Investigation of Single-Pass Laser Remelted Joint of Mo-5Re Alloy: Microstructure, Residual Stress and Angular Distortion

Molybdenum-rhenium (Mo-Re) alloys, especially those with low Re content, have great potential in fabricating nuclear components. However, the extremely high melting point and high brittleness of Mo-Re alloys make them difficult to weld. In this study, laser welding was used to prepare single-pass remelted joint of Mo-5Re alloy with welding parameters of laser power 2800 W, welding speed 2 m·min⁻¹ and argon gas flow rate 20 L·min⁻¹. The microstructure of the remelted joint was investigated by the optical microscopy and the scanning electron microscopy. The microhardness distribution of the joint was analyzed. In addition, the temperature field, residual stress, and angular distortion of the joint were investigated by both numerical and experimental methods. The results show that columnar grains grew from the fusion boundary toward the center of the weld pool, and equiaxed grains formed in the central region of the fusion zone (FZ). In the heat-affected zone (HAZ), the grains transformed from initial elongated into equiaxed grains. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) results revealed that high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) dominated in FZ. Oxide/carbide particles at grain boundaries and inside the grains can be inferred from contrast results. The average microhardness of FZ was 170 ± 5 (standard deviation) HV, which was approximately 80 HV lower than that of the base metal (250 ± 2 HV). Softening phenomenon was also observed in HAZ. The calculated weld pool shape showed high consistency with the experimental observation. The peak temperature (296 °C) of the simulated thermal cycling curve was ~8% higher than the measured value (275 °C). The residual stress calculation results indicated that FZ and its vicinity exhibited high levels of longitudinal tensile residual stresses. The simulated peak longitudinal residual stress (509MPa) was ~30% higher than the measured value (393MPa). Furthermore, both the simulation and experimental results demonstrated that the single-pass remelted joint of Mo-5Re alloy produced only minor angular distortion. The obtained results are very useful in understanding the basic phenomena and problems in laser welding of Mo alloys with low Re content.