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HomeImproving the fatigue performance of welded stainless steels
Improving the fatigue performance of welded stainless steels
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As with C-Mn steels, fillet welds in stainless steels can display low fatigue strengths. Therefore, possible ways of improving their fatigue performance were investigated, by choice of welding process or the application of a post-weld improvement technique. Three types of fillet welded specimen were made from three stainless steels, namely 10 mm thick 304L austenitic and higher strength S31803 duplex and 3 mm thick high-strength Cr-Mn austenitic steel. One aim was to show that the higher strength steels gained more benefit from an improvement technique. The basic test series were MAG welded, but TIG and powder plasma arc welds (PPAW) were included to investigate possible improved fatigue performance from these welding processes. In addition, four weld toe improvement techniques were applied, namely weld profile improvement by grinding or re-melting the weld toe with a TIG or plasma torch (TIG or plasma dressing) and the introduction of compressive residual stress by ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT). The specimens were fatigue tested axially at R = 0.1 or under high tensile mean stress conditions. Most tests were performed in air under constant amplitude loading, but toe ground and plasma dressed specimens were also tested in 3 % NaCl solution, while some TIG dressed and UIT specimens were tested under variable amplitude loading. Many testing conditions were selected specifically to investigate features of actual service operation that might reduce the benefit of an improvement technique. The TIG and PPA welds did not produce better fatigue performance than MAG welds. However, all the improvement techniques were beneficial, the improvement increasing with decrease in applied stress range. The basic level of improvement in fatigue strength in air for R = 0.1 was 30 %. However, this could be greater; especially the increase in fatigue limit, or less, depending on the method of application of the improvement technique, the operating conditions and to some extent the original weld profile. Thus, success with the re-melting techniques depended on the achievement of a generous weld toe radius, while UIT of a poor profile weld could leave flaws in the deformed weld toe material and actually reduce the fatigue performance. Grinding was the most tolerant technique, but it was less suitable for the 3 mm Cr-Mn austenitic steel because of the significant loss of thickness. The benefit of the weld profile improvement techniques was reduced in 3 % NaCl solution but not under high tensile mean stress or variable amplitude loading. However, UIT, which relies on the presence of compressive residual stress, was of little benefit under such conditions. There was no fundamental difference in the effect of an improvement technique when applied to the low and high-strength steels, except that the higher strength duplex and Cr-Mn austenitic steels could sustain stresses above the yield strength of Type 304L austenitic. However, ground or dressed duplex welds performed slightly better than the austenitic steel in 3 % NaCl solution.
- Published:
- Corporate author(s): Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (European Commission)
- Personal author(s): Holy, A ; Maddox, S. J ; Hopkin, G. R
- Themes: Industrial research and development
- Subject: applied research , industrial research , iron and steel industry , metalworking , resistance of materials
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| ISSN 1018-5593 | ISBN 978-92-79-05259-0 | DOI | Catalogue number KI-NA-22809-EN-S |
- Released on EU Publications:
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