Study on the Microstructural and Proficiencies of Heat‐Affected Zone in High‐Slope Mountainous Welded Pipeline Steels

The failure rate of pipelines in mountainous areas is much higher than that in other service areas. To ensure the efficiency and quality of the project, automatic welding has become a development trend. The heat‐affected zone (HAZ) as a weak area, to a large extent, reflects the quality of welded joints. Herein, the microstructure and mechanical properties of HAZ on both sides of welded joints under a 30° large slope are characterized by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, and Charpy impact. The results show that the properties of HAZ are affected by many strengthening mechanisms such as grain refinement, solid solution, dislocation, and precipitation, among which grain refinement plays a leading role. The slope will affect the NbC phase size and grain size, resulting in differences in HAZ properties on both sides. The grain size of each microzone in the lower side HAZ is coarsened compared to the higher side, and the dislocation density is lower, leading to a decrease in hardness and impact toughness, thus becoming the weakest region in the welded joint. Therefore, for welding under the condition of slope, attention must be paid to the influence of slope on the performance of welded joints.