Science and Technology of Welding and Joining

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Characteristic of martensite–austenite
constituents in coarse grained heat affected zone
of HSLA steel with varying Al contents

L. Yu, H. H. Wang, T. P. Hou, X. L. Wang, X. L. Wan & K. M. Wu

To cite this article: L. Yu, H. H. Wang, T. P. Hou, X. L. Wang, X. L. Wan & K. M. Wu (2014)
Characteristic of martensite–austenite constituents in coarse grained heat affected zone of HSLA
steel with varying Al contents, Science and Technology of Welding and Joining, 19:8, 708-714,
DOI: 10.1179/1362171814Y.0000000246

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1179/1362171814Y.0000000246

Published online: 04 Sep 2014.

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 Characteristic of martensite–austenite
constituents in coarse grained heat affected
zone of HSLA steel with varying Al contents
L. Yu, H. H. Wang*, T. P. Hou, X. L. Wang, X. L. Wan and K. M. Wu
The fine microstructure of martensite–austenite (M–A) constituents in simulated coarse grained
heat affected zone (HAZ) of high strength low alloy steel with varying aluminium content (0?038
and 0?070 wt-%) at 100 kJ cm21 heat input welding was investigated. The result shows that M–A
constituents with 0?038%Al consisted of lath martensite and retained austenite. The retained
Downloaded by [Sistema Integrado de Bibliotecas USP] at 13:42 05 January 2018

austenite was distributed along the martensite lath. Whereas, the M–A constituents with 0?070%Al
consisted of lath martensite and retained austenite, as well as a small amount of twinned
martensite. The amount of retained austenite in M–A constituents with 0?070%Al was becoming
higher slightly than that with 0?038%Al. Accordingly, the volume fraction of M–A constituents was
reduced with 0?070%Al. Appropriate aluminium addition could decrease not only the area fraction
but also the size of M–A constituents, which are beneficial for improving the toughness of HAZ.
Keywords: Martensite–austenite constituent, High heat input welding, Coarse grained heat affected zone, High strength low alloy steel

Introduction and subsequent products, such as M–A constituents.

The impact toughness of heat affected zone (HAZ) of
high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels tends to be
deteriorated by high heat input welding.1,2 The marten-
site–austenite (M–A) constituents have been suggested
to have a significant influence on impact toughness of
HAZ of HSLA steels.3–6 Davis and King7 indicated that
cleavage crack initiation mainly depends on the harder
blocky M–A constituents near the grain boundary in the
simulated HAZ. The possible micromechanism of M–A
constituent causing a reduction in HAZ toughness was
concluded to be the stress concentration effect resulting
from the debonding of M–A constituents.7,8 Li et al.9
suggested that the small size and small amount of M–A
constituents were slightly detrimental to the toughness
of HAZ. In addition, Moeinifar et al.10 found that the
formation of massive M–A constituents and the reduced
fraction of M–A constituents were beneficial factors on
the Charpy impact energy in the HAZ.
The alloying addition had a notable effect on the M–
A constituents. Microalloying element, such as niobium
was revealed to influence the amount and size of the M–
A constituent.11–13 Meanwhile, the formation of M–A
constituent was related with the segregation of many
elements, such as carbon and silicon.14 Addition of
aluminium promoted the stability of austenite15 due to
the retardation of carbon diffusion from austenite,
which may lead to the influence on retained austenite
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Steels, International
Research Institute for Steel Technology, Wuhan University of Science and
Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
*Corresponding author, email wanghonghong@wust.edu.cn
Kiani-Rashid16 found that aluminium influenced the
morphology of retained austenite, particularly decreasing
the proportion of retained austenite with equiaxed mor-
phology. Investigations showed that Al addition raised
the Ar3 temperature and may affect the subsequent trans-
formation products (involving M–A constituents).17
Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the effect of
varying Al content on the M–A constituents, especially
under the high heat input welding, in order to understand
the mechanism of improving impact toughness of HAZ of
HSLA steel by addition of aluminium.
The present work characterises the M–A constituents
and its evolution by varying Al content under high heat
input welding. This investigation is based on the influence
of Al on the carbon diffusion by welding thermal cycle. It
is expected to help understanding the micromechanism of
M–A constituent variation in coarse grained heat affected
zone (CGHAZ) of HSLA steels.
Materials and experimental procedures
The commercial HSLA steel X70 was used as base steel.
Its chemical composition excluding aluminium is shown
in Table 1. Two small base steels were recast by adding
pure aluminium in different weight utilising vacuum
melt induction furnace. Therefore the ingots with
different Al contents (0?038 and 0?070 wt-%) and
constant other elements were prepared. The ingots were
forged to rods, and then machined into the dimensions
of 11611655 mm for simulation test. The simulation
test was carried out on Gleeble 1500 thermomechanical
machine. The samples were heated to the peak tem-
perature of 1350uC with heating rate of 300uC s21 and
held for 3 s, and then were cooled down at 5?68uC s21,

ß 2014 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

Published by Maney on behalf of the Institute
Received 8 July 2014; accepted 22 August 2014
DOI 10.1179/1362171814Y.0000000246 Science and Technology of Welding and Joining 2014 VOL 19 NO 8 708
 Yu et al.
which were approximately equivalent to the welding
heat input of 100 kJ cm21 at 20 mm thickness.18
The metallographic specimens were polished using
conventional metallographic procedures and etched in
4 vol.-% nital solution. Microstructure observation was
carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM,
Sirion 200). The fraction of M–A constituents and the
proportion of diverse size of M–A constituents were
measured on SEM micrographs using Photoshop and
Image-Pro. Samples for transmission electron micro-
scopy (TEM) analysis were prepared using the following
procedure. Thin pieces of 0?2 mm in thickness are cut
by electro-spark method and mechanically thinned to
60 mm, and further reduced to less than 100 nm by twin-
jet electropolishing to perforation using a mixture of 5%
perchloric acid, 25% glycerol and 70% ethanol at 10uC at
45 V. The samples were examined on a TEM-2011F
transmission electron microscope operated at 200 keV.
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Results and discussion
Structure of M–A constituents by varying Al
addition
The typical morphology of the M–A constituents
formed in the CGHAZ of HSLA with 0?038%Al content
subjected to 100 kJ cm21 heat input is shown in Fig. 1.
A bright field image (Fig. 1a) reveals that the M–A
constituent is about 0?5 mm in width and 3 mm in length.
The selected area diffraction patterns (Fig. 1b and c),
taken from areas (b, c) in Fig. 1a, include [1 0 3]M (lath
martensite) and [2 1 5]c. Figure 1d gives an enlarged part
of Fig. 1a, and the bright area clearly represents the
distribution of lath martensite and austenite within the
M–A constituent. A number of lath martensite is
generated side by side and the layered retained austenite
film is distributed along martensitic laths. The lath
martensite and retained austenite in Fig. 1a are drawn
schematically in Fig. 1e. In the schematic drawing, the
white areas represent lath martensite, the hatched areas
represent both retained austenite and lath martensite
and the grey areas represent retained austenite. The
retained austenite is dispersed between martensitic laths.
As shown in Fig. 1e, the retained austenite is scattered
among the lath marensite, while the lath martensite plus
retained austenite are distributed in the peripheral
retained austenite. The proportion of retained austenite
is smaller than that of lath martensite in M–A
constituents in the CGHAZ of HSLA with 0?038%Al
addition.
The typical morphology of the M–A constituents
formed in the CGHAZ of HSLA with 0?070%Al
addition subjected to 100 kJ cm21 heat input is shown
in Fig. 2. A bright field image (Fig. 2a) indicates the M–
A constituent is about 1 mm in width and 3 mm in length.
The selected area diffraction pattern (Fig. 2b and c)
taken from areas (b, c) in Fig. 2a, include ½10 1M (lath
martensite) and ½122c . Figure 2d gives an enlarged part
within the oval of Fig. 1a. The selected area diffraction
Table 1 Chemical compositions of investigated material
excluding aluminium/wt-%
C Si Mn Nb V Ti CuzNizCrzMo Fe
0?055 0?21 1?60 0?039 0?022 0?012 0?25 Bal.
Science and Technology of Welding and Joining
Characteristic of martensite–austenite constituents in HSLA steel HAZ
pattern taken from area (d) in Fig. 2a include ½1 1
1M ,
which indicates the phase of area (d) is twinned
martensite. As shown in Fig. 2d, the twinned martensite
is about 300 nm in width and 400 nm in length. Lath
martensite, retained austenite and the twinned marten-
site in Fig. 2e are drawn schematically in Fig. 2f. In the
schematic drawing, the white areas represent lath
martensite, the grey areas represent retained austenite
and the dark areas represent twinned martensite. It can
be seen that most grey areas are intimately distributed in
the M–A constituent, while small proportion of dark
area is distributed along the side of M–A constituents.
Comparing Fig. 1 with Fig. 2 shows that M–A
constituent contains less retained austenite and more
lath marteniste in CGHAZ of HSLA with 0?038%Al
addition. Meanwhile, some retained austenite is dis-
tributed among martensitic lath generally. When the
aluminium content is increased to 0?070%, the propor-
tion of retained austenite rises and the twinned
martensite occurs in the M–A constituent besides
lath martensite. The more retained austenite and the
presence of twinned martensite indicate the M–A
constituents get higher carbon atom concentration at
elevated temperature in the CGHAZ with 0?070%Al
content.
On heating during welding thermal cycle, carbon
atoms are uniformly distributed in austenite as the
temperature is around the peak temperature of 1350uC.
The M–A constituent’s evolution during cooling by
varying Al content is shown schematically in Fig. 3. On
subsequent cooling after peak temperature, during the
granular bainite transformation, its subunit grains form
and inherit the full carbon content of the parent
austenite. In practice, the whole of the austenite grain
does not transform instantaneously, owing to kinetic
restriction. The first subunit grain forms with full
supersaturation and the excess carbon rejecting into
the remaining austenite. As the granular bainitic ferrite
transformation proceeds, in the remaining austenite the
carbon concentration will be gradually increased, as
shown in Fig. 3a. On the one hand, aluminium is a
ferrite-promoting element and the addition of alumi-
nium allows the rise in transformation temperature of
both Ac3 and Ac1.15 The diffusion of carbon from ferrite
to austenite is at higher temperature range with Al
addition. On the other hand, aluminium is essentially
insoluble in cementite,19 carbon partitioned from the
ferrite transformation remains in solid solution within
the remaining austenite. According to the effect of
aluminium on the carbon profile across ferrite/austenite
interfaces in HAZ,20 the carbon concentration peak
appeared therefore at the interface of M–A constituent
and matrix.21 Therefore, more carbon atoms are
retained in austenite. Therefore, carbon concentration
within the remaining austenite in the CGHAZ of HSLA
with 0?070%Al addition was higher, as shown in Fig. 3a
and b. During the cooling afterwards, part of the
retained austenite with high carbon content transforms
to twinned martensite when the temperature reaches Ms.
Higher carbon content leads to more stable austenite.22
Accordingly more quantities of austenite are retained to
room temperature. Thus, with the relatively higher Al
content (e.g. 0?070%), the M–A constituents in the
CGHAZ contain more retained austenite and the
twinned martenstie.
2014 VOL 19 NO 8 709
 Yu et al. Characteristic of martensite–austenite constituents in HSLA steel HAZ
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a bright images of M–A constituent; b,c electron diffraction pattern; d enlargement of area marked by white ellipse; e
illustration of fine structure of M–A constituent
1 Images (TEM) of fine structure of M–A constituent for specimens with 0?038%Al content at 100 kJ cm21 heat input

Science and Technology of Welding and Joining 2014 VOL 19 NO 8 710

 Yu et al. Characteristic of martensite–austenite constituents in HSLA steel HAZ
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a bright images of M–A constituent; b, c, e electron diffraction pattern; d enlargement of area marked by white ellipse; f
illustration of fine structure of M–A constituent
2 Images (TEM) of fine structure of M–A constituent for specimens with 0?070%Al content at 100 kJ cm21 heat input

Science and Technology of Welding and Joining 2014 VOL 19 NO 8 711

 Yu et al.
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3 Schematic of microstructural evolution in simulated CGHAZ with a lower Al addition and b higher Al addition
Morphology and size distribution of M–A
constituents
The SEM images (Fig. 4) show the distribution and
morphology of M–A constituents in the CGHAZ of
HSLA with 0?038% and 0?070%Al addition subjected to
100 kJ cm21 heat input. The M–A constituents display
two kinds of morphology: irregular long strip and small
granular shape. The irregular long strip M–A constitu-
ents are distributed along the grain boundaries and
subgrain boundaries, while the small granular M–A
constituents within the grain. The amount of M–A
constituents is smaller in the CGHAZ with 0?070%Al
addition than that in the CGHAZ with 0?038%Al
addition. The smaller granular M–A constituents formed
in the CGHAZ with 0?070%Al addition compared with
that in the CGHAZ with 0?038%Al addition.
The area fractions and size statistics of M–A constitu-
ents in the CGHAZ with 0?038% and 0?070%Al addition
were measured and the results are shown in Fig. 5. The
volume fraction of M–A constituents in the CGHAZ with
0?038% and 0?070%Al content at the heat input of
100 kJ cm21 is around 3?96 and 3?27%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the proportion of M–A constituents is
smaller completely in the CGHAZ with 0?070%Al than
that with 0?038%Al.
As discussed above, more aluminium addition allows
more carbon atoms being rejected from the transformed
ferrite to ambient austenite. Therefore, carbon concen-
tration within the remaining austenite is higher in the
CGHAZ of HSLA with 0?070%Al addition. Due to the
high concentration of carbon atoms in carbon-rich area,
Science and Technology of Welding and Joining
Characteristic of martensite–austenite constituents in HSLA steel HAZ
the size of carbon-rich area is expected to be reduced
under the condition of identical carbon content. There-
fore, with the lowering transforming temperature of
Ms, the size of M–A constituents becomes smaller and
the volume fraction of M–A constituents becomes
decreased.
It was reported that even the slight variation in
fraction and size of M–A constituents can affect the
impact toughness of CGHAZ significantly.23 Because
the addition of aluminium increases the fraction of
retained austenite in M–A constituents, and then
decreases the fraction and size of M–A constituents
consequently, it can be proposed that the addition of
small amount of aluminium will improve the impact
toughness of CGHAZ effectively.
Conclusions
The micromechanism of M–A constituents in simulated
CGHAZ for HSLA steel was investigated and the
following conclusions can be reached.
1. The proportion of retained austenite in M–A
constituents became increased in CGHAZ with addition
of aluminium from 0?038 to 0?070% at 100 kJ cm21 heat
input. The twinned martensite was observed in M–A
constituents with 0?070%Al content.
2. The volume fraction of M–A constituents was
decreased by addition of aluminium from 0?038 to
0?070% at 100 kJ cm21 heat input, the proportion of
diverse size of M–A constituent was decreased as well.
3. Aluminium takes role in retarding carbon atom
diffusion from austenite. Therefore, the more aluminium
2014 VOL 19 NO 8 712
 Yu et al. Characteristic of martensite–austenite constituents in HSLA steel HAZ
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4 Scanning electron micrographs showing distribution and morphology of M–A constituents (white colour) in specimens
with Al contents of a, b 0?038% and c, d 0?070% at 100 kJ cm21 heat input

addition, the more carbon atoms retained in austenite, Acknowledgements

and the more stable austenite. Although a small part of
austenite transformed to lath martensite and twinned
martensite, most of such stable austenite retained to
room temperature. Therefore the increasing proportion
of retained austenite in M–A constituent appeared in
CGHAZ with increasing Al content.
The authors express their thanks to the financial support
from the International Science and Technology Coo-
peration Program of China under grant no. S2012ZR0211
and from Hubei Provincial Department of Science and
Technology under grant no. 2012BAA14005.

a volume fraction of M–A constituents; b proportion of diverse size of M–A constituents

5 Statistics on M–A constituents in samples with different aluminium contents

Science and Technology of Welding and Joining 2014 VOL 19 NO 8 713

 Yu et al.
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