Institute of Physical-Technical Problems of the North named after V. P. Larionov, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Yakutsk, Russia)

N. I. Golikov, Dr. Eng., Chief Researcher, Dept. 10. Welding and Metallurgy Technologies, n.i.golikov@mail.ru
I. I. Sannikov, Lead Engineer, Dept. 10. Welding and Metallurgy Technologies, i.i.sannikov@mail.ru
S. V. Semyonov, Postgraduate Student, Lead Engineer, Dept. 10. Welding and Metallurgy Technologies, s1789@mail.ru
P. S. Dmitriev, Postgraduate Student, Lead Engineer, Dept. 10. Welding and Metallurgy Technologies

Ensuring the reliability and durability of welded structures in northern and Arctic regions, where extremely low temperatures significantly affect welding thermal processes, remains a critical issue. Welding under low climatic temperatures increases heat removal from the weld zone, influencing the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joint. Higher cooling rates raise the likelihood of quenched structures forming, which may reduce the fracture resistance of welded joints. This paper presents experimental results on thermal cycles during multi-pass manual arc welding of low-alloy steel 10KhSND at subzero ambient temperatures (–15 °C and –35 °C) and their effect on the hardness of weld zones are also displayed. Temperature fields were recorded using high-precision chromel-alumel and platinum-platinum/rhodium thermocouples. It was found that reducing the ambient temperature to –35 °C increases the cooling rate in the root pass by 49 % compared to room temperature (+20 °C). The study demonstrates that multi-pass welding reduces cooling rates in subsequent layers due to preheating effects. Meanwhile, the heataffected zone exhibits an 11–12 % decrease in hardness, attributed to microstructural changes induced by thermal cycles. The obtained results hold significant practical value for developing welding guidelines in extreme northern and Arctic conditions, improving microstructure, and enhancing the operational performance of welded joints.

The research was carried out under financial support of the grant of Russian Scientific Fund (No. 24-29-20214), https://rscf.ru/project/24-29-20214/.
The research was conducted using the equipment of the Research sharing center of the Yakutsk scientific center of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The authors express their gratitude to Semen Semenov, the junior researcher, for his assistance in registration of welding thermal cycles.

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