 0.0480 0.0098
0.s7 r.64 0.04
I
I I
I
I { I
0.05 0 009 ¡
0.017 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0059 0.0158 I
<0.0005 0.0440 0.0080
0.8 I.2L I
I
I
I
+------
0.05 0.014 00 L7 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0080 <0.01 0.0060 0.0130 <0.0005 0.0480 0.0116
82
4.2.2 Mechanical Properties
4.2.2.1 Tensile Properties
The tensile test data are presented in table 4.2. The measured yield strengths varied
between 460 and 550 MPa while tensile strengths varied between 500 and 600 MPa and
elongations were between 14 and3O7o.
Table 4.2. Weldmetal tensile properties
Silicon Manganese Yield Strength (MPa) Tensile Strength (MPa) Elongation (7o)
Vo Vo
0.34 0.98 469
0.34 t.4 473
0.39 r.50 499 54r
0.34 r.62 519 573
0.51 1 459 504
o.67 t.27 52r 574
0 .64 r.34 501 557
0.51 t.64 549 588
0.8 1.2t 510 574
0.84 r.66 531 601
A comparison of the weld compositions with strength levels in the 3x3 matrix of
manganese and silicon, suggests the highest and lowest strengths generally correspond to
83
the highest and lowest manganese and silicon values in the matrix. This is borne out by
conducting multiple linear regression analyses on the variation of yield strength (YS) and
tensile strength (TS) with manganese and silicon levels in the welds. The analysis gave the
following equations
YS = 82Mn + 67Si +355 (MPa) (4.1)
TS = 77Mn + 101Si +395 (MPa) (4.2)
The Coefficients of Determination (r2 values) were 0.76 and 0.82 respectively indicating
that the fit between strength values and manganese and silicon levels was reasonable. This
fit was only improved marginally if weld metal nitrogen level was included in the
regresslon.
Table 4.2 also shows that most of the elongation results are above 25%o and are thus quite
high. Three elongation values are however in the range L4 to 217o. These low values do
not appear to be related to either alloy level or strength level of the deposits and may be
caused by chance local defects like slag inclusion or porosity within the gauge length of
the tensile specimens.
4.2.2.2 CVN Impact Results
The variations of mean CVN energy with test temperature for the various weld manganese
levels at weld silicon levels of nominally O.35wt7o, O.6wt7o and O'8wt%o are plotted in
84
figure 4.1 (a), (b) and (c) respectively. Atthe lowest silicon level (figure a.1 (a)) the upper
shelf CVN energies are relatively insensitive to manganese content except for the highest
manganese weld where this value is significantly lower. The temperatures at which 100J
CVN values are achieved (T100J values) were best, at around -40oC, for welds with 1.4
and 1.62wt7o manflanese and slightly worse, at approximately -30oC, for the welds with
0.98 and \.45wtfto manganese. The lower shelf energy, or at least the energy at -60oC, was
lowest for the weld with O98wt7o manganese and highest for the weld with I.62wt7o
manganese. Overall, the best impact properties at this silicon level were achieved with a
weld manganese content of l.4wt7o although the differences were not large.
Differences in CVN properties with weld manganese are more distinct at weld silicon
levels of nominally 0.6wt7o (see figure 4.1 (b)). The highest upper shelf energy occurred
with the lowest weld manganese value. The T100J values were considerably better for the
welds containing 1.34 and l.64wt7o manganese compared to those for the welds with
lower manganese (-45 to -40oC compared to -15 to -10'C). The best overall impact
properties at this silicon level were achieved with 1.34wt%o man$anese'
Figure a.1 (c) shows the impact properties recorded for weld silicon values of nominally
Q.8wt%o.In this case the impact energies for the weld with the lower manganese level were
clearly improved over the whole temperature range compared to those from the high
manganese weld. The T100J values, for example, were -30 and +10oC for the two welds. It
should be noted however that, even for the lower manganese level, the upper shelf energy
was not as high and the T100J was not as low as those achieved at lower silicon level.
85
Influence of Manganese and Silicon on rileld Metal Properties
300
a Mn 0.980/o
t Mn 1.4o/o
250
A Mn 1.50%
O Mn'1.62o/o
(Mn 0.98%)
200
o -'- -Poly. (Mn 1.4%)
r -Poty.Poly. (Mn 1.507o) T
Poly. (Mn 1
z. 150
o
Ê
G
o
100
=
50
0
-80 -60 40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (c)
(a) 0.35wt% silicon
300
a Mn 1.0%
I Mn 1.27o/o
250
A Mn 1.34%
a Mn 1.64% I
^ 200
(Mn 1.0%)
- -'-Poly. (Mn1.27o/o) I
c -Poty.
- - - Poly. (Mn 1.34%)
r
z
o
150
Poly. (Mn 1.64%)
t
Ê
G
t)
E 1oo a
I
c
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (C)
(b) 0.6wt% silicon
86
Influence of Mânganese and Silicon on Weld Metal Properties
300
a Mn 1.2o/o
250 I Mn 1.66%
Poty. ( Mn 1.2%)
Poly. ( Mn 1.66%)
I 200 -
c
E
z 150
o
t!
o
= 1oo
50
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Têmperature (C)
(c) 0.8wt% silicon
Figure 4.1: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature and manganese
content for weld metals at different silicon contents.
4.2.3 Wetd Metal Microstructure
Area measurements from cross-sections of welds such as figure 3.a@) indicated that the
region of the weld from which mechanical test specimens þarticularly CVN specimens)
were extracted contained approxim ately 600/o as-deposited and 40Yo reheated weld
metal.
Area fractions of acicular ferrite (AF), ferrite with second phase (FS) and grain boundary
ferrite (pF(G) were determined in as-deposited regions of the top layer from each weld.
87
While reheated region below the top bead were used for comparing the grain size of
reheated region
plots of the variation of percentage area of AF, FS and PF with weld manganese level for
weld silicon levels of 0.35, 0.6 and 0.8wt7o are shown in figure 4'2 (a), (b) and (c)
respectively. These graphs show that area of AF tends to increase with manganese level in
each case. The increase in AF with manganese level was more noticeable at higher silicon
levels (0.6 and Q.8wtfto silicon) where it increased from 5O7o to 687o as the manganese
level increased from 1.0 to I.8wtfto. Across all welds the amount of AF only varied
between 50 and 68Vo so the effect was relatively small. However, when the area of AF is
plotted against weld manganese value, as shown in figure 4.3 the area of AF increases
relatively linearly with manganese for all of the welds. The increase in area of AF with
manganese appeared to be largely independent of silicon level (as shown in figure 4.4).
88
100
80
ñ
tr
o
o
960
E
o
o
E
5
o^
J
o
o
.9
= 20
0
0.98 1.5 1.62
Manganese in Weld Metal, wt%
(a) 0.4wt7o silicon
100
80
ñ
ç,
o
tr Ferrite with
o
960
È
P
o
o
tú
¿
340
o
o
.9
icular
= 20
0
1 1.27 1.34 1.64
Manganese in Weld Metal, wtTo
(b) O.6wt7o silicon
89
100
Primary
80
s
tr
o
tr Ferrite with
o
9oo
tr
econd Phas
oo
õ
:t
340
o
o
icular
.9
= 20
0
1.21 1.66
Manganese in Weld Metal, wf/o
(c ) 0.8wt7o silicon.
Figure 4.2: Variation of the proportions of ferrite morphologies as a function of
manganese contents in as-deposited weld metal at different silicon levels.
90
75
a AF (% area)
I
70 (AF (% area))
I
-Poly.
65
T
-o
o\ I I
860
o I
o
o
L
<55
lt
I
50
45
40
0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 't.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
Weld Mn (wt %)
Figure 4.3: Variation of the proportion of acicular ferrite (AF) with weld metal
manganese content across all silicon levels.
80
70
I I
60
I I
rO
îì
E
so I
tú
ã+o
I
Í.0 O AF (area %)
20 (AF (area %))
-Poly.
10
0
0 o.2 o.4 0.6 0.8 1
Weld Si(wt%)
Figure 4.42 Yanation of the proportion of acicular ferrite (AF) with weld metal silicon
content across all manganese levels.
9l
Figure 4.2 also shows that at all silicon levels the area of FS is relatively constant, ranging
from l0 to l;wtTo regardless of manganese level. The area of PF therefore decreases with
manganose level over the approximate range 35 to 20wt7o at all silicon levels.
In addition to these measurements of the area of the ferrite morphologies, measurements
were also made of the prior austenite grain size and of the mean lath width of acicular
ferrite. Prior austenite grain size was found to vary little over the manganese and silicon
range tested as all of the measurements were in the range 135 to 150pm. The lower values
in this range did however tend to correspond with higher silicon levels' The values of AF
lath width obtained together with the corresponding weld silicon and manganese values are
listed in table 4.3. These show that AF lath width generally decreases with manganese
level, although this decrease is not regular, and shows little dependence on silicon level.
Regions which had been reheated to above the upper critical temperature consisted
essentially of equiaxed ferrite. Table 4.3 lists the mean grain size measurements made in
these reheated regions. This suggests that the reheated grain size generally decreases as
both the manganese and silicon levels increase.
92
lnfluence of Manganese and Silicon on Weld Metal Properties
Table 4.3: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes.
Si Mn Acicular Ferrite Lath Width Grain Size of Reheated Zone

7o Vo (Pm) (pm)
0.34 0.98 3.03 10.00
o.34 1.4 2.r7 5.7 t

0.39 1.50 2.10 5;7 r
0.34 t.62 2.56 1.35
o.57 1 3.45 1.ß

0.67 1.27 2.34 5.56
o.64 1.34 2.86 5. l3

0.51 r.64 2.22 4.88
I
I
I
0.8 t.2I 2.34 6.06
0.84 t.66 2.22 4.55
93
4.2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions
Table 4.4 lists the details of the non-metallic inclusions, including number per unit
volume, mean three dimensional diameters and percentage with diameter equal or larger
than lpm for each weld, as measured using the SEM with automated image analyser. The
number of inclusions per mm3 and the mean diameter only vary over small ranges for the
manganese and silicon levels tested and there is little dependence of these parameters on
manganese or silicon values. The percentage of larger inclusions, although varying
between I and3.57o, appears to be independent of manganese or silicon level.
Mean non-metallic inclusion compositions, as measured using energy dispersive X-ray
analysis in an SEM, are also listed in table 4.4. Inclusions in this wire, with varying
manganese and silicon contents, have at least four major components MnO, SiO2, Al2O3
and TiOz. Mean non-metallic inclusion compositions indicate that there are no major
changes in composition of inclusions with weld metal manganese or silicon level. The
level of MnO in (MnO.SiOz) inclusion increase slightly with an increase in weld
manganese at the expense of inclusion SiOz level but the changes are small. There is little
evidence of any change in AlzO: or TiOz level'
94
Table 4.4: Non-metallic inclusions
Weld Si WeldMn Number/ Mean 3D Percent > Composition of Inclusions (wt%o)
Contents Contents Cubic mm Dia (pm) lpmDia SiOz MnO At2o3 Tio2
wt%o wt%o (x 107)
0.34 0.98 7.98 0.46 r.25 35.8 43.1 12.2 3.6
0.34 1.5 9.89 0.39 t.25 29.6 45.8 15.3 3.7
0.39 r.62 8.8 0.46 J 32.r 54 9.1 4.4
0.5'7 I 5.39 0.54 35.7 35.3 2r.2 4.4
o.6'l r.27 8.91 0.43 1.25 32.6 4t.r r7.1 4.7
0.64 1.34 4.86 0.58 3.5 34.5 46.1 I4.t 3.8
o.57 r.64 6.17 0.51 2 3r.4 45.3 15.2 3.8
0.8 r.2l 1.56 0.49 JJ 39.3 t8.2 5.5
0.84 r.66 7.4 0.49 2 33.9 40.6 t7 3.6
95
4.3 Discussion
4.3.1 Weld Metal Tensile Properties
Both yield strength and tensile strength increase in a regular manner with weld manganese
and silicon levels as indicated by equations (4.1) and (4.2). This essentially linear increase
in weld strength levels with manganese and silicon has been observed previously for other
arc welding processes such as MMAW [7,9].
The most likely explanation of the behaviour of yield and tensile strengths lies in the
general decrease in effective grain size, over both as-deposited and reheated regions, with
an increase in manganese and silicon. In the as-deposited weld metal not only does the
proportion of the fine grained AF increase, particularly with manganese level (see figure
4.2)butthe lath size of this AF also decreases with manganese and silicon levels as shown
in table 4.3.In addition, the grain size of the reheated regions was also found to decrease
with manganese and silicon (see table 4.3).
4.3.2 Weld Metal Impact Properties
In order to gain an overall view of the influence of weld manganese and silicon levels on
the low temperature impact properties, the T100J values obtained from figure 4.1 have
been plotted against manganese and silicon values (figure 4.5). Figure 4'5 shows that
96
although there is somo variability in the results, a pattern is apparent. A zone of manganese
and silicon values exists between approximately 0.3 to 0.65wt7o silicon and 1'3 to l-6wtVo
manganese in which the premium impact properties are obtained with the best T100J value
occurring at around 0.6wt7o silicon and l.3wtVo manganese. A zone of intermediate level
impact properties occurs at manganese values less than l.3wt%o over the whole rango of
silicon values while the worst impact values occur in the high silicon - high manganese
corner of the diagram. This information is valuable for the design of consumables as it
defines a weld composition zone for optimum impact properties. It is also worth
commenting that the impact properties obtained from these special metal cored wires with
weld compositions in this zone are generally better than those from commercial metal
cored wires of similar strength level [9].
1.7
o
o 14
1.6 -40
-42 Poor
Good
1.5
o
a -26
1.4 o -45
=
co
c
o 1.3
o
tr
-10
=
I 1.2 -27
o
=
1.1 lntermediate
-14
o
o
0.9
0.3 o.4 0.5 0.6 o.7 0.8 0.9
Weld Si content (wt%)
Figure 4.5. Plot showing the T100J values as a function of weld metal manganese and
silicon contents
97
An explanation of these impact results in terms of the microstructural, or non-metallic
inclusion observations is more complex. The microstructural features which are most
frequently said to be related to low temperature impact properties include the proportion of
AF in as-deposited regions [89]; the lath size of the AF t1a7l; the proportion of reheated
material and the grain size in the reheated regions. In terms of inclusions, those features
which are frequently said to relate to impact properties include indirectly, inclusions
suitable for the nucleation of AF [116], and directly, the size distribution of inclusions as
larger ones tend to initiate cleavage fracture I1481.
In the present case, the proportion of AF can only partly account for the observed impact
properties. The AF proportion tends to increase with manganese level (see figure 4.3) so
there is some corïelation with T100J. However AF only changes \ /ithin a narro\ry range
and the highest AF values are obtained at the highest manganese and silicon values where
impact properties are poorest. Such observations have been made previously 19, I49l
where it has been suggested that silicon in particular increases the amount of microphases
present in both as-deposited and reheated regions leading to a decrease in cleavage
reststance.
Lath size in the AF was found to generally decrease with alloy, particularly manganese
level (see table 4.3), so that again the correlation with T100J value is at best partial since
the smallest lath size occurs at the highest manganese and silicon contents where impact
properties are poorest.
The proportion of reheated material is nominally constant for this series of trials so this
should not influenco the impact results. As shown in table 4.3 the grain size in reheated
98
zones did decrease'with manganese and silicon levels. This grain size does not show a
good corïelation with impact properties however as the finest grain size corresponds with
the poorest impact ProPerties.
Another factor which can influence impact properties in some instances is the weld metal
nitrogen level [150]. There were significant differences in this level between welds in
these trials (see table 4.2). Comparison of the weld nitrogen values with the weld impact
properties as summarised in figure 4.4 gives mixed signals regarding the significance of
the affect. For example, two welds with silicon levels of about O.35wt%o and manganese
levels of about I. wt%o gave very similar T100J values (-40 and -42'C) even though the
nitrogen levels are 0.004 and 0.009wtVo. On the other hand, two welds with similar silicon
and manganese values of approximately 0.657o and L.3wt%o, and nitrogen levels of 0'005
and 0.0l lwtfto, gave T100J values of -45 and -10oC respectively. The question of the
importance of nitrogen level on impact properties in this instance is therefore not fully
answered and should be further investigated.
The data on non-metallic inclusion populations within the welds, as listed in table 4'4, do
not appear to show any trends which indicate an effect on impact properties as the values
obtained appear to vary randomly within small ranges. Similarly, the composition of these
inclusions does not appear to provide a relationship to the impact properties since these
also appear to vary randomly within tight ranges. Except for the number density of
inclusions with diameter>lpm, which shows an increase with increasing manganese
content for all silicon levels in the weld metal as shown in figure 4.6. The N>lpm values
99
were calculated from the product of overall number density and the percentage with
diameter greater than lPm values
30
25
a N > 1um
(N > 1um)
I
-Poly.
^20
rO
o
x I
C
815 Jt
.9
l¡
o
f I
=10 T
l
5
0
0.75 0.95 1.15 1.35 1.55 1.75
Weld Mn (wt%)
Figure 4.6: Number density of inclusions with diameter > lpm as a function of increase in
manganese for all silicon levels in the weld metal
It is known that non-metallic inclusions play two distinct roles in weld metals. Smaller
inclusions, of around 0.4pm in diameter, have been identified as efficient nucleation sites
for AF t151]" Larger inclusions, of l¡rm or greater diameter, have been shown to be
initiation sites for cleavage fracture [152] which is the main fracture mode for impact at
low temperatures.
100
The premium low temperature impact properties were obtained with manganese contents
between 1.3 and l.6wt7o, provided the silicon level was less than about 0.7wt7o while
poorer impact properties were found with manganese contents less than l'3wÍ7o and high
manganese and silicon contents. The main features of the observed low temperature
impact behaviour may, to a reasonable extent in the case of manganese and silicon, be
explained on the basis of the interaction between following factors:
f . increase in both yield strength and tensile strength with weld manganese and
silicon levels;
2. the proportion of PF decreasing;

3. the proportion of AF increasing;
4. decrease in AF lath size;
5. decrease in re-heated grain size; and,
6. the number density of large inclusions increasing'
With decrease in the proportion of PF associated with increase in the proportion of AF
with increase in manganese and silicon in weld metal and also continuous refinement of
AF lath size and re-heated grain size with increase in alloying, the low temperature impact
properties may be expected to be continually improved over the range of alloying'
The inclusions with diameter greater than l¡rm (N >lpm) at all manganese and silicon
level will also be present in the 4O7o reheated region and could adversely affect the T100J
temperature. Another factor that undoubtedly influence weld metal impact properties is
101
increasing weld metal strength, which generally has a deleterious effect on impact
properties.
Consequently, while low temperature impact properties may be expected to be continually
improved by lower proportion of PF, higher levels of AF and refinement of AF lath size
and re-heated grain size, this effect is offset by an increase in both yield strength and
tensile strength and the increased number of the large inclusions in the weld metal
available to nucleate and propagate the cleavage fracture.
These observations suggest that low manganese contents did not result in sufficient AF
and grain refinement to give optimum low temperature impact properties. High manganese
and silicon contents resulted in high values of both inclusions (N>lpm) and weld strength
thus degrading the impact properties. The optimum levels as shown in figure 4.5 occur at
manganese contents between 1.3 and l.6wt7o, and the silicon level less than about 0.7wt7o.
to2
Influence of Titanium and Aluminum on \ileld Metal Properties
Chapter 5. Influence of Titanium and Aluminium
on Weld Metal Properties
5.l lntroduction
In the previous chapter the influence of manganese and silicon levels on weld metal
properties in this metal-cored system concluded that the low temperature impact properties
are optimum when manganese is between l.3wt%o and l.6wt7o and silicon is between
03wt7o and 0.6wt7o. Abson [120] studied the effect of aluminum on metal-cored wires
and observed changes in strength and microstructure. In this instance cleavage resistance
changed little with the lowest aluminum additions, before decreasing with the highest
aluminum addition, aluminum additions were generally detrimental to upper-shelf fracture
toughness.
Observations from other arc welding processes indicate that acicular ferrite in as-
deposited regions has a major influence on weld mechanical properties and that the
formation of acicular ferrite depends on micro-alloy/de-oxidant additions, most notably
aluminum and titanium tl53l. Evans [115] investigated the effects of titanium and
aluminum micro-alloying on toughness for multi-pass basic flux MMA weld deposits.
103
Influence of Titanium and Aluminum on Weld Metal Properties
Titanium was found to be the most effective element for enhancing the toughness of as-
welded deposits. However adding aluminum powder when 0.0035wt%o titanium was
present degraded toughness at all aluminium levels higher than 0.008wt7o.
Non-metallic inclusions can have either a beneficial or detrimental effect on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of the weld metal [154]. The major beneficial
effect of inclusions is the nucleation of acicular ferrite. However larger inclusions may
promote fracture by providing nucleation sites for cleavage cracking in the weld metal
[148,155,156].
This chapter reports a study of the influence of titanium and aluminum on the mechanical
properties of weld metal from specially prepared metal-cored wires in which the major
alloying/deoxidising elements, manganese and silicon, were kept nominally constant at the
optimum level for this system as found in the previous chapter. The microstructural
features of the welds have been examined to provide a better understanding of the
relationship between alloy level and mechanical properties. The results are not only
applicable to the metal-cored system but also have some applicability to the solid wire gas
metal arc welding (GMAW) process since only metallic additions were made to the wires.
to4
5.2 Results
5.2.L Weld Metal ComPositions
The chemical compositions of the all-weld-metal deposits studied are given in table 5.1 for
the titanium series and in table 5.2 for the aluminum series. Carbon, manganese and
silicon levels were nominally constant at O.04wt7o to O.O6wt7o, IJíwt%o to 1.38wt7o and
O.52wt7o to 0.77wt7o respectively. The levels of the remaining metallic elements were
relatively low and constant throughout the series. In the titanium series, titanium was
varied between 0.005wt7o and 0.094wt7o whlle in the aluminum series, aluminum was
varied between 0.0I3wt7o and 0.064wt%o.For the titanium series, the oxygen levels in the
welds decreased from 0.053wtTo to 0.038wt7o as the titanium level increased, while for the
aluminum series oxygen level was relatively constant and were all in the range O-O53wt7o
and 0.065wt7o.
The nitrogen levels found in the welds of both the titanium and aluminum series were
essentially constant. Most of the nitrogen values were in the range O.\O4wt%o to 0.008wt7o
which is considered normal for this type of weld and procoss. One nitrogen value however
was above O.\lwt%o and is considered high for the process.
105
Table 5.1: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) with varying titanium levels.
r.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.01 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 o.oo47
0.64
0.05 0.008 0.015 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.010 0.0059 <0.01 o.ol24 0.0t32 <0.0005 0.0450 0.0040
0.55 1.30
0.013 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.01 0.0273 o.or42 <0.0005 0.0420 0.0054
0.58 r.26 0.05 0.011
0.05 0.011 0.013 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0066 <0.01 0.0458 II 0.0111 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0037
0.66 1.38
0.010 o.oL2 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.0588 0.0161 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0070
0.56 r.24 0.05
0.013 0.014 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.08s2 0.0147 <0.0005 0.0400 0.0038
0.60 r.32 0.05
o.012 0.01 0.01 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.0910 0.0164 <0.0005 0.0400 0.0080
0.63 r.2'l 0.05 0.012 0.02
0.06 0.011 0.0r2 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.0940 0.0132 | <O.OOOS 0.0430 0.0130
0.63 r.21
106
Table 5.2: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) with varying aluminum levels.
Si Mn C s P Ni Cr Mo Cu V Nb Ti AI B o N
I
I
I
r.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.0i 0.0058 | <0.01 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 o.oo4'7
0.64 I
0.015 0.05 0.03 o.o2 0.01 0.0055 <0.01 0.0060 0.0L90 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0048
0.6r r.32 0.06 0.024
0.020 0.017 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.0057 <0.01 0.0049 0.0320 <0.0005 0.0650 0.0065
0.60 r.29 0.05
0.018 0.05 0.03 o.o2 0.01 0.0067 <0.01 0.0058 0.049s <0.0005 0.0530 0.0054
0.17 1.38 0.05 0.020
0.0580 0.0045
0.52 f.i5 0.06 i o.or0
I
0.018 0.05 0.03 o.o2 0.01 0.0053 <0.01 0.0050 0.0570 <0.0005
0.68 1.35 0.0s I o.or¡ 0.018 0.05 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.0065 <0.01 0.00s8 0.0642 <0.0005 | o.osao 0.0068
I
-------+-------
I
I
I
I
to7
The tensile test data are presented in figure 5.1 (a) and (b). For the titanium series, the
measured yield strengths varied between 504MPa and 581MPa, while tensile strengths
varied between 547lvIPa and 610MPa and elongations were between 22To and 3O7o' For
the aluminum series, yield strengths varied between 415MPa and 531MPa, while tensile
strengths varied between 522lvPa and 565MPa and elongations were between 167o and
297o. figure 5.1(a) shows that both yield and tensile strength increase approximately
linearly with titanium content by about 50MPa over the range of titanium values, while
elongation tended to decrease. For the aluminum series, figure 5.1(b) suggests yield and
tensile strengths are independent of aluminum content over the range tested although
elongation tended to decrease.
The variations of mean CVN energy with test temperature for the various weld titanium
and aluminum levels are plotted in figure 5.2(a) and (b) respectively. For the titanium
series, mean CVN energies at lower temperatures appear best at 0.005wt7o and 0.085wt7o
titanium levels. For the aluminum series mean CVN energies across the temperature range
are best at 0.0133wt% aluminum level.
108
700 70
600 60
500 I.---T-."' t 50
.E *
t +oo 40;
.9
.C (E
ctt Gt)
5 soo 30ã
l¡l
Ø
I 20
200
. YS (MPa) ' r TS (MPa)

10
100 a Elong (%) Poly. (Elong (%))
Poly. (TS (Mpa)) Poly, (YS (Mpa))
0 0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0,08 0.1
Weld Ti (wP/d
(o) tton um content n we d meto
700 60
600 50
500 I. I I. .J 40^
G
o- E
400 tr
=o o
,c 30Ë
C')
ctt g
tr 300
o I
U, 20lJl
200
o YS (MPa) r TS (MPa)
10
100 a Elong (%) (Elong (%)
Poly. [rS (Mpa)) -.--.- Poly. (YS (MPa))
0
-Psly. 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07

Weld Al (wP/d
(b) aluminum content in weld metal.
Figure 5.1: Variations in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of (a)
titanium and (b) aluminum content in weld metal.
109
InÍluence of Titanium and Aluminum on \Veld Metal Properties
350
a ï 54 ppm T
A ï'n 273 ppm x
x 588 ppm a
+ Ti 910 ppm
P6ly (T 54 ppm) ppm)
(T 273 ppm) ppm)
300 - 0'i 588 ppm) ppm)
-Poly
Pely (T 910 ppm) ppm)
I
-Psly
-
250
I
200
o
t
o I
2
o
É
o
o 1 50
=
I
100
50
¡
!
I
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60
Temperature (G)
various
Figure 5.2(a): Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature for the
titanium levels in weld metal.
110
Inîluence of Titanium and Aluminum on Weld Metal Properties
350
o Al 133 PPm r Al 190 ppm
r Al 320 PPm ¡ Al 495 ppm
x Al 570 pPm o Al 642 ppm
(Al 133 ppm) (Al 190
300 -Pely. (Al 320 pPm) PolY. (41495
-PelY.
570 PPm) (Al 642 PPm)
-Psly. (fi1
-Pely. -PelY'
250
200
o
a
rú
z T
o
c
ct 50
o
=
t
100
50
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60
Temperature (G)
vafious
.Figure 5.2(b): Mean CVN impact energy as a function of tempelature for the
aluminum levels in weld metal.
111
For each case the upper-shelf energy (at +40oC), the lower-shelf energy (at -60'C) and the
temperature coffesponding to CVN energy of 100J (T100J) were found. These values are
plotted in figure 5.3(a) and (b) against weld titanium and aluminium contents respectively.
Figure 5.3 (a) shows that the upper-shelf values tend to decrease with titanium level while
the lower-shelf values, except at the lowest and highest titanium levels, are independent of
titanium. The T100J values, while not showinglarge variations with titanium level, do
show a minimum value of about -45oC at titanium contents of approximately 0.005wt7o
and 0.085wt7o.
The variations with aluminum level, as plotted in figure 5.3 (b) show that the highest
upper and lower-shelf values occur at the lowest aluminum content, while the impact
values are largely independent of aluminum content at all higher aluminum levels.
Similarly the lowest T100J value occurs at the lowest aluminum level while T100J is
independent of aluminum at higher aluminum levels. The variation of T100J is
considerably larger with the weld aluminum level than with titanium.
ttz
300 0
250 T T -10
?
200 T
-20 t
a
o
o T
E -30 g
o 150 ¿
G
z I UooerCVN() o
o 100 A LôwerCVN(I) CL
-40 e
. Tl00J
- - -.Poly.( (Ð) G)
-
- -PolY'(
poli. (
(Ð)
ee C)) I
50 ù -50
'*-- - ---ù-- --'4-' ir *
t -60
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Ti in Weld, (wt"/o)
Figure 5.3(a): The upper CVN (J), lower CVN (J) and T100J (oC) values as a function of
titanium contents
300 10
a 0
250 a O
a -10
a -oo
200
?
-20 .9
o o
J
õrso I
z -óu
^^(E
b
CL
o T Upper CVN (J) E
00 A o
-40 l-
1
a
(r))
50
I
-50
I
0 -60
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Al in Weld, (wt%)
Figure 5.3(b): The upper CVN (J), lower CVN (J) and T100J (oC) values as a function of
aluminum contents.
113
5.2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure
Area measurements from cross-sections of welds indicated that the region of the weld
from which all mechanical test specimens (including CVN specimens) were extracted
contained approximately 607o as-deposited and 407o reheated weld metal (as mentioned in
chapter 3). Area fractions of acicular ferrite (AF), ferrite with second phase (FS) and
primary ferrite (PF) were determined in as-deposited regions of the top layer from each
weld.
Plots of the variation of percentage area of AF, FS and PF with weld titanium and
aluminum levels are shown in figure 5.a @) and (b) respectively. These graphs show that
the area of AF tends to decrease from 6O7o to 207o with increasing titanium level. A
corresponding increase in FS is seen, and the PF stayed relatively unchanged. The extent
of this change in as-deposited microstructure with titanium level is illustrated in
figures5.5(a)&(b) which shows micrographs of the welds containing 0.0054wt7o and
0.0852wt7o titanium with62Eo and437o AF respectively.
As the aluminum levels are increased, AF also decreases from 607o to 20Vo''lhe decrease
was somewhat irregular in that AF appeared to decrease rapidly with the initial increase in
weld aluminum from the base level of 0.0I3wt7o. As shown by figure 5.4(b), this decrease
in AF is accompanied by an increase in area of FS whilst observed PF remains constant at
3OVo
tr4
100%
PRIMARY FERRITE
80%
ñ
tr
o
c
o
CL 60% FERRITE WITH SECOND PHASE
E
o
o
õ
¿
o 40%
ã
o
ACICULAR FERRITE
.9
= 20%
0%
0.0054 0.0124 0.0273 0.0458 0.0588 0.0852 0.091 0.094
Titanium in Weld Metal, wf/"
Figure 5.4(a): Variation in the proportion ferrite morphologies as a function titanium

levels.
100%
PRIMARY FERRITE
80%
I
tr
0)
tr
o
CL
60%
E
o FERRITE WITH SECOND PHASE
o
(ú
J
o 40%
J
o
o
.9
20% ACICULAR FERRITE
=
O/"
0.013 0.01 I 0.032 0.0495 0.057 0.0642
Al in Weld Metal, wto/o
Figure 5.4(b): Variation in the proportion ferrite morphologies as a function aluminum

levels
11s
Figure 5.5(a): Photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with 0.0054wt7o titanrum.
20pm
.I
Figure 5.5(b): Photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with 0.0852wt% titanium in
weld metal
116
Figure 5.6(a): Photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with 0.0133wt7o aluminum'
' t-"/ft i rl
"'/ f:!
"t
rl -.)1
,.t. i. ,
'#d' "4.1t t-
i'-
lr'
tlìt
rs\
't
'':'
¡
t
,
20ym {
Figure 5.6(b): Photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with 0,0570wt7o aluminum in
weld metal.
tt7
In addition to these measurements of the area of the ferrite morphologies, measurements
were also made of the prior austenite grain size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated
zone and of the mean lath width of acicular ferrite (see Tables 5.3 & 5.4). For the titanium
series, the prior austenite grain size tended to decrease slightly with titanium level as did
the acicular ferrite lath width while the grain size in the reheated zone was largely
independent of titanium except perhaps at the highest titanium levels. For the aluminum
series, both prior austenite grain size and acicular ferrite lath width were largely
independent of aluminum level while the grain size in the reheated zone tended to increase
with aluminum except for the highest aluminum level.
Table 5.3: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes for titanium series.
Titanium Columnar Acicular Ferrite Grain Size of

Vo Austenite Grain Lath Width Reheated Zone (¡rm)
Width (pm) (pm)
0.0054 135 2.86 5.13
o.ot24 135 2.22 5.r7
0.0213 150 2.44 5.56
0.0458 130 2.44 5.13
0.0588 135 2;78 5.26
0.0852 95 2.08 * 5.4t
0.0910 115 t.92 x 5.00
0.0940 110 {<* 4.76
* --- Small patches of continuous AF limited the AF count.

** --- In-sufficient, continuous areas of AF, for measurements
118
Table 5.4: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes for aluminum senes
Aluminum Columnar Acicular Ferrite Lath Grain Size of

Vo Austenite Grain width Reheated Zone
Width (pm) (Pm) (pm)
0.0133 135 2.86 5.13
0.0190 105 2.11 6.06
0.0320 r25 2.38 6.25
0.0495 r40 2.44 6.67
0.0570 t25 ** 6.89
o.0642 t20 2.63 5.13
*x --- In-sufficient, continuous areas of AF, for measurements.
119
Influence of Titanium and Aluminum on \{eld Metal Properties
Figure 5.7(a) & (b), show the details of the non-metallic inclusions, including number per
unit volume, mean three dimensional (3D) diameter and percentage of diameter equal to or
larger than lpm for each weld, as measured using the SEM with automated image
analyser. For the titanium series, both the mean 3D inclusion diameter and the percentage
of inclusions with diameters greater than l¡rm decreased with increase in weld metal
titanium content. The number density of inclusions measured tends to increase with weld
titanium, with the exception of a maximum of 16x107 /mm3 at about 0.O8wt%o titanium.
The inclusion data for the aluminum series (figure 5.7(b) indicates that the mean 3D
inclusion diameter and the percentage of inclusions with diameter greater than lpm tend to
decrease with aluminum level. The number density of the inclusions, while showing some
variability, appears to increase with increase in weld aluminum level.
120
18
16 a
tr
Number/cubic mm(x I 0^7)
Mean 3D Dia. (um)
Percent>lum Dia.
I
A
14 Poly (Number/cubic mm(x I 0^7))
ci Poly (Percent>1um Dia.)
G
o Poly (Mean 3D Dia. (um))
al, 12
c
.9
o
5 10
õtr
I I I
T
e I I I
G
o 6
EI
ç f
zo 4
t
2
ù À
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Titanium in Weld, (wt"/o)
Figure 5.7(a): Variation of non-metallic inclusions number/mm3, mean 3D diameter and
percent > 1pm diameter with increase in weld titanium level.
I
8
i
r! 7
o
G
I I
ç 6
at,
.9
a Number/cubicmm(x10^7)
at,
E tr Mean 3D Dia. (um)
J 5 T A Percent>lum Dia.
õ Poly. (Number/cubic mm(x1
E Poly. (Percent>lum Dia.)
Ê 4
- -- -- (Mean 3D Dia. (um))
G E,;'
Ã
6)
EI
3 I
tr
-Poly.
zo 2
È
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Aluminum in Weld, (wtþ
Figure 5.7(b): Variation of non-metallic inclusions number/mm3, mean 3D diameter and
percent > 1pm diameter with increase in weld aluminium level'
t2t
5.3 Discussion
While some scatter existed in the measurements, the results generally showed that both
yield and tensile strength increased by about 50MPa as weld titanium increased from
O.1¡Swtfto to 0.095wt7o but were approximately constant as weld aluminum increased
from 0.013wtfto to 0.065wt7o. The tensile properties are consistent with those for MMAW
[157] for which it was shown that the tensile properties increased by approximately
60MPa as weld titanium increased from essentially zero to 0.055wt%o but by only about
30MPa as weld aluminum increased from zero to O'O6lwt7o.
In general it was found that the major microstructural features present in the weld metal
that may influence the impact properties are the as-deposited regions, the reheated regions
and the size and number of non-metallic inclusions present. In addition, the strength level
of the weld metal and grain size were found to affect impact properties'
Across the present series of trials with varying weld titanium and aluminum contents the
proportion of as-deposited to reheated region was nominally constant at approximately
60:40. This is because both heat input and run placement were held constant. It was
observed that there was little apparent difference in either the appearance of the reheated
zones or in the measured grain sizes of the equiaxed portions of these zones for trial welds
t22
(see table 53 e.5.4). This is in agreement with other investigators and it can be concluded
that the reheated regions play a minor part in determining weld impact properties
[148,158]. This is because the largely equiaxed, fine-grained structure gives a more
difficult cleavage path than the coarser parts of the as-deposited regions. Attention will
therefore be concentrated on the influence of the other factors on weld impact properties'
The as-deposited regions of welds have been characterised as consisting of acicular ferrite
(AF), ferrite with second phase (FS) and primary ferrite (PF). Of these ferrite types, AF is
widely considered to be the most beneficial to impact properties. This is because it consists
of small non-aligned grains with high angle boundaries and therefore provides a difficult
path for cleavage.
The present results show, in the ranges tested, that the proportion of AF present generally
decreases with the addition of either titanium or aluminum. It is shown that maximum AF
occurs at total aluminum and titanium of around 0.O2wt7o with ratio of aluminum to
titanium around Z.4..I,this is consistent with earlier studies which tended to concentrate on
other welding processes [157,159,160]. The present results do demonstrate some
correlation between low temperature impact, as measured by the T100J value, and AF
proportion at relatively low titanium or aluminum additions where the AF proportions are
relatively high. As shown in figure 5.8, this correlation occurs down to around SOVoAF for
titanium addition and 557oAF for aluminum addition, these correspond to titanium and
aluminum levels in the welds of about 0.O6wt7o and 0.02wt7o respectively. However,
while AF decreases continually with alloy addition, the T100J values tend to be insensitive
to further alloy addition or, in the case of titanium addition, to improve at some higher
alloy level. This suggests that other factors are becoming important at higher alloy levels.
123
20
o
3
o
-zo
t-
-40
-+Al Addition
+lj Addition
-60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
AF (Area þ
Figure 5.8: Effect of AF on mean CVN impact energy coresponding to T100J, for
titanium and aluminum series of weld metal.
It is known that non-metallic inclusions play two distinct roles in weld metals. Smaller
inclusions, of around 0.4 ¡rm in diameter, have been identified as efficient nucleation sites
for AF t151]. Larger inclusions, of l¡r,m or greater diameter, have been shown to be
124
initiation sites for cleavage fracture [152] which is the main fracture mode for impact at
low temperatures.
Figure 5.9 shows the variation in number density of inclusions with diameter greater that
lpm (N > lpm) with titanium and aluminum level. The N > lpm values were calculated
from the product of overall number density and the percentage with diameter greater than
l¡rm values. This shows that N>lpm tends to decrease with alloy level to reach relatively
low values at titanium levels between about 0.04 and O.O9wt%o and aluminum levels
greater than about o.O4wtTo.It has been observed that the aluminium content affects the
size distribution of the inclusions. Probably as a result of a higher temperature of
nucleation of aluminium slags (due to the higher aluminium concentration), the inclusions
will have longer time to coalesce before solidification of the weld metal, resulting in larger
entrapped inclusions. An earlier nucleation will also favour the removal of inclusions by
the top slag (given by Stoke's equation). As the aluminium content increases in the weld
metal the size of the inclusions start to increase by coalescence as shown in figure 5.9 b.
Further increasing the aluminium contents inclusion size increases further until they reach
a critical size, at which point they are large enough to float to the surface. The smaller
inclusions remain in the weld metal. Through this process the number of large inclusions
in the weld metal is reduced.
125
30
o N>1um
(N>1um)
-Poly.
?20
o
ð
E
I I
E
.9
.ct
f
10 õ
2q
I
It
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Weld Ti (wP/d
(a)
40
a N>1um
(N>1um)
30
lo
-Poly.
o
x
820
.9
¡¡
¿
C)
z
1 0
a t
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Weld Al (wP/d
(b)
(a ) titanium and (b) aluminum in the weld metal
126
The inclusions with diameter greater that l¡rm (N > lpm) at low titanium and aluminum
level will also be present in the 407o reheated region and could adversely affect T100J
temperature despite the high AF content in weld metal which has not been reaustenitised.
The total AF seems to vary from about 607o to 20Vo in the as solidified weld metal, but
taking into account that as solidified weld metal is about 6O7o of total weld metal, the
variation in AF as a proportion of the total weld metal is 367o to 127o.
The main features of the observed low temperature impact behaviour may, to a reasonable
extent, be explained on the basis of the interaction between two factors: the proportion of
AF present and the number density of large inclusions. This is because, although AF tends
to decrease continually with alloy addition, the number density of large inclusions also
tends to decrease with alloy addition. Consequently, while low temperature impact
properties may be expected to be continually degraded by lower AF levels, this effect is
offset by the smaller number of the large inclusions available to nucleate the cleavage
fracture.
Other factors can undoubtedly influence weld metal impact properties. Increase in weld
metal strength, for example, generally has a deleterious effect on impact properties. This
does not appear to be a major factor in the present case since, while the changes in impact
properties are considerable, the changes in strength level are small (about 50MPa) for the
titanium addition and negligible for the aluminum addition.
t27
affect of stress Relief on Low and High Titanium coqtaining weld Metal
chapter 6. Effect of stress Relief on Low and
High Titanium Containing Weld Metals
6.L Introduction
During stress relief three mechanisms are likely. The first, giving an improvement in
toughness, is softening of ferrite and tempering of any martensite in the
martensite/austenite (M/A) constituent. In addition, grain boundary carbide films,
particularly in the fine-grainedIF-.AZ regions, will change into discrete carbides. These
beneficial mechanisms are opposed by the formation of relatively brittle carbides from
residual austenite and coarsening of carbides in pearlite and elsewhere. Welds containing
the highest manganese content, containing the most prior austenite, should give the
greatest reduction in toughness. Finally, a decrease in dislocation density will contribute to
a reduction in strength and, hence, an improvement in toughness t1571'
128
affect of stress Relief on Low and High Titanium containing weld Metal
6.2 Results
6.2.L Heat-Treatment
This investigation was done to evaluate the effect of stress relief heat treatment on the
mechanical properties of C-Mn steel, with two levels of titanium addition. For direct
comparison between as-welded and stress-relieved weld metal, a large test plate was
oC
welded and one half was subjected to a stress-relief treatment of 2 hours at 580 prior to
analysis and the other half of the plate tested in the as welded condition.
6.2.2 Weld Metal Compositions
the as-welded and reheated low and high titanium weld metals. This indicates that the
principal difference in composition was a factor of 10 in titanium level from 0.0065wt7o to
O.065wtfto. Carbon, manganese and silicon levels were nominally constant at 0.O5wt7o,
l.32wt7o to L.3'\wtTo and 0.62wt%o to O.6lwt7o respectively. The levels of the remaining
metallic elements were relatively low and constant throughout the series. The oxygen and
nitrogen levels found in the welds were essentially constant. The oxygen levels were all in
the range 0!48wt7o and 0.053wt%o, and the nitrogen values were in the range O-Oo52wt7o
and 0.0082wt7o.
129
Table 6.1: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) for stress relieved titanium weld metal
I
I
I
<0.0 I 0.01 0.0065 <0.01 0.0065 0.0156 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0052

0.62 r.32 0.05 I 0.013 0.0 15 o.o2 o.o2
I
o.o2 o.o2 <0.01 I 0.01 0.0086 <0.01 0.06s6 0.0123 <0.0005 0.0480 0.0082
0.67 I
I
1.31 0.05 o.or2 0.015 I
I
I
I
I
I
Table 6.22 Average Vickers hardness for stress relieved titanium welds
Ti Average Vickers hardness Average Vickers hardness
without stress relief treatment with stress relief treatment
0.0065 As-Welded 208 r83
Re-heated 168 158
0.0656 As-Welded 207 194
Re-heated r82 r72
130
Metal
Affect of stress Relief on Low and High Titanium containing weld
6.2.3 Mechanical ProPerties
6.2.3.1 Hardness Testing
Average hardness values for as-welded and reheated, low and high
titanium levels with
6.2-It is seen that, stress relieving

and without stfess relief treatment are given in table
resulted in a reduction of hardness throughout the bulk of the all-weld-metal deposits
67o and l27o' whlle

studied. For the low titanium weld deposit the reduction was between
for higher titanium weld deposit a reduction of 67o in hardness is seen'
6.2.3.2 CVN ImPact Results
The variations of mean cvN energy with test temperature for as-welded and reheated, low
and high titanium levels are plotted in figures 6-I &' 6.2- Fot both low and high titanium
levels, mean cvN energies for all temperatures tested showed an increase after heat
treatment. For low titanium an increase of about 30 to 50J over the whole temperature
increase was between
range (-60 to +20'c) was found while, for the higher titanium, this
ie 201to 50J
131
Affect of Stress Relief on Low and High Titanium containing Weld Metal
250
. As-Welded
r Heat Treated
200 Poly. (Heat Treated)
Poly. (As-Welded) t I
?
at,
o 50
G ;
T
z
o
tr 00
(s
o
I I
=
50
a
0
-80 -60 -40 _20 0 20 40
Temperature (C)
Figure 6.1,: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature for low titanium
(0.0065wt7o) levels in weld metal
t32
250
. As-Welded
200 r Heat Treated
Poly. (Heat Treated)
Poly. (As-Welded)
I
o 50
I
{-
J
õ
z f
o -.I
tr 00
o 1
o
=
l.
50
0
-80 -60 -40 _20 0 20 40
Temperature (C)
Figure 6.2: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature for high titanium
(0.0656wt7o) levels in weld metal.
133
Affect of Stress Relief on Low and High Titanium containing Wetd Metal
For each case the temperature colresponding to CVN energy of 100J (T100J) was found.
For low titanium, the T100J values were -20 and -4JoC, a lowering of the DBTT by 27oC
after heat treatment. Similarly for high titanium, T100J values were -25 and -48oC, a
lowering of the DBTT by 23'C after heat treatment. The T100J temperatures for as-welded
weld metal were consistent with earlier results t1571.
A comparison, using optical microscopy, of microstructures with and without stress relief
heat treatment showed no variation of percentage arca of AF, FS and PF for both low and
high titanium levels, as expected. Also examination of the prior austenite grain size, the
grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and of the mean lath width of acicular ferrite,
showed no change.
,i
** *o*
1È
r
b
Figure 6.3: Microphotograph (x5000) of the top pass of 0.044wt7o carbon and l-4wt%o
manganese deposits in the, (a) as-welded and (b) stress-relieved conditions.
134
Figure 6.4: Microphotograph (x5000) of coarse-grained regions of 0.044wt7o catbon and
l.4wt7o manganese deposits in the, (a) as-welded and (b) stress-relieved conditions.
Improvement in toughness is due to the softening of ferrite and the tempering of any
martensite in the N{/A constituent. The as-welded top beads contain acicular ferrite with
small regions of retained austenite partially transformed to martensite and a little cementite
(figure 6.3 a), stress relief led to discrete grain boundary carbides (figure 6.3 b)' Stress
relieving ofthe coarse-grained reheated region, spheroidised the carbide in the pearlite and
the cementite films and tempered the martensite/austenite constituent to form a
ferrite/carbide aggregate (figure 6.4 a &. b) t1571'
135
6.3 Discussion
The metallographic studies have confirmed that stress relieving has a pronounced effect on
the microstructure, causing precipitation and spheroidisation of second phase particles.
The phenomenon has been documented by Cochrane [161], for plate steel, by Farrar et al
1162), for submerged-arc weld metal, and by Evans [163], for MMAW. Farrar et al
suggested that two significant microstructural changes occur, namely:
1. a coarsening and/or spheroidisation ofpearlite and carbides,
2. a development of carbides at grain boundaries and as a fine matrix dispersion.
These two mechanisms have opposite effects on fracture toughness. When coarsening or
spheroidisation of the carbides, especially pearlite, takes place, the fracture process
becomes more difficult. But as time proceeds, embrittlement develops due to grain
boundary cementite acting as a crack initiator. According to Cochrane, a correlation exists
between the cementite particle size, particularly thickness, and the rise in impact transition
temperature.
Hardness levels were reduced by stress relieving throughout the bulk of the all-weld-metal
deposits studied. For low titanium weld deposit the reduction was between 6 and 127o,
while for higher titanium weld deposit, about 67o reduction in hardness is seen. This
agrees with the results obtained by Evans t1631. Bush and Kelly [164] also found that
hardness and tensile strength decrease during tempering, this behaviour is also found
during tempering of martensite (Leslie) t1651.
136
The main consequence of stress relieving ,was to affect the shift in the transition range, this
depends on the levels of carbon and manganese[163]. For both low and high titanium
levels with carbon 0.05wt7o and manganese 1.35wt7o, t-ttêãtt notch toughness for all
temperatures tested has shown an increase after heat treatment. For low titanium an
increase of about 30 to 50J over the whole temperature range was found, while for the
higher titanium, this increase was in the range of 20 to 50J. This positive shift of the
system after heat treatment is clearly a positive feature and the optimised carbon,
manganese, silicon and titanium weld metal composition is not compromised by post weld
heat treatment, but shows improved mechanical properties.
137
Influence of Boron on Weld Metal Properties
Chaptet T.Influence of Boron on Weld Metal
Properties
7.1 Introduction
Boron is added to alloy steels in very small amounts, perhaps as little as 0.003wt7o, to
increase toughness. Boron is a very powerful promoter of toughness on a weight
percentage basis, but this effect is gained only with amounts of boron below approximately
0.010wt7o. Any boron above this level is ineffective or may even be extremely deleterious.
Therefore, it has become a common practice to "needle" some alloy steels with a very
small addition of boron to obtain increased toughness. This increase in bainitic toughness
of steels is due to retarding the heterogeneous nucleation of ferrite at the austenite grain
boundaries tl66l. It is probable that this effect is due to the reduction in interfacial energy
as the boron segregates to the boundaries. This in turn makes grain boundaries less
effective as heterogeneous nucleation sites. Ohmori and Yamanaka [167] have found
evidence of grain boundary enrichment with high sensitivity ion microprobe analysis' The
mechanism for the influence of boron was based on the fact that boron segregates
extensively to the prior austenite grain boundaries, where it reduces tho grain boundary
138
energy t1281. The reduction in grain boundary energy will then increase the energy barrier
to nucleation by lowering the surface free energy ratio and therefore suppress the
formation of grain boundary ferrite facilitating the nucleation on oxide inclusions 12,1291.
Also optimum concentrations of boron and zirconium additions to low carbon steel weld
metals produced predominantly acicular ferrite microstructures. Boron in weld metal is
protected from oxygen and nitrogen by both zirconium and titanium. Elemental boron
hinders the formation of grain boundary ferrite resulting in increased undercooling of weld
metal austenite which promotes the nucleation of fine intergranular acicular ferrite. The
inclusion size distribution in zirconium-containing weld metal was similar to or finer than
that for titanium-containing weld metal. The specific inclusion concentration and size
distribution, with proper protection of weld metal boron, are the primary factors to achieve
high intragranular acicular ferrite contents [131].
Adding boron to high purity basic flux MMA electrodes [115] caused a substantial lateral
shift of the Charpy-V curves to lower temperatures. Boron additions of about 140ppm
were considered optimal. When 35ppm titanium \ilas present the addition of boron
generally resulted in the displacement of Charpy-V curves to higher temperatures and
caused the elimination of grain boundary ferrite and a change to a bainitic type structure.
The interaction of boron and titanium is discussed in the next chapter. In this chapter the
affect of boron alone has been analysed. Small amounts of boron in terms of normal
weight percentage (or ppm) can have alarge influence on microstructure and mechanical
properties. This chapter deals with the influence of boron itself on weld metal containing
139
nominal contents carbon, manganese and silicon. Boron was added via the core as ferro-
boron
7.2 Results
7.2.L Weld Metal ComPositions
the boron series. In this series, boron was varied between 0.0005wt7o and 0.0l76wtVo'
Carbon, manganese and silicon levels were nominally constant at 0.04wt7o to O.06wt7o,
I.l3wtzo to l.4IwtTo and 0.46wt%o to O.66wt7o respectively. The levels of the remaining
metallic elements were relatively low and constant throughout the series. The oxygen and
nitrogen levels found in the welds were also essentially constant. The oxygen levels were
all in the range 0.050wt7o and 0.054wt%o, and the nitrogen values were in the range
0.0043wt7o and 0.0073wt7o which is considered normal for this type of welding and
pfoc9ss.
t40
Table 7.1: Weld metal compositions (wt 7o) with varying boron levels.
Si Mn c S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
-L
o.o2 0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.0r 10.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
0.64
I
I r.34 0.04 0.or2 0.014 I
I
0.03 0.01 <0.01 <0.0 I <0.01 <0.01 0.0058 0.0149 0.0050 0.0530 0.0073
0.46 r.13 0.06 0.012 0.011 I
I
+ +
<0.0i 0.0153 0.0088 0.0540 0.0067
0.63 1.35 0.05 0.0il | 0.011
I
o.o2 0.01
¡
<0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.0057
-t I 0.0134 0.0500 0.0063
t.4l 0.04 0.011 | 0.012 0.02 0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.0057 0.0161
0.66 I
I
0.62 I
I
1.33 0.04 0.013 a.or2 0.03 o.o1 i <o.or o.o2 <0.01 <0.01 0.0059 0.0150 0.0176 i o.osoo 0.0043
I
I
I
t4t
7 .2.2 Mechanical Properties
7 .2.2.1, Tensile Properties
The tensile test data is presented in figure 7.1 for the boron series. The measured yield
sffengths varied between 479MPa and 539MPa, while tensile strengths varied between
5llMPa and 567MPa and elongations were between20To and29%o. Figure 7.1 shows that
both yield and tensile strength were largely independent of boron content over the range
tested. While elongation tended to decrease by about3O%o.
142
700
600
6 T
.I- +';- -:
'::r' +
-. "I
x 500
s
F ¿
f -I
E)
c
-9 400
uJ
(E
À
=o 300
C')
tr
o 200
Ø
a YS (Mpa) TS (Mpa)
100 Poly. (TS (Mpa))
A Elong(7o)
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 o.o2
Boron in Weld Metal(wt%)
Figure 7 .lz Y ariations in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of boron
content in the weld metal.
143
7 .2.2.2 CVN Impact Results
The variations of mean CVN energy with test temperature for the various weld metal boron
levels are plotted in figure 7.2. For each case the upper-shelf energy (at +20oC), the lower-
shelf energy (at -60oC) and the temperature corresponding to CVN energy of 100J (T100J)
were found. These values are plotted in figure 7.3 against weld metal boron contents.
Figure 7.3 shows that the upper-shelf values have considerable scatter but tend to decrease
with boron level while the lower-shelf values are independent of boron. The T100J values,
while not showing large variations with boron level, do show minimum values of about -45"C
and -41oC at boron contents of approximately 0.0005wtTo and0.OI34wt%o'
144
Influence of Boron on WeId Metal Properties
300
a 5ppm À 50PPm
X 88 ppm O 134 PPm
O 176 ppm - -- - - PolY' (5 PPm)
250 Poly. (50 ppm) - --- PolY. (88 PPm)
(134 ppm) (176 ppm)
-Poly. -Poly.
200 ¡\
?
o
¿
E
z 1 50
o I
,I
Ê
ta
(E
o
=
I
100
50
.F
,.I
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (C)
Figure 7.22 MeanCVN impact energy as a function of temperature for various boron levels in
the weld metal
145
300
tr Uppet CVN (J) A Lower CVN (J) 10

a T100J (degree C) - - - -. Poly. (Tl00J (degree
Poly. (Upper CVI\ (Ð) Poly. (Lower cvN (J))
250
- 0
F..
200 ìo
-10 P
I
U'
il o
o o
5
G 150 -20 Ë
z o
CL
o É E
100 t I -30
F
o
,.I
50 I ¡ -40
t
r ¡t
-50
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 o.o2
Boron in Weld Metal, (wt"/o)
Figure 7.3: The upper CVN (J), lower CVN (J) and T100J(.C) values as a function of boron
contents.
146
7 .2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure
Plots of the variation of percentage area of AF, FS and PF with weld metal boron levels are
shown in figure 7.4. This graph shows that area of the AF tends to decrease ftom 6O7o to 8%
with increase in boron level. A corresponding increase in FS is seen, while PF tends to
decrease in the range from307o to l07o with increase in boron level. The extent of this change
in as-deposited microstructure with boron level is illustrated in figure 7.5 which shows
micrographs of the welds containing 0.0005wt7o and 0.0176wt7o boton with 627o and 87o AF
respectively.
147
100/"
PRIMARY
80%
s
q
o
tr FERRITE WITH ND PHASE
o
CL 60%
E
o
o
(!
J
o 40%
f
vt
o
.9 ACICULAR FE
= 20"/o
O7o
0.0005 0.005 0.0088 0.0134 0.0176

Boron in Weld Metal, wP/o
Figure T.4zYariation in the proportions of ferrite morphologies in as-deposited weld metal as
a function of boron content.
148
(a)
(b)
Figure 7.5: Photomicrograph of as-deposited weld metal with (a) 0.0005wt% boron and (b)
O.Ol7 6wtTo boron content.
149
In addition to these measurements of area of the ferrite morphologies, measurements were
also made of the prior austenite grain size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and of
the mean lath width of acicular ferrite (see table 7.2).The prior austenite grain size tended to
increase significantly with boron level while the acicular ferrite lath width and the grain size
in the reheated zone \ryas largely independent of boron except perhaps at the lowest boron
level.
Table 7.2: Columnar austenite grain width, acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes
for boron series.
Boron Columnar Acicular Ferrite Lathe Grain Size of

7o Austenite Grain widrh Reheated Zone
Width (pm) (Pm) (pm)
<0.0005 135 2.86 5.13
0.0050 238 J.JJ 7.14
0.0088 324 J.JJ 1.41

)ß*
0.0134 426 6.6',1
0.0176 500 ** 6.06
** --- In-sufficient, continuous areas of AF, for measurements.
150
7 .2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions
Figure 7.6, shows the details of the non-metallic inclusion population, including number per
unit volume, mean three dimensional (3D) diameter and percentage with diameter equal or
larger than 1¡rm for each weld, as measured using the SEM with an automated image analyser.
For this boron series, mean 3D inclusion diameter is independent of boron level while
percentage of inclusions with diameter greater than lpm decreased with increase in boron and
number density of inclusions tends to increase with weld metal boron, at 0.0088wt7o boron
number density of inclusions jumped significantly and does not represent the trend-
151
16
O Number/cubicmm(xl0^7)
14
I Mean 3D Dia' (um)
I -'''
A PercenÞlum Dia.
-'Poly. (PercenÞlumDia.)
(Mean 3D Dia' (um))
2
d
G
o -Poly.
U'
ç 0
.9
an
5
o
ç I
e
G
0) 6
EI
tr
zo 4
I
2 't-... -
t *
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 o.o2
Boron in Weld Metal, (wt%)
Figure 7.6..Yanation of non-metallic inclusions number/mm3, m"an 3D diameter and
percenÞl¡rm diameter with boron content.
t52
Mean non-metallic inclusion compositions, as measured using energy dispersive X-ray
analysis in an SEM, are listed in Table 7.3. These values indicate that there are no major
changes in composition of the non-metallic inclusions with weld metal boron level. Note that
any boron present in the inclusions does not appear in the energy dispersive analysis.
Table 7.3. Non-metallic inclusions with varying boron levels.
\[eld Boron Number/ Mean 3D Percent > Composition of Inclusions (wt%o)
(vo) Cubic mm Dia (pm) lpm Dia sio2 MnO a12o3 Tio2
( x107)
<0.0005 4.86 0.58 3.5 34.50 46.70 14.10 3.80
0.0050 5.69 0.56 r.67 24.86 54.40 16.03 4.69
0.0088 13.70 0.45 t.02 20.91 58.24 14.69 6.16
0.0134 6.80 o.54 0.39 17.89 56.26 t9.63 6.23
0.0176 6.9s 0.54 0.96 23.24 44.12 27;t6 4.88
153
7.3 Discussion
7 .3.1 Weld Metal Tensile Properties
The tensile test data for the boron series shows that both yield and tensile strength were
largely independent of boron content over the range tested ie from 0.0005wt% to O.Ol76wt7o.
While elongation tended to decrease by about 30%. This is in agreement with results using
other arc welding processes such as MMAW and SAW [123,168].
The effect of boron in steel transformation kinetics has been a subject of research for many
years. A number of toughness mechanisms have been proposed to explain the behaviour of
boron in steels t1691. All assume that boron influences toughness by increasing the energy
barrier against ferrite nucleation at austenite grain boundaries. It is not thought to influence the
thermodynamic properties of the austenite and ferrite phases, ie reduce the Ae¡-temperature of
the steel. The toughness effect of boron is sensitive to variations in steel deoxidation and
alloying practice. If the steel contains small amounts of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen, these
elements may combine with boron to reduce the free, diffusible boron content t1701.
The present results show, in the range tested, that the proportion of AF present generally
decreases with the addition of boron. A corresponding increase in FS is seen, while PF tends
154
to decrease in the raîge from 3O7o to I07o with increase in boron level' The extent of this
change in as-deposited microstructure with boron level is consistent with earlier studies,
which were mostly concerned with other welding processes [130,131'168'170].
Three main factors controlling the toughness of boron-treated steels are:
1. The austenite grain size;
2. The segregation of boron atoms to austenite grain boundaries; and
3. The numbers of transformation nuclei such as non-metallic inclusions or coarse
precipitates at austenite grain boundaries.
Generally with increasing austenite grain size, the number of nucleation sites for diffusion-
controlled transformation decreases, resulting in the increase in toughness. The austenite grain
size increases with raising the austenitising temperature. This is especially marked in the
temperature range between 900 and 1000oC t1711. It is interesting to note here that the
austenite grain coarsening takes place with increasing boron content. Liu and Olsen [140]
showed that the prior austenite grain size increases with a decrease in the number of grain
boundary pinning sites, and that grain boundary ferrite thickness is independent of the
austenite grain size. The grain boundary ferrite thickness can be predicted using a modified
Avrami equation. Increasing the prior austenite grain size was found to decrease the amount of
grain boundary ferrite and to increase the amount of acicular ferrite in the final microstructure
1140,1721. Large austenite grains allow greater undercooling in the cenffe of the austenite
grain and produce finer intragranular ferrite.
155
In the as-deposited regions of welds, measurements were made of the prior austenite grain
size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and of the mean lath width of acicular ferrite
(see table 7.2). The acicular ferrite lath width and the grain size in the reheated zone were
largely independent of boron except perhaps at the lowest boron level. The prior austenite
grain size tended to increase significantly with boron level but the proportion of AF present
generally decreases with the addition of boron. A corresponding increase in FS is also seen.
This suggests that other factors are becoming important as the boron level increases.
Figure 7.3 shows that the upper-shelf values have considerable scatter but tend to decrease
with boron level while the lower-shelf values are less dependent on boron. The T100J values
show minimum values of about -45oC and -4loC at boron contents of approximately
0.0005wt7o and 0.0134wtVo, for all other boron levels T100J values tend to be insensitive to
boron content and suggests that factors other than area of the ferrite morphologies are
becoming important.
With boron additions the nucleation and growth of grain boundary ferrite is hindered and the
weld metal intragranular inclusions will become the primary ferrite nucleation sites. Ohkita et
al. ll73l measured the inclusion size distributions for weld metal containing oxygen from
100ppm to 300ppm. They showed that the most frequent inclusion size is in the range of 0.3-
0.7 microns, and that the average size of non-metallic inclusions increases as the oxygen
content of titanium and boron-containing weld metal increases. This observation suggests that
there is a specific range of weld metal oxygen content or inclusion size distribution, which is
most favourable for acicular ferrite nucleation. Liu and Olsen [140] studied submerged arc
1s6
welds containing 250-350ppm oxygen. Their results showed that the welds which had an
inclusion size distribution in the range of 0.2-0.4 microns hadthe largest volume fraction of
acicular ferrite. It is also acknowledged that larger inclusions, of l¡.tm or greater diameter,
have been shown to be initiation sites for cleavage fracture 1152,171,172,173) which is the
main fracture mode for impact at low temperatures.
Figure 7.7 shows the variation in number density of inclusions with diameter greater than 1¡rm
(N>lpm) with increase in boron level. The N>l¡rm values were calculated from the product
of overall number density and the percentage with diameter greater than lpm values. This
shows that N>lpm tends to decrease with alloy level to reach relatively low values at boron
levels greater than about O.Ùl2wt%o.
157
20
18
O l$lum
(N>1um)
16 -tu|y.
u)
o
14
I
12
x
E
E
()
10
I
5¿ I
z
o
6
I
4
r¡
2
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 o02
Boron in Weld Metal, wP/o
Figure 7.7: Number density of inclusions with diameter > 1pm as a function of boron
contents in the weld metal.
The total AF seems to vary from about 6OVo to 8Vo bLrt taking into account that as solidified
weld metal is about 6OVo of total weld metal, the variation in AF as a proportion of the total
weld metal is 367o to 5Vo. Similarly variation in PF and FS as a proportion to the total weld
metal will be less. The inclusions with diameter greater than l¡rm (N>1pm) at low boron level
will also be present in the 40To reheated region and could adversely affect the T100J
temperature despite the high AF content in weld metal which has not been reaustenitised.
158
extent in the case of boron, be explained on the basis of interaction between following factors:
1. the proportion of AF decreasing;
2. the proportion of FS increasing;
3. the proportion of PF decreasing (associated with prior austenite grain size increasing);
and,
4. the number density of large inclusions decreasing'
As AF tends to decrease and FS tends to increase continually with alloying addition, the PF
decreases. Also the number density of large inclusions tends to decrease with alloying
addition. Consequently, while low temperature impact properties may be expected to be
continually degraded by lower AF and higher FS levels, this effect is offset by a reduction in
pF and in particular the smaller number of the large inclusions ie inclusions with diameter
greater than lpm (N>lpm) in weld metal, available to nucleate and propagate the cleavage
fracture.
159
Influence of Titanium and Boron on Weld Metal Properties
Chapter 8. Influence of Titanium and Boron on
Weld Metal Properties
8.1 Introduction
The influence of boron on increasing acicular ferrite in weld metal microstructures is very
small without sufficient titanium addition. The influence of titanium is also very small without
sufficient levels of boron tl301. A large volume fraction of acicular ferrite (up to 95Vo) canbe
obtained by maintaining optimum boron and titanium contents. The decrease in low-
temperature toughness with excess boron and titanium contents can be explained by the
resulting increase in volume fraction of upper bainite [130].
Previous work has reported that balanced alloying with boron and titanium can almost
eliminate formation of grain boundary ferrite ll22-127). The mechanism for the influence of
boron is based on the fact that boron segregates extensively at the prior austenite grain
boundaries, where it reduces the grain boundary energy t1281. It has been proposed that the
160
reduction in grain boundary energy increases the energy barrier for nucleation of grain
boundary ferrite by lowering the surface free energy ratio and therefore suppresses the
formation of grain boundary ferrite and facilitating the nucleation of AF on oxide inclusions
Í2,t291.
Titanium protects the boron from oxygen and nitrogen. Elemental boron hinders the formation
of grain boundary ferrite resulting in increased undercooling of weld metal austenite which
promotes the nucleation of fine intergranular acicular ferrite. The specific inclusion
concentration and size distribution, with proper protection of weld metal boron, are the
primary factors to achieve high intragranular acicular ferrite contents [131].
The role of titanium is mainly to protect boron from nitrogen (and oxygen) by forming
titanium nitride (TiN) in the liquid state prior to solidification. The optimum titanium content
will clearly be a function of the weld metal concentrations of nitrogen and nitride formers (V,
Nb and Al). Mori, et al.ll74l, proposed that oxide particles with a surface coating of TiO, or
those particles that were completely TiO, would be the most potent site for the nucleation of
acicular ferrite. This is due to the 3.0Vo lattice disregistry between TiO and ferrite is the
smallest of all the potential nucleating agents. Compounds that have high values of
disregistry, such as BN and Al2O3, will not be as likely nucleation sites for the acicular ferrite.
Ohkita et al. [173], suggested the following mechanistic description of notch toughness
improvement in the titanium-boron containing weld metal:
161
1. During solidification, highly segregated boron reacts preferentially with nitrogen to form
BN. The titanium protects the boron from oxygen.
2. During cooling in the austenite range, titanium protects the remaining boron from nitrogen
by forming TiN. Free boron segregates to the austenite grain boundaries. The formation of
nitrogen compounds with boron and titanium by the above reactions reduces the amount
of nitrogen in solution.
3. On further cooling of the austenite to the ferrite transformation range, active boron,
present at the austenite grain boundaries, reduces the grain boundary energy and retards
the nucleation of proeutectoid ferrite.
4. Oxide inclusions that contain titanium promote the nucleation of acicular ferrite within
austenite grains.
The purpose of this chapter is to characterise in greater detail the combined effects of boron
and titanium on the microstructure and mechanical properties of multi-layer gas-shielded
metal-cored arc weld metals.
t62
8.2 Results
8.2.1 Weld Metal ComPosition
The chemical compositions of the all-weld-metal deposits studied are given in table 8.1 for the
titanium-boron series. For 0.0005 wtVo boron, as the titanium level increased the oxygen level
reduced from 0.0530wt7o to 0.0380wt7o, whlle the nitrogen level varied between 0.O054wtVo
and 0.0037wtfto.For 0.0100wt7o boron, as the titanium level increased the oxygen level varied
between 0.046wt7o to 0.039wt%o, whlle the nitrogen level varied between 0.0036wt7o and
g.OO27wtVo. These levels of oxygen and nitrogen are considered normal for this type of weld
metal and process.
163
Table 8.1: Weld metal compositions (wt Vo) with varying titanium and boron levels
<0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047

0.64 t.34 0.04 0.or2 0.014 0.02 0.01
0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.0005 0.0273 0.0t42 <0.0005 0.0420 0.0054

0.s8 r.26 0.05 0.011 0.013 0.02 0.01
0.01 0.01 0.0066 <0.0005 0.0458 0.0111 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0037

0.66 1.38 0.05 0.011 0.013 0.02 0.01
0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0087 <0.0005 0.0054 0.0150 0.0095 0.0390 0.0027
0.67 L.44 0.04 0.013 0.015 0.01
<0.01 0.01 0.0096 <0.0005 0.0228 0.0150 0.01.12 0.0430 0.0036

0.68 t.4'l 0.05 0.013 0.015 0.0r 0.01
0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0110 <0.0005 0.0430 o.0147 0.0110 0.0460 0.0036
0.68 t.49 0.05 0.014 0.015 0.01
L64
Results of the tensile test are presented in table 8.2 and figure 8.1 (a & b) for the titanium-
boron series. The measured yield strengths varied between 482MPa and 556MPa, while
tensile strengths varied between 557MPa and 610MPa and elongations were between24Vo and
29Vo. For 0.0005wt7o (figure 8.1 (a)) boron content, yield and tensile strength decreased as
titanium increased to 0.0273wt%o and then increased again at 0.0458wt%o.This could be due to
changes in manganese and silicon. While elongation decreased by about l47o as the titanium
level increased in the weld metal. For 0.0100wt7o borcn (figure 8.1 (b)), as the titanium
increases to 0.0228wtVo both yield and tensile strength increased by about 5Vo to I2Vo,
decreasing again at higher titanium levels. Elongation increased by about 8Vo as titanium
increased. These changes in the titanium-boron series, over the range tested, are reasonably
small for this type of process.
165
Table 8.2: Weld metal tensile properties with varying titanium and boron levels'
Boron Titanium Yietd Strength Tensile Strength (MPa) Elongation (7o)
7o Vo (MPa)
<0.0005 0.0054 507 551
<0.0005 0.0273 482 565
<0.0005 0.0458 535 610
0.0095 0.0054 491
o.ottz 0.0228 556 602
0.0430 519 575
166
700 60
600 { 50
500 I I
T
40
aú ô\
t +oo o
c
lt, 30'Ë
(t
c
f soo -9
ul
at 20
200
---G--YS(MPa)
- -F -TS(MPa)
#Elong.(Vo) 10
100
0 0
o 0.005 o.o1 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0'035 0.04 0.045 0.05
Titanium in Weld Metal (wtþ
(a)
700 60
600 I
I
50
F r
500
i- 40
a!
o.
s
400 c
=!, o
E
308
ctt
El c
tr 300 o
o E
at 20
200
---l}-- YS(MPa)
100
- -Þ -TS(MPa) 10
{-Elong. (7o)
0 0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
Titanium in Weld Metal (wt7.)
(b)
Figure 8.L: Variation in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of
titanium for (a) 0.0005wt7o boron (b) 0.0100wtVoboron in the weld metal.
167
The variations of mean CVN energy with test temperature for the various titanium-boron
series weld metals are plotted in figure 8.2 (a) and (b) respectively. Figure 8.2 (a) shows CVN
energies at 0.0005wt%o borcn versus titanium content. Mean CVN energies across the
temperature range appear highest at 0.0054wt%o titanium level. For 0.0100wt7o boron, with an
increase in titanium, figure 8.2 (b) the mean CVN energies across the temperature range are
highest at 0.0228wt7o titanium level.
For each case the upper-shelf energy (at +20oC), the lower-shelf energy (at -60"C) and the
temperature corresponding to a CVN energy of 100J (T100J) were found. These values are
plotted in figure 8.3 (a) and (b) against weld titanium contents respectively.
Figure 8.3 (a) with 0.0005wt7o boron shows that as titanium increases the upper-shelf and
lower-shelf values tend to decrease. The T100J values, show minimum value of about -45oC
at titanium contents of approximately 0.0054wt%o, any further addition deteriorates T100J
values.
The variations with 0.0100wt7o boron with different titanium levels, as plotted in figure 8.3
(b) shows that the highest upper and lower-shelf values occur at the O.O228wt7o and
0.0430wt7o titanium. Similarly the lowest T100J value of -62.5oC and -60.0oC occurs at the
0.0228wt7o and 0.0430wtTo tttantum. The low temperature properties are best at high boron
168
and high titanium levels, but the best overall impact properties occur at 0.0100wt7o boron and
0.0228wt7o titanium
300
a Ti0'O0547o
tr Ti0.02'l3Vo
A Ti0.04587o
Poly. (Ti 0.OO547o)
250
- - - - -'Poly. (TiO.02'l3Vo)
(Ti 0.0458%)
-Poly.
200
a
tt,
o
f
aú
z 50
o il
(!
o
=
100
50
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (degreeO)
(a) 0.0005wt%oboron
169
300
O 'ri0.00547o
I TiO'02287o
A 'ri 0.0430Vo
Poly. (Ti O.0228Vo)
-- -'''Poly. (Ti0.0430Vo)
250 Gio.oo54vo)
-Poly.
200
1t,
o
5
r!
z 50
o
tr
aú
o
=
100
50
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (G)
(b) 0.01O0wt%oboron
Figure 8.2: Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature at different titanium and
boron levels in the weld metal.
t70
300 10
250
-10
a
200 ----{ o
o
o
o
5 0)
lE 1s0 Ã- Ã -30 5
tú
z c)
CL
o a Upper CVN (J) E
Lower CVN (J) o
100 A F
A
-50
50
-70
0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
Titanium in Weld Metal, (wt%)
(a)
250 10
200 4 I 1 0
t' o UPPer C\N () a
o
tr Lower CVN (J) o
? 150 I +-T100J (degree c) L
c)
, Poly. (Upper CVN (J)) o
Poly. (Lower CVN (J))
f
G ,I -an I
tI o
z 100 ¿ o
It
CL
o E
I 0)
L
3_
-50'
50
B'
0 70
0 o.o1 o.o2 0.03 0'04 0.05
Titanium in Weld Metal, (wP/.)
(b)
titanium contents for (a) 0.0005wt7o boron and (b) 0.0100wt7o boron in the weld metal
l7t
Area measurements from cross-sections of welds indicated that the region of the weld from
which mechanical test specimens (particularly CVN specimens) were extracted contained
approximately 607o as-deposited and 407o reheated weld metal. Area fractions of acicular
ferrite (AF), fenite with second phase (FS) and primary ferrite (PF) were determined in as-
deposited regions of the top layer from each weld.
Plots of the area fraction of AF, FS and PF with weld metal titanium at 0.0005wt7o and
0.0100wt7o boron levels are shown in figure 8.a (a) and (b) respectively. In figure 8.4 (a) it
can be seen that variation in titanium at 0.0005wt7o boron. Here the area of AF tends to
decrease in the range from 62.4Vo to 48Vo with an increase in the titanium level. A
corresponding increase in FS is seen, as the changes in PF are relatively low. The extent of
changes in the as-deposited microstructure with titanium levels at 0.0005wt%o boron are
relatively low in the range tested. A representative micrograph is shown in figure 8.5 (a)
which show a weld containing 0.0458wt%o titanium. It is interesting to note the areas of
primary ferrite (PF).
Figure 8.4 (b) shows the variation in titanium at 0.0100wt7o boron Here the area of AF tends
to increase sharply with 0.0228wt%o tttaniumto 77.47o and then decreases slightly as titanium
increases further to 0.0430wt%o. As shown in figure 8.4 (b), FS also decreases as titanium
increases to 0.0228wt%o fromZgVo to ll%o, wilh a further increase in titanium, FS increases to
172
Inlluence of Titanium and Boron on Weld Metal Properties
l5%o of as-deposited weld metal. PF shows a continuous and significant decrease as titanium
increases from337o to below 97o of as deposited weld metal.
In addition to these measurements of area of the ferrite morphologies, measutements were
also made of the prior austenite grain size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and of
the mean lath width of acicular ferrite (see tables 8.3). For 0.0005wt7o boron, as the titanium
content increases, the prior austenite grain size and the grain size in the reheated zone were
largely independent of titanium, except perhaps at the O.O273wtVo titanium level where it
tended to increase slightly. The acicular ferrite lath width decreased with increasing titanium
levels.
With higher boron levels, as the titanium content increases changes are significant; the prior
austenite grain size, acicular ferrite lath width and grain size of the reheated zone decreased
with an increase in titanium, with a maximum reduction at the middle titanium level of
0.O228wt%o. Another important observation is that the overall grain size of the reheated zone
for 0.0100wt/oboron at all titanium levels decreased significantly by about 2OVo.-Ihe extents
of changes in the re-heated weld microstructure with titanium levels are illustrated in figure
8.5 (b & c) which shows a weld containing O.O2l3wtVo titanium with 0.0005wt7o boron and
O .0228w t%o titanium with 0. 0 1 00 w tVo b or on, re spectively.
The extent of changes in the as-deposited microstructure with titanium levels at 0.0100wt7o
boron are illustrated in figure 8.5 (d, e & Ð, which shows welds containing 0.0o54wtTo,
173
0.O228wtVo and 0.0430Vo titanium. It is interesting to note the areas of primary ferrite (PF) and
changes in the size of acicular ferrite lath width.
1 00%
PRIMARY FERRITE
80%
s
q
o
g
o
CL
E 60%
o FERRITE WITH SECOND PHASE
o
fE
ã ACICUTAR FERRITE
o 40%
f
an
o
.9
= 20%
o%
0.0054 0.0273 0.0458
Titanium in Weld Metal, wtTo
(a) 0.0005wt7oboron in weld metal
174
100%
PRIMARY FERRITE
FERRITE V/ITH SECOND PHASE

80%
s
Ê,
o
c
o
CL
E
60%
o
o
(6
=
(¡
J 4O"/"
U'
o
.9 ACICULAR FERRITE
= 20%
o%
0.0054 0.0228 0'043
Titanium in Weld Metal, wP/o
(b) 0.0100wt7oborcn in weld metal
Figure 8.4: Variation in the proportions of ferrite morphologies in as-deposited weld metal as
a function of titanium contents at two boron levels.
175
(a) as-deposited weld metal, 0.0005wt% boron and 0.0458wtqo titanitm

!J t r-
20¡rm
.'{ l'"".: t )
(b) re-heated weld metal, 0.0005wt7o boron andO.0273wt7o titanium
176
(c) re-heated weld metal, o.olI2wt%o boron and 0.0228wt7o titanium
,(
Íf
(d) as-deposited weld metal, o.o095wt%o boron and 0.0054wtvo tttanium
177
20¡rm
(e) as-deposited weld metal, 0.oIl2wt%o boron ando.o228wt7o titanium
(f) as-deposited weld metal, 0.0110wt7o boron and 0.0430wt7o titanium
Figure 8.5: Photomicrogtaphs of as-deposited and re-heated weld metal for various titanium
and boron levels.
178
Table 8.3: Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain sizes for titanium and boron series
Boron Titanium Columnar Acicular Ferrite Grain Size of

7o 7o Austenite Grain Lath Width Reheated Zone
Width (pm) (pm) (pm)
<0.0005 0.0054 t35 2.86 5.13
<0.0005 0.0273 150 2.44 5.56
<0.0005 0.0458 130 2.44 5.13
0.0095 0.0054 174 2.94 4.65
o.ottz 0.0228 t25 1.85 4.t7

0.0110 0.0430 t34 2.50 4.44
179
Table 8.4 and figure 8.6 (a) & (b) show the details of the non-metallic inclusions, including
number per unit volume, mean three dimensional (3D) diameter and percentage of diameter
equal to or larger than lpm for each weld, as measured using the SEM with an automated
image analyser. For 0.0005 wt%o boron, as the titanium content increased both the mean 3D
inclusion diameter and percentage of inclusions with a diameter gteater than l¡rm decreased,
whilst the number density of inclusions measured tends to increase with weld-metal titanium,
with a maximum at}.02l3wt7o titani¡tm'
The inclusion data for 0.0100wtZoborcn with an increase in titanium, indicates that the mean
3D inclusion diameter decreases with an increase in titanium whilst the number density of the
inclusions appears to increase with an increase in weld-metal titanium level. The percentage
of inclusions with a diameter greater than l¡rm tends to decrease significantly as titanium
increases to 0.0228wt7obut increases again with a further increase in titanium even though
this increase is quite small.
Mean compositions of non-metallic inclusion obtained using energy dispersive X-ray analysis
in an SEM, are also listed in table 8.4. These values indicate that for both boron levels, as the
titanium level increases, inclusions composition increases in TiO2 at the expense principally
of SiOz. MnO also decreases with an increase in titanium, while AlzO¡ remains relatively
unchanged. Note that boron present in the inclusions does not appear in the energy dispersive
analysis.
180
Table 8.4: Non-metallic inclusions with varying titanium and boron levels.
Weld Weld Number/ Mean 3D Percent > Composition of Inclusions (wt%o)
Boron Titanium Cubic mm Dia (pm) lpmDia si02 MnO a12o3 Tio2
(7o) (7o) (x107)
<0.0005 0.0054 4.86 0.58 3.5 34.5 46.7 14.l 3.82
<0.0005 0.0273 8.63 0.40 1.06 t4.93 47.79 7.18 29.91
<0.0005 0.0458 7.36 0.42 0.96 1T.77 29.42 10.53 48.28
0.0095 0.0054 6.35 0.66 3.76 19.15 65.39 10.13 5.34
0.0112 0.0228 7.81 0.51 1.38 t2.t7 48.71 16.59 22.54
0.0110 0.0430 13.6 0.55 1.87 9.18 44.61 t0.67 35.54
181
ß
I
-I -t
G
o
tt
c
.9 ó
v,
a a Number/cubicmm(xl0^7)
o tr Mean 3D Dia (um)
E Percent >1um Dia.
T
e - -^ - - Poly. (Number/cubic mm(x10^7))
aú 4 Poly. (Percent >1um Dia')
c, (Mean 3D Dia (um))
EI Ã-
c
zo -Poly.
2
0
0 00r r¡tan¡IK in weld lr¡"tåTtt*tz.)
0.04 0,05
(a) 0.0005wt%oboron in weld metal
tó
a Numbericubicmm(xl0^7)
I Mean 3D Dia (um)
14
A Percent >1um Dia.
.-----
Poly. (Number/cubic mm(x I 0^7))
'Poly. (Percent >lum Dia.)
.-I
d 12 Poly. (Mean 3D Dia (um))
a
(ú
o
U'
É
.9
t0
-
at
a
õ
E I -4-'
Ê
a!
.t-- ----
!
6
(,
E
Ê
zo 4
Ã.
---*- Æ
0
0 o or r¡tan¡8rff ¡n welo lile8à11(wtv")
0 04 0 05
(b) 0.0100wt%oborcn in weld metal
Figure 8.6: Variation of non-metallic inclusions number/mm3, mean 3D diameter and
percenÞ1pm diameter with titanium level at two boron levels.
182
8.3 Discussion
The tensile test data for the titanium and boron series shows that both yield and tensile
strength showed some variation, which reflects changes in weld metal microstructural
component and refinement in acicular ferrite lath width and grain size of the reheated zone.
However these changes, for the range of titanium and boron tested, are reasonably small. This
is in agreement with data from other arc welding processes such as MMAW and SAW
1t23,1681.
8.3.2 Wetd Metal Impact Properties
Micro alloying influences impact properties of weld metal by varying the microstructure (area
fraction of various phases) of the as-deposited and reheated weld metal region, non-metallic
inclusions, strength levels and grain size.
The effect of boron on steel transformation kinetics is significant and has been the subject of
research for many ye¿ìrs. A number of mechanisms for notch toughness of steels have been
proposed to explain the behaviour of boron t1691. Most work have assumed that boron
influences notch toughness by increasing the energy barrier against ferrite nucleation at
austenite grain boundaries, without influencing the thermodynamic properties of the austenite
183
and ferrite phases, i.e. reduce the An temperature of the steel. The notch toughness effect of
boron is sensitive to variations in the applied steel deoxidation and alloying. If steel contains
small amounts of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen, these elements may combine with boron to
reduce the free, diffusible boron content [170].
Results confirm that the influence of 'boron on increasing acicular ferrite in weld metal
microstructures was very small without sufficient titanium addition. The influence of titanium
was also very small without sufficient levels of boron. A large volume fraction of acicular
ferrite can be obtained by maintaining optimum boron and titanium contents. This compares
well with work by several authors who reported that boron segregates extensively to the prior
austenite grain boundaries and reduces the grain boundary energy, which increase the energy
barrier to nucleation by lowering the surface free energy ratio and therefore suppress the
formation of grain boundary ferrite, facilitating nucleation on oxide inclusions 12,122-1291.
The present results show, in the range tested, that the fraction of AF present generally
decreases with the addition of titanium for 0.0005wt7oboron. A corresponding increase in FS
and PF is seen. As the boron level increases to 0.0100wt7o, an increase in titanium results in a
significant increase in AF at the expense of FS and PF. The extent of this change in as-
deposited microstructure with titanium-boron level is consistent with earlier studies, which
mainly conducted using other welding processes [130'168].
In the as-deposited regions of welds, measurements were made of the prior austenite grain
size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and of the mean lath width of acicular ferrite
r84
(see table 8.3). The acicular ferrite lath width and the gtain size in the reheated zone \ù/ere
largely independent of titanium at the lower boron level. At higher boron levels for all
titanium levels, the grain size in the reheated zone showed refinement particularly with
0.0228wt7o titanium. AF on the other hand showed significant refinement with only
03228wt7o titanium and 0.0100wt%o boron The prior austenite grain size shows some scatter
with changes in boron and titanium, and does not show any clear trend within the range tested.
Another important thing for this series of titanium and boron compositions, figure 8.7 shows a
summary plot of the variation in AF as a function of weld metal T100J (oC) temperature
values. Here a direct relationship is seen between low temperature impact properties and AF.
A higher percentage of AF gives a lower 100J temperature. Another important feature to note
is that as-deposited weld metal only repres ents 6O7o of weld metal, therefore other factors
must be considered. Figure 8.8 shows summary plot of the variation in grain size in the
reheated zone (pm) as a function of weld metal T100JCC) temperature values. It is clear from
the graph that refinement in grain size of the reheated zone also contributes towards obtaining
better low temperature impact properties.
185
0
o
E
Z, -¿-v
ô^
>
o
I
o
o
b -¿o
o
J
G'
8. -oo
E
6) O T100J (degrce C)
(Tl00J (deg¡ee C))
-Poly.
-80
o 20 40 60 80 100
Acicular Ferrite ComPosition, %
function ofpercentage of acicular ferrite
ø
9 -zo
IE
z
o i T
a
o
P¿o
o
o I
5
(u
o
CL
860
o
-80
3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7
Grain Size of Reheated Zone
function of grain size of reheated zone (¡rm).
186
Figure 8.3 shows that the upper-shelf values tend to decrease with titanium level whilst the
lower-shelf values increase slightly for lower boron levels. The T100J values show a
minimum at -45"C at 0.0005wt%o boron and 0.0054wt%o titanium, any further increase in
titanium adversely affects T100J values. For higher boron, as titanium increases both the
upper-shelf values and lower-shelf energy values increase significantly, and T100J
temperature values improve substantially going down to -62.5"C'
With boron and titanium additions the nucleation and growth of grain boundary ferrite is
hindered, and the weld metal intra-granular inclusions become the primary ferrite nucleation
sites. Ohkita et al.ll73l measured the inclusion size distributions for weld metal containing
oxygen from 100ppm to 300ppm. They showed that the most frequent inclusion size is in the
range 0.3-0.7 microns, and that the average size of non-metallic inclusions increases as the
oxygen content of titanium and boron containing weld metal increases. This observation
suggests that there is a specific range of weld metal oxygen content or inclusion size
distribution, which is most favourable for acicular ferrite nucleation. Liu and Olsen [140]
studied submerged arc welds containing 250-350ppm oxygen. Their results showed that the
welds which had an inclusion size distribution in the range 0.2-0.4 microns had the largest
volume fraction of acicular ferrite. Results in this study show an inclusion size distribution in
the range 0.4-0.5 microns yields the highest volume fraction of AF. This compares favourably
with Ohkita et al but is a little higher than the range found by Liu and Olsen. This variation
may be due to the higher oxygen content associated with this GMAW process, which is in the
range of 400-500ppm. It is also acknowledged that larger inclusions, of lpm or greater
187
Inlluence of Titanium and Boron on Weld Metal Properties
diameter, have been shown to be initiation sites for cleavage fracture 1148,152,1561, which is
the main mode of impact fracture at low temperatures
Figure 8.6 shows the variation in percentage of inclusions with a diameter gteater than l¡rm
(N>lpm) with an increase in titanium level. This shows that the percentage>l¡lm tends to
decrease with alloy level to reach relatively low values at titanium levels greater than about
O.0228wtVo. Whilst the number density of inclusions generally increases, the mean 3D
diameter of inclusions is independent of an increase in titanium levels'
extent in the case of titanium and boron, be explained on the basis of interactions between
following factors:
In the as deposited weld metal:
(a) the proportion of AF increasing,
(b) the proportion of FS and PF decreasing;
and in the reheated weld metal:
refinement in grain size of the reheated zone.
AF tends to increase and FS and PF tend to decrease continually with alloy addition, and the
percentage of large inclusions also tends to decrease with alloy addition. Also refinement in
grain size in the reheated zone combines to give the best low temperature impact properties'
188
Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 9. Summary and Conclusions
9.L lntroduction
The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to investigate the influence of alloying
additions on weld metal mechanical properties from gas-shielded metal-cored wires for
joining structural grade steel. It was further aimed at understanding the reasons for these
effects of alloying on mechanical properties through assessment of the details of weld
microstructures including details of as-welded and reheated regions as well as non-
metallic inclusions.
A review of the literature showed that little research has been carried out in the field of
GMAW, most of the work having been done for MMAW and SAW processes. Detailed
knowledge of the influence of alloying and microalloying elements on the weld
microstructure and mechanical properties from the gas shielded processes lags well
behind, and the purpose of the current study is to address this lack of information.
To achieve this aim, batches of specially formulated metal-cored wires were manufactured
in which alloy additions were varied over predetermined ranges. The alloying elements
189
investigated were: manganese, silicon, titanium, aluminium and boron. Test plates were
welded from each of these wires, (using multi-pass welds) under a controlled set of
welding conditions so that weld metal tensile and low temperature impact properties could
be assessed. This fundamental study of metal-cored welding consumables for gas-shielded
welding is required for designing microalloyed consumables with optimum low
temperature impact proPerties.
A desired improvement in properties may require only a few tenths of one percent of an
alloying element. Sometimes improved properties are gained by stringent control and/or
reduction of an element that may have been tolerated as a residual element in other
welding processes. This is a relatively new approach in alloying technology that can be
credited with improving the quality of welding consumables. In the present study all of the
alloy compositions studied belong to one class of steel ie low carbon low alloy steel. All
compositions are similar with only slight changes in residual alloying elements. These are
varied less then few hundred parts per million (ppm). For these minor variations the
microstructural changes observed are significant (figure 9.1 (aXb)&(c)). The figures
clearly show a transition in the microstructure of as-deposited weld metal. Figure 9'1(a)
shows structure dominated by primary ferrite, while figure 9.1(b) is dominated by ferrite
with second phase. Figure 9.1(c) shows more desirable microstructure of acicular ferrite.
These major changes produced by relatively small variations in alloying addition should
be carefully and systematically studied to accomplish a desired improvement in properties
that will result in a superior consumable with optimised properties.
190
f, 't:
.:43 i l'l
v'
.i. ;.
s ì
t .I
I t
a
I t'(
t\
t-
I
20pm
(a) 0.0570wt7o aluminum in weld metal.
(b) 0.0176wt7oboron in weld metal
191
(c) 0.0112wt7o boron and 0.0228wt7o titanitm in weld metal.
Figure 9.L: Photomicrographs of as-deposited weld metal with (a) 0.O57Owt7o aluminum,
(b) 0.0176wt%oboron, (c) 0.0112wt7o boron and0.0228wt7o titanium in weld metal.
9.2 Influence of Manganese and Silicon on Weld Metal Properties
Both yield strength and tensile strength increase in a fairly regular manner, the most likely
explanation for this behaviour of the result is decrease in effective grain size and solid
solution strengthening over both the as-deposited and reheated regions, with increase in
manganese and silicon. This essentially linear increase has been observed previously for
other arc welding processes such as MMAW [7,9].
The best low temperature impact properties were obtained with manganese contents
between 1.3 and l.6wt7o, provided the silicon content was maintained below O.7wt%o.The
192
main features of the observed low temperature impact behaviour in the case of manganese
and silicon can be explained on the basis of the interaction between following factors;
1. Increase in both yield strength and tensile strength.
2. A decrease in the proportion of PF.
3. An increase in the proportion of AF.
4. Decrease in AF lath size.
5. Decrease in re-heated grain size.
6. Increase in the number density of large inclusion.
The decrease in proportion of PF is associated with an increase in the proportion of AF as
the manganese and silicon is increased in weld metal. A continuous refinement of AF lath
size and re-heated grain size also accurs with increase in alloy content. Low temperature
impact properties may be expected to continually improve over the range of alloys tested.
The inclusions with diameter greater than lpm (N >lpm) at all manganese and silicon
levels were also present in the 4O7o reheated region and adversely affect T100J
temperature. Another factor that influences weld metal impact properties is the increase in
weld metal strength. Increase in strength has a deleterious effect on impact properties.
Consequently, while low temperature impact properties may be expected to be continually
improved by lower PF, higher AF levels and refinement of AF lath size and re-heated
grain size, these effects are offset by increases in yield strength and tensile strength and
the increased number of large inclusions in the weld metal, available to nucleate and
propagate the cleavage fracture.
193
These observations suggest that low manganese contents did not result in sufficient AF
and grain refinement to significantly increase impact properties while high manganese and
silicon resulted in high values of both N>l¡rm and weld strength, thus degrading the
impact properties. Best impact properties rwere obtained with weld metal manganese
contents between 1.3 and l.6wt7o, provided the silicon level was less than 0.7wt7o as
shown in figure 4.5. These impact properties are better than those obtained from other
welding processes as Charpy-V-Notch values of 100J were achieved at temperatures lower
than -40oC. This could be due to the close control of the composition in the production of
the experimental wires compared with commercially produced wires. The carbon contents
are also generally lower (as are oxygen and nitrogen levels) compared to strength
equivalent commercial fl ux-cored and metal-cored consumables.
9.2.L Conclusions
1. The yield and tensile strengths of the welds depend primarily on the weld
manganese and silicon levels with both yield and tensile strength values increasing
approximately linearly with manganese and silicon value. In terms of
microstructure, increase in manganese and silicon levels gives rise to an overall
decrease in grain size in both as-deposited and reheated regions and this is most
likely responsible for the strength increases.
2. The impact behaviour cannot be explained by any single microstructural feature,
but while low temperature impact properties may be expected to continually
improve by lower PF, higher AF levels and refinement of AF lath size and re-
heated grain size, this effect is offset by increases in both yield strength and tensile
strength and the increased number of the large inclusions in the weld metal to
nucleate and propagate the cleavage fracture.
194
3. The optimum weld metal low temperature impact properties occur in a zone when
weld manganese is in the range 1.3 to l.6wt%o and weld silicon is in the range 0'3
to 0.6wt7o.
9.3 Influence of Titanium and Aluminium on Weld Metal Properties
The optimum manganese and silicon values determined previously in this study were
used. Further the influence of titanium and aluminium was studied. Both yield and tensile
strength increased by about 50MPa as the weld titanium level was increased from
O.005wt7o to 0.095wt7o,but were approximately constant as the weld aluminum level was
increased from 0.013wt7o to 0.065wtVo. The tensile properties are consistent with those
reported for MMAW [157].
It was observed that there was little apparent difference in either the appearance of the
reheated zones or in the measured grain sizes of the equiaxed portions of these zones
between the trial welds. This is in agreement with other investigators. It can be concluded
that the reheated regions play a minor part in determining weld impact properties
[148,158].
AF is widely considered to be the most beneficial to impact properties because it consists
of small non-aligned grains with high angle boundaries and therefore provides a difficult
path for cleavage. It has been shown that maximum AF occurs at total aluminum and
titanium of around 0.02wt7o which is at a ratio of aluminum to titanium of approximately
2.4:1, This is consistent with earlier studies which were mostly concerned with other
welding processes [157, I 59,160].
195
Number density of inclusions with diameter greater that 1 pm (N > 1pm) tends to decrease
with alloy level to reach relatively low values at titanium levels between about 0.04 and
g.O9wtfto and aluminum levels greater than about 0.O4wt7o. The inclusions with diameter
greater that l¡rm (N > lpm) at low titanium and aluminum level will also be presênt in the
407o reheated region and could adversely affect T100J temperature despite the high AF
content in weld metal which has not been reaustenitised. The total AF seems to vary from
about 607o to 2O7o bult taking into account that as solidified weld metal is about 6O7o of
total weld metal, the variation in AF as a proportion of the total weld metal is 36Vo to 127o.
extent, be explained on the basis of the interaction between two factors: the proportion of
AF present and the number density of large inclusions. This is because, although AF tends
to decrease continually with alloy addition, the number density of large inclusions also
tends to decrease with alloy addition. Consequently, while low temperature impact
properties may be expected to be continually degraded by lower AF levels, this effect is
offset by the smaller number of the large inclusions available to nucleate the cleavage
fracture
9.3.1 Conclusions
1. Yield and tensile strength increased by about 50 MPa as weld metal titanium level
was increased, but were independent of increases in aluminium level. These
changes in strength are relatively small and do not appear to have any affect on
impact properties.
2. For the range tested, results show that the proportion of AF decreases with
additions of either titanium or aluminum. The maximum AF occurs at total
196
Sumrnary and Conclusions
aluminum and titanium of around 0.02wt7o with ratio of aluminum to titanium
around 2.4:1.
3. The number density of large non-metallic inclusions decreased with increased
additions of either titanium or aluminium.
4. Low temperature impact behaviour appears to largely depend on the combination
of the proportion of AF and the number density of large inclusions. More AF or
fewer large inclusions results in improved impact properties'
5. The optimum weld metal low temperature impact properties occur at the lowest
weld aluminium level tested and at weld titanium levels of either 0.005wt7o (the
lowest tested) or 0.085wt7o.
9.4 Effect of Stress Retief on Low and High Titanium containing Weld
Metals
The metallographic studies have confirmed that stress relieving has a pronounced effect on
the microstructure, causing precipitation and spheroidisation of second phase particles'
The phenomenon has been documented by Cochrane [161] for plate steel, by Farrar et al
[162] for submerged-arc weld metal, and by Evans [163] for MMAW'
Hardness levels were reduced by stress relieving throughout the bulk of the all-weld-metal
deposits studied. This agrees with the results obtained by Evans t1631. Bush and Kelly
and this
[164] also found that hardness and tensile strength decreased during tempering
behaviour is also found during tempering of martensite in the weld metal (Leslie) t1651.
The main consequence of stress relieving is to affect the shift in the transition range'
which is dependent on the levels of carbon and manganese [163]. For both low and high
197
titanium levels with carbon 0.05wt7o and manganese 1.35wt7o,the mean notch toughness
at all temperatures tested showed an increase after heat treatment. For low titanium an
increase of about 50J over the whole temperature range was found, while for the higher
titanium levels this increase was 20 to 50J. This positive response to heat treatment is
clearly a desirable feature and the idealised composition remains optimised.
9.4.1Conclusions
1. For both the low and high titanium-containing weld metals, stress relief heat
treatment gave an improvement in CVN impact values of 20 to 50J over the whole
temperature range.
2. Measurements of grain size and the percentage area of AF, FS and PF gave very
similar results for both low and high titanium levels. Improvement in toughness is
due to softening of the ferrite and tempering of any martensite in the M/A
constituent.
9.5 Influence of Boron on Weld Metal Properties
The boron series shows that both yield and tensile strength were largely independent of
boron content over the range tested. While elongation tended to decrease by about 307o.
This is in agreement with results using other arc welding processes such as MMAW and
sA\ry ú23,1681.
Boron influences toughness by increasing the energy barrier against ferrite nucleation at
austenite grain boundaries. It is not thought to influence the thermodynamic properties of
the austenite and ferrite phases, ie reduce the Ae3-temperature of the steel. The toughness
effect of boron is sensitive to variations in steel deoxidation and alloying practice. If the
198
steel contains small amounts of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen, these elements may
combine with boron to reduce the free, diffusible boron content U701.
The acicular ferrite lath width and the grain size in the reheated zone were largely
independent of boron except at the lowest boron level. The prior austenite grain size
increased significantly with boron level but the proportion of AF present decreased with
the addition of boron. A corresponding increase in FS is also seen. This suggests that other
factors are important as the boron level increases.
The T100J values show minimum values of about -45oC and -41oC at boron contents of
approximately 0.0005wt7o and0.0l34wt7o. For all other boron levels T100J values tend to
be insensitive to boron content and suggests that factors other than the area of the ferrite
morphologies are becoming important.
The total AF seems to vary from about 60Vo to 87o but taking into account that as
solidified weld metal is about 60Vo of total weld metal, the variation in AF as a proportion
of the total weld metal ts 367o to 57o. Similarly variation in PF and FS as a proportion to
the total weld metal will be less. The inclusions with diameter greater than l¡rm (N>lpm)
at low boron levels will also be present in the 4O7o reheated region and could adversely
affect the T100J temperature despite the high AF content in weld metal, which has not
been reaustenitised.
extent in the case of boron, be explained on the basis of interaction between the following
factors. With increasing boron levels;
1. The proportion of AF decreases'
2. The proportion of FS increases.
199
3. The proportion of PF decreases (associated with the prior austenite grain size
increasing).
4. The number density of large inclusions decreases.
As AF tends to decrease and FS tends to increase continually with alloying addition, the
PF decreases. Also the number density of large inclusions tends to decrease with alloying
addition. Consequently, while low temperature impact properties may be expected to be
continually degraded by lower AF and higher FS levels, this effect is offset by a reduction
in PF and in particular the smaller number of the large inclusions, i.e. inclusions with
diameter greater than lpm (N>lpm) in weld metal, available to nucleate and propagate
the cleavage fracture.
9.5.1 Conclusions
1. Yield and tensile strengths were virtually independent of the weld boron level over
the range tested.
2. The proportion of AF decreased markedly with increased boron addition, this was
accompanied by an increase in FS, and a decrease in the proportion of large non-
metallic inclusions.
3. Low temperature impact properties of the weld metal were best with no added
boron or with boron levels of around 0.OI3wt7o. However the variation in low
temperature impact over the range of boron values tested was small.
9.6 Influence of Titanium and Boron on Weld Metal Properties
Small changes are seen in both yield and tensile strength, which reflect changes in the
proportions of the weld metal microstructural components and refinement of the acicular
200
ferrite lath width and grain size of the reheated zone. This is in agreement with data from
other arc welding processes such as MMAW and SAW 1123,1681.
Results confirm that the influence of boron on increasing acicular ferrite in weld metal
microstructures was very small without sufficient titanium addition. The influence of
titanium was also very small without sufficient levels of boron. A large volume fraction of
acicular ferrite can only be obtained by maintaining optimum boron and titanium contents.
This conclusion is suggested by several authors who have reported that boron suppresses
the formation of grain boundary ferrite, facilitating nucleation of AF on oxide inclusions
12,t22-1291.
The acicular ferrite lath width and the grain size in the reheated zone were largely
independent of titanium at the lower boron level. However at higher boron levels for all
O.O228wt7o titanium. AF on the other hand showed very significant refinement with only
0.O228wtVo titanium and 0.0 1 0wt7o boron.
Also of importance is the direct relationship between low temperature impact properties
and AF. A higher percentage of AF gives a lower 100J temperature. Another feature to
note is the grain refinment in the reheated zone which can be directly related to the weld
metal T100JCC) temperature values.
The T100J values show minima of about -45"C at 0.0005wtVo boron and 0.Oo54wt7o
titanium, any further increase in titanium degrades T100J values. For higher boron, as
titanium is increased both the upper-shelf values and the lower-shelf values increase
significantly, and the T100J temperature values improve substantially to -62.5oC. The
201
percentage of inclusions >lpm tend to decrease with increasing alloy level to reach
relatively low values for titanium levels greater than about O.O228wt7o. Whilst the number
density of inclusions generally increased, the mean 3D diameter of inclusions is
independent of an increase in titanium levels.
extent in the case of titanium and boron, be explained on the basis of the interactions
between the following factors when the titanium level is increased at different boron
levels. In the as deposited weld metal:
(a) the proportion of AF increases,
(b) the proportion of FS and PF decreases,
(c) in the reheated weld metal refinement in the grain size,
(d) the percentage of large inclusions tends to decrease.
9.6.1Conclusions
1. Yield and tensile strengths of weld metal were nominally independent of weld
titanium-boron level over the range tested.
2. Low temperature impact properties of the weld metal were best with 0'0100wt7o
boron level and 0.0228wt7o and 0.0430wt7o titanium levels'
3. There is a direct relationship between low temperature impact properties and the
proportions of AF. A higher percentage of AF gives a lower 100J temperature'
4. The refinement in grain size of the reheated zone contributes towards obtaining
better low temperature impact properties.
202
9.7 Combined Influence of Altoying Elements on Weld Metal Properties
Microalloying influences impact properties of weld metal by varying the microstructure
(area fraction of various phases) of the as-deposited and reheated weld metal region, the
size distribution of non-metallic inclusions, grain size and strength levels.
A reference or controlled weld metal alloy was obtained by optimising the manganese and
silicon contents then maintaining them constant whilst varying aluminium, titanium and
boron. Finally the combined effect of boron and titanium was studied to obtain an
optimised composition. This is shown in table 9.1 and its properties in table 9.2. The
factors that influence the low temperature properties of low carbon low alloy steel welds
are the proportions of AF, FS, PF, the AF lath size, the prior austenite grain size, the grain
size of the reheated zone and the number density of inclusions with a diameter >lpm, as
shown in figure 9.2 to figure 9.8. Even though in many cases there is a direct relationship
with low temperature properties, it is important to understand their interrelationship to
optimise the alloy composition. The effect of individual alloying elements has been
discussed earlier.
Table 9.1: Optimised weld metal composition (wt%o) with best low temperature
properttes.
Overall Best Properties (1)
0.68 t.41 il
0.05 0.01 *l 0.015 0.01 0.0r <0.01 io.0l <0.01 <0.0 0.0150 o.0tt2 0.0430 0.0036
Second Best Properties (2)
0.68 t.49 0.05 0.014 0.0r5 0.01 0.01 <0.0 I 0. 0 I <0. 0 1 <0.0 I 0.0430 0.0141 0.01l0 0.0460 0.0036
I
Third Best Properties (3)

0.64 1.34 0.04 0.012 0 .0 I 4 0 .o2 I 0 0 I <0 .0 I 0.0 I <0.0110.0005 0.0054 0.0133 | <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
I
203
Table 9.2: Weld metal properties with optimised composition (wt%o) to produce the best
low temperature properties.

Composition Yield Tensile Elongation Impact
Strength Strength (vo) (Charpy V Notch)
(MPa) (MPa) Temperature for 100J Absorbed Energy
OC
I 556 602 24 -62.5
2 519 575 26 -60
3 507 551 -45

oC (minimum)
Typical 400 480 22 27J@-29
I
I
Requirement I
I (minimum) (minimum) (minimum)
(Aws)
Figure 9.2 shows the variation in acicular ferrite as a function of weld metal T100J
temperature values. It shows that a higher proportion of AF gives the best low temperature
propefties. The scatter in the values of AF is due to other factors, which play an important
role and should be considered. Figure 9.3 is a summary plot of the variation in FS as a
function of weld metal T100J temperature values. Again, lower proportions of FS and PF
are associated with the best low temperature properties (figure9.4).
204
90
80
70
60 I
Tl-
È\
o
'iL 50
a
I
o *
l¡t
k
'E ¿o
I I
o
30 I I I
I
20 I
a
10 r¡
0
-70 -60 -50 -4n -30 -20 -10 10
Temperature for 100J CVN Values (degree C)
Figure 9.2: Summary plot of the variation in acicular ferrite as a function of weld metal
90
80
Lg
70
L
f60
I
cË
F
Es0
I
o I
I
ct)
.a 4I
'F
o
30
I I
,\ I
20
I I
10 ,
a
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10

Temprature for 100J CVN Values (degree C)
Figure 9.3: Summary plot of the variation in ferrite with second phase as a function of
205
45
40
35 II
30
5\
('
'É
L
o
tu
25 I
h20
E
!
15
I tll
10
I ¡¡
5
0
70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 010
Figure 9.4: Summary plot of the variation in primary ferrite phase as a function of weld
metal T100J temperature values (oC).
Figure 9.5 to figure 9.7 show summary plots of the variation in acicular ferrite lath size
(pm), prior austenite grain size (pm) and grain size of reheated zone (¡rm) as a function of
weld metal T100J temperature values ("C). As seen in figure 9.6 varÌatton in prior
austenite grain size does not show any direct relationship with the low temperature impact
properties within the range tested. Variation in prior austenite grain size is seen with boron
additions only, for all other alloying elements the prior austenite grain size remained
unchanged.
Acicular ferrite lath size (pm) within the composition range tested varied little and
remains independent of small changes in alloying elements. On the other hand refinement
in grain size of reheated zone (¡rm) improves low temperature properties. Figure 9.8 shows
lower percentage of inclusions with diameter>lpm results in improved low temperature
properties for the alloy range tested.
206
3.5
I
_3
E
a I
.Ë z.s
ch I I
É
Þl I I
L
L
o
.
I I
lå
ã l.s
a
I
-l
0.5
0
-70 -60 -s0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10
Temperature for 100J CVN Values (degreeC)
Figure 9.5: Summary plot of the variation in acicular ferrite lath size (¡rm) as a function of
weld metal Tl00J temperature values (oC).
10
o
0 a a
a
O
fl -ro
a
èD
€o
a
g
ã -zo
3"0
T
I
€Lo -¿o
I
L
a
d
E
Ê
-to
II
F
-60
Ë
-70
100 200 300 400 s00 600
Prior Austenite Grain Size in um
Figure 9.6: Summary plot of the variation in prior austenite grain size (pm) as a function
of weld metal T100J temperature values (oC).
207
1 I I I
E
6
I
É
(n
É
d
I I
L
()
4
E
d
I
O 3
ú
.,
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 010

Figure 9.7: Summary plot of the variation in grain size of reheated zone (pm) as a
I
tr
I
4
z
3
o
á
o
L .'
È e I
I
1 t r¡
I
a
aa a<)
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 10

Figure 9.8: Summary plot of the variation of percent inclusions with diameter>l¡rm as a
208
For low carbon low alloy steel welds changes in low temperature impact properties due to
minor additions of manganese, silicon, aluminium, titanium and boron are quite
significant. The optimum composition listed in table 9.1 and the corresponding weld metal
properties in table 9.2, were obtained by adjusting microalloying elements to produce very
high proportion of acicular ferrite and reduction in ferrite with second phase and primary
ferrite. In addition refinement of the reheated grain size and a reduction in inclusions with
diameter >lpm also occurred.
9.8 Recommendations for Future Work
An extensive programme of experimental work has been carried out to investigate the
influence of alloying additions on weld metal mechanical properties from gas-shielded
metal-cored wires for joining structural steel. However, further work is required to
understand effect of other variables. The following summarises these suggested
extenstons.
o Effect of aluminium and titanium were studied individually, however it would be
of interest to study the effect of aluminium on different levels of titanium. This will
produce a 3-dimensional behaviour chart for various elements in the weld metal.
o Another important variable is the gas mixture. The effect of varying the gas
mixture should be studied on the optimised composition, i.e. varying gas mixtures
will produce different levels of oxygen and nitrogen which may influence the
inclusions in the weld metal and therefore its microstructure.
o Inclusion modelling to verify existing models which are based on data available for
SAW and MMAW processes. Some preliminary calculations have shown a shift in
these equations for the GMAW process.
209
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226
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1061-1066, 1995
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2784, Volume 294, Nov 1998
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of steel, The Iron and Steel Institute, London, pp 101-106,1911
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OcL1979.
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C-Mn all-weld metal deposits, OERLIKON-Schweissmitt. No. 103, pp L5-27,41
(1e83).
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44-60, t979.
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August, 1996.
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228
References
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229
Publications Originating from this Thesis Work
A. Refereed Publications
tll Tyagi V.K., French I.E. and Bee J.V., 'Influence of Titanium and Aluminium on the
Properties of Multi-pass Weld Metal from Gas-shielded, Metal-cored Wires', Welding
Research Supplement, Australasian Welding Journal, Y ol. 44, 1999.
[2] Tyagi V.K., French I.E. and Bee J.V., 'Influence of Mn and Si on the Properties of
Multi-pass Weld Metal from Gas-shielded, Metal-cored Wires', Welding Research
Supplement, Australasian Welding Journal, Vol. 43, 1998.
t31 Tyagi V.K., French I.E. and Bee J.V., Literature Review on 'Understanding the
influence of alloy additions on microstructural and mechanical properties of weld metal
from gas-shielded processes', Australasian Welding Research Publications, WTIA,
CRC No. 20,1996.
230
B. Non-refereed Publications & Conference Papers
tU Tyagi V.K., French I.E. and Brown I., 'Influence of Titanium and Boron on the
properties of multi-pass weld metal from gas-shielded, metal-cored wires', WTIA 49tt'
Annual Conference, Adelaide, South Australia, 8-10 Oct., 2OOl.
C. Technical Reports
tll Tyagi V.K., Bee J.V. and French I.E., 'Understanding the influence of alloy additions
on microstructural and mechanical properties of weld metal from gas-shielded
processes', CMST-A-98-37, October 1998.
l2l Tyagi V.K., French I.E. and Bee J.V., 'Influence of Mn and Si on the Properties of
Multi-pass Weld Metal from Gas-shielded, Metal-cored Wires', Report No., MTA 441,
June 1997.
231
Appendix A
Appendix A
Manganese and Silicon Series
Composition
si Mn c S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.34 0.98 0.05 0.009 0.018 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0040 0.0120 <0.0005 0.0570 0.0160
232
Appendix A
Microstructure photomicrograph
As-Welded x100
As-Welded x500
.'t
I
I
As-Welded x1000
233
Appendix A
t.l
Re-Heated x100
Re-Heated x500
.'\ ''Í'
tT' I
w.
¡
\
ìi
i *
', iå.4..
{
I
tp l's 10pm
I { Ç. ^-*,
t ' ?r...
Re-Heated x1000
234
Appendix A
Composition
Si Mn C s B Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.34 t.4 0.05 0.009 0.017 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0051 0.0139 <0.0005 0.0430 0.0041
235
Appendix A
Microstructure ic
100pm
As-Welded x100
20pm
ç
As-Welded x500
As-Welded x1000
236
Appendix A
Re-Heated x100
Re-Heated x500
10pm
Å<
Re-Heated x1000
231
Appendix A
Composition
Si Mn C s E Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.39 1.50 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.03 0.0r 0.01 0.01 0.0067 0.001 0.0050 0.0t23 <0.0005 0.0550 0.0063
238
Appendix A
Microstructure
100¡m
As-Welded x100
dr
I
20¡rm
As-Welded x500
Í
";t \'
lr 10¡rm
1t 1:.' ;,1 ,; .
,.a \
As-Welded x1000
239
Appendix A
Re-Heated x100
t/
.t^ F!
l--4:r"
20pm
A
{t
Re-Heated x500
,{ U
d'
I 1
I {..
t
l 10pm
r,å¡
¡r -'. , r'{
.d\ '1
Re-Heated xl000
240
Appendix A
Composition
Si Mn C s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.57 1.0 0.04 0.007 0.016 o.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0063 0.0001 0.0045 0.0134 <0.0005 0.0470 0.0057
241
Appendix A
Microstructu re photomicrograph
I.
/
As-Welded xl00
As-Welded x500
Tr
,ç
i.
-¿
*.ts.
10pm
,,
-.'1:' t
As-Welded x1000
242
Appendix A
Re-Heated x100
.a
t.
20¡rm
I f'
Re-Heated x500
7
(."
ll {-
\f
10pm
Re-Heated x1000
243
Appendix A
Composition
si Mn c s P Ni Cr Mo Cu V Nb Ti AI B o N
0.67 1.27 0.04 0.007 0.016 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.00s 0.0r40 <0.0005 o.0420 0.0106
244
Appendix A
Microstructure m¡cro
As-Welded xL00
f\
t_'
20¡rm
J;
As-Welded x500
.dþ'l
g¡"ã
"i
As-Welded x1000
245
Appendix A
Re-Heated x100
Re-Heated x500
'1
10¡rm
t
Ï T
Re-Heated x1000
246
Appendix A
Composition
si Mn C s E Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.64 1.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
247
Appendix A
As-Welded x100
As-Welded x500
As-Welded x1000
248
Appendix A
100pm
Re-Heated x100
20pm
)
1j
Re-Heated x500
"l
Fr
.a
10pm
{.!
Re-Heated x1000
249
Appendix A
Composition
0.57 t.64 0.04 0.007 0.016 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0060 0.0148 <0.0005 0.0480 0.0098
250
Appendìx A
M icrostructure photom ic
100¡rm
As-Welded xL00
As-Welded x500
10pm
t
As-Welded x1000
251
Appendix A
100¡rm
Re-Heated x100
.l
rlt
20¡rm
Re-Heated x500
i,'
b 10pm
e
I
Re-Heated x1000
252
Appendix A
Composition
Si Mn c s P Ni Cr Mo Cu V Nb Ti AI B o N
0.8 I.2I 0.05 0.009 0.017 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0100 <0.01 0.0059 0.0158 <0.0005 0.0440 0.0080
253
Appendix A
Microstructure p hotomicrograph
As-Welded x100
20¡rm
As-Welded x500
&'
!.':
,# I
.1
10¡rm
As-Welded x1000
254
Appendix A
t/.
100pm
Re-Heated x100
,\* {
Ít" "¿
20¡rm
\
Re-Heated x500
1.., t I
Ç, lr -
'qå
{.
u
5
,. I
I
I l0pm
1.-
Re-Heated x1000
255
Appendix A
Composition
Si Mn C s E Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.84 r.66 0.05 0.014 0.017 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0080 0.005 0.0060 0.0130 <0.0005 0.0480 0.0116
256
Appendix A
Microstructure hotom
As-Welded x100
20¡rm
As-Welded x500
As-Welded xl000
25'7
Appendix A
100¡rm
Re-Heated x100
I Y
20¡rm
Õ.
Re-Heated x500
---4 ila l
t' 'ì
I-t ,\
.
"(. ô7" (.
¡'_" .À
.Ðt 10pm
ttf
\t-* ¿.
l Re-Heated x1000
T* j1
Ì
t
258
Appendix B
Appendix B Titanium Series
Titanium Series
Composition
Si Mn c S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI E o N
0.64 t.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.00s4 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
259
Appendix B
As-Welded x100
20¡rm
a
6ôl
As-Welded x500
As-Welded x1000
260
Appendix B
Re-Heated x100
,1
d
20pm
Re-Heated x500
!.
10pm
tl:}
Re-Heated x1000
261
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
0.5s 1.30 0.05 0.008 0.015 o.02 0.01 0.01 0.010 0.0059 <0.0005 0.0124 0.0132 <0.0005 0.0450 0.0040
262
Appendix B
Microstructure otom
100pm
As-Welded xl00
,$'e ,.''
As-Welded x500
, 1.- ¡
,Ò
,í,
a
{', I Þ
,4
þ
¡S
101rrn
¿-
--z--.ffi
1
i ¡- nåî
As-Welded x1000
263
Appendix B
Re-Heated x100
Re-Heated x500
i '"''
i'
)
,1
I
I
J
è { ¿'-'' .' 10¡rm
,r 1'\ a-?
l,-l Þ
Re-Heated x1000
264
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
si Mn c S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI E o N
0.58 t.26 0.05 0.011 0.013 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.0005 0.0273 o.ot42 <0.0005 o.0420 0.0054
265
Appendix B
100¡m
As-Welded x100
I
ç.
'/-
j
iJ 20¡tm *r
./"
I
As-Welded x500
:.1
¡.å. .,¡¿.
*.1 ,
*"
I
10¡rm t
{
As-Welded x1000
266
Appendix B
-{
100¡m
Re-Heated x100
2Opm
,J
Re-Heated x500
-¡Þ
f r.i
1
T:
Å
t c
i ,-'r
t.Ê
)
10¡m
i
\ \" !r
Re-Heated x1000
267
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
si Mn c s P Ni Cr Mo Cu V Nb Ti AI B o N
0.66 1.38 0.05 0.011 0.013 a.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0066 <0.0005 U.UTJO 0.0111 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0037
268
Appendix B
As-Welded x100
As-Welded x500
\
:
10pm
As-Welded x1000
269
Appendix B
Re-Heated x100
¿¡í
i.t !',
ry
¿
.í
&
t I
!Þ i" ¡.
I
20¡rm
.4
{ '.t
I
t ¿t (
Re-Heated x500
Ti.
't'",
þ
¡ -\t
{:
.t
10pm
"¡
{
Re-Heated x1000
270
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
si Mn c s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.56 1.24 0.05 0.010 0.ot2 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.0588 0.0161 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0070
211
Appendix B
Microstructure
As-Welded x100
.- la.
¿¡-.?' /'
As-Welded x500
-:
r,%j
10¡rm
As-Welded x1000
272
Appendix B
100¡rm
Re-Heated x100
?i) \ u
ir^¡
>
20¡rm
",!r
Re-Heated x500
.r .t7'\!- /
t/ \Y
r}{x _!
ï'ri ""1,-
.¿.
\ A,
il
\
a
t, rl
i
a
a
) 10pm
I
ai I
I
Re-Heated x1000
273
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
Si Mn ç s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.60 r.32 0.05 0.013 0.014 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.0852 o.ot4'7 <0.0005 0.0400 0.0038
214
Appendix B
Microstructure m h
100¡m
As-Welded x100
,7
I
20pm
I
I
As-Welded x500
\äl '!
{-
ù
, &
t
3' r7
tb ?
I
o
t ¡ 10¡rm
/"!
/!
o{-' .,-ë:
d; 7
5çÉt,
j
As-Welded x1000
" þ,¡
À15
/\
t þ
215
Appendix B
Re-Heated x100
ry
.l
!.
20pm
{
{ f
,¿
Re-Heated x500
tY , .t/
/
"+'
þr t
{i
\
I
10¡rm
..1 \
Re-Heated x1000
216
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
si Mn C s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.63 t.2't 0.05 0.012 0.012 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.0910 0.0164 <0.0005 0.0400 0.0080
211
Appendix B
Microstructure otom
As-Welded x100
As-Welded x500
13
I
¿
o
t)
i¡ l0pm
\
As-Welded x1000
218
Appendix B
Re-Heated x100
l Pl
1
t(
ri
I 2Opm
t
!
,:'Î.L
Re-Heated x500
\ ì 'f ;. I 9',
4
''1
\
I t
I
+'l í"i
t {;'rJ.: t
: "+- ô
I
t"
È
¡ 10¡rm
5 Ì F
vtF
.vo j g .r"{'
Re-Heated xl000
t
2'79
Appendix B
Titanium Series
Composition
Si Mn c s E Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.63 1.27 0.06 0.011 0.012 o.02 0.01 <0.01 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.0940 o.ot32 <0.0005 0.0430 0.0130
280
Appendix B
Microstructure photom icrograph
100¡rm
As-Welded x100
As-Welded x500
I
â".
.J ì.
Þ
10¡rm
As-Welded x1000
281
Appendix B
Re-Heated x100
,:i , "r.
ú\. '. .. ;frt :
è
t. ¿ -.¿
,
'./
':
I ./ s:' ;' ,
!--r.'
t':
{,
20pm
'1. ,
:) , -:.¿
'
¡,
Re-Heated x500
:
-t t,- ì
I l-,' (*!
i,
.\
-ât, { ¿.
ì Ìr
*.1
t-
!
10pm
J?
Å t/
't
Re-Heated x1000
282
Appendix C
Appendix C Aluminium Series
Aluminium Series
Composition
Si Mn C s P Ni Cr Mo Cu Y Nb Ti AI B o N
0.64 r.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
283
Appendix C
As-Welded x1.00
20¡rm
K
Ér
As-Welded x500
'.'ìr.q,1
l+tt"'
.,_.
As-Welded x1000
284
Appendix C
100¡rm
Re-Heated x100
'þa
ù *71,
:.31
20¡rm
ç
(..
t tl.-
Re-Heated x500
77
"l
{
t.'
.1
þ
I
i
'.i 10pm
t]\
I
Re-Heated x1000
285
Appendix C
Aluminium Series
Composition
0.61 t.32 0.06 o.o24 0.015 0.05 0.03 o.o2 0.01 0.0055 <0.01 0.0060 0.0190 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0048
286
Appendix C
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Appendix C
Re-Heated x100
Re-Heated x500
.,
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288
Appendix C
Aluminium Series
Composition
si Mn C s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.60 1.29 0.05 0.020 0.017 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.00s7 <0.01 0.0049 0.0320 <0.0005 0.0650 0.0065
289
Appendix C
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Appendix C
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Appendix C
Aluminium Series
Composition
si Mn c s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
o;t7 1.38 0.05 0.020 0.018 0.05 0.03 o.o2 0.01 0.0067 <0.01 0.0058 0.0495 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0054
292
Appendix C
Microstructure hotom
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293
Appendix C
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294
Appendix C
Aluminium Series
Composition
si Mn C S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
o.52 1.15 0.06 0.016 0.018 0.05 0.03 o.o2 0.01 0.0053 <0.01 0.0050 0.0570 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0045
295
Appendix C
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Appendix C
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Appendix C
Aluminium Series
Composition
Si Mn c S B Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.68 1.35 0.05 0.013 0.018 0.05 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.0065 <0.01 0.0058 0.0642 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0068
298
Appendix C
100pm
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299
Appendix C
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Appendix D
Appendix D Boron Series
Boron Series
Composition
o.64 t.34 0.04 0.or2 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
301
Appendix D
As-Welded xL00
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302
Appendix D
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303
Appendix D
Boron Series
Composition
Si Mn c s B Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.46 1.13 0.06 o.olz 0.011 0.03 0.01 <0.01 o.2l <0.01 <0.01 0.0058 0.0149 0.0050 0.0530 0.0073
304
Appendix D
Microstructu re photom icrograph
1,
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Appendix D
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306
Appendix D
Boron Series
Composition
Si Mn C s P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI E o N
0.63 1.35 0.05 0.011 0.011 0.02 0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.0057 0.0153 0.0088 0.0540 0.0067
301
Appendix D
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308
Appendix D
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309
Appendix D
Boron Series
Composition
Si Mn C S P Ni Cr Mo Cu V Nb Ti AI B o N
0.66 r.4l 0.04 0.011 0.012 o.02 0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.0057 0.0161 0.0134 0.0500 0.0063
310
Appendix D
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311
Appendix D
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312
Appendix D
Boron Series
Composition
si Mn c s B Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
o.62 t.33 0.04 0,013 o.ot2 0.03 0.01 <0.01 o.o2 <0.01 <0.01 0.0059 0.0150 0.0176 0.0500 0.0043
313
Appendix D
M icrostructure photom icrograph
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314
Appendix D
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315
Appendix E
Appendix E Titanium and Boron Series
Titanium and Boron Series
Composition
si Mn C s E Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.64 1.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 o.oo41
316
Appendix E
M icrostructu re photom icrograph
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Appendix E
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. .::
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318
Appendix E
Composition
si Mn C S P Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.58 r.26 0.05 0.011 0.013 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.0005 o.0273 0.0142 <0.0005 0.0420 0.0054
3t9
Appendix E
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320
Appendix E
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Appendix E
Composition
Si Mn c s B Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI B o N
0.66 1.38 0.05 0.011 0.013 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0066 <0.0005 0.04s8 0.0111 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0037
322
Appendix E
100¡rm
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323
Appendix E
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324
Appendix E
Composition
Si Mn c s B Ni Cr Mo Cu V Nb Ti AI B o N
o.61 t.44 0.04 0.013 0.015 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0087 <0.0005 0.0054 0.0150 0.009s 0.0390 0.0021
325
Appendix E
Microstructu re photom icrograph
As-Welded x100
..i :
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326
Appendix E
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Appendix E
Composition
Si Mn c s E Ni Cr Mo Cu v Nb Ti AI E o N
0.68 t.47 0.05 0.013 0.015 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0096 <0.0005 0.0228 0.0150 0.0112 0.0430 0.0036
328
Appendix E
100¡rm
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329
Appendix E
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Appendix E
Composition
0.68 r.49 0.05 0.014 0.015 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0110 <0.0005 0.0430 o.ot4'l 0.0110 0.0460 0.0036
331
Appendix E
As-Welded x100
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332
Appendix E
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Appendix F
Appendix F
Example of Publications
334
Appendix F
Influence of Titanium and Boron on the Properties of Multi-pass Weld Metal from Gas-
shielded, Metal-cored Wires
TyagiV.K.(t), French l.E.(2) and Brown l.(3),
(1) CSIRO Manufacturing Science and Technology - a Core Partner

of the CRC-WS
(2) Former Member of CSIBO Manufacturing Science and Technology
- a Core Partner of the CRC-WS
(3) University of Adelaide, Australia - a Core Partner of the CRC-WS
Abstract
Boron and titanium additions and the microstructure and impact toughness of gas metal arc
weld deposits made with metal-cored wires were investigated. lt was found that a large
volume iraction acicular ferrite (up to 95%) could be obtained by maintaining the optimum
boron and titanium contents. Addition of titanium or boron alone has very little influence on
acicular ferrite formation in the weld deposits. A direct relationship between the acicular
ferrite content and the low temperature impact properties of the weld deposits was
established.
Key words
Metal cored wires, gas shielding, multi-pass welds, weld metal titanium, weld metal boron,
microstructu re, proPedies.
1. lntroduction
The influence of boron on increasing acicular ferrite in weld metal microstructures is very
small without sufficient titanium addition. The influence of titanium is also very small without
sufficient levels of boron t1l. A large volume fraction of acicular ferrite (up to 95%) can be
obtained by maintaining optimum boron and titanium contents. The decrease in low-
temperaturé toughness w¡tfr excess boron and titanium contents can be explained by the
resulting increase in volume fraction of upper bainite [1]'
Previous work have reported that balanced alloying with boron and titanium can almost
eliminate formation of giain boundary ferrite 12-71. The mechanism for the influence of boron
is based on the fac[ that boron segregates extensively at the prior austenite grain
boundaries, where it reduces the grain boundary energy [8]. lt has been proposed that the
reduction in grain boundary energy increases the energy barrier for nucleation by lowering
the surface fiee energy raiio and-therefore suppress the formation of grain boundary ferrite
facilitating the nucleation on oxide inclusions [9,10].
Titanium protect the boron from oxygen and nitrogen. Elemental boron hinders the formation
of grain boundary ferrite resulting in increased undercooling of weld metal austenite which
promotes the nucleation of fiñe intergranular acicular ferrite. The specific inclusion
335
Appendix F
concentration and size distribution, with proper protection of weld metal boron, are the
primary factors to achieve high intragranular acicular ferrite contents [11].
The role of titanium is mainly to protect boron from nitrogen (and oxygen) by forming titanium
nitride (TiN) in the liquid state prior to solidification. The optimum titanium content will clearly
be a function of the weld metal concentrations of nitrogen and nitride formers (V,Nb and Al).
Mori, et al.1121, proposed that oxide particles with a surface coating of TiO, or those particles
that were completely TiO, would be the most potent site for the nucleation of acicular ferrite.
The 3.0% lattice disregistry between TiO and ferrite is the smallest of all the potential
nucleating agents. Compounds that have high values of disregistry, such as BN and AlzOg,
will not be as likely nucleation sites for the acicular ferrite.
Ohkita et al. [13], suggested the following mechanistic description of notch toughness
improvement in the titanium-boron containing weld metal:
1. During solidification, highly segregated boron reacts preferentially with nitrogen to form
BN. The titanium protects the boron from oxygen.
2. During cooling in the austenite range, titanium protects the remaining boron from nitrogen
by forming TiN. Free boron segregates to the austenite grain boundaries. The formation
of nitrogen compounds with boron and titanium by the above reactions reduces the
amount of nitrogen in solution.
3. On further cooling of the austenite to the ferrite transformation range, active boron,
present at the austenite grain boundaries, reduces the grain boundary energy and retards
the nucleation of proeutectoid ferrite.
4. Oxide inclusions that contain titanium promote the nucleation of acicular ferrite within
austenite grains.
The purpose of this paper is to characterise in greater detail the combined effects of boron
and titanium on the microstructure and mechanical properties of multi-layer gas-shielded
metal cored arc weld metals.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Manufacture of Special Wires
For the present investigation, special metal cored wires were manufactured. The sheath
material was cold rolled mild steel of approximate composition 0.05% C,0.22V" Mn, 0.01% Si
and 0.015% Al. Core ingredients used included iron powder, silicon-manganese, ferro-
silicon, electrolytic manganese, titanium metal and aluminium metal powders. All of these
were commercial powders normally used for arc welding consumable manufacture. The
wires were manufactured with a nominal core weight to total wire weighl of 217o and were
drawn to a final diameter of 1.6 mm.
The Mn and Si content of the wires was kept constant to yield weld metal containing
nominally 0.60% Si and 134% Mn. Additions of Ti and B were aimed for obtaining three
levels of titanium: 0.0054, O.O23O and 0.0458o/o, àt1d for each level of titanium two levels of
boron, O.OOO5 and 0.01007o, were used. ln addition, the weld metal carbon content was kept
constant at nominally 0.05%.
336
Appendix F
Welding was performed in the flat position (1G) on parent plate material of AS Grade 250
[14] under mechanised conditions. Direct current electrode positive was used with the
welding current being 30OA and 30V welding voltage. Energy input was nominally 1.SkJ/mm.
The slrielding gas used was Argon with 5% CO2. lnter-pass temperature was standardised
at 150 oC I see reference 15 for details].
Chemical analyses of the all-weld-metal deposits were obtained using an optical emission
spectrometer. The vanadium, niobium, titanium, aluminium and boron contents of the
experimental welds were determined to four decimal places so that small variations could be
detected. Oxygen and nitrogen contents in the weld metal were determined using a Leco
TC136 analyser.
2.4 MechanicalTesting
The impact toughness of each weld metal was assessed by the Charpy-V-notch (CVN) test.
oC respectively in order to obtain a
Tests were carried out at -60, -40, -2O, O and 20
transition curve for each weld. Three specimens were tested at each temperature and the
mean absorbed energy calculated. An all-weld-metal tensile test was carried out. The tensile
oC
specimens were heat treated at 250 for 16 hours for hydrogen removal, prior to testing.
The details of test specimens and procedures have been given previously [15].
2.5 Metallography
Transverse sections were prepared and detailed microstructural examination was carried out
on top beads and on the adjacent reheated zones. The volume fraction of the different micro-
constituents was obtained from point counts on more than 1000 points, following the llW
Guidelines [16]. The prior austenite grain sizes were determined by means of the mean
linear intercept technique [17] for all welds as were the lath widths of the acicular ferrite.
2.6 Study of lnclusions
The size distribution of non-metallic inclusions on polished specimens of the as-deposited

weld metal was examined, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) based automatic
image analyser. The methods used were in line with those detailed in [18]. ln the present
inveètigation, magnification of 1O,OOO, accelerating voltage of 1SkV, grid point spacing of
0.02 pm and working distance between I and 10 mm was used (see reference 15 for
details).
3 Results
The chemical compositions of the all-weld-metal deposits studied are given in Table 1 for the
Ti-B series. For 0.00057o boron, as the titanium level increased the oxygen level reduced
from 0.0530 to 0.0380%, while the nitrogen level varied between 0.0054 and 0.0037"/o. For
0.01OO% boron, as the titanium level increased the oxygen level varied between 0.046 to
337
Appendix F
0.039%, while the nitrogen level varied between 0.0036 and 0.0027%. These levels of
oxygen and nitrogen are considered normal for this type of weldmetal and process.
3.2 Mechanical Properties
3.2.1 Tensile Properties
Results of the tensile test are presented in Table 2 for the Ti-B series, the measured yield
strengths varied between 482 and 556 MPa, while tensile strengths varied between 557 and
Ol O MPa and elongations were between 24 and 29"/". For 0.0005% boron content, yield and
tensile strength deóreased as titanium increased lo 0.0273"/" and then increased again at
O.O4SB%, thió could be due to changes in Mn and Si, while elongation decreased by about
14"/o as the titanium level increased in the weld metal. While for 0.0100% boron, as titanium
increases to 0.0228"/o both yield and tensile strength increaçed by about 5 lo 12"/",
decreasing again at higher titanium levels. Elongation increased by about 8% as titanium
increased. Thése changes in the Ti-B series, over the range tested, are reasonably small for
this type of process.
3.2.2 CVN lmpact Results
The variations of mean CVN energy with test temperature for the various Ti-B series weld
metals are plotted in Figure 1 (a) and (b) respectively. Figure 1 (a) shows CVN energies at
O.OOO5% boron versus titanium content. Mean CVN energies across the temperature range
appear highest at 0.0054% Ti level. For 0.0100% boron, with an increase in titanium, Figure
1.(b)the mean CVN energies across the temperature range are highest alO.Q228"/o Ti level'
oC), oC)
For each case the upper-shelf energy (at +20 the lower-shelf energy (at -60 and the
temperature corresponding to a CVN energy of 100J (T100J) were found. These values are
plotted in Figure 2 (a) and (b) against weld Ti contents respectively.
Figure 2 (a) with O.OOO5% boron shows that as titanium increases the upper-shelf andoClower-
shãlf values tend to decrease. The T100J values, show minimum value of about -45 at Ti
contents of approximately 0.0054"/o, any further addition deteriorates T100J values.
The variations with O.O1O0% boron with different titanium levels, as plotted in Figure 2 (b)
show that the highest upper and lower-shelf values occur at the 0.0228 and 0'0430%
oC occurs at the 0.0228 and
titanium. Similarly the lowest TlOOJ value of -62.5 and {0.0
O.O43O% titanium. The low temperature properties are best at high boron and high titanium
levels, but the best overall impact properties occurs at 0.0100% boron and 0.0228 titanium.
3.3 Weld Metal Microstructure
Area measurements from cross-sections of welds indicated that the region of the weld from
which mechanical test specimens (particularly CVN specimens) were extracted contained
approximately 60% as-deposited and 40"/" reheated weld metal [15]. Area fractions of
acícular ferritê (AF), ferrite with second phase (FS) and primary ferrite (PF) were determined
in as-deposited regions of the top layer from each weld'
Plots of the area fraction of AF, FS and PF with weld Ti at 0.0005% and 0.0100% boron
levels are shown in Figure 3 (a) and (b) respectively. ln Figure 3 (a) it can be seen that
variation in titanium at 0.0005% boron. Here the area of AF tends to decrease in the range
338
Appendix F
from 62.41o 48"/" with an increase in the Ti level. A corresponding increase in FS is seen, as
the changes in PF are relatively low. The extent of changes in the as-deposited
microstruclure with Ti levels at 0.0005% boron are relatively low in the range tested' A
representative micrograph is shown in Figure 4 (a) which shows a weld containing 0'0430%
Ti. lt is interesting to note the areas of primary ferrite (PF).
Figure 3 (b) shows the variation in titanium at 0.0100% boron. Here the area of AF tends to
inõrease sharply with 0.0228% titanium lo 74.4"/" and then decreases again as titanium
increases furthér to 0.0430%. As shown in Figure 3 (b), FS also decreases as titanium
increases lo O.O22B"/" Írom 29"/" lo 11"/o, with a further increase in titanium, FS increases
significantly lo 45"/" of as-deposited weld metal. PF shows a continuous decrease as titanium
increases.
ln addition to these measurements of area of the ferrite morphologies, measurements were.

also made of the prior austenite grain size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and
of the mean lath width of acicular ferrite (see Tables 3). For 0.0005% boron, as the titanium
content increases, the prior austenite grain size and the grain size in the reheated zone were
largely independent of Ti, except perhaps at the 0.0273% Ti level where it tended to increase
stightly. The acicular ferrite lath width decreased with increasing Ti levels'
With higher boron levels, as the titanium content increases changes are significant; the prior
austenite grain size, acicular ferrite lath width and grain size of the reheated zone decreased
with an iñcrease in titanium, with a maximum reduction at the middle titanium level of
0.0228%. Another important observation is that the overall grain size of the reheated zone for
O.O1OO% boron at ali titanium levels decreased significantly by about 20"/".The extents of
changes in the re-heated weld microstructure with Ti levels are illustrated in Figure 4 (b & c)
which shows a weld containing 0.0228% Ti, with 0.0005 and 0.0100% boron, respectively'
The extent of changes in the as-deposited microstructure with Ti levels at 0.0100% boron are
illustrated in Figure 4 (d, e & f), which shows welds containing 0.0054, 0.0228 and 0.0430%
Ti. lt is interesting to note the areas of primary ferrite (PF) and changes in the size of acicular
ferrite lath width.
3.4 Non-metallic lnclusions
Table 4 and Figure 5 (a) & (b) show the details of the non-metallic inclusions, including
number per unit volume, mean three dimensional (3D) diameter and percentage of diameter
equal to or larger than 1pm for each weld, as measured using the SEM with an automated
image analyser. For 0.00057o boron, as the titanium content increased both the mean 3D
inclusion diameter and percentage of inclusions with a diameter greater than 1pm
decreased, whilst the number density of inclusions measured tends to increase with weld-
metaltitanium, with a maximum alO.0273'/" titanium.
The inclusion data for 0.0100% boron with an increase in titanium, indicates that the mean
3D inclusion diameter decreases with an increase in titanium whilst the number density of the
inclusions appears to increase with an increase in weld-metal titanium level. The percentage
of inclusions with a diameter greater than 1¡rm tends to decrease significantly as titanium
increases lo 0.0228"/" but increases again with a further increase in titanium'
Mean compositions of non-metallic inclusion obtained using energy dispersive X-ray analysis
in an SEM, are also listed in Table 4. These values indicate that for both boron levels, as the
339
Appendix F
titanium level increases, inclusions composition increases ¡n TiOz at the expense principally
of SiOz, MnO also decreases with an increase in titanium, while AlzO3 rêÍìâins relatively
unchanged. Note that boron present in the inclusions does not appear in the energy
dispersive analysis.
4 Discussion
4.1 Weld MetalTensile Properties
The tensile test data for the titanium-boron series shows that both yield and tensile strength
showed some variation, which reflect changes in weld metal microstructural component and
refinement in acicular ferrite lath width and grain size of the reheated zone. However these
changes, for the range of titanium and boron tested, are reasònably small. This is in
agreement with data from other arc welding processes such as MMAW and SAW [3,19].
4.2 Weld Metal lmpact Properties
Micro alloying influences impact properties of weld metal by varying microstructure (area
fraction of various phases) of as-deposited and reheated weld metal region, non-metallic
inclusions, strength levels and grain size.
The effect of boron on steel transformation kinetics is significant and has been the subject of
research for many years. A number of mechanisms for notch toughness of steels have been
proposed to explain the behaviour of boron [20]. Most work have assumed that boron
influences notch toughness by increasing the energy barrier against ferrite nucleation at
austenite grain boundaries, without influencing the thermodynamic properties of the austenite
and ferritaphases, i.e. reduce the Ars temperature of the steel. The notch toughness effect of
boron is sensitive to variations in the applied steel deoxidation and alloying. lf steel contains
small amounts of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen, these elements may combine with boron to
reduce the free, diffusible boron content [21].
Results confirm that the influence of boron on increasing acicular ferrite in weld metal
microstructures was very small without sufficient titanium addition. The influence of titanium
was also very small without sufficient levels of boron. A large volume fraction of acicular
ferrite can be obtained by maintaining optimum boron and titanium contents. This compares
well with work by several authors who reported that boron segregates extensively to the prior
austenite grain boundaries and reduces the grain boundary energy, which increase the
energy barrier to nucleation by lowering the sudace free energy ratio and therefore suppress
the formation of grain boundary ferrite, facilitating nucleation on oxide inclusions [2-10].
The present results show, in the range tested, that the fraction of AF present generally
decreases with the addition of titanium for 0.0005% boron. A corresponding increase in FS
and PF is seen. As the boron level increases to 0.0100%, an increase in titanium results in a
significant increase in AF at the expense of FS and PF. The extent of this change in as-
deposited microstructure with Ti-B level is consistent with earlier studies, which mainly
conducted using other welding processes [1 ,19].
ln the as-deposited regions of welds, measurements were made of the prior austenite grain
size, the grain size of the equiaxed reheated zone and of the mean lath width of acicular
ferrite (see Table 3). The acicular ferrite lath width and the grain size in the reheated zone
was largely independent of titanium at the lower boron level. At higher boron levels for all
340
Appendix F
0.0228% titanium. AF on the other hand showed significant refinement with only 0.0228"/"
titanium and 0.0100% boron. The prior austenite grain size shows some scatter with changes
in boron and titanium, and does not show any clear trend within the range tested.
Another important thing for this series of Ti-B compositions, Figure 6 shows a summary plot
of the variation in AF as a function of weld metal T100J("C) temperature values. Here a direct
relation is seen between low temperature impact properties and AF. A higher percentage of
AF gives a lower 100J temperature. Another important feature to note is that as-deposited
weld metal only represents 60% of weld metal, therefore other factors must be considered.
Figure 7 showé summary plot of the variation in grain size in the reheated zone (¡rm) as a
function of weld metal TIOOJ("C) temperature values. lt is clear from the graph that
refinement in grain size of the reheated zone also contributes towards obtaining better low
temperatu re impact properties.
Figure 2 shows that the upper-shelf values tend to decrease with titanium level whilst the
lower-shelf values increase slightly for lower boron levels. The T100J values show minima of
about -45 "C at 0.0005% boron and 0.0054% titanium, any further increase in titanium
deteriorates TlOOJ values. For higher boron, as titanium increases both the upper-shelf
values and lower-shelf values increase significantly, and T100J values improve substantially
to -62.5'C.
With boron and titanium additions the nucleation and growth of grain boundary ferrite is
hindered, and the weld metal intra-granular inclusions become the primary ferrite nucleation
sites. Ohkita et al.[13] measured the inclusion size distributions for weld metal containing
oxygen from 100 to 300 ppm. They showed that the most frequent inclusion size is in the
rañge 0.3-0.7 microns, and that the average size of non-metallic inclusions increases as the
oxygen content of titanium and boron containing weld metal increases. This observation
suggests that there is a specific range of weld metal oxygen content or inclusion size
distrlbution, which is most favourable for acicular ferrite nucleation. Liu and Olsen [22]
studied submerged arc welds containing 250-350 ppm oxygen. Their results showed that the
welds which had an inclusion size distribution in the range 0.2-0.4 microns had the largest
volume fraction of acicular ferrite. Results in this study shows inclusion size distribution in the
range 0.4-0.5 microns which compares with Ohkita et al but little higher then the range
shown by Liu and Olsen, this variation may be due to the oxygen content associated with this
processes, which is in the range of 400-5O0ppm. lt is also acknowledged that larger
inclusions, of 1¡rm or greater diameter, have been shown to be initiation sites for cleavage
fracture 123,24,251, which is the main mode of impact fracture at low temperatures'
Figure 5 shows the variation in percentage of inclusions with a diameter greater than 1pm
(N>1pm) with an increase in titanium level. This shows that the percentagetlpm tends to
decrease with alloy level to reach relatively low values at titanium levels greater than about
0.0228%. Whilst the number density of inclusions generally increases, the mean 3D diameter
of inclusions is independent of an increase in titanium levels'
extent in the case of titanium-boron, be explained on the basis of interactions between
following factors:
ln as deposited weld metal:
341
Appendix F
(a) the proportion of AF increas¡ng,

(b)the proportion of FS and PF decreasing;
and in the reheated weld metal:

refinement in grain size of the reheated zone.
AF tends to increase and FS and PF tend to decrease continually with alloy addition, and the
percentage of large inclusions also tends to decrease with alloy addition. Also refinement in
grain size in the reheated zone combines to give the best low temperature impact properties.
5 Conclusions
Yield and tensile strengths of weld metal were nominally independent of weld Ti-B
level over the range tested.
Low temperature impact properties of the weld metal were best with 0.0100% B level
and 0.0228o/o àndO.0430% titanium levels.
A direct relation is seen between low temperature impact properties and AF. A higher
percentage of AF gives a lower 100J temperature.
IV The refinement in grain size of the reheated zone contributes towards obtaining better
low temperature impact properties.
6 Acknowledgments
The work reported was undertaken as part of a Research Project of the Cooperative
Research Centre for Materials Welding and Joining. The Cooperative Research Centre for
Materials Welding and Joining was established by and is supported under the Australian
Government's Cooperative Research Centre Program.
7 References
1. Oh,D.W., Olsen,D.L. and Frost,R.H., The lnfluence of Boron and Titanium on Low-
Carbon Steel Weld Metal, AWS Welding Journal 151-s, April 1990.
2. Tsuboi, J., and Terashima, H., Welding in the World ,21,3O4 (1983).
3. Mori N., Homma H., Wakabayashi M., and Okita S., Characteristics of Mechanical
Properties of Ti-B Bearing Weld Metals, llW DOC lX-1229-82, May 1982.
4. Watanabe, 1., and Kohma, T., in the Proceedings of the lnternational Conference,
"Effect of residual, impurity and microalloying elements on weldability and weld
properties" The Welding lnstute of London Page 51, Nov. (1983).
5. Kohno, R., Takami, T., Mori, N., and Nagano, K., The Welding Journal, 62, 373s
(1e83).
6. Davis, M.L.E., Pargeter, R.J., and Baily,N., Metal Construction, 15 338 (1983).
7. Watanabe, 1., Suzuki, M., and Kojima, T.,'80, in the Proceedings of the lnternational
Conference 'Welding research in the 1980's" Welding Research lnstitute, Osaka,
Paper B-8, October 1980.
L Hondros, E.D., and Seah, M.P., in Physical Metallurgy, 3rd edn. (ed.R.W. Chan and
P.Haasen), Amsterdam, North Holland Physics Publishing, Part l, 855 (1983).
9. Widgery, D.J., Welding Research lnternational,4, S4 (1974).
10. Schumann, O., Powell, G., and French, l.,WTIA Australian Welding Research CRC
No 1 Nov.1994.
11. Oh,D.W., Olsen,D.L. and Frost,R.H., The lnfluence of Zirconium and Boron on Low-
Carbon SteelWeld Metal Microstructure, Transactions of the ASME Vo|.116,
February 1 994.
342
Appendix F
12. Mori N., Homma H., Ohkita S,, and Wakabayashi M., Mechanisms of notch
toughness improvement in Ti-B bearing weld metals, llW Doc. lX-1 196-81k, American
Council, American Welding Society, Miami, Fla. 1981.
13. Ohkita S., Homma H., Tsushima S., and Mori N., The effect of oxide inclusions on the
microstructure of Ti-B containing weld metal, llW Doc. ll-1070-86, American Council,
AWS, Miami, FL. 1986.
14. Australian Standard 3678 'structural steel --- hot rolled plates, floor plates and slabs'
1 990.
15. TyagiV.K., French l.E. and Bee J.V., Welding Research Supplement, Australian
Welding Journal, Vol. 43, 1998.
16. 'Guide to light microscope examination of ferritic steel weld metals' Welding in the
World,29, 160, 1991.
17. Australian Standard 1733 - Methods for the determination of grain size in metals,
1 976.
18. Kluken A.O., Grong O. and Hjelen J., Materials Science and Technology, 4, 649,
1 988.
19. Evans G.M., Microstructure and Properties of Ferritic Steel Welds Containing Ti and
B, Welding Research Supplement, Welding Journal, pp 251-260, August, 1996'
20. Morral J.E., and Cameron T.8., Proc. lnt. Symp. on Boron in Steel, Milwaukee, Wis.
Pp.19-32,1979.
21. Bhadeshia H.K.D.H., and Svensson L.E., ln Mathematical Modelling of Weld
Phenomena, The lnstitute of Materials, London, 1993.
22. Liu,S. and Olsen,D.L.,The Role of lnclusions in Controlling HSLA Steel Weld
Microstructures, Welding Journal, Vol,65,No.6,pp139s, 1 986.
23. Tweed J.H. and Knott J.F., "Effect of Reheating on Microstructure and Toughness of
C-Mn Weld Metal", Metals Science, Vol. 17, pp 45-54, 1983.
24. Schumann G.O. and French 1.E., Scripta Materialia, Vol. 36, No. 12, pp.1443-1450,
1 997.
25. Tweed J. H. and Knott J.F., Acta Metall., 35(7), 1401, 1987.
343
Appendix F
Table 1.
Weld metal compositions (wt %) with varying Ti-B levels
S¡ Mn c I P Ti AI B o
0.0047
N
0.64 1.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530
0.58 1.26 0.05 0.011 0,013 o.0273 0.o142 <0.0005 0.0420 0.0054
0.66 1.38 0.05 0.011 0.013 0.0458 0.0111 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0037
0.67 1.44 0.04 0.013 0.015 0.0054 0.0150 0.009s 0.0390 0.0027
0.68 1.47 0.05 0,013 0.015 o.0228 0.0150 0.0112 0.0430 0.0036
0.68 1,49 0.05 0.014 0.015 0.0430 0.0147 0.0110 0,0460 0.0036
Table 2.
Weld metaltensile properties with varying Ti-B levels.
Ti"/" Yield Strength (MPa) Tensile Strength (MPa) Elongation (%)

B%
<0,0005 0.0054 507 557 29
<0.0005 0.0273 482 565 25
<0.0005 0.0458 535 610 25
0.0095 0.0054 491 571 24

0.01 12 0.0228 556 602 24
0.01 10 0.0430 519 575 26
Table 3.
Acicular ferrite lath width and reheated grain size for Ti-B series.
BYo Ti"/" Columnar Austenite Acicular Ferrite Lath Grain Size of

Grain Width (¡rm) w¡dth Reheated Zone
(rrm) (um)
<0.0005 0.0054 135 2.86 5.13
<0.0005 0.0273 150 2.44 5.56
<0.0005 0.0458 130 2.44 5.13
0.0095 0.0054 174 2.94 4.65

0.01 12 0.0228 125 1.85 4.17
0.01 10 0.0430 134 2.50 4.44
Table 4.
Number of non-metallic inclusions with varying Ti-B levels.
Weld B Weld Ti Composition (wt%)

%t (/"1 s¡02 MnO AlzOg Ti02
<0.0005 0.0054 35 47 14 4
<0.0005 0.0273 15 48 7 30
<0,0005 0.0458 12 29 11 48
0.0095 0.0054 19 65 10 5
0.0112 0.0228 12 49 17 23
0.01 10 0.0430 I 45 11 36
344
Appendix F
p
(a) as-deposited weld metal
,i
It
(b) as-deposited weld metal
(c) as-deposited weld metal
345
Appendix F
(d) as-deposited weld metal
(e) re-heated weld metal
(f) re-heated weld metal
Figure 4. Photomicrographs (x500) of as-deposited and re-heated weld metal with (a)
O.OOOSZ B and 0.0458% Ti, (b) 0.0095% B and 0.0054% Ti, (c) 0.0112"/" B and
0.0228"/" Ti, (d) 0.01 10% B and 0.0430"/" Ti, (e) 0.0005% B and 0.0273% Ti, (f)
0.01 1 2% B and 0.O228%Ti in weld metal.
346
Appendix F
250 250
- -o- -Ï0.0054%
+r 0.0228"/"
â200 a
d00 -+1l0.0430%
t) (,
2,,
aúl 50 ìi150
o
z z
()r 00 !roo
c,
Ê
+Ï (!
ç ,'o"o
G 0.0054%
o 50 - -tr¡ r TtO.O273% 3so
= +-Ï 0.0458% ç--€
0
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Temperature (degree C)
Temperature (degree C)
(a) (b)
Figure 1. Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature for various titanium
levels in weld metal (a) at 0.0005% boron and (b) at 0.0100% boron level in the weld
metal.
250 10 250 10
200 I 200 ,"e

*UpperCVN 0 o
o '"0
? - - l - -LowerCVN tjt ----l- Upper CVN (J)
O\i
- å- T100J c
iË
o 150 150 --l--LowerCVN(J) o
a o
6
¿ á -30 fõ
F¿
---tsTt00J -"" f
z 100 ãz 100 t I 6
o
o>
o ß -50 F
Êo e
c
50 I. o
50
-5U O
F
0 -70 0
¡ -70
0 0.01 o.o2 0.03 0.04 0.05 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Ti in Weld, (wt%) Ti ¡n Weld, (wt%)
(a) (b)
Figure 2. The upper CVN (J), lower CVN (J) and T100J("C) values as a function of titanium
contents (a) for 0.0005% boron and (b) for 0.0100% boron in the weld metal.
341
Appendix F
0
o
3
6
z -2o
o
e a
ê
E
o
-¿o
o
¡6
b
ô.
-60
E
o
l-
-80
0 20 40 60 80 100
Acicular Ferrlte Composltlon, area %
Figure 6. Summary Plot of the Variation in Acicular Ferrite as a Function of Weld

Metal T1 00J("C)Temperatu re values.
0
tt,
o
f
6
z -20
o a
3
Õ
- -40
o a
e
;g -60
8.
E
o
F
-80
3 3.5 44.555.56 6.5 7
Grain Size of Reheated Zone (um)
Figure 7. Summary Plot of the Variation in Grain Size in the Reheated Zone (¡rm) as
a Function of Weld Metal T1OOJfC)Temperature values.
349
Appendix F
lnfluence of Titanium and Aluminium on the Properties of Multi-pass

Weld Metal from Gas-shielded, Metal-cored Wires
V. K. Tyagi(1), J.V. Bee(2) and t. E. French(1)
(1) CSIRO Manufacturing Science and Technology - a Core Partner

of the CRC-MWJ
(2) University of Adelaide, Australia - a Core Partner of the CRC-
MWJ
Abstract
A series of metal-cored wires was manufactured with varying titanium and

aluminium contents calculated to give weld metal Ti and Al levels of nominally
0.005% to 0.095% and 0.013% to 0.065% respectively. Weld metal C, Mn and
Si contents were kept constant. The tensile properties and Charpy-V-notch
impact properties, as a function of temperature, of multi-pass weld metal from
these wires have been measured. Weld metal yield and tensile strength were
found to increase with increase in Ti, while little change was found with Al
increase. Weld metal impact properties were found to be optimum at Ti levels
of either 0.005% or 0.085%. With variation in Al, the best impact properties
were obtained at the lowest level assessed, corresponding to 0.013% Al ín the
weld metal. Assessment of weld microstructure and non-metallic inclusion
features suggested that low temperature impact properties were controlled by
competing influences from ferrite morphology and non-metallic inclusions.
1. lntroduction
Metal-cored wires are often used in applications which require premium weld
metal mechanical properties in multi-pass welds. lt is therefore important that
the influence of alloying additions on mechanical properties of welds from
such wires should be well understood so optimum wires can be produced for
this high productivity process.
There is only limited information available in the literature regarding the

influence of alloy additions in the metal-cored arc welding system'. A previous
paper 2 reported on the influence of Mn and Si levels on weld metal properties
in this metal-cored system and concluded that the low temperature impact
properties are optimum when Mn is between 1.3 and 1.67" and Si is between
0.3 and 0.6%. Abson 3 studied the effect of Al on metal cored wires and
observed changes in strength and microstructure. ln this instance cleavage
resistance changed little with the lowest Al additions, before decreasing with
the highest Al addition while Al additions were generally detrimental to upper-
self fracture toughness.
350
Appendix F
Observations from other arc welding processes indicate that acicular ferrite in
as-deposited regions has a major influence on weld mechanical properties
and that the formation of acicular ferrite depends on micro-alloy I de-oxidant
additions, most notably aluminium and titaniuma. Evanss investigated the
effects of titanium and aluminium micro-alloying on toughness for multi-pass
basic flux MMA weld deposits. Ti was found to be the most effective element
for enhancing the toughness of as-welded deposits. Adding Al powder when
0.0035% Ti was present indicated that toughness was degraded at all Al
levels higher than 0.008%.
Non-metallic inclusions can have a beneficial or detrimental effect on the

microstructure and mechanical properties of the weld metal6. The major
beneficial effect of inclusions is the nucleation of acicular ferrite. lt is also
acknowledged that larger inclusions may enhance cleavage fracture by
providing crack nuclei for cleavage cracking in the weld metal''"'".
This paper reports a study of the influence of Ti and Al on the mechanical

properties of weld metal from specially prepared metal-cored wires in which
the major alloying/deoxidising elements, Mn and Si, were kept nominally
constant at the opiimum level for this system2. The microstructural features of
the welds have also been examined in order to better understand the
relationship between alloy level and mechanical properties. The results are
not only applicable to the metal-cored system but also have some applicability
to the solid wire gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process since only metallic
additions were made to the wires.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Manufacture of Special Wires
For the present investigation, special metal cored wires were manufactured.
The sheath material was cold rolled mild steel of approximate composition
O.O5% C,0.22"/" Mn, 0.01% Si and 0.015% Al. Core ingredients used included
iron powder, silicon-manganese, ferro-silicon, electrolytic manganese
titanium metal and aluminium metal powders. All of these were commercial
powders normally used for arc welding consumable manufacture. The wires
were manufactured with a nominal core weight to total wire weighl ol 21"/" and
were drawn to a final diameter of 1,6 mm.
The Mn and Si content of the wires was held constant to yield weld metal
containing nominally 0.60% Si and 1.34% Mn. Different amounts of Ti and Al
were added to the core to produce eight levels of Ti and six levels of Al in the
deposited metals, in the ranges 0.005 to 0.095%Ti and 0.013 to 0.065% Al. ln
addition, the weld metal carbon content was kept constant at nominally
0.05%.
351
Appendix F
Welding was done in the flat position (1G) on parent plate material of AS
Grade 250s under mechanised conditions. Direct current electrode positive
was used with the welding current being 3004 and 30V welding voltage. Heat-
input was nominally 1.SkJ/mm. The shielding gas used was Argon with 5%
oC (see reference 2 for
COZ. lnter-pass temperature was standardised at 150
details).
Chemical analyses of the all-weld-metal deposits were carried out with an

optical emission spectrometer. The vanadium, niobium, titanium, aluminium
and boron contents of the experimental welds were determined to four
decimal places so that small variations could be detected. Oxygen and
nitrogen levels in the weld metal were determined using a Leco TC136
analyser.
2.4 Mechanical Testing
The impact toughness of each weld metal was assessed by the Charpy-V-
oC
notch (CVN) test. Tests were carried out at -60, -40, -2O, 0,20 and 40
respectively in order to obtain a transition curve for each weld. Three
specimens were tested at each temperature and the mean absorbed energy
calculated. An all-weld-metal tensile test was carried out. The tensile
oC
specimens were heat treated at 250 for 16 hours for hydrogen removal,
prior to testing.^The details of test specimens and procedures have been
given previously'.
2.5 Metallography
Transverse sections were prepared and detailed examination was carried out
on top beads and on the adjacent reheated zones. The volume fraction of the
different micro-constituents was obtained from point counts on more than
1000 points, by using the llW Guidelinesll. The prior austenite grain sizes
were determined by means of the mean linear intercept technique'' for all
welds as were the lath widths of the acicular ferrite.
2.6 Study of lnclusions
The size distribution of non-metallic inclusions on polished specimens of the

as-deposited weld metal was examined, using a scanning electron
microscope (SEM) based automatic image analyser. The methods used were
in line with those detailed in (13). ln the present investigation, magnification of
1O,OOO, accelerating voltage of 15kV, grid point spacing of 0.02 ¡rm and
I
working distance between and 10 mm was used (see reference 2 for
details).
3. Results
3.1 Weld Compositions
352
Appendix F
The chemical compositions of the all-weld-metal deposits studied are given in

Table 1 for the Ti series and in Table 2 for the Al series. C, Mn and Si levels
were nominally constant at 0.04 to 0.06%, 1.15 to 1.38% and 0.52 loO'77"/"
respectively. The levels of the remaining metallic elements were relatively low
and constant throughout the series. ln the titanium series, Ti was varied
between 0.005 and 0.094% while in the aluminium series, Al was varied
between 0.013 and 0.064o/o.For the Ti series, the oxygen levels in the welds
decreased from 0.053 to 0.038"/o as Ti level increased, while for the Al series
oxygen level was relatively constant and were all in the range 0.053 and
0.065%.
The nitrogen levels found in the welds of both the Ti and Al series were
essentially constant. Most of the nitrogen values were in the range 0,004 and
O.O0B% which is considered normal for this type of weld and process. One
nitrogen value however was above 0.01o/o ànd is considered high for the
process.
3.2 Mechanical ProPerties
3.2.1 Tensile Properties
The tensile test data are presented in Figure 1 (a) and (b). For the Ti series,
the measured yield strengths varied between 504 and 581 MPa, while tensile
strengths varied between 547 and 610 MPa and elongations were between 22
and 3b%. For the Al series, yield strengths varied between 475 and 531 MPa,
while tensile strengths varied between 522 and 565 MPa and elongations
were between 16 and 29%. Figure 1(a) shows that both yield and tensile
strength increase approximately linearly with Ti content by about 50 MPa over
the rãnge of Ti values, while elongation tended to decrease. For the Al series,
Figure 1(b) suggests yield and tensile strengths are independent of Al content
over the range tested although elongation tended to decrease.
3.2.2 GVN lmpact Results
The variations of mean CVN energy with test temperature for the various weld
Ti and Al levels are plotted in Figure 2(a) and (b) respectively. For the Ti
series, mean CVN energies at lower temperatures appear best at 0.005 and
0.085% Ti levels. For the Al series mean CVN energies across the
temperature range are best at 0.0133% Al level.
oC¡, the lower-shelf energy (at -
For each case the upper-shelf energy (at +40
oC)
60 and the temperature corresponding to a CVN energy of 100J (T100J)
were found. These values are plotted in Figure 3(a) and (b) against weld Ti
and Al contents respectively.
Figure 3(a) shows that the upper-shelf values have considerable scatter but
teñd to decrease with Ti level while the lower-shelf values, except at the
lowest and highest Ti levels, are independent of Ti. The T100J values, while
353
Appendix F
not showing large variations with Ti level, do show minimum value of about -
oC
45 at Ti contents of approximately 0.005 and 0.085%.
The variations with Al level, as plotted in Figure 3(b) show that the highest
upper and lower-shelf values occur at the lowest Al while, these impact values
are largely independent of Al content at all higher Al levels. Similarly the
lowest TlOOJ value occurs at the lowest Al level while T100J is independent
of Al at higher Al levels. The variation of T100J is considerably larger with the
weld Al level than with Ti.
3.3 Weld Metal Microstructure
Area measurements from cross-sections of welds indicated that the region of

the weld from which mechanical test specimens (particularly CVN specimens)
were extracted contained approximately 60% as-deposited and 40% reheated
weld metal2. Area fractions of acicular ferrite (AF), ferrite with second phase
(FS) and primary ferrite (PF) were determined in as-deposited regions of the
top layer from each weld.
Plots of the variation of percentage area of AF, FS and PF with weld Ti and Al
levels are shown in Figure 4 (a) and (b) respectively. These graphs show
that area of AF tends to decrease in the range from 60 lo 20"/" with increase in
Ti level. A corresponding increase in FS is seen, as PF stayed relatively
unchanged. The extent of this change in as-deposited microstructure with Ti
level is illustrated in Figure 5 which shows micrographs of the welds
containing 0.0054 and 0.0852%Ti with 62 and 43"/" AF respectively.
As the Al levels are increased, AF also decreases in the range 60 to 2O"/".The

decrease was somewhat irregular in that AF appeared to decrease rapidly
with the initial increase in weld Al from the base level of 0.013%. As shown by
Figure 4(b), this decrease in AF is accompanied by an increase in area of FS
while PF area is fairly constant at 30%.
ln addition to these measurements of area of the ferrite morphologies,

measurements were also made of the prior austenite grain size, the grain size
of the equiaxed reheated zone and of the mean lath width of acicular ferrite
(see Tables 3 & 4). For the titanium series, the prior austenite grain size
tended to decrease slightly with Ti level as did the acicular ferrite lath width
while the grain size in the reheated zone was largely independent of Ti except
perhaps at the highest Ti levels. For the aluminium series, both prior austenite
grain size and acicular ferrite lath width were largely independent of Al level
while the grain size in the reheated zone tended to increase with Al except for
the highest Al level.
3.4 Non-metallic lnclusions

Figure 6 (a) & (b), show the details of the non-metallic inclusions, including
number per unit volume, mean three dimensional (3D) diameter and
percentage of diameter equal or larger than 1¡.lm for each weld, aS measured
using the SEM with automated image analyser. For the titanium series, both
354
Appendix F
mean 3D inclusion diameter and percentage of inclusions with diameter

greater than 1¡rm decreased with increase in weld Ti. The number density of
inclusions measured tends to increase with weld Ti, with the exception of a
maximum of 16x107 /mm3 at about O.O8% Ti.
The inclusion data for the aluminium series (Figure 6(b)) indicates that the
mean 3D inclusion diameter and the percentage of inclusions with diameter
greater than 1pm tends to decrease with Al level. The number density of the
inclusions, while showing some variability, appears to increase with increase
in weld Al level.
4. Discussion
4.1 Weld Metal Tensile Properties
While some variability existed between measurements, the results generally

showed that both yield and tensile strength increased by about 50MPa as
weld Ti increased from 0.005 to 0.095% but were approximately constant as
weld Al increased from 0.013 to 0.065"/".The tensile properties are consistent
with those for MMAWIa for which it was shown that the tensile properties
increased by approximately 60MPa as weld Ti increased from essentially zero
to 0.055% but by only about 30MPa as weld Al increased from zero to
0.061%.
4.2 Weld Metal lmpact Properties
ln general the major microstructural features present in the weld metal that
may influence the impact properties are the as-deposited regions, those
regions which have been reheated by subsequent welding passes and the
non-metallic inclusions present. ln addition, the strength level of the weld
metal and grain size may affect impact properties.
Across the present series of trials with varying weld Ti and Al contents the
proportion of as-deposited to reheated region was nominally constant at
approximately 60:40. This is because both heat input and run placement were
held constant. lt was observed that there was little apparent difference in
either the appearance of the reheated zones or in the measured grain sizes of
the equiaxed portions of these zones between the trial welds (see Table 3 &
4). Furthermore, most investigators have concluded that the reheated regions
piay a minor part in determiñing weld impact propertiess'1s. This is because
the largely equiaxed, fine-grained structure gives a more difficult cleavage
path than the coarser parts of the as-deposited regions. Attention will
therefore be concentrated on the influence of the other factors on weld impact
properties.
The as-deposited regions of welds have been characterised as consisting of

acicular ferrite (AF), ferrite with second phase (FS) and primary ferrite (PF). Of
these ferrite types, AF is widely considered to be the most beneficial to impact
355
Appendix F
properties. This is because it consists of small non-aligned grains with high

angle boundaries and therefore provides a difficult path for cleavage.
The present results show, in the ranges tested, that the proportion of AF
present generally decreases with the addition of either Ti or Al. lt is shown that
maximum AF occurs at total Al and Ti of around 0.O2% with ratio of Al to Ti
around 2.4, this is consistent with earlier studies which were mostly concerned
with other welding processesl4'16'17. The present results do demonstrate some
correlation between low temperature impact, as measured by the T100J
value, and AF proportion at relatively low Ti or Al additions where the AF
proportions are relatively high. As shown in Figure 7, this correlation occurs
down to around 50%AF for Ti addition and 55%AF for Al addition, these
correspond to Ti and Al levels in the welds of about 0,06 and O.O2%
respectively. However, while AF decreases continually with alloy addition, the
T100J values tend to be insensitive to further alloy addition or, in the case of
Ti addition, to improve at some higher alloy level. This suggests that other
factors are becoming important at higher alloy levels.
It is known that non-metallic inclusions play two distinct roles in weld metals.
Smaller inclusions, of around 0.4¡"rm in diameter, have been identified as
efficient nucleation sites for 4F18. Larger inclusions, of 1pm or greater
diameter, have been shown to be initiation sites for cleavage fracturele which
is the main fracture mode of impact fracture at low temperatures.
Figure I shows the variation in number density of inclusions with diameter

greater that 1pm (N>1¡rm) with Ti and Al level. The N>1¡rm values were
calculated from the product of overall number density and the percentage with
diameter greater than 1¡rm values. This shows that N>1pm tends to decrease
with alloy level to reach relatively low values at Ti levels between about 0.04
and 0.09% and Al levels greater than about 0.04%.
The inclusions with diameter greater that 1¡rm (N>1pm) at low Ti and Al level
will also be present in the 40"/" reheated region and could adversely affect
T100J temperature despite the high AF content in weld metal which has not
been reaustenitised. The total AF seems to vary from about 60% to 20% but
taking into account that as solidified weld metal is about 60"/" of total weld
metal, the variation in AF as a proportion of the total weld metal is 36% to
12T".
The main features of the observed low temperature impact behaviour may, to
a reasonable extent, be explained on the basis of the interaction between two
factors: the proportion of AF present and the number density of large
inclusions. This is because, although AF tends to decrease continually with
alloy addition, the number density of large inclusions also tends to decrease
with alloy addition. Consequently, while low temperature impact properties
may be expected to be continually degraded by lower AF levels, this effect is
offset by the smaller number of the large inclusions available to nucleate the
cleavage fracture.
356
Appendix F
Other factors can undoubtedly influence weld metal impact properties.

Increase in weld metal strength, for example, generally has a deleterious
effect on impact properties. This does not appear to be a major factor in the
present case since, while the changes in impact properties are considerable,
the changes in strength level are small (about 50MPa) for the Ti addition and
non-existent for the Al addition.
It is worth checking if the factors identified above are also important in

influencing the impact properties of the previously investigated welds in which
Mn and Si levels were varied2. These welds were made and tested under
nominally the same conditions as the present ones. ln this earlier case the
premium low temperature impact properties were obtained with Mn contents
between 1.3 and 1.6"/", provided the Si level was less than about O.7% while
poorer impact properties were found with Mn contents less than 1.3% and
high Mn and Si contents. AF proportion tended to increase continuously over
the whole range of Mn values while N>1¡rm increased only slightly with Mn.
These observations suggest that low Mn contents did not result in sufficient
AF to give premium low temperature impact properties while high Mn and Si
resulted in high values of both N>1¡rm and weld strength thus degrading the
impact properties.
Conclusions
1. Yield and tensile strength increased by about 50 MPa as weld metal Ti

level was increased, but were independent of increase in Al level. These
changes in strength are relatively small and do not appear to have any
affect on impact properties.
2. The weld metal low temperature impact properties were best at the lowest
weld Al level tested and at weld Ti levels of either 0.005% (the lowest
tested) or 0.085%.
3. The proportions of AF present generally decreased with the addition of

either Ti or Al as did the number density of large non-metallic inclusions.
4. Low temperature impact behaviour appears to largely depend on the

combination of AF proportion and number density of large inclusions in
which more AF or fewer large inclusions result in improved impact
properties.
Acknowledgments
357
Appendix F
The work reported herein was undertaken as part of a Research Project of the
Cooperative Research Centre for Materials Welding and Joining. The
Cooperative Research Centre for Materials Welding and Joining was
established by and issupported under the Australian Government's
Cooperative Research Centre Program.
References
(1) V.K.Tyagi, l.E. French and J.V.Bee, Australian Welding Research

Publications, WTIA, CRC No. 20, 1996.
(2) V.K.Tyagi, LE. French and J.V.Bee, Welding Research Supplement,
Australian Welding Journal, Vol.43, 1998.
(3) D.J.Abson, The TWI Welding Journal, 1(1),99, 1992.
(4) O. Grong and D.K.Matlock, Int. Metals Reviews, 31, No. 1,27-48,1986.
(5) G. M.Evans, Welding in the World, 31 , (1), 12, 1993,
(6) P.Hart, Metal Constr., 18(10),610, 1986.
(7) J.F.Knott, Trans. lSlJ, @!, 1981.
(8) J.H. Tweed and J.F.Knott, "Effect of Reheating on Microstructure and
Toughness of C-Mn Weld Metal", Metals Science, Vol. 17, pp 45-54, 1983.
(9) G.O. Schumann and LE.French, Scripta Materialia, Vol. 36, No. 12,pp.
1443-1450,1997.
(10) Australian Standard 3678 'Structural steel - hot rolled plates, floor plates
and slabs' 1990.
(1 1) 'Guide to light microscope examination of ferritic steel weld metals'
Welding in the World, 29,160,1991.
(12) Australian Standard 1733 - Methods for the determination of grain size in
metals, 1976.
(13) A.O.Kluken, O. Grong and J,Hjelen, Materials Science and Technology,
4,649, 1 988.
(14) G. M. Evans and N.Bailey, "Metallurgy of Basic Weld Metal" Woodhead
Publishing Ltd., 1997.
(15) S.A.Gedeon, S.J. Rudd and J.E.M.Braid, lnternational Conference on
Pipeline Reliability, Vol2, Paper Vl-12, 1992.
(16) A.G.Fox, and D.G.Brother, Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia,
Vol.32,No .7, pp. 1061-1066, 1995.
(17) G.L.F.Powell, and G.Herfurth, accepted Met. and Met. Trans.
(18) F,J.Barbaro, P. Kraukis and K.E.Easterling, Materials Science and
Technology, Vol.5, pp1057-1068, Nov. 1989.
(19) J.H. Tweed and J.F.Knott, Acta Metall., 35(7), 1401, 1987.
358
Appendix F
Table 1. Weld Metal Compositions (uñ n with Varying Ti Levels.
s¡ Mn c s P N¡ Cr Mo Cu V Nb T¡ AI B o N
0.64 1.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
0.55 1.30 0.05 0.008 0.015 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.010 0.0059 <0.0005 o.0124 0.0132 <0.0005 0.0450 0.0040
0.58 1.26 0.05 0.011 0.013 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0058 <0.0005 0.0273 0.0142 <0.0005 o.0420 0.0054
0.66 1.38 0.05 0.011 0.013 o.o2 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0066 <0.0005 0.0458 0.01 11 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0037
0.56 1.24 0.05 0.010 0.012 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.0588 0.0161 <0.0005 0.0380 0.0070
0.60 1.32 0.05 0.013 0.014 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.0852 0.0147 <0.0005 0.0400 0.0038
0.63 1.27 0.05 0.012 0.012 0.02 0.01 0.01 o.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.0910 0.0164 <0.0005 0.0400 0.0080
0.63 1.27 0.06 0.011 0.o12 o.02 0.01 <0.01 0.o2 0.01 <0.01 0.0940 0.0132 <0.0005 0.0430 0.0130
Table 2. Weld Metal Compositions (wt %) with Varying Al Levels.
s¡ Mn c S P N¡ Gr Mo Cu V Nb T¡ AI B o N
0.64 1.34 0.04 0.012 0.014 0.02 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.0058 0.0005 0.0054 0.0133 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0047
0.61 1.32 0.06 o.o24 0.015 0.05 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.0055 <0.01 0.0060 0.0190 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0048
0.60 1.29 0.05 0.020 0.017 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.0057 <0.01 0.0049 0.0320 <0.0005 0.0650 0.0065
0.77 1.38 0.05 0.020 0.018 0.05 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.0067 <0.01 0.0058 0.0495 <0.0005 0.0530 0.0054
0.52 1.15 0.06 0.016 0.018 0.05 0.03 0.o2 0.01 0.0053 <0.01 0.00s0 0.0570 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0045
0.68 1.35 0.05 0.013 0.018 0.05 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.0065 <0.01 0.0058 0.0642 <0.0005 0.0580 0.0068
359
Appendix F
Tabte 3. Acicular Ferrite Lath Width and Beheated Grain Sizes for Ti Seres.
T¡ Columnar Acicular Ferrite Grain Size of

o/
fo Austenite Grain Lathe Width Reheated Zone
Width (um) (um) (um)
0.0054 135 2.86 5.13

0.o124 135 2.22 5,17
0.0273 215 2.44 5.56
0.0458 130 2.44 5.13
0.0588 135 2.78 5.26
0.0852 95 2.08 * 5.41
0.0910 115 1.92* 5.00
0.0940 110 4,76
* --- Small patches of continuous AF limited the AF count.

** --- Not sufficient, continuous areas of AF, for measurements.
Tabte 4. Acicutar Ferrite Lath Width and Reheated Grain Sizes for Al Series,
AI Columnar Acicular Ferrite Grain Size of

of
/o Austenite Grain Lathe Width Reheated Zone
Width (pm) (um) (rrm)
0.0133 135 2.86 5,13

0.0190 105 2.17 6.06
0.0320 125 2.38 6.25
0.0495 140 2.44 6.67
0.0570 125 6.89
0.0642 120 2.63 5.13
** --- Not sufficient, continuous areas of AF, for measurements
360
Appendix F
700 70
600 60
o a
500 50
o
o- E
= 400 40co
.tr 'E
G
cD
L 300 A 30P
o AA -9
U' lrJ
200 20
o YS (Mpa)
100 r TS (Mpa) 10
r Elong (%)
0 0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Weld Ti(wt%)
(a)
600 60
T I
va
aI
500 ^ o 50
a
o
o. 400
oo8
g
=ø o
.g 300 A A 30Ë
Eì
q ^ A A ct)
ç
o o
Ø 200
20tr
A
o YS (Mpa)
100 r TS (Mpa) 10
r Elong (%)
0 0
0 0.01 o.o2 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Weld Al (wt%)
(b)
36t
Appendix F
Figure 1 Variations in yield, tensile strength and percent elongation as a function of

(a)titanium and (b)aluminium in weld metal.
300
+Ti54 PPm I
- f- .Ti 124
250 ---A--Ti273
-x- .Tisgg
.Ti458 r-_ /
d
I
o
200 +Tigsz \
f r I Ti910 :*
/ lt
(E
'Ti 940 ppm
z 150 - .^ /
I
o -
.a
-+
ç +
G
o 100
=
t,
50
ta'
a
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60
Temperature (C)
(a)
300
+Al 133 ppm

250 - r-.Al
-Þ -
190 ppm
-- l- Al495ppm
41320 ppm
Al 570 ppm
,,',.',",,,,x,,,",",,',,
? 200 <r .A1642 ppm

o
G
f A-
z 150
o
ç
o
o 100
=
50
0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60
Temperature (C)
362
Appendix F
(b)
Figure 2. Mean CVN impact energy as a function of temperature (a) for the various Ti
Ievels in weld metal (b) for the various Al levels in weld metal.
300 0
l.
250
I \ /-- -10
-l T
\ ./ I
-zo t
^200
?
o
Y \II o
f
,ì o
o 150 )----O---'t-.-O , -"rn 9
z ,
t I
\ \ a
(E
o
o , , CL
1 00
t
t -40 Eo
a ú
50 -50
0 -60
0 o.o2 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Ti in Weld, (wt%)
(a)
363
Appendix F
300 10
250 1 ? -" - t'. 0

I
t a
t
\' a I -10
200 {,- ì) o ?
o
ì 'L L
o , -20 g
f
t \l o
Frso 5
,
z , -30 Ë
o t CL
100 a E
o
,
, {' 'Upper CVN (J) -40'
o *Lower CVN (J)
50 - . - T100J (degree C) -50
0 -60
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Al in Weld, (wt%)
(b)
Figure 3 The upper CVN (J), lower CVN (J) and T100J(C) values as a function of
(a)Ti and (b)Al contents.
364
Appendix F
100%
PRIMARY FERRITE
\o 80%
tr
o
c
o
CL
60%
E FERRITE WITH SECOND PHASE
o
o
õ
¿ 40%
o
f
CULAR FERRITE
at,
.9
207"
=
o%
0.0054 0.0124 0.0273 0.0458 0.0588 0.0852 0.091 0.094
Ti in Weld Metal, To
(a)
100%
PRIMARY FERRITE
I BO%
c
o
ç
o
CL
E 60%
FERRITE WITH SECOND PHASE
o
o
õ
f
o 40%
f
v,
o
.9 ACICULAR FERRITE
E 2Oo/"
0o/"
0.013 0.019 0.032 0.0495 0.057 0.0642
Al in Weld Metal, %
(b)
Figure 4. Variation of the proportions of acicular ferrite (AF), ferrite with second phase
(FS) and primary ferrite (PF) in as-depos¡ted wetd metal (a) with varying Ti levets (b)
with varying Al levels.
365
Appendix F
18
16
. Number/cubic mm(x1 0^7)
a
G o Mean 3D Dia. (um)
G 14
o ¿ Percent>1um Dia.
tt,
tr 2
.9
U'
f 0
o
E a a a
8
a
e a a
õ
o 6
EI o
c 4
o A
z
2
A
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Ti in Weld, (wto/.)
(a)
I
a
íi 7
o a
o o
at, þ
tr
.9
tt, Â
f 5 a
o
g
.9 4
G A
o 3 A
EI
tr
zo 2
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Al in Weld, (wP/.)
(b)
Figure 6. Variation of non-metattic inclusions Number/mms, Mean 3D diameter and
Percent> 1¡tm diameter with increase in (a) weld Ti tevel (b) wetd At level.
366
Appendix F
20
+Al Addition
+ï Addition
o
ê
o
-zo
-40
-60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
AF (Area 7d
Figure T.Effect of AF on mean CVN impact energy corresponding to T100J, for Ti

and Al series of weld metal.
30
. N>1um
lo
0 20
x
a a
E
E
.9
¡l
f
o 10 a a
z a
aa
a
0
0 o.o2 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Weld Ti (wPld
(a)
367
Appendix F
30
a N>1um
o
o
l¡ì)
tzo
x
o
E
E
.9
¡l
a10
z a
o a
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Weld Al (wt%)
(b)
Figure B Number density of inclusions with Dia.>l¡tm as a function of increase in

(a)Ti and (b)Al in the weld metal.
368

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R,z

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Understanding the Influence of Alloy Additions on

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY xil

LIST OF FIGURES xiii

1.1 Background to the Project 1

1.2 Scope of the Project 2

1.3 Main Outcomes of the Literature Survey 5

Chapter 2. Literature Review 7

2.2The Gas-Shielded Arc Welding V/eld Metal 8

2.2.1Solid Wire Gas Metal Arc Welding 11

2.2.2 Flux Cored Gas Metal Arc Welding 76

2.3Development of Weld Metal Microstructure T7

2.3 .l S olid- State Transformations 23

2.4 Refining Weld Metal Structures 28

2.4.1 Alloying Additions in Weld Metal 28

2.4.L 1 Effect of Alloy Addition on Microstructure and Mechanical

2.4.L 1.1 Effect of Carbon 32

2.4.1 .l .2 Effect of Manganese 38

2.4.L 1.3 Effect of Silicon 40

2.4.1.1.4 Effect of Titanium 43

2.4.1J.5 Effect of Aluminium 47

2.4.1.1.6 Effect of Boron 52

2.4.I.1.7 Effectof Nitrogen and Oxygen 55

Chapter 3. Experimental Procedure 64

3.1 Manufacture of Special Wires 64

3.2 Welding Procedure 72

3.3 Weld Composition 75

3.4 Mechanical Testing 75

3.6 Study of Inclusions 78

Chapter 4. Influence of Manganese and Silicon on Weld

4.2.1 Weld Metal Compositions 80

4.2.2 Mechanical Properties 83

4.2.2.1 Tensile Properties 83

4.2.2.2 CVN Impact Results 84

4.2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure 87

4.2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions 94

4.3.1 Weld Metal Tensile Properties 96

4.3.2 Weld Metal Impact Properties 96

Chapter 5. Influence of Titanium and Aluminium on Weld

Metal Properties 103

5.1 Introduction 103

5.2 Results 105

5.2.1 Weld Metal Compositions 105

5 .2.2 Mechanical Properties 108

5.2.2.1 Tensile Properties 108

5.2.2.2 CVN Impact Results 108

5.2.3 Weld Metal Microstructure tt4

5 .2.4 Non-metallic Inclusions t20

5.3 Discussion 122

5.3.1 V/eld Metal Tensile Properties t22

5.3.2 Weld Metal Impact Properties 122

Chapter 6. Effect of Stress Relief on Low and High

Titanium Containing Weld Metals t28

6.1 Introduction t28

6.2 Results r29

6.2.L Heat-Treatment t29

6.2.2 V/eld Metal Compositions t29

6.2.3 Mechanical Properties 131

6.2.3.1 Hardness Testing 131

6.2.3.2 CVN Impact Results t3t

6.2.4 Weld Metal Microstructure 134

6.3 Discussion t36

Chapter 7. Influence of Boron on Weld Metal Properties 138