Search

Hot cracking is a frequent and severe defect that occurs during laser additive manufacturing of superalloys. In this work, a pulsed-wave (PW) laser modulation process was employed to control the solidification microstructure and reduce the hot cracking susceptibility of laser additive manufactured cobalt-based superalloy. The effects of continuous-wave (CW) and PW laser processing modes on the dendrite morphology, element segregation, eutectic phase, and hot cracking of fabricated Co-based superalloys were investigated. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to characterize the microstructural characteristics of samples. A two-color pyrometer was used to measure the molten pool temperature variation under different laser processing modes. The results show that coarse columnar dendrites, chain-like eutectic carbides, and hot cracks were observed in the CW sample. In contrast, the fine equiaxed crystals, discrete eutectic carbides, and low-level residual stresses were obtained to avoid hot cracks, owing to the high cooling rate and the periodic melting and solidification of the molten pool under the PW laser processing mode. This work provides a new method for controlling solidification structure and hot cracking of laser additive manufactured Co-based superalloy.

When designing piping systems for various industrial facilities, carbon steel and stainless steel are widely being used. In order to satisfy design requirements in the piping systems, the two different materials are often welded in various cases. Therefore, for quality assurance, it is necessary to understand mechanical and metallurgical properties of dissimilar metal welds thoroughly. In this study, dissimilar metal welds of stainless and carbon steels were produced through the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. In the middle of the dissimilar weld, buttering welding and butt welding were manufactured using filler wires of ERNiCr-3 and ER316L. The chemical composition of the dissimilar metal weld was analyzed. Tensile test, bending test, and hardness test were additionally performed. The microstructures of the dissimilar metal weld were investigated to analyze the cracks found during the tensile test and the bending test. The metallographic behavior was analyzed in the vicinity of the cracks. The mechanism and cause of the cracks in the dissimilar metal weld were identified. As a result, the precipitates of complex carbide types were observed in segregation bands.