Laser Welding of ASTM A553-1 (9% Nickel Steel) (PART II: Comparison of Mechanical Properties with FCAW)

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is tightening regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ship operations. As a result, the number of vessels using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel has increased rapidly. At this time, ASTM A553-1 (9% nickel steel) is being used as a tank material for storing LNG as fuel because of its higher strength than other cryogenic materials. Currently, shipyards are manufacturing LNG fuel tanks using the flux cored arc welding (FCAW) method using 9% nickel steel material. However, fabrication through FCAW has two drawbacks. The first is that the welding filler is 20 times higher cost than the base metal, and the second is that the total production cost increases because the thickness of the tank increases due to the strength drop near the heat affected zone (HAZ) after welding. The laser welding of A553-1, which does not require additional welding fillers and has no yield and tensile strength reduction in the HAZ, can overcome the drawbacks of FCAW and ensure price competitiveness. Through the study of Part I (penetration shape by bead on plate), the penetration characteristics of laser welding were studied and the optimized welding conditions of 15 mm thickness of A553-1 were obtained. With optimized conditions, butt laser welding tests of A553-1 material were conducted in this study, and mechanical properties, which are tensile/yield strength, hardness, bending strength, and impact property on the cryogenic temperature of the weld zone after laser beam welding, are confirmed by comparing those after FCAW. In the case of tensile/yield strength, hardness, and bending strength at weldment, the values of laser beam welding (LBW) are higher than those of FCAW, and the value of the impact test after FCAW is higher than that of LBW, but both values are satisfied in ASTM. Through these conclusions, it is confirmed that there are no mechanical property problems in replacing the existing FCAW with LBW.