Influence of microstructure on the micro-region fracture toughness of the 30Cr2Ni4MoV turbine rotor welded joint

• Published in: The International journal of pressure vessels and piping Vol. 201; p. 104877
• Main Authors: Guo, Yang, Li, Zeyu, Dong, Zhiwei, Xiong, Jiankun, Xu, Jian, Xu, Dexing, Zhang, Jianxun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2023
• Subjects: Crack propagation; Fracture toughness; Micro-region; Microstructure; Welded rotor; Micro-region; Welded rotor; Microstructure; Fracture toughness; Crack propagation
• ISSN: 0308-0161; 1879-3541
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpvp.2022.104877

The fracture toughness of each micro-region in 30Cr2Ni4MoV steam turbine rotor welded joint was studied, including the central zone of the SAW bead (SAW-C), the overlapping zone of the SAW bead (SAW-Z), and the central zone of the TIG weld metal (TIG), coarse-grained heating affected zone (CGHAZ), fine-grained HAZ (FGHAZ) and base metal (BM). The microstructure, fracture morphologies and cracking paths were observed by OM and SEM microscope, and the influence of microstructure on fracture toughness was analyzed. The research results show that the fracture toughness of the weld metal is lower than that of BM and HAZ, and the fracture toughness of the weld metal is non-uniform. TIG and SAW-C are composed of columnar tempered bainite, intergranular tempered lath martensite and carbides, and the fracture toughness is the worst. SAW-Z is zigzag columnar tempered bainite and equiaxed granular tempered bainite between weld passes, which has good fracture toughness. CGHAZ and FGHAZ are equiaxed tempered martensite with the best fracture toughness. By observing the fracture morphology and cracking path, SAW-C and TIG are dominated by brittle cleavage fracture mode, and SAW-Z, FGHAZ, CGHAZ and BM are in the ductile fracture mode. The straight columnar grains of SAW-C and TIG are prone to crack propagation, but the tempered bainite acts as a bridge. SAW-Z has a zigzag tempered bainite grains, and the crack propagation path is tortuous. For FGHAZ, CGHAZ and BM with equiaxed grains, the fracture toughness is related to the grain size and the dimple size around the crack tip. The crack propagation process is that the dimples are first formed in a certain range around the crack tip, but only the dimples in the lower strength micro-regions grow and merge preferentially, and rapidly form new cracks.
•The microstructure at the crack tip determines the fracture toughness and fracture mode of the welded joint.•The fracture toughness is related to the grain size and the size of the dimples distribution at the crack tip.•The dimples around the crack tip are formed and grown in a certain range during the crack propagation.