Effect of Weld Heat Input on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Joints of API-B and API-X42 Pipeline Steels

In this study, the effect of welding heat input on microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar joints of API-X42 and API-B pipeline steels was investigated. Evaluation of the microstructures showed that increasing the welding heat input decreased acicular ferrite in weld metal microstructure, while amount of Widmanstatten ferrite, polygonal ferrite and grain boundary ferrite increased. Also, results of microhardness test showed that by increasing the heat input, hardness of weld metal and the heat affected zone decreased. Tensile test results showed that as the heat input increased, fracture transferred from base metal of API-B to the heat affected zone. Impact test results also showed that increasing the welding heat input could sharply drop the impact energy of the heat affected zone for both base metals due to extensive grain growth.