Dissimilar Welding of Superduplex Stainless Steel/HSLA Steel for Offshore Applications Joined by GTAW

Bravo Ivan Mendoza, Zepeda Cuauhtemoc Maldonado, Hernandez Apolinar Albiter, Piedras Eduardo Robles

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DOI: 10.4236/eng.2010.27069                

Abstract

The dissimilar metal weld is demanding as well as the similar weld, however, dissimilar weld is more complex than similar weld due to the necessity of being applied in zones where a requirement is to improve some properties. In this work the main purpose is to know the mechanical behavior of a dissimilar weld between HSLA Steel and Superduplex Stainless Steel (SDSS) to establish if the joint is feasible or not. The alloys were welded with GTAW process using a 60-deg and 90-deg single-V groove test specimens in order to observe the effect of the weld pass. The filler metal was chosen with the aid of Schaeffler diagram. It was found that the ER 25.10.4L filler metal provided the best equilibrium between ferrite and austenite phase in the Superduplex Stainless Steel final microstructure and a band of martensite in the HSLA steel final microstructure. The dissimilar joint presented acceptable mechanical properties which are superior to the HSLA in the as-received condition, but lower than the SDSS in the as-received condition, proving that the filler metal was the adequate.

Keywords

Superduplex Stainless Steel, API X-52, GTAW, Dissimilar Welding, Pipeline

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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