TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 527/1995
D J Abson
Background
Steels in which high strength is achieved by low levels of alloying and the use of some thermomechanical processing have potential application in many industry sectors. In principle, the materials offer lower structural weight and lower welding costs, from both reduced section sizes and, in recently developed steels, lower preheat requirements, as a consequence of lower carbon contents. These newer steels have lower alloy contents than some of the early high strength steels, e.g. HY80 and HY100, and are therefore lower in cost. However, the increased use of the newer steels depends on their good weldability being established and understood. In the present programme, the weldability of two Al-B steels, with minimum specified yield strengths of 550 and 690MPa (referred to here as steels 550 and 690, respectively), which are 60 and 50mm thick, respectively, has been investigated. The resistance of the steels to HAZ hydrogen-induced cracking has been studied and reported previously. This report examine
Project Objectives
This phase of the project was carried out to determine the HAZ Charpy and CTOD toughness of submerged arc butt welds in the two steels.