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Undermatched Welding of Ultra-High-Strength Steel S1100 with Metal-Cored Wire: Influence of Welding Positions on Mechanical Properties

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Abstract

Ultra-high-strength steel significantly contributes to lightweight design. However, it is essential that excellent mechanical properties are maintained after the applied welding process in terms of structural integrity, strength and ductility. This study investigates the microstructural and mechanical properties of metal active gas-welded X-joints of 20-mm-thick S1100 thermomechanically rolled plates with undermatched alform 960 L-MC filler metal. Welding was carried out fully automated in order to obtain uniform properties of the welds for different heat inputs in flat (PA) and vertical up (PF) positions. The mechanical properties of weldments were characterized by hardness, impact and tensile tests and complemented by microstructural analysis using optical and scanning electron microscopy. Different heat inputs due to altered welding positions caused changes in prior austenite grain size and orientation in the weld metal (WM) microstructure which is presented and discussed in detail. The microstructures of the WM consist of ferrite, while the heat-affected zone (HAZ), which was exposed to several thermal cycles, is dominated by bainite and martensite-austenite (M/A) constituents. While in the HAZ the top layer shows fresh martensite of high hardness, the HAZ of filler and root passes was tempered showing lower hardness values. Transverse tensile tests always failed in the weld metal not fulfilling base materials strength requirements. Although the weld metal microstructure consisted of acicular ferrite in PA and PF position, PF weld has lower toughness.

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Acknowledgment

Base materials and filler wire were provided by Voestalpine Stahl Linz and Voestalpine Böhler Welding, respectively. Mustafa Tümer is supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under the 2219 International Postdoctoral Research Scholarship Program.

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  1. Welding Technology Program, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Türkiye

    Mustafa Tümer

  2. Institute of Materials Science, Joining and Forming, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

    Mustafa Tümer, Rudolf Vallant, Fernando Gustavo Warchomicka & Norbert Enzinger

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  1. Mustafa Tümer
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This article is an invited submission to the Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance selected from presentations at the symposium “Joining,” belonging to the area “Processing” at the European Congress and Exhibition on Advanced Materials and Processes (EUROMAT 2021), held virtually from September 12–16, 2021, and has been expanded from the original presentation.

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Tümer, M., Vallant, R., Warchomicka, F.G. et al. Undermatched Welding of Ultra-High-Strength Steel S1100 with Metal-Cored Wire: Influence of Welding Positions on Mechanical Properties. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 31, 7068–7079 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06876-4

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