JMEPEG ASM International

DOI: 10.1007/s11665-014-1136-z 1059-9495/$19.00

Evaluation of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

in Dissimilar Austenitic/Super Duplex Stainless
Steel Joint
Mehdi Rahmani, Abbas Eghlimi, and Morteza Shamanian

(Submitted April 21, 2014; in revised form June 11, 2014)

To study the effect of chemical composition on microstructural features and mechanical properties of
dissimilar joints between super duplex and austenitic stainless steels, welding was attempted by gas
tungsten arc welding process with a super duplex (ER2594) and an austenitic (ER309LMo) stainless steel
ller metal. While the austenitic weld metal had vermicular delta ferrite within austenitic matrix, super
duplex stainless steel was mainly comprised of allotriomorphic grain boundary and Widmanstatten side
plate austenite morphologies in the ferrite matrix. Also the heat-affected zone of austenitic base metal
comprised of large austenite grains with little amounts of ferrite, whereas a coarse-grained ferritic region
was observed in the heat-affected zone of super duplex base metal. Although both welded joints showed
acceptable mechanical properties, the hardness and impact strength of the weld metal produced using super
duplex ller metal were found to be better than that obtained by austenitic ller metal.

liquation cracking in the partially melted zone (PMZ), and (c)

Keywords austenitic stainless steel, dissimilar welding, mechan-
ical properties, microstructure, super duplex stainless
steel
1. Introduction
Various situations in industrial projects, especially economic
benets and the full advantage of outstanding performance of
two different metals, necessitate dissimilar welding of metals
by fusion welding methods. Due to the differences in the
physical, mechanical, and metallurgical properties of the metals
to be joined, dissimilar welding with the highest possible qual-
ity is generally more challenging than welding of similar
metals. The selection of proper ller material is one of the
major challenges, because on the one hand it must help in
prevention of weld metal (WM) liquation cracking, heat-
affected zone cracking, and other discontinuities, while on the
other hand, it shall provide a WM with acceptable properties.
Austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) are the most common
stainless steels used in the oil, gas, and chemical industries.
These steels are reasonably low-priced, have a good corrosion
resistance, and are easy to form and weld. However, they are
vulnerable to stress corrosion cracking in chloride-containing
solutions, and are susceptible to thermal fatigue (Ref 1, 2).
ASSs are generally weldable, but their welding is confronted
with several challenges like: (a) formation of excessive coarse
grains with low toughness in the heat-affected zone (HAZ), (b)
Mehdi Rahmani, Department of Materials Engineering, Najafabad
Branch, Islamic Azad University, 85141-43131 Najafabad, Iran; and
Abbas Eghlimi and Morteza Shamanian, Department of Materials
Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111 Isfahan,
Iran. contact e-mail: a.eghlimi@ma.iut.ac.ir.
solidication and liquation cracking in the WM. It has been
proven that the presence of small amounts of d-ferrite in the
HAZ and ne dendritic structure in the WM enhances the
fracture toughness and ductility of these steels which can help
in overcoming these problems (Ref 3, 4). On the other hand,
super duplex stainless steels (SDSSs) have high yield strength,
good ductility, good impact strength, superior resistance to
pitting, crevice corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking in
chloride-containing environments (Ref 5), and an excellent
weldability. They are widely used in the pulp and paper
production equipment, chemical tankers, desalination plants,
waste gas puriers, and sea water systems at temperatures 40
to +280C. Considering welding, unlike the ASSs, the major
problem of these steels is not hot cracking, but rather a loss of
corrosion resistance and/or toughness. These undesirable
changes occur due to several factors, including high ferrite
content and consequent nitride precipitation in the HAZ (Ref 6-9),
formation of secondary intermetallic phases such as sigma (Ref
10-13), Chi (Ref 14, 15), and secondary austenite (Ref 9, 16),
and also loss of balance between austenite and ferrite content in
the WM and HAZ (Ref 3). It is well established that the precise
control over heat input and cooling rate are effective in
preventing these problems (Ref 6, 17, 18). Welding conditions
of SDSSs must be controlled such that cooling is slow enough
for adequate austenite formation, yet fast enough to prevent
precipitation of deleterious phases (Ref 19). In addition to
problems which may arise during similar welding, there are
several other challenges in the dissimilar welding of ASSs to
SDSSs. Regardless of the ller metal used, it is necessary to
reach a suitable microstructure, free of intermetallic brittle
phases in the WM and HAZ which can accommodate high
residual stresses without cracking. It is also important to avoid
high ferrite content in the SDSS HAZ and grain growth in the
ASS HAZ. Thus, obtaining a microstructure with acceptable
mechanical properties and corrosion resistance requires the

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

control of heat input and inter-pass temperature within a
reasonable limit. Accordingly, although productivity, property
requirements, portability, and welding position limitations are
general determining factors in selecting the welding process,
precise control over heat input is a crucial parameter which
highlights gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) as an excellent
process for welding of root beads of pipes and thin sections
made of SDSSs and ASSs.
Although, under many circumstances, fusion welded joints
are susceptible to environmental degradation, the use of
fusion welding processes seems inevitable in engineering
applications. Thus, it is mandatory to perform welding by
taking care of resultant microstructure. Since there are
limited detailed studies (Ref 20) on the dissimilar welding
between SDSSs and ASSs, the current work was initiated
with the aim to investigate the effect of ller metals
chemical composition on the microstructural features and
mechanical properties of such dissimilar weld joints obtained
through the GTAW process.
2. Experimental
2.1 Base Metals
The materials used in the current investigation were 4-mm-
thick plates of UNS S30403 (AISI 304L) ASS and UNS
S32750 (alloy 2507) SDSS. The composition of the starting
SDSS and ASS base metals (BMs) are given in Table 1 and
their microstructures are shown in Fig. 1(a) and (b), respec-
tively. The SDSS BM showed an elongated grain structure with
nearly equal amounts of austenite and ferrite, which is typical
in the rolled products, while the ASS BM revealed near-
equiaxed grains of austenite with occasional twinning.
2.2 Filler Metals
Since it is known (Ref 21) that overmatching consumables
can give an acceptable results when joining SDSSs, a SDSS
ller metal, namely AWS A5.9 ER2594, which overmatches

Table 1 Nominal chemical composition of base and ller metals (wt.%)

C Cr Ni Mo Mn Si N P S WRC Creq WRC Nieq Creq/Nieq

UNS S30403 0.03 19.1 10.8 2 0.75 0.08 0.26 19.1 11.85 1.61
UNS S32750 0.025 25.9 6.54 3.78 1.2 1 0.25 0.035 0.015 29.68 12.42 2.39
ER309LMo 0.03 22 15 2.7 1.6 0.45 0.03 0.02 24.7 16.05 1.54
ER2594 0.02 25 10 4 0.4 0.3 0.25 0.02 0.015 29 15.7 1.85

Fig. 1 Optical micrograph of BMs: (a) SDSS (b) ASS

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the chemical composition of UNS S32750, was chosen to join
the BMs. Comparing the chemical composition of UNS S32750
BM and ER2594 ller metals it is evident that the ller metal
has about 3.5% more nickel than the BM to enhance the
austenite formation from solid d-ferrite. An ASS ller metal,
namely AWS A5.9 ER309LMo, with lower chromium content
was also used, which is considered as a versatile ller rod in
dissimilar joints containing an ASS. Both ller metals were
supplied in 2.4 mm diameter by the same vendor. The chemical
compositions of the ller metals are given in Table 1.
2.3 Welding Process
As a general rule, the root gap and joint angle for SDSSs
welding should be wider than those for ASSs (Ref 21) because
they show lower penetration and uidity. Thus, the plates were
cut into pieces of 200 mm in length and each section was
machined with a 35-degree bevel to result in a 70-degree angle
with a root face of 2 mm and root gap of 3 mm in a single V
groove butt joint. To ensure the absence of cracks in the
prepared samples, x-ray radiography and penetrant testing were
performed. Pre-weld cleaning by gentle grinding and acetone
was performed to remove oxide scales, dirt and oil, and to
ensure good weldability. Tack welds with the same ller metal
were deposited for tting-up of plates before start of welding.
Welding was performed in the at position with no weaving. A
stainless steel brush was used manually to remove oxides
during the welding process. The constant current GTAW
process with DCEN polarity was employed as the welding
process. A lling cold pass, i.e., with lower HI, was
deposited after the root pass to minimize the secondary phases
formation in the root pass of weldments (Ref 22). Constant
parameters of the welding process are given in Table 2.
Welding parameters were chosen to achieve uidity and
penetrance while limiting the HI. The welds were produced
in three passes using the parameters of Table 3. The heat input
was calculated using HI gVI=S equation, where HI is heat
input, I is current, V is voltage, S is welding speed, and g is
Table 2 Constant parameters of welding process
Parameter Value
efciency. The welding efciency was considered 60% (Ref
23). A schematic of the joint design and welding sequence is
presented in Fig. 2.
Due to the detrimental effects of excessive heating on
mechanical and corrosion properties of SDSSs (Ref 24),
preheating and post-weld heat treatment were not performed.
The maximum interpass temperature used was 150C (Ref 21)
to minimize the intermetallic phases precipitation. The inter-
pass temperature was controlled with thermocouples.
2.4 Examination of Microstructural Features
Transverse sections of the welds were metallographically
characterized with the aim of determining the general micro-
structure of the welded metal and HAZs, to nd the presence of
any precipitates and to measure the width of HAZs. Special
attention was paid for seeking any cracks in the weldments.
Metallographic preparation included cutting transverse sections
through the welds, followed by grinding and polishing to
0.3 lm alumina powders. Microstructural features of the
different regions of the weldments were characterized by
conventional metallographic practices using appropriate
etchants for the respective regions. The etching of ASS BM
and WM was carried out using Marbles reagent (50 mL HCl,
10 g CuSO4, and 50 mL H2O), while SDSS BM and WM were
either etched in Berahas reagent (0.3 g K2S2O5, 30 mL
HCl, and 80 mL H2O) or electro-etched in 40% NaOH solution
at 3-5 V direct current with a stainless steel cathode.
2.5 Measurement of Ferrite Content
The ferrite content of samples was measured using Clemex
Vision image analysis point counting software and also a
Fisher FMP30 ferrite-scope calibrated with secondary standards
in accordance with procedures specied in AWS A4.2 (Ref 25).
2.6 Evaluation of Mechanical Properties
Microhardness was measured across the WMs using a
Vickers hardness tester under a 2 N load (HV0.2) on prepared
microstructure samples to get a relative idea of weldments
properties. Four face and root bend tests, two samples each,
were also prepared according to ASME BPVC SEC IX (Ref

Shielding and purging gas Pure (99.99%) argon

Shielding gas ow rate 10 L/min
Purging gas Pure (99.99%) argon
Purging gas ow rate 8 L/min
Filler rod diameter 2.4 mm
Welding electrode AWS EWTH-2 (98% W + 2% Th)
Electrode diameter 2.4 mm
Polarity Direct current electrode negative
(DCEN)
Fig. 2 Schematic of joint design and welding sequence

Table 3 Heat input during welding process

Filler metal Pass Current, A Voltage, V Welding speed, mm/s HI, kJ/mm Average HI, kJ/mm

ER309LMo Root 110 12 0.96 0.825 0.75

Filling 90 11 0.84 0.707
Cap 85 10 0.72 0.708
ER2594 Root 110 12 0.95 0.834 0.74
Filling 100 11 0.85 0.776
Cap 80 9.5 0.74 0.616

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Fig. 3 Schematic diagrams of specimens used in mechanical tests:
(a) bend test, (b) impact test, (c) tensile test
26) to examine the vacuity of the joints from cracks in the WM
and HAZs. To evaluate the toughness of weldments, three
Charpy V-notch impact tests were conducted at room temper-
ature. The notch in the impact specimen was machined in such
a way that the fracture would be initiated in the weld root.
Some samples from BMs were also tested as a reference for
comparison. The fracture surfaces were examined by a Philips
scanning electron microscope. Transverse tensile tests were
performed to ascertain the strength of weldments and also to
identify their region of failure. Three transverse tensile
specimens, with their length perpendicular to the welding
direction, were produced and tested at room temperature in
accordance with AWS B4.0 standard (Ref 27). Tensile tests
were done using a universal tensile testing machine in such a
way that the entire weld region, including WM with either sides
of HAZs and BMs, was in the gauge section. The samples were
tested at a nominal strain rate of 1.2 mm/min. Figure 3
represents the mechanical samples schematically.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1 Microstructural Features
The microstructure of the current dissimilar joint can be
divided into three sections: ASS HAZ, WM, and SDSS HAZ.
Fig. 4 Ferrite percent of WM at the center of weld bead at differ-
ent passes
Fig. 5 WRC-1992 diagram showing the position of base and ller
metals. Possible range of FN in the WM of each ller metal is delin-
eated with a triangle
Each of these regions will be discussed in the following
sections.
3.1.1 Weld Metal. The ferrite contents in the weld
structure were measured at the center of the weld beads at
different passes. According to the results (Fig. 4), SDSS ller
produced 2.2 times ferrite at the root pass, 3.2 times ferrite
at the lling pass, and 4.3 times ferrite at the cap pass. This
was due to the higher Creq/Nieq ratio of ER2594 WM which
lowered the d-ferrite solvus temperature and led to the stability
of ferrite at room temperature. Since the dilution reduces by
advancing from root pass to the cap pass (see Fig. 4) and the
chemical composition of WM approaches to the chemical
composition of the ller metal, the amount of ferrite in different
passes also differed. Because the dilution in the root pass is the
greatest, the microstructural studies were performed on the root
pass.
By referring to WRC-1992 diagram provided in Fig. 5 and
considering different amounts of dilution, the solidication
mode in the single-pass welding with both ller metals ranges
from ferritic-austenitic (FA mode) to fully ferritic (F mode). But
the situation differs in multi-pass welding with SDSS ller
metal; during the deposition of the second pass, root pass acts
like a new heat-affected zone and some of the austenite formed
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Fig. 6 Optical micrograph showing the microstructural features of root WMs obtained using different ller metals: (a) SDSS ller metal (b)
ASS ller metal
Fig. 7 Optical micrograph showing the microstructural features of
WM obtained by SDSS ller metal, electro-etched with NaOH
during the rst cooling dissolves; due to the fast cooling rate in
the root region, only small amounts of secondary austenite had
enough time to form. This phenomenon led to an increase in the
ferrite content in the root pass during deposition of the second
pass.
Examples of the root microstructures of the two WMs
produced by SDSS and ASS ller metals are shown in Fig. 6(a)
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
and (b), respectively. Both welds contained austenite and ferrite
microconstituents, but with different morphological features
and contents. Regarding the root pass of 309LMo WM, an
interdendritic d-ferrite (dark phase) between the primary and
secondary dendrite arms (bright phase) was seen (Fig. 6b).
Such a microstructure could prevent solidication and liquation
cracking and provide a WM with considerable toughness (Ref
3). In this WM, columnar cells, and then dendrites, were grown
perpendicular to the fusion line. The general solidication
mode of this ller metal is FA, with prior d-ferrite phase which
transforms to austenite via a peritectic-eutectic reaction trans-
formation during solidication in the liquid state. This trans-
formed austenite forms preferentially between d-ferrite cells
and interdendritic regions at the end of solidication.
But the morphology of the austenite phase differed sub-
stantially by changing the ller metal to ER2594 (Fig. 6a).
During cooling, the grain boundary austenite (GBA) begins to
form at the d/d grain boundaries, and then Widmanstatten
austenite (WA) nucleates along d-ferrite grain boundaries and
grows inside the grains (Ref 28). In addition to GBA and WA,
if time permits more diffusion, intragranular austenite (IGA)
can also nucleate and grow within d-ferrite grains. Since GBA
and WA need less undercooling than IGA as the driving force,
they have more time to grow and thus comprise most of the
nal austenite content. But reheating of the root pass by
deposition of the second pass leads to dissolution of substantial
small amount of austenite phase; what remains is referred to as
partially transformed austenite (PTA). The presence of PTA is
benecial because it can inhibit grain growth (Ref 2, 17, 29).
But the amount of PTA in SDSSs is 10-15% maximum (Ref 7)
and most of the austenite transforms from d-ferrite in the solid
state.
A major problem that sometimes occurs in duplex welds is
the precipitation of chromium nitride or secondary intermetallic
phases. Thus, NaOH electro-etching was utilized to reveal these
phases in ER2594 WM. A typical microstructure found using
Fig. 8 Optical micrograph showing the microstructural features of
the SDSS (left)/WM (right) interface welded by (a) SDSS ller me-
tal (b) ASS ller metal
this etchant is presented in Fig. 7. Analyzing these microstruc-
tures as described in Ref 30 showed that no such phases were
produced in the WM. Also due to high resistance of WMs that
solidify with ferrite as primary phase to hot cracking, no
liquation cracks were observed.
Generally in both WMs, a dendritic microstructure was
developed near the fusion boundary where faster cooling and
pronounced heat ow direction were dominated (see Fig. 8 and
9) and more globular structures were developed close to the
weld center where slower cooling rates, greatest constitutional
undercooling (Ref 31), and less pronounced heat ow direction
were feasible. This feature could be seen more clearly in
welding with ER309LMo ller metal.
3.1.2 WM/SDSS Interface and HAZ. Generally, the
microstructure of the HAZ is critical for properties of the
welded joints. HAZ of SDSSs can be divided into two regions:
an overheated zone or high temperature HAZ (HTHAZ), and a
partial annealed zone or a low temperature HAZ (LTHAZ);
both of them consist of a ferritic matrix containing a network of
austenite grains. The HTHAZ is a zone next to the fusion
boundary with a thermal cycle resulting in an almost com-
pletely ferritic structure upon heating. According to the
literature (Ref 28 and 32), during welding, HAZ is heated to
a very high temperature of around 1350C in a short time, held
for a few seconds, and subsequently cooled to the room
Fig. 9 Optical micrograph showing the microstructural features of
the ASS (left)/WM (right) interface welded by (a) SDSS ller metal
(b) ASS ller metal
temperature. Thus, almost all the austenite, except remaining
PTA, transforms to ferrite in the HTHAZ. Although the high
cooling rates associated with welding processes and the large
ferrite grain size (Ref 33, 34), partially suppresses austenite
reformation upon cooling in this region, lower temperature
transformations such as chromium nitride formation may occur
in the rapidly cooled welds. On the other hand, although the
thermal cycle in the LTHAZ, which is located further away
from the fusion boundary, is insufcient to substantially alter
the ferrite-austenite balance, it is high enough to cause the
formation of intermetallic phases. Generally, when these
metastable HAZ microstructures are reheated during multi-
pass welding, additional austenite precipitation, named sec-
ondary austenite, may take place. Thus, three phenomena occur
in the SDSS HAZ: (1) austenite to ferrite transformation, (2)
grain growth during heating, and (3) ferrite to austenite
transformation during cooling. Unlike the WM, where its
microstructure can be controlled by both chemical composition
of the ller metal and the welding parameters, the microstruc-
ture of the HAZ is inuenced only by thermal cycles. With
increasing the heat input, the grain size in the WM and HAZ
regions, and also the width of HAZ increases (Ref 35). Because
the heat inputs used in the current study were small, the HAZ
on the SDSS side for both ller metals was narrow with a width
of about 40-50 lm (Fig. 8). The ferrite content in that zone was
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Fig. 10 Microhardness prole along the root pass of deposited WMs

Table 4 Charpy V-notch impact energy at room

temperature
Material Impact energy, J Fracture type

ER2594 weldment 170 15 Ductile

ER309LMo weldment 90 15 Ductile
UNS S32750 BM 210 5 Ductile
UNS S30403 BM 160 10 Ductile

signicantly higher compared with the SDSS BM and WM.

This is due to the self-quenching in this zone which imposed
more rapid cooling from solvus temperature and led to the
dissolution of almost all the precipitates and the austenite
phase. But as Fig. 8 depicts, a few amounts of PTA remained
in some parts of HAZ. Accordingly, in the absence of
considerable amount of a second phase, ferrite grain growth
occurred. This grain growth was promoted further by multi-
pass welding which maintained the BM above the ferrite solvus
for longer times. Hence, only GBA and little amounts of WA
could form during cooling in the HTHAZ.
Regarding the ferrite content, it should be in the range of 30-
70% to give optimum mechanical properties and corrosion
resistance to SDSSs (Ref 36). Thus, as demonstrated in the
mechanical tests, although unfavorable high ferrite content of
61-69% was measured at SDSS HAZ, it could not deteriorate
the properties of the whole joints, especially due to the narrow
width of the HAZ.
3.1.3 WM/ASS Interface and HAZ. In comparison to
the SDSS HAZ, the width of the HAZ on the ASS side (Fig. 9)
was narrower and reached 20-30 lm. This is due to the greater Fig. 11 SEM fractographs of Charpy impact specimens: (a)
thermal conductivity and lower coefcient of thermal expan- ER2594 WM (b) ER309LMo WM
sion of SDSSs with respect to ASSs (Ref 20). The microstruc-
ture of the PMZ of ASS BM consisted of vermicular ferrite thermal cycles. Since solid state transformation of austenite to
precipitates that surrounded equiaxial austenite grains. The d- ferrite was slow, the amount of d-ferrite formed was not
ferrite formed in the PMZ was the result of the austenite to signicant. It is well known that this d-ferrite can obviate the
ferrite transformation and melting at the grain boundaries by liquation cracking problem of PMZ, because d/c grain bound-

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance


Fig. 12 The stress-strain curves of the weldments
Table 5 Mechanical properties of UNS S32750/UNS
S30403 weld couples
Filler Yield stress, Ultimate stress, Elongation,
metal MPa MPa %
ER2594 758 23 914 27 17.1 0.3
ER309LMo 746 12 883 12 18.2 0.1 in Table 5. The ultimate strength of the weldments was superior to
aries dont wet easily by the liquid lm (Ref 3). d-ferrite
formation can also prevent the grain growth, which in turn
increases the resistance to liquation cracking. Epitaxial growth
at the fusion line and competitive growth in the weld metal
were also seen in both weld metals (Fig. 9).
In addition to ferrite content measurement at different
passes, the ferrite content was also measured along the root
pass. The results (not shown) indicated that centerlines of both
welds contained lesser amounts of d-ferrite with respect to the
SDSS HAZ. This was due to the slower cooling rate, and the
difference in the chemical composition. abanowski (Ref 20)
reported a similar trend.
3.2 Mechanical Properties
3.2.1 Microhardness Measurement. Variations of mi-
crohardness across the welds are shown in Fig. 10. The
microhardness measurement revealed that although the WMs
showed relatively large variations, the ER2594 WM had a higher
average hardness value of 245 HV0.2 compared to 210 HV0.2
average observed in the 309LMo WM. This difference in the WM
hardness could be attributed to the differences in the chemical
composition, especially the nitrogen content, and also the
differences in the morphology and distribution of microconstit-
uents in the resultant WMs. However, the microhardness proles
on either side of the weldments (Fig. 10) were nearly similar and
a direct relationship between ferrite content and microhardness
was observed. Also in the SDSS LTHAZ, the microstructure was
no longer strain-hardened and its hardness was lower than that of
the BM. But in the HTHAZ, the hardness increased again due to
the increased content of the harder ferrite phase. On the other
hand, the decrease of microhardness in ASS HAZ was in
agreement with the grain growth occurred in this region.
3.2.2 Bend Test. As mentioned before, the balance of
phases in both weldments was adequate. For that reason, all the
samples showed good performance in the root and face bends
and no cracks were found on bent surfaces. This was due to
the satisfactory balance of austenite and ferrite, good resistance
of the SDSS WM to solidication cracking, and formation of
little d-ferrite in the ASS WM.
3.2.3 Notch Impact Test. The Charpy test results for as-
welded specimens and BMs are listed in Table 4 and the
fracture surfaces of the welds are presented in Fig. 11.
Although the Charpy V-notch impact energy at room temper-
ature for the ER2594 WM was higher than the impact energy of
ER309LMo WM, both weldments could resist unpredicted
mechanical impacts under service conditions. This is because
both WMs showed a predominantly dimpled structure, charac-
teristic of the ductile fracture. The higher impact energy of
ER2594 WM is due to its F solidication mode compared with
FA mode in ER309LMo; it is reported [37] that the weld metals
solidifying completely as ferrite have generally higher tough-
ness level than the structures solidifying in mixed austenitic-
ferritic mode. Thus, upon fracture, the ER2594 WM produced
deeper and wider dimples, which resulted in following a longer
fracture path before fracture. A similar trend between dimple
size and impact energy was reported before by several authors
(Ref 4, 38, 39).
3.2.4 Tensile Test. The stress-strain curves obtained are
given in Fig. 12 and their related tensile test results are summarized
that of both UNS S32750 and UNS S30403 in the as-received
condition, i.e., 780 and 550 MPa, respectively. Due to the
chemical composition difference between the ller metals,
especially Mo, Cr, and Ni content, the ER2594 weldment exhibited
lower elongation but higher strength. Furthermore, during the
transverse tensile tests, both weldments failed at the weaker parent
metal, i.e., within ASS BM, far away from the fusion line.
4. Conclusion
In this paper, experimental study of dissimilar welding
between a SDSS and an ASS was performed and the effect of
ller metals chemical composition on the joint properties was
investigated. The following conclusions were drawn:
1. While the SDSS WM was comprised of mainly allotrio-
morphic grain boundary and Widmanstatten side plate
austenite morphologies, the austenitic WM had vermicu-
lar delta ferrite within austenitic matrix.
2. SDSS HAZ was dominated by ferrite, whereas ASS
HAZ was comprised of coarse austenite grains with little
amounts of vermicular grain boundary ferrite precipitates.
3. Neither intermetallic particles nor excessive amounts of
ferrite were detected in the HAZs. In addition, no cracks
were found on bent surfaces.
4. Due to the different chemical composition, the ER2594
WM had a higher average hardness value compared to
the mean observed in the 309LMo WM.
5. Both welded joints showed acceptable mechanical prop-
erties; the ultimate strength of the weldments was supe-
rior to that of the SDSS and ASS BMs.
6. The impact energy of both WMs was lower than that
of SDSS BM. Between the two weldments, the one
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 produced with SDSS ller metal had better impact
properties.
Thus, based on the current work, it is concluded that even
though low carbon high molybdenum austenitic ller metals are
highly suitable for producing dissimilar weld joints between
ASSs and SDSSs by GTAW, it would be better to use SDSS
ller metals for such a dissimilar welding because they promise
achieving better properties.
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Corrosion Cracking in Simulated Heat-Affected Zones of Duplex
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