M. Sireesha

Bio: M. Sireesha is an academic researcher from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The author has contributed to research in topics: Welding & Inconel. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 4 publications receiving 271 citations.

Microstructural features of dissimilar welds between 316LN austenitic stainless steel and alloy 800

Abstract: For joining type 316LN austenitic stainless steel to modified 9Cr–1Mo steel for power plant application, a trimetallic configuration using an insert piece (such as alloy 800) of intermediate thermal coefficient of expansion (CTE) has been sometimes suggested for bridging the wide gap in CTE between the two steels. Two joints are thus involved and this paper is concerned with the weld between 316LN and alloy 800. These welds were produced using three types of filler materials: austenitic stainless steels corresponding to 316, 16Cr–8Ni–2Mo, and the nickel-base Inconel 182 1 . The weld fusion zones and the interfaces with the base materials were characterised in detail using light and transmission electron microscopy. The 316 and Inconel 182 weld metals solidified dendritically, while the 16–8–2 (16%Cr–8%Ni–2%Mo) weld metal showed a predominantly cellular substructure. The Inconel weld metal contained a large number of inclusions when deposited from flux-coated electrodes, but was relatively inclusion-free under inert gas-shielded welding. Long-term elevated-temperature aging of the weld metals resulted in embrittling sigma phase precipitation in the austenitic stainless steel weld metals, but the nickel-base welds showed no visible precipitation, demonstrating their superior metallurgical stability for high-temperature service.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Weld Fusion Zones in Modified 9Cr-1Mo Steel

Abstract: Modified 9Cr-1Mo steel finds increasing application in power plant construction because of its excellent high-temperature properties While it has been shown to be weldable and resistant to all types of cracking in the weld metal and heat-affected zone (HAZ), the achievement of optimum weld metal properties has often caused concern The design of appropriate welding consumables is important in this regard In the present work, plates of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel were welded with three different filler materials: standard 9Cr-1Mo steel, modified 9Cr-1Mo, and nickel-base alloy Inconel 182 Post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) was carried out at 730 and 760 °C for periods of 2 and 6 h The joints were characterized in detail by metallography Hardness, tensile properties, and Charpy toughness were evaluated Among the three filler materials used, although Inconel 182 resulted in high weld metal toughness, the strength properties were too low Between modified and standard 9Cr-1Mo, the former led to superior hardness and strength in all conditions However, with modified 9Cr-1Mo, fusion zone toughness was low and an acceptable value could be obtained only after PWHT for 6 h at 760 °C The relatively poor toughness was correlated to the occurrence of local regions of untransformed ferrite in the microstructure

Importance of filler material chemistry for optimising weld metal mechanical properties in modified 9Cr–1Mo steel

Abstract: Although modified 9Cr–1Mo (grade 91) steel is considered weldable using conventional procedures, the attainment of optimum weld metal properties often causes concern. In the current work, plates of grade 91 were manual metal arc welded using electrodes with slightly different compositions provided by two manufacturers. Post-weld tempering was performed at 730 and 760°C for 2 and 6 h in each case. The weld fusion zones were metallographically examined in detail and hardness, tensile properties, and toughness were estimated. The results showed that the weld metal produced from one of the two electrodes was distinctly superior in terms of ductility and toughness for any given welded or heat treated condition. This was attributed to the slightly higher silicon, niobium, and chromium contents in the inferior electrode, which resulted in both retention of some high temperature ferrite and a greater degree of precipitation. In this electrode, additionally, the alloying elements were introduced through th...

Evolution of phases in P91 steel in various heat treatment conditions and their effect on microstructure stability and mechanical properties

Abstract: To achieve high thermal efficiency, modern day thermal power plants operate at higher operating temperature and pressure which necessitates use of steels with high creep rupture strength such as modified 9Cr-1Mo steels. In the present study, the evolution of phases in modified 9Cr-1Mo P91 steel and their effects on microstructural stability and mechanical properties have been studied for specimens that were subjected to different thermal heat treatment conditions. The main focus has been to study the effect of heat treatment temperature ranging from 623 K to 1033 K (350–760 °C) on P91 steel. Further, the effect of furnace cooling, water quenching, tempering at 1273 K (1000 °C) and austenitizing on the mechanical properties and microstructure has been studied. The techniques used for material characterization were scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy (OM) and X-ray diffraction. For low tempering temperature, i.e. 623 K (350 °C), M 23 C 6 , M 3 C, M 7 C 3, and MX precipitates have been observed with high yield strength (YS), tensile strength (UTS), hardness and low toughness. In the high temperature range, 923–1033 K (650–760 °C), fine MX, M 7 C 3 , M 23 C 6 , M 2 X, and M 3 C precipitates have been observed with low YS, UTS, hardness and high toughness. The steel tempered at 1033 K (760 °C) was observed to be having best combination of YS, UTS, hardness, toughness and ductility.