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Objective

In this experiment, we were given a piece of mild-steel plate with approximately 0.15% of
carbon content that was welded together by an electric arc welding process using a general
purpose electrode. Although through the naked eyes the whole piece of steel might be seen as
having homogenous grain structure, however having gone through the welding process, the
steel piece has undergone some form of hot-working that affects the grain structure at various
parts of the steel piece, more specifically at various distances away from the welded part
which is known as the fusion zone. The various zones can be classified into 5 distinguishable
zones, namely: Weld metal zone, grain growth zone, grain refinement zone, transition zone
and the unaffected zone.

Through various preparations like grinding, polishing and etching of the specimen, which
was sectioned close to the weld and cold mounted to a plastic mould, we aim to gain
experience in preparing the material for study and understand the various grain structures at
the various zones and the effects they have on the mechanical properties of the material.

Results

From the view under the microscope at 200x magnification, Ive sketched the 5 various grain
structures at the various zones and an overall grain structure diagram. Please refer to annex B
for the results and the analysis of the results will be discussed at a later part of the report.

Discussion

From the results of the experiment, we can see that the sectioned steel specimen did not have
a homogenous grain structure. Through an optical microscope, which is at a magnification of
200 times, we took down the various grain structures at the various distinguishable zones.
From these various results, we compare the mechanical properties and each stage as we know
the characteristics of the various grain structure. The increase in strength and decrease in
ductility results from the increase in pearlite volume. Pearlite is a mixture of ferrite and
cementite, which has a high carbon content, at alternate layers, explaining why pearlite
appears dark under the microscope. The percent volume of pearlite in many steels is directly
proportional to the carbon content. The ferrite is a relatively soft, ductile phase. Increasing
the volume percent of ferrite will improve the ductility characteristics of the steel while
reducing the strength while pearlite is a strong, brittle load-carrying phase.

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Jason Chua Wei Siong A0087740Y
Fig 7

Grain structures at various


zones during welding and
after cooling

In figure 7, we can see the various grain structure at the different zones during the welding
process and after it has cooled. With reference to the phase diagram, which can be found in
Annex A, we will go through the change in structure and mechanical properties in the various
zones.

In the Weld metal zone, where the direct source of heat is applied onto the steel and where
filler is applied, the steel is heated up to extreme high temperature that is over its melting
point. Hence the steel at the zone would be in molten state. We learn that liquid steel
solidifies into the center of the welding in long columnar grains, growing in direction
opposite of the heat flow, as seen in figure 8.

Fig - 8

How molten steel solidifies

With knowledge that steel is a very good conductor of heat, after it has been welded together,
it cools down rapidly. The rate of cooling is too fast that no grains structure could be form.
Hence from the results we could see that under the fushion zone, there is no grain boundaries.

In the part of the steel whereby it is heated just below the melting point with reference to the
phase diagram, we call that the grain growing zone. The steel did not melt and remains in
solid state. Large Austenite grains at these points grow at a significant rate. Upon cooling to
room temperature, tiny looking ferrite and perlite with coarse structures is form. The
demarcation boundary of this zone is clearer compared to the transiting zone boundaries. This
will be due to the fact that the grain-growing zone manages to be below the melting point,
hence with a different state, the structures have more significant changes as compared to the
subsequent zones. However, as it is also heated to a rather high temperature, no grain
boundaries could also be formed. We can see from fig 7 that the austenite during welding is

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Jason Chua Wei Siong A0087740Y
light and clear whereas pearlites formed are dark in colour. This is due to the fact that
alternate layers of ferrite and cementite form pearlite, with ferrite being the main phase.
Hence because of the fine layers in perlites, they appear dark under the microscope while
ferrite remains light.

In the grain refinement zone, temperature reached during welding is at around 850 C, with
reference to Annex A, just high enough to reach the austenite transformation. Due to the
relatively low temperature, austenite grains begin to separate from each other and form more
distinct fine austenite grains as compared to the grain growth zone and these fine structures
are retained in ferrite and pearlite at room temperature. Smaller grains of perlite and higher
density can be noticed. Hence it can also be said the toughness at the grain refinement phase
will be slightly higher and ductility is reduced due to the lessen percentage of ferrite formed.
Grain boundaries can also be observed in this zone onwards and grains sizes are smaller
compared to the rest of the respective zones.

At the boundary of the heat affected zone at around 730C, only pearlite is affected as seen in
the phase diagram in Annex A. This is a very special zone because when the metal is heated
to the mentioned temperature, both austenite and ferrite coexisted together, which is known
as the transition zone. Hence when the metal is cooled to room temperature, the austenite that
transform are mainly from pearlite while the ferrite is in the original metal state that is similar
to the non-heated area. This causes even fine structure amidst original ferrite grains, thus we
see little ferrite grains in between pearlites.

Finally the unaffected zone, which means that it is not affected by the welding heat, remains
with the pearlite and ferrite grain structures that has not been treated, hence no phase change.
Hence its properties remain unchanged.

Results analysis

Conclusion

From the experiment, we learnt with different composition of carbon with iron and other
elements, and heat treated to different temperature, the metals will exhibit different
mechanical properties. For example, Martensitic stainless steel which contains 0.12% of
carbon and 18% of chromium, are extremely tough and durable and can be used to make
kitchen knife. But depending on the requirements, if in a more corrosive environment, ferritic
stainless steel which possesses a higher amount of carbon is more resistance to corrosion
hence will be more suitable.

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Jason Chua Wei Siong A0087740Y
With this knowledge that the composition of the alloy affects the properties of the material,
the temperature that the material which it is heated to affecting the grains that is formed and
thus the properties too, we can utilize the Phase diagram in Annex A more wisely to heat treat
and composite a material more suitable to our needs.

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Jason Chua Wei Siong A0087740Y

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