Silicon nitride-stainless steel braze joining with an active filler metal

A heating element/electrical conduit assembly used in the Orbiter Maneuvering System failed a leak test during a routine refurbishment inspection. The conduit, approximately 100 mm in length and 12 mm in diameter, was fabricated from two tubes and braze-joined with a sleeve. The tube on the high temperature side (heating element side) and the sleeve were made of Inconel 600 and the other tube was stainless steel (SS) 316. For the filler metal, a Ni-Cr-B brazing alloy per AWS BNi-2, was used. A Helium leak test spotted the leak located at the joint between the sleeve and SS 316 tubing. This joint was dissected, mounted in a plastic mold, polished, and examined with an optical microscope. Debonding of the brazed surfaces was noticed, more pronounced toward the sleeve end which was exposed to uncontrolled atmospheric conditions intermittently. Initially, lack of wetting was suspected, presumably caused by inadequate surface preparation or incomplete fusion of the filler metal. However, this postulation was later discarded based upon the following observations: (1) The angle of wetting between the fillet and tube was small, an indication of adequate wetting, (2) the fillet did not exhibit a globular microstructure which would be an indication of insufficient melting of the filler metal, and (3) debonding was intermittent toward the midsection of the sleeve.

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Microstructural evolution and mechanical integrity relationship of dissimilar metal welding between 2205 duplex stainless steel and composite bimetallic plates

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science ◽

10.1177/09544062211003615 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095440622110036

Author(s):

Changqing Ye ◽

Weiguo Zhai ◽

Guangyao Lu ◽

Qingsong Liu ◽

Liang Ni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stainless Steel ◽

Corrosion Resistance ◽

Weld Metal ◽

Duplex Stainless Steel ◽

Intergranular Corrosion ◽

Thermal Cycle ◽

Filler Metal ◽

2205 Duplex Stainless Steel ◽

Welding Thermal Cycle ◽

Intergranular Corrosion Resistance

In this paper, shielded metal arc welding on the dissimilar joint between 2205 duplex stainless steel and composite bimetallic plates (304 L stainless steel/10CrNi3MoV steel) with a filler metal E2209 was performed. Furthermore, the microstructure, phase, mechanical properties and intergranular corrosion resistance of the joints were investigated and element distributions of the interfaces were characterized. The results show that austenite transformed to ferrite under the influence of welding thermal cycle, and then a large amount of ferrite appeared in heat affected zone (HAZ) of 2205 duplex stainless steel. Coarse bainite grains were formed in HAZ of the 10CrNi3MoV steel near the fusion line with high temperature welding thermal cycle. Fine granular bainite was also generated in HAZ of 10CrNi3MoV steel due to the relatively short exposure time to the active temperature of grain growth. Local peak temperature near the base 10CrNi3MoV steel was still high enough to recrystallize the 10CrNi3MoV steel to form partial-recrystallization HAZ due to phase change. The filler metal was compatible with the three kinds of base materials. The thickness of the elemental diffusion interfaces layers was about 100 µm. The maximum microhardness value was obtained in the HAZ of 2205 duplex stainless steel (287 ± 14 HV), and the minimum one appeared in HAZ of SS304L (213 ± 5 HV). The maximum tensile strength of the welded joint was about 670 ± 6 MPa, and the tensile specimens fractured in ductile at matrix of the composite bimetallic plates. The impact energy of the weld metal and HAZ of the 10CrNi3MoV steel tested at –20 °C were 274 ± 6 J and 308 ± 5 J, respectively. Moreover, the intergranular corrosion resistance of the weldment including 304 L stainless steel, weld metal, HAZs and 2205 duplex stainless steel was in good agreement with the functional design requirements of materials corrosion resistance.

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