Variant selection of martensites in steel welded joints with low transformation temperature weld metals

► We examined the variant selection of martensites in the weld metals. ► We also measured the residual stress developed in the butt and box welded joints. ► 24 martensite variants were randomly selected in the butt welded joint. ► High tensile residual stress in the box welded joint led to the strong variant selection. ► We discussed the rule of the variant selection focusing on the residual stress. Martensitic transformation behavior in steel welded joints with low transformation temperature weld (LTTW) metal was examined focusing on the variant selection of martensites. The butt and box welded joints were prepared with LTTW metals and 980MPa grade high strength steels. The residual stress of the welded joints, which was measured by a neutron diffraction technique, was effectively reduced by the expansion of the LTTW metals by the martensitic transformation during cooling after the welding process. In the LTTW metals, the retained austenite and martensite phases have the Kurdjumov–Sachs (K–S) orientation relationship. The variant selection of the martensites in the LTTW metals depended strongly on the type of welded joints. In the butt welded joint, 24 K–S variants were almost randomly selected while a few variants were preferentially chosen in the box welded joint. This suggests that the high residual stress developed in the box welded joint accelerated the formation of specific variants during the cooling process, in contrast to the butt welded joint with low residual stress.