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Jeas 1115 2900-2
Jeas 1115 2900-2
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Wan Shaiful Hasrizam Wan Muda1, Nurul Syahida Mohd Nasir2, Sarizam Mamat2 and Saifulnizan Jamian3
1Department of Mechanical and Production, Institut Latihan Perindustrian, Kawasan Perindustrian Gebeng, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
2Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia
3Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
E-Mail: wansaypul@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The fabrication and construction of structures used in the offshore and marine industries are made according to the
international code and standard requirements to ensure the quality and to extend the life span. Proper material selection
needs to be carried out to achieve proper function and to reduce the cost. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Grade
A steel is one of the huge materials used in the marine industries. The study has been carried out to scrutinize the effect of
welding heat input to the distribution of microstructure formation and its mechanical properties at coarse grain heat
affected zone (CGHAZ) of the ABS Grade A steel. Three heat input combinations which designated as low heat (0.99
kJ/mm), medium heat (1.22 kJ/mm) and high heat (2.25 kJ/mm) have been used to the weld specimen by using flux cored
arc welding (FCAW) process. The microstructure formation at CGHAZ was consisting of grain boundary ferrite (GBF),
Widmanstatten ferrite (WF) and pearlite (P). Significant grain coarsening was observed at the CGHAZ of all the joints, and
it was found that the extent of grain coarsening at CGHAZ has also increased along with the heat input. The results of the
mechanical investigation indicated that the joints made by using low heat input exhibit higher hardness and impact
toughness value than those welded with medium and high heat input. It can be concluded that higher heat input can cause
the expansion towards the microstructure’s grain size, but will lead to lower hardness and affect the toughness value.
INTRODUCTION and its correlation to the heat input. The use of flux core
In practice, the most essential properties of the arc welding (FCAW) process during sample preparation
steels used in marine and offshore structures are good reflects the current practice by industry to weld the steel
toughness characterized by Charpy V-notch impact test, structure. In addition, the elucidation of the transformation
and tensile strength of the weld joints which made by behavior can be obtained through the optical
welding procedures. Due to its high heat inputs during the microstructure technique and its properties through the
joining process, the coarse grain heat affected zone mechanical testing. The outcome of this study may
(CGHAZ) adjacent to the fusion line of this steel grade provide good information in determining the welding
represents a region of pronounced low toughness. This is parameter during welding procedure specification (WPS)
often revealed by fracture toughness tests, which are being preparation. The gained knowledge could embark a further
increasingly used in marine structural applications. research in investigating the optimum heat input range to
Heat input is known to be one of the factors that be set during welding work, thus improve the quality of
influence the formation of microstructure at HAZ. The the weldments.
formation of microstructure especially martensite, bainite
and martensite-austenite (MA) constituent potent to affect LITERATURE REVIEW
the toughness of the HAZ, thus lead to the cracking of The microstructure in the HAZ is largely
HAZ just after the welding work. In order to control this dependent upon the heat input and its location or distance
problem, it is crucial to understand how the heat input from the fusion boundary. As the distance from the fusion
affects a microstructure and relate it to mechanical boundary increases, the peak temperature that the base
properties of the material. To date, there are many metal microstructure is exposed to decreases. A high heat
researches have been done to study the effects of heat input increases the time that the base metal microstructure
input and relate it to the formation of microstructure and is exposed to the peak temperature. The peak temperature
its mechanical properties. However, there are still less in the HAZ does not reach the melting point of the carbon
studies done regarding to the weldments since the previous steel [1, 2]. Generally, the HAZ is the base metal
studies are merely based on simulated HAZ. underlying the weld which has been heated to the
Thus, this study aims to characterize and appraise temperatures above the iron-iron carbide (Fe-FeC3)
the behavior of microstructure transformation at CGHAZ metastable phase diagram A1 line (723 oC) temperature
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and below the solidus temperature, typically 1495 oC as Meanwhile, in [4] investigated the effect of
shown in Figure-1. microstructure on hardness and toughness of low carbon
welded steel by using inert gas welding. Results showed
that by raising the voltage from 20 V to 30 V, the grain
size number decreased from 12.4 to 9.8. It was also
observed that high heat input and rapid cooling rates in the
weld metals produced fine grained polygonal ferrites at
ambient temperature. High heat input led to grain
coarsening which was more pronounced in the HAZ, as
well as reducing the impact energy and toughness.
Elevation of heat input reduced the hardness in the HAZ,
for instance raising the heat input from 5 to 8 kJ/cm which
decreased the hardness from 160 to 148 HBN. This is
considered to attribute a reduction in the density of
dislocations and microstructural coarsening.
METHODOLOGY
American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Grade
Asteel in the form of a 6 mm thick plate was chosen for
the study. The welding specimens were prepared in the
dimensions of 200 mm x 125 mm. This steel plate is
almost exclusively used in the marine industry for the hull
structure. This grade is certified by ABS. The steel plate is
Figure-1. Relationship between heat affected zone and manufactured by Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal
corresponding temperature [1]. Corporation. The chemical composition and mechanical
properties of the steel is presented in Table-1.
Weld area can be defined as the area that The technique of FCAW was employed to
includes weld metal and HAZ. The HAZ in metal can be produce all experimental weld metals analyzed in this
divided into four main areas such as CGHAZ, fine grained work. Welding process was carried out with three different
supercritical HAZ (FGHAZ), intercritical HAZ (ICHAZ) heat inputs (0.99 kJ/mm, 1.22 kJ/mm and 2.25 kJ/mm).
and subcritical HAZ (SCHAZ). Among these, CGHAZ is The heat input values were adopted from the WPS of Sime
the most affected area during welding process due to rapid Darby Engineering Sdn. Bhd. All welding processes were
cooling which caused hardening which in turn can be the carried out in a single pass. Subsequent to the welding
main factor of cleavage cracking [1]. process, samples were obtained from welded specimens
In [3] has investigated the effects of coarse initial for microstructural examination in the HAZ and in weld
grain size on the microstructure, hardness and toughness metal. The samples were ground, polished and etched with
of the weld metal and HAZ of low carbon steel. From the nital2%.
results of the toughness tests, it can be seen that the weld Microstructure investigations were done by using
metal of coarse initial grain sized specimens and original Meiji MT 8100 optical microscope (OM). Meanwhile,
specimens exhibited nearly the same toughness values JEOL JSM-6380LA scanning electron microscopy with
with the same heat input, whereas different HAZ energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM / EDX) was
toughness values were obtained with the same heat input. used to analyze quantitative elemental information at the
Maximum toughness of HAZ of the coarse initial grain microstructure. The image of microstructures was
sized specimen was achieved with a high input, while analyzed by using Image J software in order to obtain the
maximum toughness of original specimen was obtained grain size and grain area.
with a medium heat input. As a result, considering the heat Micro hardness indentations in the welding zone
input, it was observed that the coarse initial grain size had and HAZ were made with a 1 kg load. The test was carried
a great influence on the microstructure, hardness and out in accordance to ASTM E384. The toughness values
toughness of HAZ of low carbon steel. The microstructure of the CGHAZ were determined by Charpy V-notch
in weld metal changed from martensite and bainite to grain testing (5 x 10 x 55 mm) at room temperature which
boundary ferrite, Widmanstaten ferrite, acicular ferrite and according to ASTM E23.
pearlite, and the microstructure in GCHAZ changed from
martensite, bainite, pearlite and polygonal ferrite to
pearlite and polygonal ferrite. The amount of pearlite in
GCHAZ increased at the expense of martensite and
bainite.
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C 0.17
Si 0.14
Mn 0.49
P 0.018
Chemical
S 0.005
Composition [%]
Cu 0.02
Ni 0.02
Cr 0.03
Mo 0.01
2
Tensile Strength,Rm [N/mm ] 448
Elongation, Ac [%] 28
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occurred due to the selection of heat inputs used (0.99 The average grain size of CGHAZ increased with
kJ/mm, 1.22 kJ/mm and 2.25 kJ/mm) which is still an increase of the heat input. It can be seen clearly in
considered as high heat input. It was already known that Figure-7. At low heat input, the average grain size is 28.31
the higher heat input resulting in slower heating and µm. This indicated that when the heat input was relatively
cooling. Relatively, higher heat input resulting in longer low. Although recrystallization occurred in the HAZ, the
cooling time causes the diffusion of carbon between the coarsening of grains in the HAZ was not obvious.
carbon-rich austenite and the carbon-poor austenite [3]. Meanwhile, when the heat input increased to the medium
(1.22 kJ/mm) and maximum value (2.25 kJ/mm), the
grains in the HAZ grew up to an average grain size of
43.31 µm and 68.90 µm respectively. The grain area also
showed the similar trend. Low heat input has the smallest
area (1016.83 µm2) compared to the medium heat input
(2091.21 µm2) and high heat input (4947.56 µm2).
According to [4], grain coarsening in the HAZ
can be explained by the operating thermal cycle and
diffusion. The grains close to the fusion line are exposed
to higher temperature, therefore grain growth occurs.
Clearly, large ferrite grains resulted in large austenite
grains.
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(3)
Figure-8. Micro hardness profiles at low heat input. where G is the shear Young modulus, b is the
dislocation Burger’s vector and L is length of separated
distance. High hardness in the welded zone may be
attributed to the fine grain size, needle shaped ferrite or the
existence of Widmanstatten inside ferrite grains. Hardness
and grain size are inversely proportional [7] as given by
Equation. (4):
(4)
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location was found in the medium heat input and high heat
input. The maximum hardness values at HAZ were 174
HVN on the left and 173 HVN on the right for medium
heat input. Meanwhile, for high heat input the maximum
hardness values were 168 HVN for both sides. The results
show that any increase in the heat input has an inverse
effect on the hardness of at CGHAZ. The micro hardness
comparison of different heat input can be clearly shown in
the Figure-11.
Effect of heat input on CGHAZ toughness Figure-12. Charpy V-notch test result of all samples at
According to [10], lower toughness values occur different heat input.
because of a wide HAZ. The lowest toughness values were
in CGHAZ. As the HAZ is wide, all zones will be wider The fracture surfaces were also evaluated by
and then the Charpy V-notch test place is more in CGHAZ SEM, and the results are shown in Figure-13. As seen in
and fusion line. In this study, the same results have been the figure, dimples of varying size and shape were
observed. The impact toughness values of the CGHAZ observed in all the fractured surfaces which indicate that a
tested at room temperature are presented in Figure-12. major fracturing mechanism was ductile.
It can be observed that the impact toughness
values are proportionally decreasing when heat input
increase. The maximum of impact toughness value of 66 J
was achieved after welding with low heat input (0.99
kJ/mm). At medium heat input and high heat input, the
average impact toughness values are 35 J and 30 J
respectively. The average impact toughness value of base
metal is 103 J.
Absorption of impact energy can be controlled by
chemical composition, microstructure and the heating
cycle. Excess grain growth can lead to reduced strength
and increase crack initiation and growth. Furthermore, it
can adversely affect the fracture toughness which may
arise due to heating and cooling cycles [4].
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REFERENCES
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