The work conducted has covered many different welding, joining, surface treatment and associated manufacturing. The work has established key in-depth knowledge of the structure and properties of different welding processes of DSSs and related manufacturing. The structure and composition in different welding processes of DSS are established in detail, including the critical conditions for the formation of inclusions, which is detrimental to the properties of the weldment. The project integrated mathematical modelling, engineering simulation and experimental data for predicting the microstructure with different thermal histories including the volume fraction of ferrite and austenite phases in the welding zones, critical cooling rate for some precipitation particles and residual stresses, all of which are important for controlling the structures and properties of the joint. The effect of key elements and surface conditions on the corrosion resistance and the operating mechanisms is established. Some key data was established including the critical pitting temperatures for duplex stainless steels, the effect of post-weld cleaning of duplex stainless steel, influences of surface roughness, key elements (Mn, O, N, etc.) in the DSSs and welding fillers. The in-depth knowledge is complimentary to conventional industrial available data and provides key data for establishing the critical corrosion limiting structural parameters.
The intersectoral collaboration has developed practical parametrised models and data. The work covers programming through python and developing advanced approaches for determining the materials properties for the welding zones. A method to study/predict the complex performance of complex structures and properties (combination of mechanical and thermal properties, anisotropy) has been established inducing the use of the ANN, which is important for enhancing the program application. The work dissimilar welding covered different combinations of materials including Lean DSS, Standard DSS, Super DSS, and Hyper DSS with other materials groups (single phase SS, different steels, nonferrous metals) with a wide range of new welding processes and data.
