Superior bonding properties of dissimilar steel joint produced by electroslag remelting

Abstract

The joining of dissimilar steels, called clad steel, has attracted great attention recently due to its good material performances and productivity. The present work utilized an electroslag-remelting (ESR) process to join dissimilar carbon and stainless steels with enhanced bonding properties. The microstructural characteristics and bonding properties of the developed ESR-clad steel were investigated in comparison to those of other clad steels manufactured by conventional methods, including hot roll-bonding and weld overlaying. The microstructure of the developed alloy gradually changed within the bonding layer; this change is discussed in light of the phase transformation and fracture behavior. The ESR-clad steel had much higher bonding strength compared to the other steel joints in shear testing. Such an improvement in the bonding properties was attributed to the defect-free interface and low residual stress in the graded bonding layer of the ESR-clad steel.