Microstructural Characterization and Mechanical Properties Analysis of Weld Metals with Two Ni Contents During Post-Weld Heat Treatments

This study designed post-weld heat treatments, including reheating and tempering, associated with hot bending to investigate the microstructures, toughness, and hardness of two weld metals with different Ni contents (<1 wt pct level). The results indicated that a high Ni content decreased the ferrite transformation temperature and increased the proportion of acicular ferrite (AF). Furthermore, a high Ni content promoted the martensite/austenite (M/A) constituent formation after reheating. The promotion of the M/A formation increased the number of cementite particles, and accelerated cementite coarsening during tempering. The large-angle grain boundary density from the AF improved the toughness despite the negative effect of cementite. The strengthening contributions were calculated, and the grain refinement was the greatest. The high Ni content decreased the effective grain size with a 2 deg tolerance angle, thus enhancing the grain refinement contribution.