Abstract: Evaluation of creep properties of the welded joint through taking local fluctuation of the mechanical properties into consideration is experimentally or analytically seldom carried out. The purposes of the present study are to examine the surface strain distribution in the weld metal of a full thickness welded joint specimen and subsequently to investigate the local variation in the properties of the all-weld metal part of the joint using miniature specimens. A welded joint was prepared for 316FR steel plates by gas tungsten arc welding process using Mod. 316L filler wire. Creep tests were conducted at 823K in air using full thickness large welded joint specimens, HAZ and all-weld metal miniature specimens. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the creep properties of multi-layer welded joints strongly depend on the location of specimen sampling.

Key words: creep properties, weld metal, welded joint