Effect of mechanical restraint on weldability of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steel thick plates

Abstract As one of the reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels, the weldability of thick F82H plate was experimentally examined using new heat sources in order to minimize the total heat input energy in comparison with TIG welding. A full penetration of 32 mm thick plate could be produced as a combination of a 12 mm deep first layer generated by a 10 kW fiber laser beam and upper layers deposited by a plasma MIG hybrid welding with Ar + 2%O shielding gas. Also, the effect of mechanical restraint on the weldability under EB welding of thick F82H plate was studied by using FEM to select an appropriate specimen size for the basic test. The appropriate and minimum size for the basic test of weldability under EB welding of 90 mm thick plate might be 200 mm in length and 400 mm in width where the welding length should be about 180 mm.