R. Kaul

Laser Cladding of Austenitic Stainless Steel with Hardfacing Alloy Nickel Base

Abstract A nickel base alloy Colmonoy 6 was chosen as a candidate material for hard facing many components in the prototype fast breeder reactor. This alloy offers outstanding wear resistance and high hardness at elevated temperatures. Previous research using the gas tungsten arc welding process revealed that the hardness of the deposit is influenced by the dilution from the base metal up to a deposit thickness as high as 2.5 mm. The present study aims to control the level of dilution in the hard face deposits by carrying out deposition using a low heat input laser cladding process. The samples were characterised by macroscopic and metallographic examination, and microhardness measurements, SEM - EDAX and XRD analysis were used to determine their properties. The study demonstrated that by controlling laser cladding parameters, thin deposits with a low level of dilution can be laid on austenitic stainless steel substrate. Cracking of the deposit was minimised by controlling the heating and cooling rates.

Effect of active flux addition on laser welding of austenitic stainless steel

Abstract The use of active flux in tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is known to increase its weld depth. The present paper involves study of active flux laser beam welding (ALBW) of austenitic stainless steel sheets with respect to its effect on plasma plume, microstructure and mechanical properties of the resultant weldments. ALBW performed with SiO2 as the flux significantly modified shape of the fusion zone (FZ) to produce narrower and deeper welds. Plasma plume associated with the process was considerably smaller and of lower intensity than that produced during bead on plate laser beam welding (LBW). Flux addition during LBW produced thin and rough weld bead associated with humping. The development of such a weld bead is cause by reversal in the direction of Marangoni flow by oxygen induced inversion of surface tension gradient, widely fluctuating plasma plume and presence of oxides on the weld pool surface preventing free flow of the melt. Active flux laser weldments exhibited lower ductility than that of bead on plate laser weldments.

Comparison of Laser and Gas Tungsten Arc Weldments of Stabilized 17 wt% Cr Ferritic Stainless Steel

Abstract One of the major factors influencing weldability of stabilized 17 wt% Cr ferritic stainless steels is extensive grain coarsening in the fusion zone (FZ) and in the heat affected zone (HAZ). This study aimed at exploiting low heat input characteristics of laser welding to effectively control grain coarsening in the FZ and HAZ of 1.2-mm thick stabilized 17 wt% Cr ferritic stainless steel weldment. The study demonstrated that as compared with gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), laser welding brought about significant grain refinement in the FZ and HAZ. Laser weldments exhibited superior ductility over their GTA counterparts. An important observation of the study was that, in contrast to GTA weldment, laser weldment was associated with weaker interfaces along columnar grain boundaries in the FZ that served to arrest crack propagation normal to them.

Novel laser surface treatment approach to suppress sensitisation in modified type 316(N) stainless steel weld metal

Abstract Welded components are subjected to solution annealing heat treatment for achieving full stress relief and restoration of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. During such heat treatments, optimum cooling rate has to be selected because very slow cooling rate will result in sensitisation and susceptibility to intergranular corrosion whereas fast cooling will result in reintroduction of residual stress. For 316 LN stainless steel which is welded using modified E316-15 electrodes (0·045–0·055%C), critical cooling rate above which there is no risk of sensitisation is 75 K h−1. This paper presents a novel laser surface treatment which suppresses sensitisation in weld metal, even at a slower cooling rate of 65 K h−1. Experiments involving laser surface melting were carried out with 150 W average power pulsed Nd:YAG laser and 10 kW CO2 laser, in both continuous wave and pulse modulated (100 Hz) modes. Best results were obtained when surface melting was performed with high frequency pulse modulated CO2 laser beam. The processed weld metal remained unsensitised after solution annealing followed by slower rate of cooling at 65 K h−1. Numerical simulation study was performed with ANSYS 7·0 software to understand the physical reason behind the difference in sensitisation behaviour of CO2 laser melted specimens under continuous wave and high frequency pulse modulated conditions and the predictions were validated using results of electron backscattered diffraction studies. Weld metal specimens treated with high frequency pulse modulated CO2 laser clearly showed evolution of fine grains near the fusion boundary region which enhanced sensitisation resistance.

Studies on laser peening using different sacrificial coatings

Abstract Laser shock peening usually requires the presence of a sacrificial coating to protect the substrate from undesirable thermal effects generated by laser irradiation. This paper describes an experimental study to identify an adherent sacrificial coating for laser peening of smooth metallic surfaces where black paint does not adhere well. Normal black polyvinyl chloride electrical insulation tape has been found to be a good choice as a sacrificial coating. Laser peening with black insulation tape generated effective laser peening in three different substrates, namely, Ti6Al4V alloy, SAE 9260 spring steel and DIN X20Cr13 martensitic stainless steel. The depth of peening was comparable or better than that generated with black paint. With respect to widely used black paint, black insulation tape not only provides clean, simple and uniform coating but also literally eliminates the time involved in its application (black paint requires multilayer coating with long intermediate curing periods) and removal.

Magnetic and transport properties of (β+γ) Ni35Co35Al30 ferromagnetic shape memory alloy across the martensitic transition

The results of dc-magnetization, resistivity and ac-susceptibility studies performed on (β+γ) Ni35Co35Al30 magnetic shape memory alloy are presented highlighting the transition between two equilibrium lattice configurations of austenite and martensite phases. The first order nature of this martensitic transition is emphasized by highlighting the presence of thermal hysteresis and phase co-existence. This transition is apparently broadened with the introduction of γ-phase in the pure β-phase Ni35Co35Al30 alloy giving rise to a relatively large thermal hysteresis.

Enhancement of corrosion resistance of nickel based superalloys by laser surface melting

Abstract Laser surface melting of Ni based superalloys (alloys 600, 690 and 693) was carried out to study the effect of surface modification on the corrosion behaviour in simulated nuclear high level waste (HLW) and chloride medium. Surface characterisation was performed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The alloys exhibited cubic crystal system and cellular microstructure. Double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation test in 0·5M H2SO4 containing 0·0001M KSCN showed a low degree of sensitisation compared to the solution annealed specimens. Laser surface melting resulted in enhancement of corrosion resistance of the alloys in simulated HLW and chloride medium when compared to as received and solution annealed specimens; nevertheless, no discernable difference was found between the laser surface melted alloys 600, 690 and 693 in simulated HLW. However, the laser surface melted alloy 690 showed superior pitting corrosion resistance. The results of the present investigation are discussed in this paper.

Fretting Wear Behavior of Laser Peened Ti-6Al-4V

This work deals with the influence of laser peening on the fretting wear behavior of Ti-6Al-4V. Laser peening was carried out on Ti-6Al-4V. The laser-peened surface was characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Surface roughness, nanoindentation hardness, residual stress, and tensile properties of the material in both laser-peened and unpeened conditions were determined. Fretting wear tests were conducted at different normal loads using a ball-on-flat contact geometry. Laser peening resulted in the formation of nanocrystallites on the surface and near-surface regions, increased hardness, and compressive residual stress. Laser peening did not affect the tensile properties and surface roughness significantly. There was no considerable difference between the values of the tangential force coefficient of laser-peened and unpeened samples. The fretting scar size, wear volume, and wear rate of laser-peened specimens were lower than those of unpeened samples. This may be attributed to an increase in surface hardness due to strain hardening and grain refinement at the surface and near-surface regions, higher compressive residual stress, and higher resistance to plastic deformation of laser-peened samples.

Magnetic and calorimetric investigations of ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni54Fe19Ga27

We report results of magnetization and differential scanning calorimetry measurements in the ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni54Fe19Ga27. This alloy undergoes an austenite–martensite phase transition in its ferromagnetic state. The nature of the ferromagnetic state, both in the austenite and the martensite phase, is studied in detail. The ferromagnetic state in the martensite phase is found to have higher anisotropy energy as compared with the austenite phase. The estimated anisotropy constant is comparable to that of a well-studied ferromagnetic shape memory alloy system NiMnGa. Further, the present study highlights various interesting features accompanying the martensitic transition (MT). These features suggest the possibility of either a premartensitic transition and/or an inter-MT in this system.

Training effects in Gd5Ge4: role of microstructure

Detailed optical metallographic studies at room temperature on polycrystalline Gd5Ge4 are presented for two cases: (a) a sample in the as-cast condition and (b) the same sample subjected to a known number of temperature and magnetic field cycles. A herringbone-?(criss-cross-) like pattern whose characteristic feature size extends to ?20??m is observed in the as-cast sample. The herringbone pattern at room temperature is interpreted as arising due to a long-lived (kinetically arrested) metastable phase. This herringbone pattern can be trained to form a pattern having a different morphology by cycling the sample through the low-temperature field induced magneto-structural transition. Training effects are also observed in magneto-transport and magnetization measurements as the sample is subjected to temperature and field cycles. Based on heuristic arguments, a model is proposed which self-consistently explains anomalies in transport and magnetization properties in terms of changes occurring in the microstructure of the sample. These results highlight the need for analysing the interesting properties of Gd5Ge4 and its family of alloys with microstructure as an important component.