Application Assessment of a Welding Atlas of a Niobium Microalloyed Bainitic Steel

Abstract

Niobium microalloyed steels have shown to be an excellent solution for fabrication of structural beams, employing concepts already developed for the oil and gas industry. However, the definition of the actual welding related needs of this family of bainite steels is not well described in the welding standards mostly used in the structural construction sector. This paper demonstrates the construction and assessment of a Welding Atlas, built from using physical simulations (Gleeble and dilatrometry) and mechanical tests of the simulated specimens. The objective is to have the Atlas as a guiding tool to improve the parametrization for welding this class of steels. The proposal methodology was applied to a HSLA bainitic steel class 65 ksi. It was possible to determine with more accuracy the recommended energy range of the weld, including the need or not of preheating, and show that they were comparable with actual welds. The methodology shows benefits including a safer parametrization and cost savings resulting from unnecessary preheating elimination.

Key-words:
HSLA steel; Niobium; Thermal simulation; Welding; Process optimization