Effect of cooling rates on the weld heat affected zone coarse grain microstructure

Abstract

The effect of a cooling rate on the S690Q quenched and tempered steel welded joint coarse grain heat affected zone microstructure was investigated using a dilatometer with controlled heating and cooling fixture. Steel samples were heated to a peak temperature of 1350 °C and cooled at the different cooling time Dt8/5. A dilatometric analysis and hardness measurements of the simulated thermal cycle coarse grain samples were done. Transformation start and finish temperature were determined using dilatation vs. temperature data analysis. The microstructure of the sample with a cooling time 5 s consists of martensite, whereas at cooling time 80 s a bainitic microstructure was observed. The investigated steel cooling cycle using simulation approach makes possible to determine the range of an optimum CG HAZ cooling time for the welding.