Monotonic behaviour of stainless-clad bimetallic steel and their welded joints

Abstract

This paper describes a series of structural tests on standardized coupons of stainless-clad (SC) bimetallic steel plates and their welded joints under various actions. Despite the clad layers of the stainless steel are bonded at a metallurgic level onto the substrate plate of carbon steel, it is important to establish that debonding of the clad layer from the substrate plate, i.e. an integrity failure within the SC plates, will not take place prematurely. These structural tests include i) debonding tests along the interfaces of the stainless steel and the carbon steel of the SC plates under shear and tension actions; ii) tension tests on the SC plates; iii) both tensile and bending tests on the welded joints of the SC plates. It is shown that among all these tests on the SC plates and their welded joints, the interfaces of the SC plates are very strong and fully intact under various global and local actions. The SC plates are considered to be highly effective, and enhancement provided by the clad layers of the stainless steel to the substrate plates of carbon steel is totally reliable up to its fracture. Moreover, the welded joints of the SC plates are always stronger than their base plates under the effects of welding. Consequently, it is demonstrated that these SC plates are able to meet various stringent structural requirements in construction, and they are able to sustain large applied loads even up to large deformations.