AbstractsEngineering

Super Duplex Stainless Steels have superior corrosion resistance properties and strength compared to conventional steels. However, these properties are influenced by the different phases that precipitate during the heat treatment process. The conventional way of studying the time and temperature effects on the properties and micro-structure of SDSS is to prepare many samples at different temperatures and holding times. The welding research group at Production Technology Center, Trollhättan, Sweden, has recently developed a unique heat treatment method to produce a wide range of temperature by using a stationary TIG arc heat source. It results in a graded micro-structure in a single sample at a specific time period. The accuracy of the results ob-ained from this process is highly related to the accuracy of the temperature field model next to weld pool. In this work, a model was developed by using OpenFOAM CDF code, to predict the temperature field of the super duplex stainless steel samples that have been subjected to this novel TIG arc heat treatment process. The developed model was able to capture the trend in the overall temperature field in the heat affected zone. However, there was some mismatch between the modelled and experimental temperature profiles in certain locations in the heat affected zone. Further improvements have to be done to the developed model in order to take the phase transformation effect into account. A preliminary investigation has been carried out on how to implement this in the current model and reported in the thesis.