1984 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 240-245
Electron beam welding of conventional high manganese steels containing nitrogen or the like was difficult due to occurrence of blow holes and voids.
In this report, tendency of defect occurrence (such as cracks and voids) and mechanical properties of electron beam welds of 14% Mn steel are described. A new type of high manganese steel (14% Mn, 0.6% C, 2% Cr, 2% Ni) without nitrogen addition which has been developed to prevent occurrence of blow holes and voids was used in this study.
The steel plates used in the tests were 90 mm in thickness. A high vacuum type welding machine with maximum output of 42 kW (60 kV) was used throughout the tests.
Test results indicated that weld defects occurred when bottle necked bead was formed and bead width was increased. The weld defects were voids and HAZ cracks.
It was possible to prevent the defects by selecting a proper bead shapes and combining the bead width below 8 mm.
HAZ cracks were explained in relation to the melting mechanism of electron beam welding and grainboundary liquation near the weld bond. Mechanical properties of electron beam welds were almost equal to those of the base metal.
