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ABSTRACT. The weld fusion zone hot of these complex synergistic alloying ele- tance to pitting, crevice corrosion, and
cracking behavior of four duplex stainless ment effects. stress-corrosion cracking (Refs. 1-4). The
steel alloys was investigated using the Fractographic study of the hot crack increase in ferrite-stabilizing elements (Cr,
Varestraint test. The duplex stainless surfaces in the duplex alloys showed Mo) relative to austenite-stabilizing ele-
steels evaluated included: Ferralium Alloy both dendritic and flat columnar topo- ments (Ni, N) in these alloys results in a
255 (UNS-S32550), Uddeholm NU744LN graphies. The flat regions, which were microstructure which is "duplex" in
(UNS-S31803), and two experimental Fe- found at locations on the fracture surface nature, containing both ferrite and aus-
Cr-Ni alloys. Two commercial Type 304L farthest from the crack front at the time tenite. Duplex stainless steel base
alloys were included in the study for of straining, have been attributed to grain materials are normally solution heat
comparison. boundary formation and migration during treated at a temperature which produces
Varestraint test results indicated that and immediately subsequent to the final nearly equal proportions of ferrite and
the commercial duplex stainless steels stages of fusion zone solidification. It is austenite.
were more susceptible to fusion zone hot postulated that the incidence of flat frac- The unique properties of the duplex
cracking than the experimental alloys and ture is related to the greater susceptibility stainless steels have resulted in their use
a Type 304L alloy which exhibited Ferrite of the duplex alloys to weld solidification in a variety of industrial applications,
Number (FN) 4.5 in the weld fusion zone. cracking versus the FN 4.5 Type 304L including chemical process plant piping,
All of the duplex alloys were less suscep- alloy, which exhibited an exclusively den- oil and gas transmission lines, and struc-
tible to hot cracking than the Type 304L dritic surface. tures for use in marine environments
alloy, which solidified as austenite and (Refs. 5, 6). Since welding is widely used
exhibited a ferrite-free fusion zone micro- in the fabrication of many components
structure. Introduction and Background used in these applications, understanding
Metallographic inspection of Vare- the factors which affect the weldability of
The duplex stainless steels have been
straint specimens revealed that fusion duplex stainless steels is critical to the
developed to provide a higher strength,
zone hot cracking in the duplex alloys successful implementation of these engi-
corrosion-resistant alternative to the 300-
was associated with grain boundaries neering materials.
series austenitic stainless steels. Relative
which had been fully ferritic during the
to the conventional Type 304L and 316L
final stages of solidification. Microprobe Weld Hot Cracking
alloys, the duplex stainless steels typically
analysis of the remnants of liquid films
contain increased chromium (22-26 wt- Weld hot cracking, or solidification
along the crack paths in the commercial
%), decreased nickel (4-8 wt-%), cracking, generally occurs slightly above
alloys revealed increased levels of cop-
increased molybdenum (2-5 wt-%), the melting temperature of the lowest
per, molybdenum, nickel and phospho-
increased nitrogen (0.1-0.2 wt-%), and melting constituent, sometimes referred
rus. It is suggested that the partitioning of
occasional additions of copper. These to as the effective solidus temperature
copper and phosphorus to the ferritic
alloy modifications impart excellent resis- (Refs. 7, 8). At this point in the weld
solidification boundaries promoted the
formation of complex low-melting liquid solidification process, adjacent dendrites
films which readily wet the single-phase have impinged upon each other to form
boundaries. The lower hot cracking sus- solidified bridges, which are surrounded
ceptibility of the experimental duplex KEY W O R D S by regions containing lower-melting inter-
alloys appears to be due to the absence dendritic liquid. These solid bridges are
Duplex Stainless Stl subject to the greatest proportion of
Weld Hot Cracking shrinkage-induced strain as the surround-
D. E NELSON is with Hughes Aircraft Co., El Crack Susceptibility ing material cools. A threshold amount of
Segundo, Calif. W. A. BAESLACK III is with the Zone Solidification either low-melting liquid or strain may
Department of Welding Engineering, Ohio Element Segregation cause fracture of these solid bridges and
State University, Columbus, Ohio. J. C. LIP- Varestraint Testing the subsequent formation of a weld hot
POLD is with the Edison Welding Institute, Alloy UNS-S32550 crack (Refs. 9-12). By definition, weld hot
Columbus, Ohio. Alloy UNS-S31803 cracks are interdendritic in nature, occur-
Fe-Cr-Ni Alloys ring either between individual dendrites
Based on a paper presented at the 66th Annual
A WS Meeting, held April 28 to May 3, 1985, in Microprobe Analysis or, more commonly, along a weld "grain
Las Vegas, Nev. boundary," where dendrites of different
:rs 'A': -t
/rA
*X# boundary region microstructures of the
-A'.
duplex stainless steels evaluated during
50um i
~A-
"• *y.~
, •} ••
2y
this investigation are shown in Fig. 3.
These microstructures are representative
of welds made using the parameters
listed in Table 2. The fusion zone micro-
D structure of Ferralium Alloy 255 (Fig. 3A)
/ !i consists of large, epitaxial ferrite grains
f-
y/y> y I / with continuous austenite networks at
/
j /
prior ferrite grain boundaries and intra-
granular austenite precipitates. The weld
ferrite content of the Ferralium Alloy 255,
determined using the Extended Ferrite a--*
Metallographic Analysis of
Varestraint Samples
Metallographic examination of the
duplex stainless steel Varestraint samples
revealed that hot cracking in all four
materials was associated with fusion zone
grain boundaries. Partitioning of alloy and
impurity elements is generally greater
along these grain boundaries than at the
subgrain boundaries (Refs. 7, 8, 22), and
thus weld hot cracking is more prevalent
—- at these sites1.
lOOMml
The top surface of a Ferralium Alloy
• - 255 Varestraint sample tested at 5% strain
is shown in Fig. 6. The hot cracks were
distributed around the periphery of the
solid-liquid interface at the instant of
applied strain. As noted, the cracks
shown in Fig. 6 were located at grain
boundaries in the Ferralium Alloy 255
microstructure. These boundaries were
delineated by the continuous austenite
networks.
I SO M"1 I At higher magnification (inset, Fig. 6),
note that austenite side plates emanated
from the crack boundaries. Since it is
Fig. 6 — Fusion zone hot cracking in a Ferralium Alloy 255 Varestraint sample tested at 5% strain (top likely that solidification of Ferralium Alloy
surface section). Arrows indicate the approximate location of the solid-liquid interface at the instant 255 occurred entirely as ferrite (no eutec-
of testing tic/peritectic reaction), this austenite
formed during cooling from the solidifica-
susceptibilities. None of the duplex alloys embrittlement temperature range (Ref. tion range. Thus, the hot crack shown in
approached the high degree of crack 36). The average crack length (ACL) at Fig. 6 initiated and propagated along
susceptibility found in the fully austenitic 3.1% strain for the four duplex materials ferrite-ferrite grain boundaries.
Type 304L alloy. and the t w o 304L alloys is presented in A transverse metallographic section
The average length of hot cracks at a Table 4. The ACL for the duplex materials from a Ferralium Alloy 255 Varestraint
particular strain level may also be used as is two to three times greater than that of sample is shown in Fig. 7. This section was
a measure of the degree of susceptibility the Type 304L alloy with FN 4.5, but is located such that the subsurface hot
to cracking and often provides an indica- only one-third to one-half that of the fully cracks which formed during the Vare-
tion as to the relative magnitude of the austenitic Type 304L alloy. Assuming that straint test were revealed. The solidifica-
the temperature gradient into the solid is tion growth direction was nearly vertical
nearly linear at temperatures just below in Fig. 7. This growth orientation resulted
the liquidus and relatively uniform for all in relatively straight grain boundaries,
the materials (welding parameters were which facilitated crack propagation.
identical), the embrittlement temperature A metallographic section representa-
range for fully ferritic or fully austenitic tive of the top surface of a Uddeholm
solidification would appear to be signifi- NU744LN Varestraint sample is shown in
Fig. 8. Again, note that hot cracking was
restricted to the prior-ferrite grain bound-
:
y 2r'&: aries, as delineated by the continuous
~ >?. *£& y -V: austenite networks. Similar metallograph-
yW^- r-.-i sS&i *(?%
'Af% yt -. ic sections are presented for Alloy 21-9
and Alloy 23-7 in Fig. 9.
Fractography
Figure 11 A, which illustrates a hot
, **v^ y?-yfy': Ay--y; t
crack fracture surface in Ferralium Alloy
^A, y.y:\\.'-\,y'. A /•'-'. "-T ••' H
. ' • \ <& • yy . , ,-.--'/
• > ' ' k ' \.' \ •> r i * \ z £y* -
J •.7- •
255, clearly reveals the fine protrusions
>~*-A\:, ':'"•"'> t ~:'-',''?~y, ' A'r /, te.
which correspond to cellular-dendrite pri- i i • ' ~ *_ "a- y • ,' i ' r. * -^ - /' '-;.
mary and secondary arms and which are 100nm 50nm - • •• J <' . . ' : : ' 1 -A '•
commonly associated with a solidifica- Fig. 10 — Fusion zone hot cracking in Type 304L Varestraint specimens tested at 5% strain. A—FN 0;
tion-related fracture surface. An examina- B — FN 4.5. Note difference in magnification
tion of this fracture surface at increased
magnification also revealed a transition in observed in the Ferralium 255. As indi- range of the weld metal. The analysis of
this fracture surface morphology from a cated in Figs. 12A and 12B, there was the remnants of these liquid films is often
relatively smooth, intergranular appear- strong evidence of the fracture of den- useful in determining the nature of the
ance on the surface of the crack most drites which may have acted as bridges cracking. Since these films tend to be
distant from the solid-liquid interface to separating the areas of low-melting liquid. extremely thin, electron optics tech-
an increasingly dendritic structure nearer However, the characterization of match- niques are usually employed to deter-
this interface (Figs. 11B and 11C). The ing opposite sides in order to confirm this mine their nature. The electron micro-
generally " w a v y " appearance of this sur- possibility was not conducted. probe is particularly well suited for ana-
face at high magnification confirmed that lyzing bulk samples.
the crack was completely solidification- A region along the tip of a hot crack in
related, and that crack extension by a Microprobe and Auger Analysis
a Ferralium Alloy 255 sample is shown in
solid-state "ductility dip" process was Weld hot cracking is usually associated Fig. 13. Analysis at several points along
unlikely. Fracture in the Uddeholm with liquid films which persist along fusion the crack path, as indicated in Fig. 13,
NU744LN and experimental duplex stain- zone grain boundaries, thus extending revealed an increase in molybdenum,
less steels appeared very similar to that the effective solidification temperature copper, nickel, and phosphorus relative
Fig. 11- Scanning electron fractographs of hot crack surface in Ferralium Alloy 255. A - Entire crack surface; arrow indicates end of crack farthest from
solid-liquid interface at the time of straining; B — higher magnification of A showing relatively flat fracture surface in regions farthest from solid-liquid
interface; C — higher magnification of A showing more dendritic-appearing fracture surface nearer the solid-liquid interface