Welding of Corten-A weathering steel sheets – A Review

Weathering steel sheets, CORTEN-A grade, has been used in the construction ofoffshorestructures, in which welding processes are utilized to join or repair various metalliccomponents. Despite the widespread industrial application of welded CORTEN-A steelsheets and the significance of their weldability, a limited number of technical papers orguidelines are published. In this paper, we have systematically reviewed themicrostructure of the weld zone and heat-affected zone of similar and dissimilar joints ofCORTEN-A weathering steel sheets to provide a guideline to offshore industries. Gastungsten arc welding (GTAW) or gas metal arc welding (GMAW) with shielding gas isused to join CORTEN-A steel sheets. ER۷۰S-۶ welding electrodes were used as theprimary filler metal. Due to the presence of nickel and copper in the weathering steel'schemical composition, the weldability is lower than that of plain carbon steel.Reportedly, the microstructure of the heat-affected zone is similar to that of the weldzone. Due to high cooling rates, the weld microstructure includes grain-boundary ferrite,Wiedmannstatten, and acicular ferritic structures. The intrinsic properties of the welddepend on the dilution level. On the one hand, increasing the dilution level makes theintrinsic properties of the weld more comparable with the base metal, enhancing theoffshore structures' overall structural integrity. On the other hand, an increased dilutionlevel could cause the formation of weld defects or the rupture of the steel sheets duringwelding. Therefore, optimizing the dilution level and selecting a suitable shielding gasare considered two critical factors in welding CORTEN-A weathering steel sheets

کلیدواژه ها:

CORTEN-A Steel ، Welding ، Microstructure ، Weldability.