Nofrijon Sofyan, Ph.D.

Introduction
Nickel has a face-centered cubic crystal structure up
to its melting point; in this respect, nickel and
copper are similar.
Cobalt, however, undergoes a transition from a
close-packed hexagonal crystal structure to a face-
centered cubic structure above approximately
750
0
F.
3
As with iron, the addition of nickel to cobalt
stabilizes the face-centered cubic crystal structure to
below room temperature.
Most complex cobalt alloys are designed to retain
this cubic structure to take advantage of its inherent
ductility.
Nickel and some of its alloys are magnetic at room
temperature.
4
Unalloyed cobalt is magnetic but its alloys are not.
Commercially pure nickel is weldable by most
common welding processes.
Typical applications are food processing equipment,
caustic handling equipment, chemical shipping
drums, and electrical and electronic parts.
There are relatively few applications for pure
cobalt, and none for welded structures.
Properties of nickel and cobalt
5
Nickel alloys
6
Nickel is alloyed with a number of other metals to
impart specific properties.
These may include improved mechanical properties
as well as corrosion or oxidation resistance at room
and elevated temperatures.
Alloying significantly decreases thermal and
electrical conductivities.
7
Nickel alloys are representative of the large number of
available alloys, some of which, are referred to as
superalloys.
Nickel can be strengthened by solid-solution alloying
and by dispersion strengthening with a metal oxide.
Some nickel alloys may be further strengthened by a
precipitation-hardening heat treatment or by dispersion
strengthening.
The type of strengthening is a convenient means of
classifying nickel alloys.
8
In practice, some of the alloys classified as solid-
solution types may contain minor amounts of
elements that contribute to precipitation hardening.
Their presence may cause some strengthening
during heat treatment or service.
Consequently, the classification of such alloys is
somewhat arbitrary.
Solid-solution alloys
9
All nickel alloys are strengthened by solid solution.
Additions of aluminum, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron,
molybdenum, titanium, tungsten, and vanadium to nickel
contribute to solid solution strengthening.
Aluminum, chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten
contribute strongly while the others have a lesser effect.
Molybdenum and tungsten provide improved strength
at elevated temperatures.
Nickel-copper alloys
10
Nickel and copper form a continuous series of solid
solutions with a face-centered cubic crystal structure.
Commercial alloys contain from about 30 to 45 percent
copper.
They are tough and ductile.
Except for free-machining (high sulfur) alloys, they are
readily joined by welding, brazing, and soldering with
proper precautions.
Nickel-chromium alloys
11
Alloys of this family are used primarily for
applications involving high temperatures, oxidation,
and corrosion.
Some alloys are designed for thermocouples or for
electrical resistance applications.
Other alloys are designed for structural
applications at elevated temperatures.
12
Some of the alloys contain iron, molybdenum, tungsten,
cobalt, and copper in various combinations to enhance
specific properties.
These include improved corrosion resistance and high
temperature strength.
In general, nickel-chromium alloys can be welded by
processes and procedures that adequately protect the
weld zone from oxidation.
They may be brazed using special techniques to
promote wetting of the base metal.
Nickel-iron-chromium alloys
13
These alloys contain about 20 to 45 percent nickel,
13 to 22 percent chromium, and the remainder iron.
They are generally used for corrosion- or oxidation-
resistant applications that can be fabricated by
welding.
Nickel-molybdenum alloys
14
These are nickel alloys that contain from 16 to 28
percent molybdenum and lesser amounts of chromium
and iron.
The alloys are used primarily for their corrosion
resistance.
They are not normally used for elevated temperature
service.
The nickel-molybdenum alloys are in general readily
weldable.
Nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloys
15
These alloys are designed primarily for corrosion
resistance at room temperature as well as resistance to
oxidizing and reducing atmospheres at elevated
temperatures.
They are not particularly strong at elevated
temperatures and, therefore, are used for low stress
applications.
All have good weldability.
Composition of typical nickel alloys
16
Precipitation-hardenable alloys
17
These alloys are strengthened by controlled
precipitation of a second phase, known as gamma
prime, from a supersaturated solid solution.
Precipitation occurs upon reheating a solution-
treated and quenched alloy to an appropriate
temperature for a specific time.
18
Some cast alloys will age directly as the solidified
casting cools in the mold.
The most important phase from a strengthening
standpoint is the ordered face-centered cubic
gamma prime that is based upon the compound
Ni
3
Al.
This phase has a rather high solubility for titanium
and columbium.
19
Consequently, its composition will vary with the alloy
composition and the temperature of formation.
Aluminum has the greatest hardening potential, but
this is moderated by titanium and columbium.
The latter has the greatest effect on decreasing the
aging rate.
Weldability
20
Precipitation of nickel types of alloys are normally
welded in the solution-treated condition.
During welding, some portion of the heat-affected
zone is heated into the aging temperature range.
21
As the weld metal solidifies, the aging metal
becomes subjected to welding stresses.
Under certain postweld combinations of
temperature and stress, the weld heat-affected
zone may crack known as strain-age cracking.
Alloys high in aluminum are the most sensitive to this
type of cracking.
22
The problem is much less severe in those alloys
where columbium has been substituted for a
significant portion of the aluminum because
columbium retards the aging reaction.
Consequently, the weld heat-affected zone can
remain sufficiently ductile and yield during heat
treatment to relieve high welding stresses without
rupture.
Composition of typical nickel alloys
23
Nickel-copper alloys
24
The principal alloy in this group contains 66 percent
nickel, 30 percent copper, 2.7 percent aluminum and
0.6 percent titanium.
The recommended heat-treating procedures should be
followed to avoid strain-age cracking when welding this
alloy.
The corrosion resistance of this alloy is similar to the
solid-solution nickel-copper alloy of similar composition.
Nickel-chromium alloys
25
The nickel-chromium alloys are strengthened by the
addition of aluminum and titanium, and sometimes
columbium.
Chromium content ranges from about 13 to 20 percent
for good high-temperature oxidation resistance.
The strength of these alloys after heat treatment is
related to the combined aluminum, titanium, and
columbium content.
26
The higher this content, the higher is the strength of
the alloy.
Alloys that contain relatively large amounts of
aluminum and titanium are considered unweldable
because of their strain-age cracking tendencies.
Carefully applied preweld and postweld heat-
treating sequences can be used to reduce the strain-
age cracking tendencies of these alloys.
27
One of the principal advantages of columbium
additions for strengthening is the improved
weldability of such alloys compared to those alloys
containing only aluminum and titanium.
This is due to the sluggish formation of the
columbium precipitate compared to the more
rapidly forming aluminum precipitate.
28
Molybdenum and cobalt are often added to
improve high-temperature strength.
Their effect on weldability is minor.
The principal areas of application for these alloys
are gas turbine components, aircraft parts, and
spacecraft.
Nickel-iron-chromium alloys
29
These alloys nominally contain 40 to 45 percent nickel, 13 to 15
percent chromium, 30 to 40 percent iron and small amounts of
aluminum and titanium.
Their weldability is similar to that of the nickel-chromium alloys.
However, most applications involve forgings that require little
welding.
The same precautions necessary to avoid strain-age cracking with
other aluminum-titanium-hardened nickel alloys apply to these alloys
as well.
Weldability of some ppt hardenable nickel alloys
30
Dispersion-strengthened nickel
31
Nickel and nickel-chromium alloys can be
strengthened by the uniform dispersion of very fine
refractory oxide (ThO
2
) particles throughout the
matrix.
This is done using powder metallurgy techniques.
When these metals are fusion welded, the oxide
particles will agglomerate during solidification.
32
This will destroy the original strengthening
mechanism afforded by dispersion within the matrix.
The weld metal will be significantly weaker than the
base metal.
The high strength of these metals can be retained
by joining them with processes that do not involve
melting of the base metal.
Cast nickel alloys
33
Many nickel alloys can be used in cast as well as
wrought forms.
Some alloys are designed specifically for casting.
Casting alloys are strengthened by both solid-
solution and precipitation hardening.
34
Precipitation-hardening alloys high in aluminum
content, such as Alloy 713C, will harden during slow
cooling in the mold and are essentially unweldable
by fusion processes.
However, defects or service damage in some of
these alloys may be repaired by welding.
Many cast nickel alloys contain significant amounts
of silicon to improve fluidity and castability.
35
Most of these cast alloys are weldable by
conventional means, but as the silicon content
increases so does the weld cracking sensitivity.
Cracking can often be avoided using welding
techniques that minimize base metal dilution.
The nickel casting alIoy that contains 10 pecent
silicon and 3 percent copper (Hastelloy D) is
considered unweldable by arc welding methods, but
it may be welded with the oxyacetylene process.
36
Nickel alloys containing about 30 percent copper
are considered unweldable when the silicon content
is over about 2 percent because of their sensitivity
to cracking.
Defective castings of weldable alIoys may be
repaired by suitable welding procedures.
Generally, a filler metal of the same composition as
the base metal is used.
37
In some applications, the casting may be welded to
a wrought product, such as a cast valve body to
wrought pipe.
In such cases, the filIer metal must be compatible
with both base metals and suitable for the intended
service.
Composition of nickel casting alloys
38
Effects of minor elements on weldability
39
The presence of very small quantities of some elements can
have a profound effect on the weldability of nickel alloys.
The presence of sulfur frequently is related to hot cracking
because it forms a low melting eutectic with nickel that will
segregate to the grain boundaries of the weld metal.
Manganese and magnesium are frequently added to
combine with sulfur and prevent the formation of nickel
sulfide.
Effect of Ca, Ce, Al, and Ti
40
Calcium and cerium are used as deoxidizers and
also as malleabilizers interacting with sulfur.
Small additions of aluminum and titanium also serve
as deoxidizers.
41
All of these elements tend to contribute to the
formation of oxide films, islands, and slag spots,
which form on the weld surface.
In multipass welding, such tenacious slag films should
be removed between passes to avoid discontinuities
in the weld metal.
Effect of P, S, B, and Zr
42
Phosphorus also forms a low melting eutectic with
nickel that segregates to the grain boundaries that
contributes to hot cracking.
Sulfur, phosphorus, and similar impurity elements
tend to have an additive effect, and the total of all
of these elements should be kept low.
43
Boron and zirconium are frequently added to nickel
alloys to improve their hot malleability and to enhance
stress-rupture life.
However, they also tend to segregate at the grain
boundaries and increase the tendency for cracking in
the fusion and heat-affected zones in the base metal.
The tendency for cracking is also increased if the base
metal has a grain size coarser than ASTM No. 5.
The effect of boron and zirconium tends to be additive.
Effect of C
44
Carbon is an interstitial strengthening element in
nickel.
During welding, the carbon in the heat-affected
zone is dissolved at elevated temperature.
45
When nickel is used in the 600 F range, the carbon
will reprecipitate as graphite at the grain
boundaries.
This reduces the ductility of the heat-affected zone.
This is not a problem with low carbon nickel or
alloys that contain strong carbide-forming elements
such as chromium, columbium, and titanium.
Effect of Si and Pb
46
Silicon causes hot-short cracking in nickel alloys.
The severity of cracking varies with the alloy
composition and the joining process, but it is
especially severe in the high nickel-chromium alloys.
47
Filler metals containing columbium are often used
for welding castings with high silicon content to
prevent hot cracking of the weld metal.
Lead will cause hot-shortness in nickel alloy weld
metal.
However, it is seldom found in high quality base and
filler metals.
Sensitization
48
Some nickel-chromium and nickel-chromium-iron
alloys, like the austenitic stainless steels, exhibit
carbide precipitation (sensitization) in the weld
heat-affected zone.
Sensitization can make the alloys susceptible to
intergranular corrosion.
49
Those alloys stabilized with titanium and columbium
are not sensitized by welding.
An alternate approach is to use an extra low
carbon version of the selected alloy.
References
W.D. Callister, Jr.. Fundamentals of Materials Science
and Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York,
2001
R.C. Reed: The Superalloys, Fundamentals and
Applications, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
UK, 2006.
J.R. Davis: Heat-Resistant Materials, ASM Specialty
Handbook, 1997.