Effect of Boron Content on Microstructure and Impact Toughness in CGHAZ of Shipbuilding Steel Plates with Ca Deoxidation

Abstract

Herein, the effect of boron (B) content on the microstructure and impact toughness in the coarse‐grained heat‐affected zone (CGHAZ) after large heat input welding of 400 kJ cm−1 for the EH40 shipbuilding steel plate with Ca deoxidation is studied. As the B content is increased from 0.0002 to 0.0024 wt%, the average width of grain boundary ferrites (GBFs) is decreased from 14.6 to 11.3 μm, the formation of acicular ferrite (AF) is promoted, and the formations of GBF and Widmanstatten ferrite (WF) are hindered in CGHAZ. The heat‐affected zone (HAZ) impact toughness is increased from 39 to 97 J at −20 °C. The fraction of low‐angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) is decreased from 40 to 29%, and the high‐angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) is increased from 60 to 71%. When the B content is 0.0024 wt%, the B atom segregates on the grain boundaries, and the widths of the segregation lines range from 2.3 to 3.6 μm. GBF is found to be the weakest zone in the CGHAZ. B addition can effectively reduce the formation of GBF, enhancing the critical crack stress and improving the HAZ toughness.

Effect of heat treatment on microstructure and properties of 10B21 cold-heading steel for fasteners

“…The addition of trace elements such as B is beneficial to prevent the initiation and propagation of the delayed fracture crack grain boundary. With the increase of tensile strength, the ratio of delayed breaking strength of bolt tends to decrease [13][14]. In order to obtain the best microstructure and meet the performance and quality requirements of fasteners, heat treatment is particularly important.…”