R. K. Dutta

Stress relaxation due to ultrasonic impact treatment on multi-pass welds

Abstract Ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT) is a relatively novel technique applied to the toe of welded joints to improve the fatigue life by changing the weld geometry and the residual stress state. In this study, the stress relaxation due to ultrasonic impact treatment is investigated on a six pass welded high strength quenched and tempered steel section. Stress measurements in two orthogonal directions were conducted by energy dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Results show that the application of only ultrasound to a welded component re-distributes the residual stresses more uniformly, while mechanical impacts in combination with ultrasound is an effective way to release the residual stresses. After welding, diffraction peak broadening due to the lattice distortion, characterised by the full width at half maximum (FWHM), is observed in the region of the weld toes. Ultrasonic impact treatment reduces the FWHM at these locations.

Pass-by-pass stress evolution in multipass welds

Abstract In multipass welding, each successive thermal cycle will introduce local melting, solid state phase transformations, grain growth, grain refinement, recrystallisation and recovery, all of which lead to a complicated stress state. Most stress measurements performed on multipass welded components represent the final residual stress state. Information concerning stress evolution on a pass-by-pass basis is difficult to find. In this investigation, six pass welds were made on high strength quenched and tempered steel sections, and depth resolved strain measurements in two orthogonal directions were carried out after each weld pass using energy dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The residual stresses were calculated using biaxial Hooke’s law. A thermal–metallurgical–mechanical welding model was constructed and validated with temperature and pass-by-pass stress measurements, which improves the reliability of the model. Cross-sectional stress distributions are presented after each pass, revealing the weld stress development in multipass welds.

Residual Stress Measurements in Multi-Pass Welded High Strength Steel Using Energy Dispersive Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction

Six pass welds were made on a 16 mm thick high strength quenched and tempered structural steel plate (S690QL1, Fe-0.16C-0.2Si-0.87Mn-0.33Cr-0.21Mo (wt.%)). Depth resolved measurements in two orthogonal directions were carried out using energy dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction at the ID15 beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The strains were calculated from the shift in the local d-spacing for four bcc planes ({200}, {211}, {220}, {310}). The planar stresses were calculated from the biaxial Hooke’s law, using the diffraction elastic constants of the individual planes. A two dimensional cross-sectional residual stress map with a depth resolution of 2 mm was obtained. Transverse compressive stresses were found at the weld toes and root. Transverse tensile stresses were present in the middle of the plate. Longitudinal tensile stresses concentrated along the fusion line. This work describes the procedures to obtain the depth resolved residual stress map and the generated results provide necessary information to validate thermal mechanical finite element model of multi-pass welding.

Transformation-Induced Diffraction Peak Broadening During Bainitic and Martensitic Transformations Under Small External Loads in a Quenched and Tempered High Strength Steel

Insitu phase transformation behavior of a high strength S690QL1 steel during continuous cooling under different mechanical loading conditions has been used to investigate the effect of small external loads on the transformation-induced plasticity during bainitic and martensitic transformations. The results show that during phase transformations, the untransformed austenite undergoes plastic deformation, thereby retarding further transformation to bainite/martensite. This occurs independent of external load.

Anisotropy in Thermal Expansion of Bainitic Ferrite

The evolution of local d-spacings between lattice planes of bainitic ferrite in a high strength quenched and tempered structural steel, S690QL1 (Fe-0.16C-0.2Si-0.87Mn-0.33Cr-0.21Mo (wt pct)), has been determined to calculate the thermal expansion behavior. For this purpose, in-situ continuous cooling tests have been carried out in a high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffractometer. The results indicate thermal anisotropy in the bainitic ferrite planes.

In Situ Synchrotron Diffraction Studies on Peak Broadening During Bainitic Transformation in a High Strength Quenched and Tempered Steel

In situ synchrotron diffraction studies were carried out on a high strength (830 MPa yield stress) quench and tempered S690QL1 structural steel during continuous cooling under different mechanical loading conditions. The volume fraction and lattice parameters of co-existing phases were calculated from the time resolved 2D diffraction patterns. The effect of applied stress on the kinetics of austenite to bainite phase transformation and the transformation plasticity were analysed from the diffraction analysis. The results show that small tensile stresses applied at the transformation temperature do not change the kinetics of the phase. The absence of peak broadening in the bainitic ferrite reflections during phase transformation demonstrated that the plasticity was accommodated in austenite grains.

Synchrotron Diffraction Studies on the Transformation Strain in a High Strength Quenched and Tempered Structural Steel

In-situ phase transformation behaviour of a high strength (830 MPa yield stress) quenched and tempered S690QL1 (Fe-0.16C-0.2Si-0.87Mn-0.33Cr-0.21Mo (wt. %)) structural steel, during continuous cooling under different mechanical loading conditions to promote the bainitic transformation, was studied. Time-temperature-load resolved 2D synchrotron diffraction patterns were recorded and used to calculate the transformation strains. The temperature dependent elastic constants of ferrite in the steel were also determined using \textit{in-situ} tensile tests at different temperatures in a synchrotron X-ray diffractometer. The transformation strains were calculated under different loading conditions.The elastic constants were calculated from the lattice parameters at 25 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C. The elastic constants varied from 202 GPa at 25 °C to 143 GPa at 600 °C. The variation in lattice plane strains during phase transformation under small external loads were calculated. Bulk measurement techniques such as dilatation experiments give the averaged transformation strains. However, in-situ synchrotron measurements performed in this work describe the transformation strains of the individual transforming phases and the strains arising due to possible variant selection.

In Situ Synchrotron Diffraction Studies on Hot Deformation of Austenite in a High Strength Quenched and Tempered Structural Steel

The effect of plastic deformation of austenite at elevated temperatures on the kinetics ofphase transformations during continuous cooling was studied in a high strength quenched and tem-pered structural steel S690QL1 (Fe-0.16C-0.2Si-0.87Mn-0.33Cr-0.21Mo (wt.%)) by means of in-situsynchrotron diffraction. The steel was heated to 900 C (above Ac3) in the austenite region and elon-gated by 6% followed by quenching to room temperature. Time-temperature-load resolved 2D syn-chrotron diffraction patterns were recorded and used to calculate the local d-spacings between latticeplanes. The plane specific diffraction elastic constants of austenite at 900 C in the steel were deter-mined from the local d-spacings. The effect of the deformation of austenite on the phase transforma-tion kinetics was studied. The evolution of lattice parameters and the phase fraction of the bcc phasesduring the quenching process were calculated.The calculated plane specific elastic constants of austenite at 900 C varied between 32 GPa to140 GPa for the different fhklg reflections of austenite. The deformation of austenite at 900 C re-sulted in the formation of a mixture of 38 % bainite, 59 % martensite and 3 % retained austenite afterquenching to room temperature. Without hot deformation, austenite transformed to 9 % bainite and88 % martensite with 3 % retained austenite. The presence of the bainitic and the martensitic phaseswas observed fromthe change in the slopes of the lattice parameters of the bcc phase during quenchingand confirmed by microscopy.