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Metallurgical characterization of coupled carbon diffusion and precipitation in dissimilar steel welds

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Abstract

The complex microstructures developed during post-welding heat-treatment in the vicinity of the fusion line between a ferritic and austenitic steel were examined in the case of submerged arc welded 18MND5/309L dissimilar joints. Quantitative measurements of the carbon distribution in the as-welded and post-weld heat-treated conditions were performed by both wavelength dispersive spectrometry and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The extent of carbon diffusion was confirmed by hardness profiles performed by nanoindentation. On the low-alloy ferritic side, decarburization resulted in cementite dissolution allowing the evolution of the bainitic structure toward a large-grained ferritic region. In the weld metal, the carbon content reached unusually high levels and an intense precipitation of chromium-rich carbides was observed in both the interfacial martensitic layer and the austenitic weld metal. The evolution of the precipitation as a function of the distance from the interface was analyzed in terms of crystallography, chemistry, volume fractions, and size distributions. Automated crystal orientation mapping in a transmission electron microscope allowed identification of the precipitates extracted on carbon replicas from both the martensitic and austenitic matrices. A 3D reconstruction of the carbides population in the martensitic layer was performed by serial cutting with a focused ion beam: M 7 C 3 and M 23 C 6 were found to coexist in the two carburized regions, but displayed different sizes, compositions, and morphologies, depending on their location with respect to the fusion line. This evolution in terms of precipitation was analyzed taking into account the local microstructure and composition.

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Notes

  1. In what follows, we will continue designating as martensite the intermediate layer with a lathy microstructure, even if it has been tempered during the welding of the second cladding layer and the subsequent post-weld heat-treatment.

  2. Estimated by Monte-Carlo simulations for a 16 kV electron beam on an iron sample.

  3. Value extracted from the mc-fe.ddb database of the MatCalc software [41]

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Acknowledgement

This study was sponsored by both EDF and AREVA through a PhD Grant (FM). In addition, the authors wish to thank M. Verdier (SIMaP) for nanoindentation scans, M. Véron (SIMaP) for her assistance in operating Astar software, P. Perrenot (SIMaP) for his help in the FIB data analysis, B. El Adib (CRP-GL) for the valued contribution to SIMS measurements, and E. Kozeschnik (TU Wien) for enabling thermodynamics calculations with the MatCalc software.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Grenoble Alpes, SIMAP, 38000, Grenoble, France

    Fanny Mas, Catherine Tassin & Yves Bréchet

  2. CNRS, SIMAP, 38000, Grenoble, France

    Fanny Mas, Catherine Tassin & Yves Bréchet

  3. Centre Public Gabriel Lippmann, 41 rue du Brill, 4422, Belvaux, Luxembourg

    Nathalie Valle

  4. Consortium des Moyens Technologiques Communs, Grenoble-INP, 38502, St. Martin d’Hères, France

    Florence Robaut & Frédéric Charlot

  5. AREVA NP, Tour Areva, 92084, Paris La Défense, France

    Miguel Yescas & François Roch

  6. EDF R&D, Avenue des Renardières, 77250, Moret-Sur-Loing, France

    Patrick Todeschini

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  1. Fanny Mas
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Correspondence to Fanny Mas.

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This study was funded by EDF R&D and AREVA. F. Mas has received a research Grant from AREVA. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Mas, F., Tassin, C., Valle, N. et al. Metallurgical characterization of coupled carbon diffusion and precipitation in dissimilar steel welds. J Mater Sci 51, 4864–4879 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-9792-z

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