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8. small traces of paint, of the type originally used in the Dunkirk Yards, were
discovered in the fracture surface of the fillet weld, implying that some
cracking has occurred in the weld already during manufacture of the rig and
prior to it going to sea.
9. Microhardness measurements were carried out on the fillet -welded joint and
these results are illustrated in figure 4,51. significantly the maximum hardness
is associated with the HAZ, reaching values of ca. 350 HV compared with ca.
160 in the base material. the hardness of the as-solidified weld metal lies
between these values
10. mechanical property measurements of both the flange plate and bracing
late materials were carried out and these results, together with microstructural
observations, are summarized in table 4.4. note that although the grain sizes in
both materials are small, the transverse (through-thickness) properties of the
flange plate material are exceptionally poor. fatigue life experiments were also
carried out on the main bracing material, giving satisfactory values for the
stress ranges expected
11. stress analysis of the effect of the sonar flange hole on stress concentration
in the bracing material, with and without the flange plate in position, was
carried out . this showed that if the flange plate has not been present the stress
concentration would almost double, reaching a value of about three times that
of the mean stress in the bracing. of the flange plate had been intact, the
maximum stress concentration would be about 1,8
12. examination of bracing A-5 and B-5, also containing sonar flanges revealed
no obvious signs of failure
possible effects of the weld thermal cycle on the bracing and flange plate
materials
that bracing material was a Nb-microalloyed, fine grained, high strength steel,
table 4,4. in normalized conditions the steel contains an extremely fine
dispersion of NBC precipitate which stabilizes and refines the grain size. the
carbon content is relatively high (0,17 wt %) giving the steel its fairly high
Cequiv value (0,41), Aluminium (0,044 wt %) is mainly present as a deoxidizer,
there evidently being little or no nitrogen present to form AIN or Nb (CN). the
continuous cooling diagram for the steel should not be unlike that shown in
figure 2,44 (for the 0,19 wt % C boundaries), in which it is seen that the
relatively high cooling rates of MMA welding are likely to give mainly bainite
microstructure. the presence of Nb, if it is in solution in the austenitic, further
tends to promote the lower binite transformation, as indicated in figure 2,50 in
other words,as discussed on pp. 105-112, this alloy is a typical example of
today's sophisticated steels which aim to possess the ideal combiantion of
high strength and acceptable weldability