Joint hydrogen susceptibility of 304 SS welded with titanium

Abstract

Welds of thick plates (304 SS) clad with Ti of commercial purity in as-received state and also after subsequent heat treatment and/or after hydrogen charging were investigated. Fatigue tests were carried out at amplitude of 20 Hz and in case of bimetal without hydrogen charging also at amplitude of 40 Hz. After heat treatment, charged welds showed higher threshold level than the welds without heat treatment. Energy dispersed analyses (EDA) of fracture surfaces showed that failure predominantly occurred in joint. Hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) response of bimetal samples demonstrated favourable results both after welding and after subsequent heat treatment. Short and thin cracks were observed, exclusively located in mixed zone, where approx. 16-20 at. % of Ti using EDX (energy dispersed analyser) was revealed. By application of monochromatic synchrotron radiation Ti- , Fe-fcc, Fe-bcc and intermetallic phase Fe2Ti were detected.