j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 1 ; 1 3 : 1 8 4 1 e1 8 5 4

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Original Article

A comparison of laser-metal inert gas hybrid

welding and metal inert gas welding of high-
nitrogen austenitic stainless steel

Jie Ning, Suck-Joo Na, Chen-hong Wang, Lin-Jie Zhang*

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China

article info abstract

Article history: High-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel (HNASS) has many excellent properties, such as
Received 9 March 2021 high strength and toughness, high strain-hardening ability, strong corrosion resistance and
Accepted 31 May 2021 low magnetization compared with the traditional widely used NieCr austenitic stainless
Available online 18 June 2021 steel. The high nitrogen content in HNASS leads to the welded joint in the risk of many
problems, such as nitrogen escape and loss, nitride precipitation, formation of pores and
Keywords: thermal cracks, resulting in the poor welding performance. The HNASS joints without
High-nitrogen austenitic stainless obvious defects were obtained by metal inert gas (MIG) welding and laser-MIG hybrid
steel welding, separately. The microstructures and properties of welded joints were compared.
MIG welding The nitrogen content in fusion zones of the two joints was tested by an oxygen, nitrogen
Laser-MIG hybrid welding and hydrogen analyzer. The tensile strength and the impact absorption energy of laser-MIG
hybrid welded joint were about 27% and 20% higher than those of MIG welded joint,
respectively. It could be attributed to the stronger solid solution strengthening effect
resulted by the high nitrogen content of laser-MIG hybrid welded joint. The finer grains and
the reduction of ferrite and precipitation phase in the microstructure of laser-MIG hybrid
welded joint contributed to the improvement of toughness.
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

appliance, railway industry, chemical equipment, petroleum

1. Introduction
Nitrogen is abundant, cheap and easy to obtain in the nature
and plays an important role in maintaining stability of
austenite phases in austenitic stainless steel. With excellent
mechanical properties, corrosion resistance non-magnetism,
and weldability, some types of high nitrogen austenitic
stainless steel (HNASS) are found to have been used in many
important industries, such as power generation, medicine,
and atomic energy industry [1]. Among them, non-magnetism
is the biggest characteristic of HNASS, the submarine made of
non-magnetic HNASS can avoid being locked by radar, and
has a good application prospect in the field of national defense
and military industry. For HNASS, it contains a high content of
nitrogen elements. Due to different solid solubility of nitrogen
in the solid and liquid metals during welding, nitrogen is very
likely to be absorbed or escape, generally accompanied by the

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhanglinjie@xjtu.edu.cn (L.-J. Zhang).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2021.05.113
2238-7854/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1842 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 1 ; 1 3 : 1 8 4 1 e1 8 5 4
decrease of the nitrogen content, resulting in the change of
microstructure and decrease of the performance of welded
joint [2,3]. Xia et al. [4] studied the nitrogen behavior in the
welding arc zone and weld pool respectively so as to control
the content of solid solution nitrogen effectively. Betini et al.
[5] found that the addition of nitrogen promoted the formation
of primary austenite and slightly increased the microhardness
in the solidified zone. Jegdic et al. [6] analyzed the corrosion
resistance of X5CrNi18-10 austenitic stainless steel welded
joints and found that the pitting resistance of welded joints
depended on the nitrogen content. The results of Ming et al.
[7,8] showed that the porosity and mechanical properties of
high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel weld were strongly
dependent on the welding current and the nitrogen content of
welding wire. It can be concluded that welding is one of the
primary problems to be solved in HNASS's engineering appli-
cation [9].
At present, friction stir welding and arc welding are mainly
used in the welding of high nitrogen steel [10e18]. The results
of Wen et al. [11] showed that the hardness of the weld zone of
high-nitrogen steel friction stir welding was significantly
lower than that of the base material, that is, the weld zone
appeared obvious softening phenomenon. The softening
phenomenon in the weld zone tends to result in premature
failure of the joint and reduce the service life of the welded
members. The high-nitrogen stainless steel welded joint with
tensile strength of 70% of the base material by friction stir
welding with water-cooling was achieved by Zhang et al. [12].
It can be found that high nitrogen steel joints with high tensile
strength can be obtained by friction stir welding, but there are
problems of softening in the weld zone and nitrogen element
precipitation. In addition, the rigid fixation on the back of the
weld during friction stir welding limits its application. Zhao
et al. [13] welded high nitrogen steel 1Cr22Mn16N by CO2 laser
welding, and their experimental results indicated that the
weld nitrogen content was more influenced by welding con-
ditions than shielding gas. Due to the high solidification rate,
the solidification mode during laser welding of stainless steel
was dominated by the primary austenite solidification mode,
which exacerbated the occurrence of hot cracking [14]. Their
results indicated that hot cracking susceptibility was
remarkably increased with increase in the solidification rate
and the nitrogen content. Arc welding can control the alloy
elements content in the melting zone by filling welding wire,
so as to ensure the microstructure, mechanical properties and
corrosion resistance of the welded joints of high-nitrogen
steel [15,16]. Mohammed et al. [17] found that the pitting
resistance of gas tungsten arc welded joint of 5 mm-thick
nickel free high nitrogen stainless steel could be improved due
to the presence of chromium and molybdenum in the filler
wire to improve the stability of the passivated film. Moham-
med et al. [18] further studied the microstructure, mechanical
properties and corrosion resistance of high nitrogen stainless
steel joint welded by shielded metal arc welding with
Cromang-N electrode. The electrode is high in chromium and
manganese, which increases the solubility of nitrogen in the
weld metal. The results show that the weld microstructure
consists of single-phase coarse dendritic austenite. Compared
with base metal, the mechanical properties of weld are poor.
Through their research results, it can be found that the
selection of filling materials plays an important role in
obtaining high nitrogen steel joints with excellent mechanical
properties and corrosion resistance. Kumar et al. [19] con-
ducted the welding of nitrogen (0.29 wt.%) -alloyed austenitic
steel (grade 23-8-N) by gas metal arc welding process. The
microstructure in weld zone is austenite þ ferrite. The ferrite
content near the interface of weld and heat affected zone is
the lowest and that in the weld center is the highest.
Compared with the base material, the weld zone also showed
obvious softening phenomenon, but the tensile strength of
the joint could reach 95% of the base material. Based on the
results of Mohammed et al. [17,18] and Kumar et al. [19], it can
be concluded that the dual-phase microstructure of
austenite þ ferrite is more conducive to obtaining higher
mechanical properties than that of single-phase coarse
austenite.
Combined with the advantages of laser and arc, laser-arc
hybrid welding is a new type of welding heat source with
the advantages of high energy density, high energy utilization
rate, high arc stability, low tooling preparation precision and
surface quality of the parts to be welded, showing a great
application prospect. Li and Zhang [20] welded high nitrogen
austenitic stainless steel by Nd:YAG-MAG hybrid welding
technology and their results indicated there was no soft zone
in welded joint. Shan et al. [21] studied the microstructure
evolution of laser-arc hybrid welded joints of high-nitrogen
steel and found that the weld microstructure consisted of
dendrite austenite phase and small rod-shaped delta ferrite
phase located between the dendrites. The results of Liu et al.
[22] show that the heat affected area of laser arc welding joint
of high nitrogen steel is composed of a large amount of
austenite and a small amount of triangular ferrite. The impact
energy of the joint decreases with the increase of laser power
and welding current. Ma et al. [23] obtained the welded joint
with a tensile strength of 93.8% of the base material for
20 mm-thick high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel plate by
laser-arc hybrid welding. It can be seen that laser-arc hybrid
welding is an ideal method for welding high-nitrogen steel,
but the porosity and nitrogen content of welding are impor-
tant factors affecting the mechanical properties and corrosion
resistance of high-nitrogen steel fusion welded joints, and
they are all for in-depth study [24,25]. Cui et al. [26] studied the
effect of shielding gas on the stability, microstructure and
mechanical properties of laser-arc hybrid welded joint for
high nitrogen stainless steel. The results show that adding 1%
oxygen into argon þ nitrogen gas can improve the weld
appearance and welding stability, and increase the nitrogen
content in the weld. The research results of Li et al. [27] indi-
cate that mechanical vibration can reduce the porosity of
laser-arc hybrid welded joint of high-nitrogen steel and in-
crease the nitrogen content. Bai et al. [28] studied the corro-
sion behavior of laser-arc hybrid welded joint in high nitrogen
steel. It is found that compared with arc action zone, laser
action zone at the bottom of weld has more uniform micro-
structure distribution, so it has excellent corrosion resistance.
This is consistent with the results of Liu et al. [29]. Liu et al. [29]
studied the effect of nitrogen gas flux on the microstructure
and corrosion resistance of laser-arc hybrid welded joint of
high nitrogen steel. The results show that the nitrogen con-
tent of weld increases with the increase of nitrogen gas flux.
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The microstructure of the welded joint is austenite and a
small amount of trigonometric ferrite. The larger the nitrogen
flow, the smaller the dendrite. With the increase of nitrogen
flow, the corrosion resistance becomes better. However, when
nitrogen flow is too large, nitrogen pores appear in the weld,
and the corrosion resistance decreases. By summarizing the
current research status of high-nitrogen steel, it can be found
that although scholars have studied the microstructure, me-
chanical properties and corrosion behavior of arc welded joint
and laser-arc hybrid welded joint for high-nitrogen steel
respectively, the research results are scattered and the results
are not comparable with each other due to different test
conditions.
This manuscript systematically compares the microstruc-
ture, properties and nitrogen content of 6 mm-thick high-
nitrogen austenitic stainless steel joint welded by MIG weld-
ing and laser-MIG hybrid welding. Firstly, by using the opti-
mized parameters obtained from previous tests, welding tests
of MIG welding and laser-MIG hybrid welding were carried out
to study the influence of the two welding methods on the
morphology, microstructure and performance of high-
nitrogen steel joints. The effect of nitrogen content on the
microstructure and performance of the joint was discussed.
The results of this study can serve as a guide for practical
applications.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
The 10Cr21Mn16NiN HNASS with the thickness of 6 mm was
used in the tests. Microstructures of base metal (BM) are
shown in Fig. 1. The BM substrate of HNASS showed fine and
uniform grains, austenitic microstructure with flat grain
boundaries and a small number of twin microstructures.
Moreover, a few micropores were dispersed inside grains and
at grain boundaries of austenite. The chemical compositions
of BM are listed in Table 1. ER307Mo welding wires with a
diameter of 1.2 mm were used and their chemical composi-
tions are demonstrated in Table 2. ER307Mo is austenitic
stainless steel welding wire. The low crack sensitivity due to
the high Mn content make it suitable for the welding of non-
magnetic, high manganese steel and hardened corrosion
resistant steel. The tensile strength of ER307Mo is about
615 MPa.
2.2. Methods
Fig. 2 displays welding diagrams. An IPG YLS-4000 laser with
the maximum output power of 4000 W, minimal spot size of
0.2 mm and focal length of 150 mm was used for welding. The
arc was provided as the heat source by a KempArc RF59MIG
Table 1 e Chemical compositions of HNASS (wt.%).
Composition C Mn Cr
Content 0.11 15.6 22.0
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Fig. 1 e Microstructures of the BM of HNASS.
welding machine. Argon with purity of 99.999% was used for
protection in the welding process.
Because most steel structures will bear tensile, compres-
sion, bending and other stresses in the welding process, it is
very important to select and determine the most appropriate
welding groove configuration [30]. The results of Cai et al.
indicated that a reduction in the groove root size is conducive
to achieving full penetration arc welding joints [31]. The single
weld depth and depthewidth ratio of MIG welding are small,
while the laser-MIG hybrid welding will greatly increase the
weld depthewidth ratio due to the addition of laser heat
source, as shown in Fig. 3(a). Therefore, Y-shaped grooves of
different dimensions were adopted for MIG welding and laser-
MIG hybrid welding samples in this study, as shown in
Fig. 3(b). The inclined angle and the root width of groove for
MIG welding sample is larger, and the root height of groove is
smaller, which leads to the requirement for large amount of
filler wire and low weld depth.
The welding parameters are illustrated in Table 3. Based on
the calculation equation (Equation (1)) for linear energy, linear
energies of the laser-MIG hybrid welding and MIG welding
were 5395 J/cm and 6285 J/cm, respectively, that is, the linear
energy of the laser-MIG hybrid welding was 85.8% that of the
MIG welding. These parameters included laser power P, wire
feed rate R, welding speed v, defocusing distance f, laser-arc
distance D, MIG-welding torch angle q and arc voltage U.
After the welding, metallographic specimens of cross sec-
tions of the joints were prepared according to standard pro-
cedures. HNASS was corroded by a corrodent containing nitric
acid and hydrochloric acid that in a ratio of 1:3.
After the samples were ground and polished, the Vickers
microhardnesses of horizontal sections were tested with a
N Ni Si P S Fe
0.65 1.9 0.32 0.027 0.001 Bal.
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Table 2 e Chemical compositions of ER307Mo welding wires (wt.%).

Composition C Mn Cr Mo Ni Si N Fe
Content 0.046 6.26 20.38 1.00 10.00 0.57 e Bal.

Fig. 2 e (a) Image of experimental setup and (b) view AeA in (a).

Fig. 3 e (a) The schematic diagram and (b) groove type and dimension of MIG welding and laser-MIG hybrid welding.

MH-5L microhardness tester under load of 300 gf and loading
time of 15 s.
Tensile tests were conducted by an Instron 1195 tensile
testing machine at a speed of 0.5 mm/min and tensile frac-
tures and cross sections of the joints were observed by a
Gemini 500 scanning electron microscope (SEM). Furthermore,
compositions were analyzed by an Oxford energy dispersive
spectrometer (EDS) equipped on the SEM and grain orientation
and composition distribution in the transition region were
analyzed by an Oxford electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)
system. Furthermore, the Leco ONH836 oxygen, nitrogen and
hydrogen analyzer was used to test nitrogen content in fusion
zones (FZs).
q ¼ (IU þ P)/v (1)
where, I, U and P indicate the welding current (A), arc
voltage (V) and laser power (W), respectively; v and q
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found in the FZ near the fusion line and begin to grow from
Table 3 e Welding parameters of HNASS.
coarse grains in the semi-melted HAZ and grow perpendicular
Specimen P f V (cm/ D q U R (m/ to the fusion line to the center of the FZ in the form of inter-
(W) (mm) min) (mm) ( ) (V) min)
growth crystallization. Furthermore, the columnar crystals
1-MIG e e 35 e 25 22 5 are coarse, especially in the cross section of the MIG welded
2-Laser- 1500 0 80 2 45 22 8 joint, which may be related to the large heat input during the
MIG
MIG welding. In the direction from the boundary to the center
of the FZ, the columnar crystals in the FZ are distributed as
cellular crystals and dendrites. Microstructures of FZs of the
separately represent the welding speed (cm/s) and linear en-
two joints both comprise austenitic substrate and a small
ergy (J/cm) of welding.
number of rod-like dendrites. By comparing Figs. 5(D)e(F) with
Figs. 5(d)e(f), it is found that microstructures of the FZ during
the hybrid welding are different from those in the MIG weld-
3. Results
ing. There are less rod-like dendrites in the FZ and grains in
the HAZ are small and have better microstructural morphol-
3.1. Microstructures and morphologies of the MIG
ogies. Moreover, dendrites are distributed uniformly in a
welded joint and laser-MIG hybrid welded joint
certain direction and there are no defects, such as solidifica-
tion cracks and slag inclusions.
3.1.1. Surface morphologies of the joints after the two
Fig. 6 demonstrates micro-morphologies and composition
welding processes
analysis of the HAZ of the joints welded by the two methods.
Fig. 4 shows surface morphologies of FZs obtained using the
Figs. 6(a)e(c) show HAZs of the MIG welded joint, while (A)e(C)
two welding methods. Fig. 4(a) and (b) demonstrates the MIG
illustrate HAZs of the laser-MIG hybrid welded joint. Coarse
welded joint and laser-MIG hybrid welded joint. It can be seen
austenites (g) are present in the HAZ of the two joints and rod-
from Fig. 4 that the two welding methods have large in-
like phases are distributed on the substrate with austenite
fluences on surface morphologies of FZs. When the traditional
along the rolling direction of BM. There are twin-
MIG-arc welding is used, the surfaces of FZs present a fish-
microstructures whose density increases compared with BM.
scale pattern with metallic luster, but no cracks. The wide
Obvious weld defects, like nitrogen gas pores and solidifica-
FZs have rough and uneven surfaces and a small amount of
tion cracks are not found in the HAZ. In the HAZ, the interface
splashing. As the hybrid welding is performed, overall mor-
between the rod-like phases and the g substrate is poorly
phologies of FZs are improved and the surfaces of FZs are well
bonded, and some rod-like phases are intermittent and short.
formed, with almost no splashing and cracks. However, sur-
However, it can be observed from Figs. 6(b) and (B) that the
face morphologies of FZs are slightly rough and have tarnish
density and number of rod-like phases in the HAZ of the MIG
metallic luster.
welded joint are larger than those of the hybrid welded joint.
By performing EDS analysis on g substrate and rod-like phases
3.1.2. Microstructural morphologies and composition
in Figs. 6(b) and (B), compared with the g substrate, Cr content
analysis of the joints welded by the two processes
in rod-like phases is high, while the Ni content is low. More-
Fig. 5 demonstrates cross-section morphologies of the joints
over, the contents of other elements are slightly different. The
obtained by the two welding processes, in which (A)e(F) show
nickel element is a very strong austenite-forming type alloy-
cross-section microstructures of the MIG welded joint, while
ing element and its reduction can decrease austenitization
(a)e(f) illustrate those of the laser-MIG hybrid welded joint. It
degree. In the HAZ of the hybrid welded joint, the content of Ni
can be observed that fusion lines of the joints of HNASS are
elements slightly increases and the content of Cr elements is
very obvious, where the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the FZ
slightly smaller than that in the MIG welded joint. The
are distributed on both sides of the line. Columnar crystals are

Fig. 4 e The top and bottom surface morphologies of (a) MIG welded joint; (b) Hybrid welded joint.
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Fig. 5 e The cross-section morphologies of the welded joints: (I), (A)e(F) MIG welded joint; (II), (a)e(f) Hybrid welded joint.
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Fig. 6 e The cross-section morphologies of HAZ of the welded joints: (a), (b) and (c) MIG welded joint; (A), (B) and (C) Hybrid
welded joint.

Fig. 7 e The cross-section morphologies of the FZ of the welded joints: (a), (b) and (c) MIG welded joint; (A), (B) and (C) Hybrid
welded joint.
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Fig. 8 e The results of microhardness test.

decrease of Cr elements can reduce generation of Cr23C6 brittle joint were measured respectively. The testing location and
phases and the stability of Ni elements can ensure stability of results are shown in Fig. 8. It can be seen from Fig. 8 that the
austenite in the substrate. As shown in Fig. 6(B), lath-shaped microhardness of the weld zone of the two kinds of joints is
phases in the HAZ of the hybrid welded joint are obviously about 200 HVe230 HV, which is significantly smaller than that
less than those in the MIG welded joint. of the base metal (about 280 HVe350 HV). ER307Mo, the
Fig. 7 displays micro-morphologies and composition anal- welding wire used in this study, is austenitic stainless steel
ysis of the FZ in the joints obtained by the two welding pro- welding wire. The tensile strength of ER307Mo is about
cesses. Figs. 7(a)e(c) show FZs in the MIG welded joint and 615 MPa, which is much lower than that of high nitrogen steel
Figs. 7(A)e(C) demonstrate FZs in the laser-MIG hybrid wel- base metal (about 1015 MPa). The decrease of microhardness
ded joint. Apart from the substrate, the FZ also has a small in the weld zone can be related to the low strength of the
number of rod-like dendrites. Moreover, the FZ shows no de- welding wire.
fects, like pores and solidification cracks, but presents a few
microvoids. Wang et al. [25] studied the effect of arc energy, 3.2.2. Tensile properties and fracture morphologies of the
laser energy and vibration frequency on the porosity of joints welded by the two processes
welding seams, and found that there was optimal parameters Tensile results of BM, the MIG welded joint and laser-MIG
of arc energy, laser energy and vibration frequency, under hybrid welded joint are shown in Fig. 8. BM of HNASS is sub-
which the number of pores in welding seams could be effec- jected to ductile fracture and shows the maximum tensile
tively inhibited. Li et al. [27] presented that the floating speed
of bubbles in the vibrating weld pool was faster than that in
the general welding method, which was the reason why me-
chanical vibration could reduce the welding pores. The for-
mation of microvoids in FZ is mainly related to the flow of
liquid metal during welding. Therefore, the optimization of
arc energy, laser energy and the employment of mechanical
vibration are expected to further eliminate the microvoids in
FZ. As displayed in Figs. 7(c) and (C), a few coarse dendrites are
found at the FZ in the MIG welded joint, while rod-like den-
drites are small at the FZ in the hybrid welded joint. By car-
rying out EDS-point analysis on characteristic zones in Figs.
7(b) and (B), it is found that the Ni content in black rod-like
dendrites is obviously smaller than that in the substrate.

3.2. Mechanical properties and morphologies of tensile

fractures of the MIG welded joint and laser-MIG hybrid
welded joint
Fig. 9 e The tensile results of the welded joints.
3.2.1. Microhardness test
The microhardness distributions on the transversal cross
sections of the laser-MIG hybrid welded joint and MIG welded
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Fig. 10 e SEM images of tensile fractures of the specimens: (a)e(g) MIG welded joint and (A)e(G) Hybrid welded joint.
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Fig. 11 e Broken positions of impact fractures of the specimens.
strength and yield strength of 1015 MPa and 827 MPa,
respectively. The maximum tensile strength of the MIG wel-
ded joint is 684 MPa, which is about 67% of BM and yield does
not occur in the tensile process. Furthermore, the maximum
tensile strength of the hybrid welded joint reaches 869 MPa,
which is 86% of BM and yield appears in the tensile process,
with yield strength of 748 MPa. Compared with the MIG
welding, tensile strength and plasticity of the hybrid welded
joint of HNASS are obviously improved. By calculating the
groove size, it can be found that the amount of filling metal in
MIG welding is about 4 times that of the laser-MIG hybrid
welding. Since the strength of the welding wire used in this
study is lower than that of the base metal, the larger amount
of filler wire will form a larger low-strength fusion zone,
which is one of the reasons for the lower strength of the MIG
welding joint in this study.
In addition, it can be found from Fig. 9 that the fracture
position of the two kinds of joints located at the boundary
between the weld seam and heat affected zone. The sharp
change of microstructure and microhardness at the boundary
between the weld seam and heat affected zone would lead to a
high stress concentration during tensile test, resulting in
fracture occurring along the fusion line during tensile test.
The similar phenomenon has been reported in the previous
study and analyzed by the simulation of finite element
method [32].
Fig. 10 shows SEM morphologies of tensile fractures of the
joints welded by the two methods. Figs. 10(a)e(g) illustrate
morphologies of tensile fracture of the MIG welded joint, while
Figs. 10(A)e(G) display morphologies of tensile fracture of the
hybrid welded joint. It can be observed that a lot of small,
shallow dimples are distributed on fractures of the MIG wel-
ded joint and tearing ridges are low. Second-phase particles
are hardly found in deep dimples, and there are obvious pores
in the fractures. Typical ductile fracture is shown in the FZ of
the hybrid welded joint and there are lot of dimples in frac-
tures, around which small dimples are distributed. Uniform
and deep dimples are intensively distributed in fractures with
obvious characteristics of ductile fracture.
3.2.3. Impact properties and morphologies of impact fractures
of joints welded by the two methods
Table 4 displays impact test results of BM, MIG welded joint
and laser-MIG hybrid welded joint. Fig. 11 shows the broken
positions of impact fractures of the specimens. Impact energy
of BM of HNASS is 34.95 J, while that of the MIG welded joint is
39.01 J. Moreover, impact energy of the hybrid welded joint
can reach 46.86 J, which is 134% of BM and about 120% of the
MIG welded joint. It can be found that compared with the MIG
welding, the hybrid welding can obviously improve impact
toughness of HNASS joints.
Fig. 12 demonstrates SEM morphologies of impact fractures
of the MIG welded joint and laser-MIG hybrid welded joint.
Figs. 12(a)e(h) show SEM morphologies of impact fractures of
the MIG welded joint, while Figs. 12(A)e(H) illustrate mor-
phologies of impact fractures of the hybrid welded joint. It can
be observed that dimples are distributed intensively on
impact fractures at the FZ of the MIG welded joint and have
different diameters. Small dimples are distributed around
large dimples and a few second-phase particles are found in
dimples. A small number of pores can be observed in frac-
tures. The typical ductile fracture morphology is found on
impact fractures at the FZ of the hybrid welded joint. It can be
seen from fractures that some pores exist in the joint and lots
of small dimples with basically uniform diameters are densely
distributed in fractures. Dimples are deep and densely
distributed and tearing ridges are high, indicating obvious
characteristics of ductile fracture and good impact properties.
4. Discussions
4.1. Test and analysis on nitrogen contents in the joints
welded by the two methods
Nitrogen is a strong austenite forming element, and its con-
tent has an important influence on microstructures of the FZ.
Nitrogen mainly exists in HNASS in the form of solid-solution
elements to replace expensive nickel, which makes HNASS
have many advantages and improves strength and toughness
thereof. In order to compare the difference of nitrogen con-
tents in FZs in the MIG welded joint and hybrid welded joint,
the nitrogen content in FZs of the two joints was tested by
using the Leco ONH836 oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen
analyzer.
Through the test, as shown in Table 5 and Fig. 13, the ni-
trogen content in BM of HNASS is measured to be 0.65%, while
that in the FZ of HNASS welded by the MIG welding is 0.37%,
which is about 57% of BM. For the laser-MIG hybrid welding,
the nitrogen content in the FZ is 0.52%, which is about 80% of
BM. The N content of ER307Mo filler wire is few. By calculating
the groove size, it can be found that the amount of filler metal
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 1 ; 1 3 : 1 8 4 1 e1 8 5 4 1851

Fig. 12 e SEM images of impact fractures of the specimens: (a)e(h) MIG welded joint and (A)e(H) Hybrid welded joint.
1852 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 1 ; 1 3 : 1 8 4 1 e1 8 5 4

in MIG welding is about 4 times that of the laser-MIG hybrid

welding. The larger amount of filler metal in MIG welding
Table 4 e Impact energy of the welded joints. contributed to the heavier loss of nitrogen elements.
During the MIG welding, nitrogen elements are lost
Specimens Impact energy Ak (J) Fracture
heavily, which significantly reduces mechanical performance
BM 34.95 Breaking of the welded HNASS joint. The maximum tensile strength of
MIG 39.01 Breaking the MIG welded joint is 684 MPa, which is only 67% that of BM.
Hybrid 46.86 Breaking
As for the hybrid welded joint, the nitrogen content in the FZ is
lost to a certain extent, but it maintains at 80% of BM and the
nitrogen content is about 1.4 times that of the MIG welded
joint. Moreover, the maximum tensile strength can reach
869 MPa, which is 86% of BM and impact energy is obviously
higher than that of the MIG welded joint. The welding speed of
laser-MIG hybrid welding is about 2.3 times that of MIG
welding, and the cooling speed of the weld pool is significantly
higher than that of MIG welding. The research results of Xia
et al. [4] studied the nitrogen behavior in the welding arc zone
and weld pool respectively so as to control the content of solid
solution nitrogen effectively. Ming et al. [7] indicated that the
increase of cooling rate could effectively increase the nitrogen
content in the weld metal of high-nitrogen steel and thus
improve the mechanical property. The above results demon-
strate that loss of the nitrogen content in the FZ is one of main
reasons for the decrease of joint performance. The nitrogen
content in the FZ after the MIG welding is obviously smaller
than that after the hybrid welding, which results in that ten-
sile and impact performances of the MIG welded joint are
Fig. 13 e The nitrogen contents of BM, MIG welded joint
greatly inferior to those of the hybrid welded joint.
and hybrid welded joint.

4.2. EBSD test and analysis of the joints welded by the

two methods

Table 5 e The nitrogen content in the FZ. In tensile tests, the MIG welded joint and laser-MIG hybrid
Specimens N content (wt.%) welded joint are fractured near the fusion line and EBSD
BM 0.65
observation is carried out at interface between the HAZ and
MIG 0.37 the HZ in the two joints. EBSD results include reverse pole
Hybrid 0.52 figure and phase distribution diagram. Different colors in the
reverse pole figure correspond to different grain orientations,

Fig. 14 e EBSD results of the MIG welded joint (a), (b) and the hybrid welded joint (c), (d).
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 1 ; 1 3 : 1 8 4 1 e1 8 5 4
while phase distribution diagram reflects the phase compo-
sition in the regions scanned by EBSD. As shown as results in
Fig. 14, grains in the FZ and the HAZ after the hybrid welding
are obviously smaller than that after the MIG welding. Phase
distribution shows that content of ferrite phases d in the MIG
welded joint accounts for 1.65% of all phases and that of
austenite phases g in the substrate occupies 85.01%. More-
over, the nitride precipitate Cr2N is 0.03%. After the laser-MIG
hybrid welding, ferrite phases d account for 0.34% of all pha-
ses, which is obviously smaller than that in the MIG welded
joint. The proportion of austenite phase g in the substrate is
89.64%, which is higher than that in the MIG welded joint. The
nitride precipitates Cr2N only occupy 0.01%. In HNASS, main
phases, such as Cr2N and Cr2N nitride precipitates generally
grow from boundaries to the interior of grains. Such nitrides
can obviously deteriorate mechanical performance of steel
and leads to that nitrogen content, which has strong austenite
forming effects, is obviously reduced. This results in that the
content of single austenite g decreases and the content of
ferrite phases d increases in the joint. After the hybrid weld-
ing, the reduction of both ferrite phases and nitrides pre-
cipitates indicates that the loss of the nitrogen content in the
substrate decreases and ensures a stable nitrogen content in
the substrate, which is consistent with the test results of the
nitrogen content. Therefore, compared with the MIG welding,
the laser-MIG hybrid welding for HNASS can obviously reduce
generation of ferrite phases d in the joint and the proportion of
ferrite phases reduces from 1.65% to 0.34%. In addition, this
reduces the precipitation of Cr2N and loss of nitrogen ele-
ments and maintains a high nitrogen content in the substrate.
This is favorable for stabilizing austenite in the joints and
ensuring high strength and toughness of HNASS joints.
5. Conclusions and prospects
5.1. Conclusions
This study welded HNASS through the MIG welding and laser-
MIG hybrid welding. The main conclusions are made as
follows:
(1) The maximum tensile strength of the MIG welded joint
is 684 MPa, which is about 67% of BM, without yield. The
laser-MIG hybrid welding can largely improve tensile
strength of the joint to 869 MPa, which is 86% of BM.
Yield occurs in the tensile process and yield strength is
748 MPa. Compared with the MIG welding, the hybrid
welding can obviously increase tensile strength and
plasticity of HNASS joints.
(2) Impact energy of the MIG welded joint is 39.01 J, while
that of the laser-MIG hybrid welded joint is 46.86 J. The
hybrid welding can significantly improve impact
toughness of HNASS joints.
(3) Analysis results demonstrate that the laser-MIG hybrid
welding can reduce loss of nitrogen content in joints.
The nitrogen content in the hybrid welded joint keeps at
0.52%, which is higher than that (0.37%) of the MIG
welded joint, ensuring stability of the substrate with
austenite and the solid solution strengthening effect of
1853
nitrogen elements. Based on EBSD tests, it can be found
that compared with the MIG welding, ferrite phases and
precipitated phases Cr2N in the hybrid welded joint
obviously decrease. Moreover, the loss of nitrogen
content reduces and stability of austenite becomes
strong, which ensures high toughness of HNASS joints.
5.2. Prospects
The mechanical properties of high strength steel welded
joints are mainly related to welding process, filler material,
groove type and size [33]. In this study, the difference of
composition and performance between filler wire and base
metal lead to a sharp change of microstructure and micro-
hardness at the boundary between the weld seam and heat
affected zone, resulting in a high stress concentration during
tensile test, and finally fracturing along the fusion line.
Although the characteristics of MIG welding ans laser-MIG
hybrid welding have been considered to determine the
groove dimensions of weld samples in this study, the type and
dimensions of groove still have a large space to be further
optimized. The welding wire with equal strength/high
strength matching and the optimized groove size are expected
to further improve the mechanical properties of the high ni-
trogen steel joint.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China, China (Grant No. 52005393) and National
Thousand Talents Program of P. R. China, China (Grant No.
WQ2017610446). The authors would thank teachers at In-
strument Analysis Center of Xi'an Jiaotong University for their
assistance with SEM analysis. This work was also supported
by the Project of Innovation Team of Xi'an Jiaotong University,
China (Grant No. XTR0118008).
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