Analysis of fracture metallurgy and mechanics in the heat affected zone in a submerged arc process

Summary

High tensile, microalloyed steels, such as the 450 EMZ design steels which are studied in this article, are used in offshore platforms and other structures subject to extreme working conditions, requiring high resilience and fracture toughness at low temperatures. These steels have been subject to controlled welding parameters in order to obtain a low heat input which allows for the maintenance of correct toughness values in their heat affected zone (HAZ). The present article analyses the hardness, resilience and toughness values, as well as the most brittle points of the HAZ.