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Transmission Electron Microscopy and Nanoindentation Study of the Weld Zone Microstructure of Diode-Laser-Joined Automotive Transformation-Induced Plasticity Steel

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Abstract

We have used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nanoindentation to characterize the dominant phases present in the weld zone of a diode-laser-welded transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel, examining the unaffected base metal as a baseline. The microstructure of the base metal consists predominantly of ferrite, retained austenite, martensite, and occasional large carbide particles. The dominant microstructure of the weld zone is of differently oriented packets having a bainitic morphology. The weld also contains allotriomorphic ferrite, idiomorphic ferrite, as well some twinned martensite that is surrounded by austenite. The TEM analysis of the bainitic-morphology packets indicates that they consist of a lath ferrite phase separated by an interlath carbon-enriched retained austenite. In most cases, the orientation relationship (OR) between the lath ferrite and the interlath retained austenite can be approximated as Nishiyama–Wasserman (N-W). We used site-specific nanoindentation to further characterize the packets and the allotriomorphic ferrite, confirming through the hardness values the conclusions reached by TEM. While martensite was regularly present in the base metal, it was only sparsely distributed within the weld zone, boding well for the weld’s mechanical properties.

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Notes

  1. JEOL is a trademark of Japan Electron Optics Ltd., Tokyo.

  2. Desktop Microscopist is a trademark of Desktop Microscopist.

  3. NANOVISION is a trademark of MTS Systems Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Harry Bhadeshia and Velimir Radmilovic for the critical presubmission reviews of this manuscript. We also thank Ryan O′Hagan, MTS, for assistance with the nanoindentation testing and for very useful discussions. One of the authors (JC) wants to thank Dr. Fu-Gao Wei, National Institute for Materials Science of Japan, for the discussion. This research is financially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and AUTO21 Network Centres of Excellence of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, and the National Institute for Nanotechnology, AB T6G 2G6, Edmonton, Canada

    J. Chen (Research Associate), K. Sand (Undergraduate Research Assistant), C. Ophus (Graduate Research Assistant), R. Mohammadi (Graduate Research Assistant) & D. Mitlin (Assistant Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Canada

    M.S. Xia (Graduate Research Assistant), M.L. Kuntz (Research Assistant Professor) & Y. Zhou (Professor)

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  1. J. Chen
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  2. K. Sand
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  3. M.S. Xia
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  4. C. Ophus
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  5. R. Mohammadi
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  6. M.L. Kuntz
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  7. Y. Zhou
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  8. D. Mitlin
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Correspondence to D. Mitlin.

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Manuscript submitted February 27, 2007.

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Chen, J., Sand, K., Xia, M. et al. Transmission Electron Microscopy and Nanoindentation Study of the Weld Zone Microstructure of Diode-Laser-Joined Automotive Transformation-Induced Plasticity Steel. Metall Mater Trans A 39, 593–603 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-007-9389-x

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