Tribological behavior of electron beam D6ac weldment

A flow formed D6ac steel tubing was joined using electron beam (EB) welding. Thereafter, the EB weldments were treated by tempering at temperatures of 450 °C and 550 °C. After tempering, the microstructural features, mechanical properties, and tribological characteristics of the EB D6ac weldment were studied. This study used a scratch test to evaluate the sliding wear resistance of the tempered weldment. Results indicate that the tempering softens the microstructure by reducing the dislocation density of the flow formed D6ac steel. For the 450 °C/2 h/air cooling tempering treated D6ac steel, the fracture toughness of the EB weldment can be significantly improved. The tribological behavior of the tempered D6ac weldment depended on the tempered microstructures.