Engineer Amri Hossein Jafarzade, Engineer Mohammad Saeed Shahriari, Ph.d Ruhollah Ashiri,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (Journal OF Welding Science and Technology 2025)
Abstract
Repair welding of nickel-based superalloy Inconel 939, which was under working conditions of 100,000 hours, was performed by gas tungsten arc welding using Inconel 617 filler metal. The main objective of this study is to investigate and analyze the challenges during welding such as irregular distribution of primary MC carbides and crack formation in the heat-affected zone, and also to investigate the effect of post-welding heat treatment cycle on the microstructure and hardness of different weld zones. During welding, a crack of 91 micrometers length was observed in the heat affected zone, which due to the presence of a liquation film and accumulation of carbides around the crack, the crack was categorized as a liquation crack. Then, due to post-welding heat treatment, improvement of microstructural characteristics and hardness of the weld zone, partial melted zone, and heat-affected zone was observed, which resulted in homogenization of the hardness profile of the weld. In other words, in post-weld heat treatment, the improvement and uniformity of carbides allow for a better response to hardness properties in different welded areas. It was observed that post-welding heat treatment caused the crack formed during welding to grow and spread to reach a length of 386 micrometers, which was classified as a strain-aging crack due to its formation and growth during post-welding heat treatment.
