Effect of postweld treatment on the fatigue crack growth rate of electron-beam-welded AISI 4130 steel
- Chung Cheng Inst. of Tech., Tao-yuan (Taiwan, Province of China). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
This article studies the effect of in-chamber electron beam and ex-chamber furnace postweld treatments on the fatigue crack growth rate of electron-beam-welded AISI 4130 steel. Mechanical properties of the weldment are evaluated by tensile testing, while the fatigue properties are investigated by a fatigue crack propagation method. Microstructural examination shows that both postweld treatments temper the weldment by the appropriate control of beam pattern width, input beam energy, and furnace temperature. In addition, the ductility, strength, and microhardness of the weldment also reflect this tempering effect. The fatigue crack growth rate is decreased after both postweld treatments. This is mainly caused by the existence of a toughened microstructure and relief of the residual stress due to the fact that (1) the residual stress becomes more compressive as more beam energy is delivered into the samples and (2) postweld furnace tempering effectively releases the tensile stress into a compressive stress state.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 417873
- Journal Information:
- Metallurgical and Materials Transactions. A, Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, Vol. 27, Issue 10; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Fatigue crack growth characteristics of laser-hardened 4130 steel
Effects of post-weld heat treatments on the residual stress and mechanical properties of electron beam welded SAE 4130 steel plates