Oxide Inclusions in the Weld Pool during Submerged Arc Welding of Low Alloy Steel

摘要

The composition, size distribution, and number density ofoxide inclusions in the weld metal are critical factors in determiningweldment properties. A new computational modeling technique is presentedin this paper to understand these factors considering the fluid flow andtemperature field in weld pool during submerged arc welding (SAW) of lowalloy steels. The loci and the corresponding thermal cycles of thousands ofoxide inclusions are calculated in the weld pool numerically. Thetemperature-time history and the computed time-temperature-transformation(TTT) behavior of inclusions were then used to understand the growth anddissolution of oxide inclusions in the weld pool. The statistically meaningfulcharacteristics of inclusion behavior in the weld pool were calculated forseveral thousand inclusions. The agreement between the computed and themeasured size distribution indicates that these parameters can be understoodfrom the fundamentals of transport phenomena and kinetics.