Author(s)

Alain Ngenzi^1*, Stephen A. Akinlabi², Anthony K. Muchiri³

¹Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI), Nairobi, Kenya.
²Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK.
³Department of Mechatronic Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Nairobi, Kenya.

Welded mild steel is used in different applications in engineering. To strengthen the joint, the weld can be reinforced by adding titanium alloy powder to the joint. This results in the formation of incomplete martensite in a welded joint. The incomplete martensite affects mechanical properties. Therefore, this study aims to predict the volume fraction of martensite in reinforced butt welded joints to understand complex phenomena during microstructure formation. To do so, a combination of the finite element method to predict temperature history, and the Koistinen and Marburger equation, were used to predict the volume fraction of martensite. The martensite start temperature was calculated using chemical elements obtained from the dilution-based mixture rule. The curve shape of martensite evolution was observed to be relatively linear due to the small quantity of martensite volume fraction. The simulated result correlated with experimental work documented in the literature. The model can be used in other powder addition techniques where the martensite can be observed in the final microstructure.

Finite Element Analysis, Martensite Volume Fraction, Dilution, Koistinen and Marburger Equation

Ngenzi, A. , Akinlabi, S. and Muchiri, A. (2023) Predicting the Volume Fraction of Martensite in Welded Mild Steel Joint Reinforced with Titanium Alloy Powder. Modeling and Numerical Simulation of Material Science, 13, 11-27. doi: 10.4236/mnsms.2023.132002.