Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of C10100 Copper/304 Stainless Steel Electron Beam Welded Joint

Abstract

Abstract Copper-steel dissimilar welded structural components are widely used in heat exchangers of nuclear power equipment. Electron beam welded dissimilar joints of C10100 copper/304 stainless steel sheets were investigated in this research. The experimental results for the microstructure and mechanical properties proved that optimizing welding process parameters could be used to get a well-formed weld without defects and the microstructure of weld was consisted of a mixture of two finite solid solutions in austenite matrix. The grain orientation was random, with dominating high-angle grain boundaries. The microhardness dropped along the 304SS / weld/C10100 copper interfaces, and the tensile strength reached 310 MPa. The heat-affected zone on the C10100 copper side appeared as the weakest part due to the largest austenite size and the least number of high-angle grain boundaries.