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Ferrite fraction in duplex stainless steel welded with a novel plasma arc torch

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Abstract

Duplex stainless steels generally solidify with a ferritic microstructure, followed by a partial transformation to austenite during cooling. Rapid cooling may render the transformation incomplete. The too-low or too-high cooling rate can also result in the formation of intermetallic phases and precipitates which can have a detrimental effect on the pitting corrosion resistance. The possibilities of achieving a microstructure with 30–70% ferrite in duplex stainless steel (1.4462, DX 2205) autogenously welded with a novel plasma welding equipment were investigated. Welding was performed as a square butt joint, with a 0-mm nominal gap size, on a 6-mm plate thickness, without the use of filler metal. The plasma torch uses a focus gas that allows it to constrict the arc in addition to the conventional constriction by the plasma nozzle. The three separated gas flows (plasma, focus and shielding gas) allow the gas composition to be tailored in the different gas flows. The effect of argon, nitrogen and helium content on the phase balance related to the gas flow channels was studied. The presence of nitrides as well as the sigma phase was investigated, and the joint quality was evaluated. The microstructure of the welded samples, investigated by image analysis, was correlated to pitting corrosion resistance. It was shown that high joint quality, quality level B, with favourable ferrite/austenite phase balance can be achieved through autogenous single-pass welding of duplex stainless steel 1.4462, DX 2205 (6.0 mm) using the novel plasma torch. With N2 additions in, most notably, the plasma gas and the shielding gas, it was possible to get a ferrite phase fraction in the weld metal close to 50%.

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Acknowledgements

Outokumpu provided the material. Rickard Aldén (currently AFRY, formerly Swerim AB) design and interpretation of DoE. Oskar Karlsson (Swerim AB) SEM analysis. Jesper Flyg (Swerim AB) design and analysis of corrosion testing.

Funding

The investigation was financed by the Centre for Joining and Structures (CJS) at Swerim AB.

This research was partially sponsored by XPRES (Centre of Excellence in Production Research) – a strategic research area in Sweden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joining/Corrosion, Swerim AB, Kista, Sweden

    Klara Trydell, Kjell-Arne Persson & Nuria Fuertes

  2. Linde Gas, Manufacturing Markets, Unterschleissheim, Germany

    Erwan Siewert, Nakhleh Hussary & Michael Pfreuntner

  3. Linde Gas, Weldonova, Solna, Sweden

    Per Bengtsson

  4. Technology & Group Sustainability, Outokumpu Stainless AB, Avesta, Sweden

    Paul Janiak & Ravi Vishnu

  5. Sandvik Materials Technology, Research and Development, Sandviken, Sweden

    Mette Frodigh

Authors
  1. Klara Trydell
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  2. Kjell-Arne Persson
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  3. Nuria Fuertes
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  4. Erwan Siewert
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  5. Nakhleh Hussary
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  6. Michael Pfreuntner
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  7. Per Bengtsson
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  8. Paul Janiak
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  9. Ravi Vishnu
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  10. Mette Frodigh
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Contributions

Conceptualisation: all authors; methodology: all authors; welding: Erwan Siewert, Nakhleh Hussary, Michael Pfreuntner; analysis and investigation: Klara Trydell, Kjell-Arne Persson; writing—original draft preparation: Klara Trydell; writing—review and editing: Klara Trydell, Kjell-Arne Persson, Nuria Fuertes.

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Correspondence to Klara Trydell.

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Trydell, K., Persson, KA., Fuertes, N. et al. Ferrite fraction in duplex stainless steel welded with a novel plasma arc torch. Weld World 67, 805–817 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-022-01447-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-022-01447-6

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