Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506

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Materials and Design

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Technical Report

Weld overlay cladding of high strength low alloy steel with austenitic
stainless steel – Structure and properties
N. Venkateswara Rao, G. Madhusudhan Reddy ⇑, S. Nagarjuna
Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present work aims at studying structure–property correlations in a weld overlay clad high strength
Received 28 April 2010 low alloy steel with austenitic stainless steel of American Institute for Steel and Iron (AISI) 347 grade.
Accepted 23 October 2010 Optical microscopy studies revealed that the interface between the two steels was nearly flat. The base
Available online 26 November 2010
plate had ferrite plus bainite microstructure adjacent to the interface and tempered bainite/martensite
structure away from the interface. Grain coarsening and decarburization were observed near the inter-
face. The stainless steel exhibited austenite dendritic structure. Tensile strength, notch-tensile strength
and charpy impact energy of the base plate were found to be higher than those for the interface. The
microhardness was observed to be maximum on the clad layer near interface. The shear bond strength
of the weld overlay-interface was higher than the shear strength of the base plate. Fractography was
carried out using scanning electron microscope on tensile, notch-tensile and shear bond test specimens
of the interface as well as shear test specimens of the base plate. It revealed the presence of predomi-
nantly dimpled rupture. Charpy impact specimens of the interface failed in mixed mode while impact
specimens of the base plate failed in ductile mode. Electron probe microanalysis across the bond interface
indicated linear change in concentrations of Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Mo, Nb and Si between the levels appropriate
to the clad layer and base metal.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction where the overlay is used to restore the original dimensions of a

A weld overlay is defined as the deposit of a dissimilar weld
metal laid on the surface of a metal part. The technique of weld
overlay is an excellent method to impart properties to the surface
of a substrate that are not available from that base metal. The term
weld overlay, also known as weld cladding, usually denotes the
application of a relatively thick layer (3 mm or more) of weld metal
to impart a corrosion-, erosion-, or wear-resistant surface. A weld
deposit of stainless steel laid on the surface of a low alloy steel
for improved corrosion resistance is an example of a weld overlay.
In addition to weld overlays that develop a composite structure by
a fusion welding process, there are many processes such as roll
cladding, explosive cladding, sheet and strip liner cladding, braze
cladding and thermal spraying, by which composite structures
may be produced [1]. Weld cladding may be accomplished by
any one of the welding processes such as gas metal arc welding
(GMAW), flux cored arc welding (FCAW), shielded metal arc weld-
ing (SMAW), gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), plasma arc welding
(PAW) and electroslag welding (ESW).
All metals that are used for welding fillers can also be used for
weld overlay. With the exception of simple buildup situations,
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 40 24345048; fax: +91 040 24340683.
E-mail address: gmreddy_dmrl@yahoo.co.in (G. Madhusudhan Reddy).
worn or corroded part, the composition and properties of the filler
metal are often quite different from the base metal. The weld over-
lay cladding techniques were originally developed at Strachan &
Henshaw, Bristol for use on Defence (Navy) components where
the equipment must work in seawater with minimum mainte-
nance and be subjected to extreme pressure and shock loading.
Various parts of the submarine pressure hull such as sealing faces
of the rectangular door and the circular door, the shafts and arms
forming the hinges to carry the doors, and the mating faces on
the main component body were clad with Inconel 625 [2]. In recent
years, weld cladding processes are applied in numerous industries
such as chemical, fertilizer, nuclear and steam power plants, food
processing, and petrochemical industries.
Various materials such as nickel and cobalt alloys, copper alloys,
manganese alloys, alloy steels, ceramics and composites are used
for weld overlay applications [1]. Pan and Chen have deposited
high hardness maraging steel on 16Mn steel and 9Cr steel to
improve the hardness, wear resistance and crack resistance [3].
Microstructure and wear properties of Fe–Mn–Cr–Mo–V alloy
cladding by submerged-arc welding on AISI 1045 steel substrate
were studied by Lu et al. [4]. Goodwin carried out weld overlay
cladding with iron aluminides to improve the corrosion and
erosion resistance of 21=4 Cr–1Mo steel, 310 stainless steel and Inco-
nel 600 [5]. The effect of process parameters on clad bead geome-

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2010.10.026
 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506 2497

try and its shape relationships of stainless steel claddings depos- Specimens for microstructural examination were prepared by
ited by gas metal arc welding were studied by Kannan and Yoga- standard metallographic techniques. After the samples were man-
nandh [6]. Murugan and Parmar studied the effect of welding ually polished to 1 lm finish, the base plate was etched with 2%
conditions on microstructure and properties of 316L stainless steel nital while the cladding layer was etched with aquaregia. The sam-
submerged arc cladding on IS 2062 structural steel [7]. ples were then examined under optical microscope for general
High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels comprise a specific group microstructural features of weld layer and base plates and for
of steels with chemical composition specially developed to impart studying the structural changes near the weld interface. Electron
higher mechanical properties such as greater resistance to atmo- probe microanalysis (EPMA) was also carried out for quantitative
spheric corrosion and low temperature notch toughness. Because analysis of various elements across the bond interface.
of their low carbon content, they are readily weldable. Their devel- To evaluate the integrity of the bond interface between the
opment was spurred by the demand for strong, tough, weldable cladding layer and substrate, various mechanical tests were con-
steels for natural gas transmission lines, ships and off-shore dril- ducted. Test samples were machined such that fracture takes place
ling platforms. There has been a phenomenal growth in the devel- at the weld overlay-interface. Initially, 18 mm diameter rods were
opment and application of HSLA steels all over the world during machined in z-direction which were 65 mm long (Figs. 1 and 2).
the past four decades. Growth in the production and application Out of this length, 50 mm was of HSLA steel and 15 mm was of
of these steels has mainly come about as a result of better under- SS347 which were equal to the thickness of the base plate and
standing of structure–property relationships as well as economic weld overlay-layer respectively (Fig. 1). Therefore, to make the
considerations. HSLA steels are subjected to cladding by one of weld overlay-interface as the centre of the test specimens, there
the commonly used methods such as explosive cladding, roll clad- was the need to increase the length of the SS347-side (which is
ding and weld overlaying. Weld overlay cladding can be success-
fully performed on components with intricate geometry and in
areas of limited access where other techniques of cladding can
not be applied.
In the present investigation, an attempt was made to develop
weld overlay cladding of stainless steel. A quenched and tempered
HSLA steel was used as the base plate. This steel was weld overlay
clad with corrosion-resistant stainless steel of AISI 347 grade. In
general, only shear bond strength of the interface is evaluated for
the clad joints as the thickness of the clad layer is only few milli-
meters in thickness. Certain critical defence applications need the
clad interface to possess good tensile and impact properties. To
facilitate evaluating these properties, a novel technique of friction
welding was employed in the present investigation. Mechanical
properties (tensile, notch-tensile, shear properties and charpy im-
pact energy of the base plate as well as interface and microhard-
ness across the interface), optical and scanning electron
microstructures and the compositional variations across the inter-
face by electron probe microanalysis have been studied to obtain
Fig. 1. Cut section of weld overlay plate. (A) HSLA steel plate. (B) Weld overlay-
an understanding of the microstructure and mechanical properties interface. (C) Clad layer of 347 SS built-up.
in as-clad condition.

2. Experimental

In the present investigation, cladding of a HSLA steel was per-

formed by employing weld overlaying technique. AISI 347 stainless
steel was selected as the cladding layer because of its superior cor-
rosion resistance as well as optimum tensile strength. The chemi-
cal compositions of the base plate as well as cladding layer are
given in Table 1. HSLA steel plate of 250  150  50 mm size was
clad by shielded metal arc welding. The plate was weld overlay Fig. 2. Eighteen millimeter diameter rod machined from weld overlay plate. (A)
clad upto a thickness of 15 mm on one of its surfaces and subjected HSLA steel portion. (B) Weld overlay-interface between HSLA steel and 347 SS. (C)
to ultrasonic testing (UT) wherein no unsound regions were no- Clad layer of 347 SS. (D) Friction welding interface between 347 SS and its
equivalent. (E) Stainless steel rod similar to 347 SS grade friction welded onto the
ticed. A photograph of the cut section of the weld overlay plate is weld overlayed material to facilitate grip portion when test specimen is machined
shown in Fig. 1. out of it.

Table 1
Chemical composition of base and flyer plates.

Sl. No. Grade Chemical composition, wt%

C Cr Ni Mn Si S P Others
1 HSLA steel 0.095 0.56 1.89 0.37 0.29 0.007 0.01 Mo: 0.30
Cu: 0.45
V: 0.05
Al: 0.04
2 347 SS 0.042 17.10 10.70 1.46 0.28 0.01 0.01 Nb: 0.52
2498 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506

only 15 mm as seen from Figs. 1 and 2) so that grip portion of the bar. These rods were welded to the SS347-side of the 18 mm diam-
test specimens is facilitated. For this, 18 mm diameter rods of eter rods already machined from the weld overlay plate, by friction
75 mm length were machined from a similar grade stainless steel welding (portion E in Fig. 2). Therefore, each rod consisted of two

Fig. 3. Test specimens: (a) round tensile and (b) notch-tensile.

Fig. 4. Test specimens: (a) charpy impact and (b) shear.

 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506 2499

weld interfaces out of which one was of weld overlay i.e., HSLA Vs
SS347 (point B in Fig. 2) and other one was of friction welding i.e.,
SS347 Vs its equivalent grade (point D in Fig. 2). All the specimens
were machined from these rods such that the weld overlay-
interface (point B in Fig. 2) lies at the centre of the test specimen.
Tensile specimens of 25 mm gauge length were machined as
per ASTM E 8 specification (Fig. 3a) [8] and notch-tensile speci-
mens were machined as per ASTM E 602 specification (Fig. 3b)
[9]. All the specimens were tested in a Servo-mechanical Instron
machine (Model 1185) at a strain rate of 6.67  10 4 s 1. Standard
Charpy V-notch impact test specimens were machined as per
ASTM E 23 specification (Fig. 4a) [10] and tested on a FIE charpy
impact test machine. Before conducting the impact tests, all the
specimens were examined on a profile projector at 50 to ensure
the accuracy of V-notch and soaked at 40 °C in an environmental
test chamber. Shear bond test samples for the weld overlay-
interface were machined as per ASTM SA 264 standard (Fig. 4b)
[11] and tested in Instron machine. All these tests were also carried
out for the base plate. Microhardness of the clad joint was mea-
sured using Vickers microhardness testing machine. Fractography
studies were carried out using FEI Quanta 400 SEM on broken test
specimens from the above tests.

3. Results

The HSLA steel plate could be successfully clad to 347 stainless

steel by weld overlaying.

3.1. Microstructure

The low magnification micrograph of the weld overlay clad

plate is shown in Fig. 5a. The interface between the substrate (base
plate) and clad layer is nearly flat. Fig. 5b reveals that grain coars-
ening and decarburization occurred in the base plate near the
interface. SEM micrographs taken at higher magnification reveals
that the interface is 10–15 lm wide (Fig. 5c) and both the substrate
and clad metal well intermixed at the interface (Fig. 6a). EDS anal-
ysis, carried out at the interface, shows that the chemical composi-
tion was in between austenitic stainless steel and HSLA steel (Cr:
4.69%, Ni: 3.94%, Mn: 1.09%, Si: 1.28%, Mo: 2.58%, Cu: 1.54%, Fe:
84.89%; Fig. 6b). Precipitate particles observed near the interface
(Fig. 7a and b) were found to have small amount of chromium
apart from carbon (Cr: 1.8%, C: 4.96%, Fe: 93.23%; Fig. 7c). The pho-
tomicrograph of the base plate, taken from the region adjacent to
the interface, reveals fine microstructure (Fig. 8a) consisting of fer-
rite + bainite (dark phase). However, the photomicrograph of the
base plate, taken from the region far away from the interface, re-
veals tempered bainite/martensite (Fig. 8b). On examination at
higher magnification (10,000) under the scanning electron
microscope, fine carbides were found precipitated at the grain
boundary regions (Fig. 8c). On the other hand, the clad layer re-
vealed austenite dendritic structure (Fig. 9a). The low magnifica-
tion micrograph of the clad layer (Fig. 9b) shows the inter-pass
boundaries as the clad layer was built up by multiple passes.
3.2. Mechanical properties
Fig. 5. Microstructure of the weld overlay-clad joint showing (a) flat interface, (b)
decarburization and coarse grain structure at interface and (c) width of the
interface.
1025 MPa which is 7% higher than that of the interface. All the
CVN specimens also failed at the weld overlay-interface but exhib-
ited a Charpy V-notch energy of 47 J which is only 30% when com-
pared to the CVN energy of the base plate (164 J). Shear strength of
the base plate was found to be 399 MPa. The shear bond strength of
the weld overlay-interface was 488 MPa which is 22% higher when
compared to the shear strength of the base plate. Microhardness
indentations for the weld overlay sample are shown in Fig. 10a
and the microhardness plot is shown in Fig. 10b. The hardness
was observed to be a maximum (425 HV) on the clad layer near
bond interface. A slight increase in hardness on stainless steel-side
and a slight decrease on HSLA-side were observed near the inter-
face over a distance of 100–200 lm and reached base levels in both
clad layer and base plate.

The mechanical properties of the base plate as well as interface
of the weld overlay clad steel are presented in Table 2. Tensile
strength (UTS) of the base plate was 713 MPa with 21% elongation.
All the tensile specimens of the interface region failed at friction-
weld joints and yielded slightly inferior properties (UTS: 592 MPa
and El.: 19%). However, notch-tensile specimens failed at the weld
overlay-interface and exhibited a tensile strength of 953 MPa.
Notch-tensile strength of the base plate was found to be
3.3. Fractography
SEM fractographs of different test specimens are presented in
Figs. 11–13. Tensile and notch-tensile specimens of the interface
failed in ductile mode revealing equiaxed dimples (Fig. 11). Shear
bond test specimens of the interface as well as shear test speci-
mens of the base plate also revealed the presence of predominantly
dimpled rupture (Fig. 12). Charpy impact specimens of the
2500 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506

Fig. 6. Microstructure of the weld overlay-clad joint showing (a) interface at higher magnification and (b) EDS analysis carried out on the interface.

interface revealed a mixed mode of failure exhibiting dimpled and
quasi cleavage features (Fig. 13a) while impact specimens of the
base plate failed in ductile mode (Fig. 13b).
3.4. Electron probe microanalysis
EPMA quantitative analysis data taken across the bond interface
is presented in Fig. 14. Quantitative analysis was carried out at two
different locations across the interface for the alloying elements
such as Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Mo, Nb and Si. The data was plotted and dif-
fusion zone widths were worked out for all the elements. The plot
for Cr and Ni for the second set of data points is presented in Fig. 14
where in the diffusion distance of Cr and Ni is found to be 27 lm.
From the diffusion zone widths provided in Table 3, it is evident
that all the alloying elements diffused over a distance of
20–30 lm across the interface. Carbon line scans were also taken
at four different locations across the interface and one of them is
presented in Fig. 15a. Gradual change in carbon levels of the 347
stainless steel and HSLA steel is clearly observed in Fig. 15a. For
easy identification of the interface between the 347 stainless steel
and HSLA steel, line scan of chromium obtained from the same
location is also presented in Fig. 15b.
4. Discussion
The process of weld overlaying is a fusion welding technique
employed to deposit the requisite metal on the substrate up to
the desired thickness level. By selecting optimum welding param-
eters, defect-free clad joints can be produced. Otherwise, various
defects may form at the bond interface such as blow holes, pin
 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506
holes and, entrapped slag. In the present investigation, the bond
interface was observed to be straight in nature (Fig. 5a) and no de-
fects were noticed at the interface. Both the steels intermixed well
at the interface (Fig. 6a) and EDS analysis (Fig. 6b) carried out on
the interface shows that the chemical composition of the interface
was in between austenitic stainless steel and HSLA steel. Coarse-
decarburized grain structure was observed in the base plate at
the interface (Fig. 5b) while fine grained ferrite–bainite structure
was observed in the regions adjacent to the interface (Fig. 8a). Dur-
ing weld overlaying, temperature of the base plate in the regions
adjacent to the interface reached to austenitic range and fine fer-
rite–bainite structure has formed on air cooling. The interface
was exposed to higher temperature for comparatively longer dura-
tion and hence grain coarsening as well as decarburization
occurred at the interface. Decarburization must have taken place
for two reasons (i) oxidation and (ii) diffusion to adjacent low car-
bon steel i.e., the AISI 347 austenitic stainless steel where carbon is
only 0.042% (Table 1). Indications of carbon diffusion from HSLA
steel to stainless steel have been observed from EMPA line scans
(Fig. 15a). The iron carbide particles observed on the interface
(Fig. 7a–c) were found to have small amounts of chromium con-
firming the diffusion of chromium at the interface.
Microstructure of the base plate, in the regions far away from
the interface, revealed tempered bainite/martensite (Fig. 8b). Prior
to weld overlaying, the base plate was in heat treated condition
(water quenched from 900 °C and tempered at 650 °C) and there-
Fig. 7. Microstructure of the weld overlay-clad joint showing (a) interface at 10,000, (b) magnified view of region A in (a) at 40,000 and (c) EDS analysis taken on particle P
shown in (b).
2501
fore, the microstructure observed is in order. Because of high-
temperature tempering, carbide precipitation was also observed
in the bainite/martensite structure (Fig. 8c). After weld overlaying,
the clad joint was not given any heat treatment. Therefore, the
microstructure of cladding layer exhibited austenite dendrites rep-
resentative of as-cast structure (Fig. 9a). Similar microstructure
was observed by Colla and Peloso [12] in the cladding layer of AISI
308 austenitic stainless steel produced by automatic submerged-
arc welding on medium carbon–manganese steel base plate.
The base plate exhibited a tensile strength of 713 MPa. Notch-
tensile strength of the base plate (1025 MPa) was found to be
44% higher than the tensile strength because of the triaxial state
of stress at the notch. The interface was also found to be suffi-
ciently stronger which has exhibited a notch-tensile strength of
953 MPa. The base plate exhibited a CVN impact toughness of
164 J because of its tempered bainite structure. However, the inter-
face was found to be relatively brittle (CVN: 47 J) because of the
presence of cast dendritic structure in the clad layer. It is well
known that metallic materials exhibit a shear strength which is
more than 50% of their tensile strength [13]. In the present case,
the base plate of HSLA steel exhibited a shear strength of
399 MPa which is 56% of its tensile strength. Similarly, the shear
bond strength of the weld overlay-interface, which is 488 MPa, is
51% of its notch-tensile strength. Tensile strength of the weld over-
lay-interface could not be established since all the specimens failed
at friction weld joint and exhibited a tensile strength of 592 MPa.
2502 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506

However, this is an indication that the weld overlay-interface is
stronger than the friction weld joint and possesses a tensile
strength >592 MPa. It was reported by Venkateswara Rao et al.
[14] that the shear bond strength of the clad joint of the same
two steels was 403 MPa, after explosive cladding, hot rolling and
a similar heat treatment. Therefore, it is inferred that the weld
overlay joint is stronger than that of an explosive clad joint for a
given HSLA steel and austenitic stainless steel combination.
Microhardness measurements indicated that peak hardness
was achieved near bond interface. Maximum hardness (425 HV)
was observed on the clad layer and minimum hardness (190 HV)
was observed on the base plate (Fig. 10b). These variations were
observed near the interface over a distance of 100–200 lm and
the hardness was found uniform in the remaining regions both in
base plate and clad layer. Hardness variations near clad interface
were reported by many investigators [7,15–20]. Murugan and
Parmar [7] reported a peak hardness of 400 HV near the interface
of 316L stainless steel submerged arc cladding produced on IS
2062 structural steel. Hardened areas up to 200 lm were observed
near the interface of the explosive clad joints of duplex stainless
steel and low carbon–manganese steel by Kacar and Acarer [15]
and in HSLA steel and austenitic stainless steel by Venkateswara

Fig. 8. Microstructure of the base plate (a) in the region adjacent to the interface, (b) in the region far away from the interface and (c) SEM micrograph revealing carbide
precipitation in the region shown in (b).

Fig. 9. Microstructure of the clad layer revealing (a) austenite dendrites and (b) inter-layer boundaries B1 and B2 within austenite dendritic structure.

Table 2
Mechanical properties of the weld overlay-clad joint of austenitic stainless steel and HSLA steel.

Type of test Base plate At the interface

YS, MPa UTS, MPa % El YS, MPa UTS, MPa % El
Tensile 630 713 21 400 592a 19
Notch-tensile 926 1025 – 715 953 –
Shear/shear bond strength – 399 – – 488 –
CVN at 40 °C 164 J 47 J
a
Samples failed at friction weld joint and all other specimens pertaining to the interface failed at weld overlay-interface.
 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506 2503

Fig. 10. (a) Microhardness survey on weld overlay sample. (b) Variation of hardness across the interface.

Fig. 11. Fractographs of (a) tensile and (b) notch-tensile test specimens of the interface.

Rao et al. [20]. The hardness variations observed in the present
investigation are similar to the reported values and are attributed
to the microstructural changes observed near the interface. In the
base plate, decarburization as well as grain coarsening were ob-
served near the interface (Fig. 5b). These effects contribute to lower
hardness. In addition, diffusion of carbon from base plate to clad-
ding layer was observed as per Fig. 15a across the interface. There-
fore, there is an increase in the hardness of the clad layer near the
interface. Diffusion of carbon from base plate to deposited metal
and hence improvement in hardness of the deposited metal was
also reported by Pan and Chen [3] and Gooch [21].
Variations in the hardness indentation of the weld overlay plate
(Fig. 10a) also show that they are bigger on HSLA steel-side and
smaller on stainless steel-side. The indentation falling exactly on
the boundary is earmarked B, and the indentations immediately
on either side of it are marked S1 (on stainless steel) and H1 (on
HSLA steel). On critical observation, it is seen that the indentation
B is bigger than S1 but smaller than H1 indicating that the hard-
ness on 347 SS-side is higher and the hardness on HSLA-side is
lower when compared to the hardness exactly on the boundary.
The indentations S2, S3 and S4 on stainless steel are bigger than
indentation S1 indicating that the hardness is low in these regions
2504 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506

Fig. 12. Fractographs of (a) shear bond test specimens of the interface and (b) shear test specimens of the base plate.

Fig. 13. Fractographs of impact test specimens of (a) interface and (b) base plate.

Fig. 14. EPMA quantitative analysis data – diffusion zone widths.

Table 3
and stabilized. Similarly, The indentations H2, H3 and H4 on HSLA
Diffusion zone widths calculated from EPMA quantitative analysis data. steel are smaller than indentation H1 indicating that the hardness
is high in these regions and stabilized. These observations are anal-
Alloying element Ni Cr Mn Cu Mo Nb Si
ogous to the hardness variations shown in Fig. 10b.
Diffusion zone width, lm Fractographs taken on tensile, notch-tensile, shear bond test
Set 1 33 29 24 24 21 24 27
specimens of the interface as well as shear test specimens of the
Set 2 27 27 22 28 19 24 21
base plate revealed the presence of predominantly dimpled
 N. Venkateswara Rao et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 2496–2506
Fig. 15. EPMA line scans (a) for carbon and (b) for chromium.
rupture (Figs. 11 and 12). These features are considered to be in or-
der in relation to the respective mechanical test results. The HSLA
base plate was in hardened and tempered condition with its struc-
ture as tempered bainite/martensite. Therefore, charpy impact
specimens of the base plate failed in ductile mode (Fig. 13b) and
absorbed good amount of impact energy (164 J). However, impact
specimens of the interface absorbed a impact energy of 47 J and
failed in mixed mode revealing dimpled and quasi cleavage fea-
tures (Fig. 13a) as the interface consisted of austenitic stainless
steel having brittle dendritic structure (Fig. 9a).
EPMA quantitative analysis across the bond interface indicated
linear change in concentrations of various alloying elements be-
tween the levels appropriate to the clad layer and base metal
(Fig. 14). From the microstructural feature (Fig. 5c), width of the
clad interface appears to be 10–15 lm. However, from the EPMA
data, it was worked out that different alloying elements (Ni, Cr,
Mn, Cu, Mo, Nb and Si) diffused over a distance of 20–30 lm across
the interface (Table 3). For the major alloying elements such as Ni,
Cr and Mn, diffusion coefficients in c-iron at a temperature of
1180 °C were reported [20] as 5.7  10 11, 4.6  10 11 and
2.92  10 11 cm2/s respectively. The weld overlay-interface is
expected to reach such high temperatures (1180 °C) during weld
overlaying, and hence these diffusions coefficients are considered
valid for the present study. From Table 3, it is evident that the dif-
fusion zone widths worked out for Ni, Cr and Mn are found to be in
order as per their diffusion coefficients.
5. Conclusions
The HSLA steel could be successfully weld overlay clad with 347
austenitic stainless steel. By employing friction welding technique,
2505
various mechanical tests could successfully be conducted on the
weld overlay-interface. The following conclusions are drawn from
the present investigation:
(1) Tensile strength (713 MPa) and notch-tensile strength
(1025 MPa) of the base plate were found to be higher than
those for the weld overlay-interface (>592 and 953 MPa
respectively). Similarly, the Charpy V-notch energy of the
base plate at 40 °C (164 J) was found to be higher than that
for the interface (47 J).
(2) The microhardness was maximum at the bond interface. The
shear bond strength of the interface (488 MPa) was also
higher than the shear strength of the base plate (399 MPa)
as well as the shear bond strength (403 MPa) of the explo-
sive clad joint of the same two steels.
(3) The bond interface was nearly flat. The base plate had tem-
pered martensite/bainite structure and regions adjacent to
the interface had ferrite–bainite structure. The grains were
coarser and decarburized near interface. The clad layer
exhibited dendritic austenite structure.
(4) SEM fractography on shear and charpy impact specimens of
the base plate as well as shear bond, tensile and notch-
tensile specimens of the interface revealed the presence of
predominantly equiaxed dimples. Charpy impact specimens
of the interface revealed dimpled and quasi cleavage features.
(5) EPMA quantitative analysis data reveals that the alloying
elements such as Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Mo, Nb and Si diffused over
a distance of 20–30 lm across the interface.
Acknowledgements
Financial assistance from Defence Research and Development
Organisation is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like
to thank Dr. G. Malakondaiah, Director, Defence Metallurgical
Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, India, for his continued encour-
agement and permission to publish this work. The authors also
thank Special Steels Group, Metal Joining Group, Structure and
Failure Analysis Group, Electron Microscopy Group and Mechanical
Behaviour Group for their help in weld overlaying, optical micros-
copy, SEM, EPMA and mechanical testing. The authors are particu-
larly thankful to Messers A. Sambasiva Rao, K. Ankalu and B.G.
Sastry for their support. This paper is dedicated to late Professor
D.S. Sarma who was the driving force to carryout this work.
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