Characterization of low-activation ferritic steel (JLF-1) weld joint by simulated heat-treatments

Characterization of a weld joint of a Fe-Cr-W ferritic steel (JLF-1) has been carried out in comparison with heat-treated specimens. The heat-treatment was carried out to simulate heating history effects of the base metal (BM), the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and the weld metal (WM) of the joint. Change in X-ray diffraction patterns and hardness of the weld joint and the heat-treated samples are compared and discussed. The results of X-ray diffractometry and the hardness measurements suggest that phase transformation should occur around the heat-treatment temperature of 820-830°C, and that the transformation does not necessarily cause hardening. Although the hardness of the HAZ changes with the distance from fusion line, the internal strain and the residual stress do not change significantly throughout the HAZ. The single heat-treatment test seems insufficient to correlate directly to the HAZ of the weld joint, because repeated heating with different maximum temperatures and different cooling rates would have been applied to the HAZ.