Academician I. V. Gorynin Central Research Institute of Structural Materials “Prometey”, Saint Petersburg, Russia:

S. A. Pichuzhkin, Head of a Sector, e-mail: sergey1976111@yandex.ru
S. P. Chernobaev, Leading Engineer
A. A. Vaynerman, First Category Engineer

When cast bronze fitting and screw propeller bodies are made, various surface and internal metal defects (requiring the repair) can be formed in these products. The long-term operation of marine engineering bronze products in sea water results in the formation of major corrosion damage to them and even in their failure. Casting defects and in-service damage to copper alloy products may be repaired qualitatively by argon-arc welding and cladding. The quality of clad metal in repairing corrosion-erosion damage and casting defects with minimum recess of defective metal can be improved due to the use of activating flux. The article is devoted to the repair of casting defects and corrosion damage to aluminum bronze products by argon-arc welding with the use of activating flux. The paper studies the effect of an activating КСl – LiCl – NaF – ZnCl₂ – CaF₂ – NH₄Cl flux during nonconsumable electrode argon-arc welding of BrA9Zh4N4Mts1 (БрА9Ж4Н4Мц1) grade aluminium bronze items with corrosion products and casting defects on the weld metal quality, arc penetration ability, weld impurity with nonmetallic inclusions, structure and mechanical properties of welded joints. Unlike flux-free welding, the use of the activating FS 108 (ФС 108) flux of КCl – LiCl – NaF – ZnCl₂ – CaF₂ – NH₄Cl composition in AS (AC) nonconsumable electrode argon-arc welding of BrA9Zh4N4Mts1 aluminium bronze plates with casting defects and corrosion products provided stable arcing, good bead formation and defect-free weld metal. The use of activating flux allows the penetration depth to be increased by 15% and the weld impurity with nonmetallic inclusions to be reduced. The weld metal obtained by welding with activating flux consists of α-phase, an (α + æ + 2) eutectoid. The -phase is a solid copper-base solution with the lattice parameter of 0.3661–0.3666 nm, γ₂ is a solid solution based on the intermetallic Al₄Cu₉ and æ-phase of solid solution based on α-Fe with the lattice parameter of 0.288–0.289 nm. The use of activating flux in welding of aluminum bronze products allows the mechanical properties of welded joints to be obtained on a par with aluminum bronze as the base metal.

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