Jicai Feng

Temperature and stress fields in electron beam welded Ti-15-3 alloy to 304 stainless steel joint with copper interlayer sheet

Abstract Electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 alloy to 304 stainless steel (STS) using a copper filler metal was carried out. The temperature fields and stress distributions in the Ti/Fe and Ti/Cu/Fe joint during the welding process were numerically simulated and experimentally measured. The results show that the rotated parabola body heat source is fit for the simulation of the electron beam welding. The temperature distribution is asymmetric along the weld center and the temperature in the titanium alloy plate is higher than that in the 304 STS plate. The thermal stress also appears to be in asymmetric distribution. The residual tensile stress mainly exists in the weld at the 304 STS side. The copper filler metal decreases the peak temperature and temperature grade in the joint as well as the residual stress. The longitudinal and lateral residual tensile strengths reduce by 66 MPa and 31 MPa, respectively. From the temperature and residual stress, it is concluded that copper is a good filler metal candidate for the electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 titanium alloy to 304 stainless steel.

Welding and Joining of Titanium Aluminides

Welding and joining of titanium aluminides is the key to making them more attractive in industrial fields. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of recent progress in welding and joining of titanium aluminides, as well as to introduce current research and application. The possible methods available for titanium aluminides involve brazing, diffusion bonding, fusion welding, friction welding and reactive joining. Of the numerous methods, solid-state diffusion bonding and vacuum brazing have been most heavily investigated for producing reliable joints. The current state of understanding and development of every welding and joining method for titanium aluminides is addressed respectively. The focus is on the fundamental understanding of microstructure characteristics and processing–microstructure–property relationships in the welding and joining of titanium aluminides to themselves and to other materials.

Influence of electron-beam superposition welding on intermetallic layer of Cu/Ti joint

QCr0.8 was electron-beam welded to TC4 and the effect of the intermetallic layer (IMC-layer) on the mechanical properties of the joint was investigated. The IMC-layers are joint weaknesses at the Cu fusion line in centered welding and at the Ti fusion line when the beam is deviated towards Cu. A new method referred to as electron-beam superposition welding was presented, and the optimal welding sequence was considered. The IMC-layer produced by centered welding was fragmented and remelted during Cu-side non-centered welding, giving a finely structured compound layer and improved mechanical properties of the joint. The tensile strength of joint is 276.0 MPa, 76.7% that of the base metal.

Influence of Aluminum Content on the Microstructure and Properties of Electron Beam Welded Joints of TiAl/TC4 Alloy

Abstract Electron beam welding experiments of TiAl and TC4 titanium alloy under different welding parameters were carried out. The influence of aluminum content in the weld on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints were analyzed. The weld mainly consisted of the α 2 -Ti 3 Al phase and α-Ti phase, with a small quantity of B2 phase and YAl x phase when the beam acted on the contact face. In the joints the content of molten TiAl and TC4 was about 1/3 and 2/3, and the percentage of Al was about 28 wt%. This high content of Al led to the formation of a brittle α 2 phase, thus the ductility and toughness of the joints decreasing. In the centered beam welding, the tensile strength of the joints was low. The fracture of the joints was the classic brittle transgranular and quasi-cleavage fracture. When the beam was deflected towards the TC4 alloy, the Al content in the weld decreased and the mechanical properties of the joints improved. When the lateral deviation h s was 0.2 mm, the highest tensile strength of the joints reached 422.2 MPa.

Contact Reactive Joining of TA15 and 304 Stainless Steel Via a Copper Interlayer Heated by Electron Beam with a Beam Deflection

TA15 titanium alloy and 304 stainless steel were joined via a copper interlayer heated by electron beam with a beam deflection towards the stainless steel. Microstructures of the joints were analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The tensile strengths of the joints and the ultramicrohardness of the intermetallic compounds were also measured. The results showed that the joint was formed by three kinds of metallurgical processes. Copper interlayer and TA15 were joined by contact reaction with the reaction products of CuTi, Cu4Ti3, and Cu2Ti. While copper interlayer and 304 stainless steel were joined by fusion and solid state diffusion process. Tensile strength of the joint can reach to 300xa0MPa, equivalent to 55% of that of 304 stainless steel. Furthermore, the tensile strength was mostly dependent on the volume of the unmelted copper sheet, although the intermetallics layer was the weakest location in the joint.

Causes and control of welding cracks in electron-beam-welded superalloy GH4169 joints

Welding joint of GH4169 alloy with a good formation was obtained. No macroscopic defects occurred in the joint. The weld had mainly a dendritic structure; the base metal was a solid solution of Ni, Cr, and Fe, and the strengthening-phase particles such as Ni3Nb were dispersively distributed along the grain boundary. The average tensile strength of the joint reached 743.7 MPa, and the Vickers hardness of the weld exceeded HV 300. Because of the segregation of the low-melting compound Ni3Nb at the grain boundary of the fusion zone, liquid cracks tended to occur as a result of welding stress. The formation of liquid cracks was inhibited by adding an alloying element, Mn, to the welding bath, because Mn diffused to the fusion zone and the high-melting phase Mn2Nb formed, and thus the overall properties of the joint were improved.

Microstructure and Fatigue Behavior of Friction Stir-welded Noncombustive Mg-9Al-Zn-Ca Magnesium Alloy

Microstructure and fatigue behavior of friction stir-welded noncombustive Mg-9Al-Zn-Ca magnesium alloy were investigated. The as-received hot-extruded material consisted of equiaxed α-Mg grains with β-Mg17Al12 and Al2Ca compounds distributed along the grain boundaries. Friction stir welding produced much refined α-Mg grains accompanied by the dissolution of the eutectic β-Mg17Al12 phase, while Al2Ca phase was dispersed homogenously into the Mg matrix. Friction stir welding produced slightly increased hardness and tensile strength in the defect-free welds compared with the base material due to microstructural refinement and uniform distribution of intermetallic compounds. The load-controlled uniaxial tensile high-cycle fatigue tests indicated that fatigue strength of 90xa0MPa was obtained for the friction stir-welded joint with fatigue crack initiated basically near the specimen’s surface and at the retreating side of the joint. Crack propagation was characterized by cleavage and fatigue striations.