Effect of postweld treatment on the fatigue crack growth rate of electron-beam-welded AlSI 4130 steel

This article studies the effect of in-chamber electron beam and ex-chamber furnace postweld treatments on the fatigue crack growth rate of electron-beam-welded AISI 4130 steel. Mechanical properties of the weldment are evaluated by tensile testing, while the fatigue properties are investigated by a fatigue crack propagation method. Microstructural examination shows that both postweld treatments temper the weldment-by the appropriate control of beam pattern width, input beam energy, and furnace temperature. In addition, the ductility, strength, and microhardness of the weldment also reflect this tempering effect. The fatigue crack growth rate is decreased after both postweld treatments. This is mainly caused by the existence of a toughened microstructure and relief of the residual stress due to the fact that (1) the residual stress becomes more compressive as more beam energy is delivered into the samples and (2) postweld furnace tempering effectively releases the tensile stress into a compressive stress state.