Mapping Phase Transformations in the Heat-Affected-Zone of Carbon Manganese Steel Welds Using Spatially Resolved X-Ray Diffraction

Spatially Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (SRXRD) was used to investigate phase transformations that occur in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of gas tungsten arc (GTA) welds in AISI 1005 carbon-manganese steel. In situ SRXRD experiments performed at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) probed the phases present in the HAZ during welding, and these real-time observations of the HAZ phases were used to construct a map of the phase transformations occurring in the HAZ. This map identified 5 principal phase regions between the liquid weld pool and the unaffected base metal. Regions of annealing, recrystallization, partial transformation and complete transformation to α-Fe, γ-Fe, and δ-Fe phases were identified using SRXRD, and the experimental results were combined with a heat flow model of the weld and thermodynamic calculations to compare these results with the important phase transformation isotherms. From the resulting phase transformation map, the kinetics of phase transformations that occur under the highly non-isothermal heating and cooling cycles produced during welding of steels can be better understood and modeled.