Microstructural Characterization of Simulated and Actual Constituent Regions of P91 Steel Weldment

AbstractIn the present study simulated and the actual microstructures of the coarse grain, fine grain and intercritical heat-affected zones of P91 steel weldment are characterized using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. Both the simulated and actual heat-affected zone (HAZ) microstructures showed profound substructural recovery after post-weld heat treatment/tempering. The subgrain size distributions between the simulated and the actual HAZs are comparable. The actual HAZ microstructures exhibited greater low angle grain boundaries and local strain distributions compared to the simulated HAZ microstructures due to the complex microstructural geometry of the actual weldment. The similarity in the variations of grain size, precipitate size and hardness of the simulated and actual HAZs validates the simulation of HAZ microstructures through furnace heat treatment.Key words: P91 steel Simulated HAZ Microstructure EBSD Hardness Yield Strength DisclaimerAs a service to authors and researchers we are providing this version of an accepted manuscript (AM). Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication of the Version of Record (VoR). During production and pre-press, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal relate to these versions also.