METALS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

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Significant Welding Variables

Selection of the correct welding procedure and consumable is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the
production of high quality welds in Ductile Iron. Other critical variables are:

 type and composition of the base Ductile Iron,

 design and preparation of the welded joint, and
 control of the thermal history of the component before, during and after welding.

Iron Type and Composition

Although the cast iron weldability test indicates that the "no-crack temperature" is related to composition but not
microstructure (Figure 8. 1), ferritic Ductile Irons are generally considered to have the highest weldability of all grades
of Ductile Iron. Composition influences weldability primarily through CECI - the higher CECI is, the more susceptible the
casting is to cracking. Composition also affects weldability through its influence on the hardenability of the HAZ.
Manganese and chromium strongly increase hardenability, which reduces weldability through the increased tendency
to form martensite in the HAZ. Although silicon increases hardenability slightly, this effect on weldability is offset by the
strong graphitizing effect of silicon, which improves weldability by reducing carbide formation.

Joint Design and Preparation

The design of a welded joint is dependent upon factors such as metal thickness, casting geometry, welding process
and service requirements. Whenever possible, the design should ensure that the components being joined, rather than
the weld, carry most of the load. With a welded assembly the designer can often position the weld in an area of low
stress. Figure 8.4 provides examples of joint designs which have been improved to reduce joint stress and increase
weld penetration, while Figure 8.5 illustrates recommended joint designs for both welding and brazing. To ensure
sound, gas-free welds, the casting skin adjacent to the joint should be removed and the joint surfaces should be freshly
ground or machined and any scale, rust, dirt, grease and oil removed.

Thermal Treatments
When practical, the casting should be preheated in order to prevent thermal cracking, reduce hardness in the HAZ and
reduce residual stresses and distortion. It is preferable that the entire casting be preheated but when casting size or the
lack of facilities makes this impractical, castings can be preheated with burners or an oxyacetylene torch. When local
preheating methods are employed, extreme care is required to avoid rapid, non-uniform heating to avoid cracking and
o o
distortion in complex castings. Ferritic Ductile Irons require only a mild preheating in the range 300-400 F (150-200 C).
o o
Pearlitic Ductile Iron requires higher preheating temperatures, 600-650 F (315-340 C). Low heat input welding
methods such as short-arc MIG minimize the harmful effects of the HAZ. Post-weld thermal treatments such as slow
cooling and postheating may be required to reduce residual stresses. Depending upon service requirements, the
welded assembly may be subjected to annealing or normalizing heat treatments to dissolve carbides and produce the
desired mechanical properties.

BRAZING
The formation of less than optimum microstructures in both the FZ and HAZ during the fusion welding of Ductile irons
makes non-fusion joining techniques attractive alternatives. Brazing is "the joining metals by the fusion of non-ferrous
o o
alloys that have melting points above 800 F (425 C) but lower than those of the metals being joined". During the

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brazing process the melted filler metal flows by capillary action into a narrow gap between the components and
solidifies to form a bond. Brazing is related to soldering, braze-welding, and powder-welding, but is distinguished from
these processes either by the type and melting range of the filler metal or by the design of the joint (Table 8.4).

Table 8.4 Non fusion joining processes.

Process

Brazing
Bronze-welding
Characteristics Low- High- (or braze Powder-

Soldering temperature temperature welding) welding

Melting-point or <450oC 400-1000oC =1000oC Not specified Not specified

melting-range of (840oF) (750-1830oF) (=1800oF)

filler-

metal

Pb-based Ag-based Ni-based Cu-based Ni-based

Typical filler- Zn-based Cu-based Au-based (usually Cu-Zn) Cu-based

metal-alloys Pd-based

Capillary Capillary Capillary Large gap or Large gap or

Joint type external fillet external fillet

Joint Design and Preparation

Unlike welded joints, the joint-gap for brazing (Figure 8.5) is narrow and of controlled thickness to maximize joint
strength, induce penetration of the brazing alloy by capillary flow, and reduce the amount of brazing alloy consumed.
The joints should preferably be designed to operate in compression or shear. Although brazed joints can have excellent
mechanical properties under pure tensile loading, any bending moment will severely reduce the mechanical properties.
Ductile Iron should be prepared for brazing by removal of the casting skin, roughening of the surface with an abrasive,
degraphitization of the joint surfaces with an oxidizing oxy-acetylene flame or a salt bath and degreasing and cleaning
with a suitable solvent.

Heating
The choice of a heating method for brazing depends on the component size, joint design, brazing alloy, and production
rate. Brazing Torches can be hand operated, which is flexible but requires considerable operator skill, or used as fixed
heat sources in a mechanized brazing line. Induction brazing is a rapid and reproducible heating method generally
used on long production runs. Batch or continuous furnaces are frequently used when the entire component is heated
to the brazing temperature. Brazing furnaces may have inert or reducing atmospheres or a vacuum to prevent oxide
formation on both the workpiece and brazing alloy, or an air atmosphere may be used, in which case a brazing flux is
required.

Diffusion Bonding
Diffusion bonding, in which both similar and dissimilar metals can be joined by solid state diffusion processes, can be
used to overcome the microstructural problems related to fusion welding while providing a joint that is significantly
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