Engineering Failure Analysis 104 (2019) 448–461

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Engineering Failure Analysis

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Optimization parameters for circumferentially welded pipes

T
⁎
A. Mahdjoura, , A. El-azzizia, M. Hadj Melianib,c, Tahar Natechea, G. Pluvinageb,c
a
Laboratoire de Mécanique Appliquée, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d'Oran (USTO MB), Oran, Algeria
b
University of Chlef, LPTPM, Esalem City, Chlef 02000, Algeria
c
LEM3, ENIM, Ilea of Saulcy, Metz 57070, France

A R T IC LE I N F O ABS TRA CT

Keywords: High strength and low alloy steels are commonly used in the manufacture of tubes, which are
Welded joint standardized by the API standard for oil and gas transport systems. The high yielding limits, high
Pipes tenacity at low temperatures and the smaller thicknesses, allow the use of ducts with larger
Heat treatment diameters and subjected to higher internal pressures, thus increasing their efficiency in the
Microhardness
transport of fluids. This paper deals with the identification of the best temperatures applicable to
Metallographic
stress relief and quenching and tempering treatments that optimize mechanical properties in
circumferential welded joints, through Vickers traction and Charpy impact tests with V-notch “.
In addition, the specimens will be characterized metallographically to correlate the mechanical
and microstructural properties found in the different regions of the welded joint.

1. Introduction

The transport of oil and its derivatives is made by piping (transport between the same unit) or pipelines (transport between units
with different legal personalities), which are composed of tubes welded together. In the case of pipelines, when the pipes are
transported and placed in the field for proper installation, the need arises for their adaptation to the ground topography. One way to
curva
adapt the tubes to the predominant reliefs in the field is the use of tube bending techniques, which can be cold, for small diameters, or
hot bending by magnetic induction, in tubes with larger diameters. During the hot bending process, the material undergoes rapid
heating at temperatures above 900 °C located in the circumferential region of the tube, which is subsequently bent and then cooled
with water jets. This process is characterized as a quenching heat treatment, which increases the hardness of the material, the
dureza
resistance limit and the yield limit, and decreases its toughness. To achieve the desired mechanical properties of the material used in
the piping, tempering heat treatment is required. Its function is to reduce the hardness of the material, to relieve the residual stresses,
to increase the toughness and to reduce the yield limit of the material [1]. In the light of the above, several thermal treatments of
quenching and tempering will be investigated, however, in pipe joints of the American Petroleum Institute (API) API 5 L X80 steel
welded circumferentially, without the application of plastic deformation process that characterizes the tube deformation.
High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA), also known as micro alloyed steels, are carbon iron alloys that have good mechanical properties
and/or resistance to atmospheric corrosion, Compared to common carbon steels, such as A36, for example. Its yield limits are greater
than or equal to 275 MPa [2], while the A36 has a yield limit, according to ASTM A36, of 250 MPa [3].
The satisfactory weldability and formability of these steels are achieved with low carbon (C) contents, which can range from
0.05% to 0.25% and manganese contents limited to the maximum of 2.0%. Among other chemical elements present are: Chromium
(Cr), Nickel (Ni), Molybdenum (Mo), Copper (Cu), Nitrogen (N), Vanadium (V), Niobium (Ti) and Zr (Zr), which can be used through

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: m.hadjmeliani@univ-chlef.dz (A. Mahdjour).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2019.06.008
Received 11 March 2019; Received in revised form 19 May 2019; Accepted 4 June 2019
Available online 05 June 2019
1350-6307/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Mahdjour, et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 104 (2019) 448–461

various combinations and chemical compositions [2]. HSLA steels were introduced in the late 1930s and early 1940s, due to the use
of micro lending elements and in small amounts. The use of these elements was intended to achieve and guarantee the minimum flow
limit required by the project code [2]. HSLA steels are used in the manufacture of oil and gas industry pipelines and pipelines, in
ships, in offshore structures, in automotive industries, in pressure vessels and in heavy equipment in general [2]. They are normally
supplied to the processing industry under “hot rolled” conditions. However, steels may be delivered by agreement between supplier
and buyer under controlled rolling, normalized or precipitation hardened conditions. Despite these variations in its manufacturing
process, HSLA steels must meet the required minimum specifications established by technical standards applied to a given project [2].
American Petroleum Institute (API 5 L) steels are commonly used in the oil and gas industry for the transportation of gaseous and/or
liquid fuels. They are classified according to ASM as micro-alloyed steels. The API standard regulates the manufacturing, as well as
suggests chemical compositions and mechanical properties of the HSLA steels used in the construction of the tubes [4,5].
The common microstructure found in API 5L X80 steel tubes depends on the manufacturing process and the chemical composition
of the steel. Those manufactured by the TMCP (Thermo-Mechanically Controlled Processing) with accelerated cooling have as their
microstructure ferrite bainite, perlite, or ferrite carbide aggregates [2]. Morales [6] studied an X80 with 0.05% C, 1.74% Mn, 0.069%
Nb, 0.022% V and 0.014% Ti that showed microstructure with acicular ferrite, polygonal ferrite and other phases (martensite and
austenite). Wang [7], using another X80, with composition 0.025% C, 1.83% Mn, 0.08% Nb, 0.03% V and 0.012% Ti, found acicular
ferrite and quasi-polygonal ferrite and islands of the micro constituents.
The properties of HSLA steels are obtained through the combination of chemical composition and processing (thermo-mechanical
atravéz
lamination). This combination can be expressed through the hardening mechanisms and aims to improve the following properties:
mechanical strength, toughness, ductility, formability and weldability. The hardening mechanisms applicable to HSLA steels are:
increased discordance density; by solid solution by interstitial and/or substitution atoms; By grain refining and by precipitation [8].
Among the different mechanisms mentioned above, grain size reduction is achieved by combining the chemical composition of the
material and its manufacturing route, TMCP. As the grain size decreases, the number of interfaces increases and, consequently, the
tenacity of the material is also increased. This happens because the path that the crack travels is larger and the interfaces absorb their
propagation energy. Therefore, grain refining is a hardening mechanism that simultaneously increases the toughness and strength of
the material and reduces its ductile-brittle transition temperature [9]. The chemical composition of the steel, together with the
reheating of the material above the austenitization temperature, followed by rolling and cooling, promotes satisfactory mechanical
properties [10]. The micro-binder elements increase the mechanical strength and toughness of the material without affecting its
weldability [11]. The cooling is performed defines the cooling rate to be obtained, and may be water, water with agitation, oil or even
air [12], depending on the chemical composition of the steel. The ASM Metals Handbook [13], in volume 4 “Heat treating”, page 94,
states that the heat treatment time, after the furnace reaches the treatment temperature with the part therein, is one hour per inch of
thickness.
In view of the need to adapt the pipes in the field according to the relief of each region, they are held hot bend in pipelines. During
the process, the product undergoes thermal treatments which modify its microstructure and mechanical properties. It has been
carried out, in this paper, heat treatment (HT) of quenching and tempering, with the objective of obtaining the best mechanical
properties in the welded joints.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Base metal and welding of pipes

The steel studied is characterized according to API 5L, which defines it according to its chemical composition, minimum guaranty
mechanical strength and toughness. Thus, Table 1 shows its chemical composition.
Two rings with 300 mm lengths were welded circumferentially from an API 5 L X80 steel tube manufactured according to the
TMCP (Thermo-Mechanically Controlled Processing) route. The studied tube had a diameter of 1016 mm and 16.5 mm thick.
A V-shaped chamfer was made with a 30° bevel angle. The steel studied is characterized according to API 5 L. Fig. 1a shows the
configuration of the circumferential gasket. First, the tubes were aligned leaving a root opening of 2.4 mm between them. After the
assembly, a root pass (pass 1) was performed using the MAG welding process with controlled transfer and shielding gas whose gas
mixture was 80% Ar and 20% CO2 and flow rate of 17 l /min. The wire used in this pass was with 1.1 mm in diameter. The welding
parameters collected by the software connected to the welding equipment were: welding time, average arc voltage, average welding
current and wire feed speed. In the filling and finishing passes (pass 2 through pass 6), the process used was the Tubular Wire with gas

Table 1
. Composition of API 5L X80 Steel used in this study.
Element Mean (% by weight) Element Mean (% by weight) Element Mean (% by weight) Element Mean (% by weight)

C 0.0610 Cr 0.1920 Ti 0.0150 Pb 0.0001

Mn 1.5970 Ni 0.1980 V 0.0270 Sb 0.0029
Si 0.2160 Mo 0.0020 Nb 0.0649 Sn 0.0013
P 0.0050 Al 0.0490 B 0.0003 Zn 0.0023
S 0.0030 Cu 0.0120 Ca 0.0024 CEPcm 0.1655
O 0.061 N 0.0053

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30°

1.6 r 0.8 mm
2.4 mm

(a) (b)
Fig. 1. (a) V-notch configuration used in API 5 L X80 tube and (b) indicating the weld layers and welding passes.

protection, whose composition of the protection gas was 75% argon and 25% CO2, with a flow rate of 16 l / min. The consumable
used was the 1.1 mm diameter wire. In Fig. 1b the welding pass deposition sequence is observed. The other passes (from 2 to 6)
indicate the filling and finishing passes made by the Tubular Wire (TW) welding process.

2.2. Heat treatments, macrography and micrograph preparations

To perform the heat treatments, eight welded specimens (Test bodies TB) with dimensions of 250 mm × 150 mm were removed.
However, to make comparisons, a test piece was removed, as a soldier, named Without HT. The specimens were solubilized at
temperatures of 900 °C, 1000 °C and 1200 °C for 1 h. After austenitization, the specimens were quenched in water without stirring
until they reached room temperature. Thereafter, for each austenitization temperature, tempering was done at temperatures of 500 °C
and 650 °C for one hour. The first tempering temperature is commonly used by industry and the second temperature was the best
condition found by Batista [14]. Two specimens in conditions as welded underwent stress relief only at temperatures of 500 °C and
650 °C for 1 h.
For the macrographs of the welded joints, the samples were cut in ribbon saw, embedded in Bakelite with a diameter of 50 mm,
sanded and polished up to 1 μm. After these procedures, the macrographs were obtained through the chemical reaction between the
6% Nital and the sample. In each heat treatment condition, the area of the Heat affected zone (HAZ) and the area of the Welding
Metal (WM) and the fused chamfer of the Base metal (BM) were measured. Fig. 2 shows the data withdrawal scheme that makes up
the dilution calculation. The dilution of welded joints was calculated according to Eq. (1) [15].
B
dilution (%) = × 100
A+B (1)
Where A and B are areas, respectively of WM and WM plus BM of both sides.
The preparations of the samples for the realization of the micrographs were the same ones applied for the accomplishment of the
macrographs. Both BM and welded joints were attacked with the 2% Nital reagent. The BM micrographs were performed in the
frontal, superior and lateral views, forming a cube, with magnification of 500×, in order to evidence the effects of the thermo
mechanical lamination on the orientation of the grains in the matrix. Taking advantage of the obtained results, the measurement of
the size of the previous austenitic grain of the Area affected by the heat of coarse grains (HAZ-CG) was done using the method of the
intercepts.

2.3. Traction test, Charpy impact test with V-notch and microhardness

The tensile test specimens were made according to ASTM A370 using standard size cylindrical TB (Test bodies), whose drawdown
scheme is shown in Fig. 3a [16]. The TBs were removed from the tube, parallel to the lamination direction.
The V-notched Charpy impact proofs were machined according to ASTM A 370. Each set was composed of three TB's. According to
API 1104, the average energy absorbed by the assembly must be greater than or equal to 40 J at 0 °C. However, for each set, it is
acceptable for a test body to absorb at least 30 J of energy, also at 0 °C [2]. The tests were carried out at temperatures of 0 °C
and − 40 °C. This assay was also performed on BM at the same temperatures. The Vickers HV 0.5 microhardness test was carried out

Fig. 2. Schematic of the information withdrawal for the calculation of the dilution in a welded joint.

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125r0.25

(a) (b)
Fig. 3. (a) Test specimen for tensile testing and (b) schematic drawing of microhardness profiles of welded joints.

in a Microdurometer model, which consisted of microhardness measurement throughout the welded joint area as well as a part of the
BM. About 6000 impressions with 0.3 mm distance between the pyramids were performed under the ‘Without HT’ conditions and in
each heat treatment condition. All prints generate a microhardness map. In a complementary way, the microhardness profile was
elaborated with the objective of presenting the microhardness variation from the WM to the BM, whose values were based on the
removal of map points in three parallel layers in the regions of interest, whose profiles are presented schematically in Fig. 3b. From
the hardness mapping, a plot of maximum hardness of the weld metal and the base metal of the filler region was made for all heat
treatment conditions, comparing them with the Without HT condition. According to Fig. 3b, D1, D2 and D3 are hardness profiles of
the root, fill and finish passes, starting from the WM, through HAZ to BM. Each profile consists of twenty-nine impressions, that is,
twenty-four microhardness results.
Besides the effect of the equivalent carbon, it is important to know the effect of welding on the hardening mechanisms of HSLA
steels [8]. Briefly, there may be four: hardening by grain refining; Precipitation hardening; Hardening by increasing density of
dislocations and hardening by the presence of perlite. The heat-affected zone of HSLA steel can be subdivided into four sub-regions
[17,18], namely: coarse grained region (HAZ-CG), refined grains region (HAZ-RG), intercritical Heat region (HAZ-IH) and subcritical
Heat region (HAZ-SH).

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Welding parameters

The welding parameters were acquired through a voltage, current and wire feed acquisition system, composing the conventional
welding energy, according to Eq. (2).
V .1
E=η
v (2)

where η is the heat transfer efficiency of the process, V is the voltage (V), l is the current (A) and v is the welding speed. It was used the
thermal efficiency η = 73.4% for the root pass and η = 78.8% for the subsequent passes, was measured experimentally by Arevalo
[19] in calorimeter with liquid nitrogen. The unit of welding energy is given in kJ/mm. The results were presented in Table 2.
The welding energies resulting from all the passes had a uniform behavior, that is, the variation of the energy values was very low.
This ensures that all TBs have been subjected to the same welding operating conditions. In addition, the dilutions and areas of HAZs
present in the macrographs of item 4.2 corroborate what was exposed.

3.2. Macrography

The macrographs performed on thermally treated TBs are presented in this topic. Information regarding the area of the heat-
affected zone and the respective dilutions of each sample can be obtained. Table 3 shows the dilution of TBs taking into account the
left (LE) and right (LD) sides representing the areas between the original chamfer and the attachment zone, i.e. the region of the
molten base metal during welding.
It should be noted that the dilution results are different. The variations between the percentages of dilution found can be

Table 2
Parameters of circumferential welding of API 5 L X80 tube.
Welding passes Voltage (V) Current (A) Welding speed (mm/s) Welding power (kJ/mm)

Root 15 ± 3 118 ± 14 2 ± 1 0.7 ± 0

Filling Pass 22 ± 0 146 ± 5 4 ± 0 0.7 ± 0
Pass 1 of the 2nd layer of the filler 22 ± 0 158 ± 2 4 ± 0 0.7 ± 0
Pass 2 of the 2nd filling layer 22 ± 0 174 ± 11 5 ± 0 0.65 ± 0
Finish pass 1 22 ± 0 178 ± 5 5 ± 0 0.65 ± 0
Finish pass 2 22 ± 0 173 ± 2 5 ± 0 0.6 ± 0

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Table 3
Dilution of welded TBs from API 5 L X80 tube.
Dilution

TB LE (mm2) LD (mm2) Cord (mm2) Dilution (%)

Without HT (Heat Treatment) 35.5 14.69 182.89 22

HT 0/500 29.66 19.35 180.81 12
HT 0/650 31.38 21.49 192.68 12
HT 900/500 26.44 18.17 165.29 21
HT 900/650 31.77 23.83 146.51 28
HT 1000/500 19.4 18.95 212.90 15
HT 1000/650 22.3 13.95 167.21 18
HT1200/500 23.33 22.85 122.16 27
HT 1200/650 24.86 28.98 151.24 26

explained due to manual execution of the welding. Therefore, variations of gun oscillation, stick-out variation and working angle are
characteristics of this type of manual welding, which influence the variation of the dilution of the weld metal over base metal and the
extension of its respective HAZ's. The macrographs presented from Fig. 4 through Fig. 13 show the measured areas. Moreover, the
macrographs show that all the welded TBs had continuity and uniformity between the weld metal and the base metal, showing no
defects or discontinuities that affected its performance in the mechanical tests performed. Fig. 4 shows the macrograph of the TB
without HT with the respective areas of the weld metal and the molten base metal, representing a 22% dilution.
Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, respectively, show the macrographs of the “HT 0/500” and HT 0/650 TBs with the areas of the weld metal and
the molten base metal, representing the same dilution of 12%.
Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, and Fig. 10 show the macrographs of the HT 900/500,HT 900/650, HT 1000/500 and HT 1000/650 TBs,
whose dilutions were respectively 21%, 28%, 15% and 18%.
Fig. 11 shows the macrographs of the HT 1200/500 TB, whose dilutions is 27%. Table 4 shows the areas of HAZs of all TBs, whose
calculations were performed according to the same methodology used to determine the dilution.
From the results presented in Table 4, it can be concluded that the phase transformations occurring in the TBs that underwent
thermal treatments, are not very different in relation to the condition without HT, Fig. 12, since it is still possible to distinguish not
only the HAZ from the BM, but also the overlap of the HAZs of the subsequent passes to the root pass. In other words the manual
welding was done with the welding parameters without major changes. In the TB that were solubilized at 1200° C Fig. 11, it was not
possible to distinguish the HAZ from the BM, since the thermal treatment at this temperature solubilized the original microstructures
of both BM and HAZ. However, WM is still distinguished from BM, since both have significantly different chemical compositions.
There was also homogenization in the WM, so that the differentiation of the deposition layers of the weld beads is not noticed. This
homogenization creates the false impression that the TB in question was welded in a single pass. The following analyzes will be
performed in relation to the calculated average areas and presented Table 4.
Fig. 13 shows the macrographs of the HT 900/650 with HAZ area. The average found in this hard sample was 38.73 mm2. The
macrograph of Fig. 14 shows the HAZ area of the HT 1000/650 TB. The mean between the HAZ area on the left side and the right side
was 43.36 mm2. Fig. 1 HAZ area of the HT 1000/650 TB, averaging 43.26 mm2.

Fig. 4. Dilution of TB without HT.

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Fig. 5. Dilution of the HT 0/500 TB.

Fig. 6. Dilution of the HT 0/650 TB.

Fig. 7. Dilution of the HT 900/500 TB.

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Fig. 8. Dilution of the HT 900/650 TB.

Fig. 9. Dilution of the HT 1000/500 TB.

Fig. 10. Dilution of the HT 1000/650 TB.

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Fig. 11. Dilution of the HT 1200/500 TB.

Table 4
HAZ's areas of the treated TBs and the TB not heat-treated.
TB LE (mm2) LD (mm2) Average (mm2)

Without HT 46.16 40.35 43.26

HT 0/500 45.86 50.86 48.36
HT 0/650 49.06 48.11 48.58
HT 900/500 41.34 40.43 40.89
HT 900/650 37.79 39.67 38.73
HT 1000/500 35.62 61.84 48.73
HT 1000/650 46.16 40.35 43.26
HT1200/500 – – –
HT 1200/650 – – –

Fig. 12. HAZ area of TB without HT.

3.3. Tensile test

Mechanical tensile tests were performed for each heat treatment condition, including BM in the as-received condition. The TBs
were withdrawn from the tube in the longitudinal direction of the lamination. Table 5 shows the results obtained from these tests,
tracking the TB numbers and relating to the respective heat treatments. Also indicated is the minimum value required by API 5L, both
the yield limit and the resistance limit.
Fig. 16 shows the results of the traction test of TBs with different thermal treatments. The red line indicates the minimum strength
limit required by the API 5 L standard. As all welded TBs have broken in BM and, according to API 1104, if the TB breaks in the BM

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Fig. 13. HAZ area of the TB HT 900/650.

Fig. 14. HAZ area of the TB HT 1000/500.

Fig. 15. HAZ area of the TB HT 1000/650.

and the result is not less than 95% of the specified minimum LR, it can be accepted. The minimum LR specified for the API 5 L X80 is
625 MPa, so, considering the acceptance criteria, results greater than or equal to 594 MPa are approved. It can be seen in the graph of
Fig. 16 that all heat treated TBs have reached the minimum specified by the standard.TwoTBs approved, TBHT 1200/650 and HT 0/

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Table 5
Results of tensile tests.
TB LE (MPa) LE min. API 5 L (MPa) LR (MPa) LR min. API 5 L (MPa)

BM 541.0 555.0 651.7 625.0

Without HT * 532.0
HT 0/500 634.0
HT 0/650 772.0
HT 900/500 618.0
HT 900/650 638.0
HT 1000/500 616.0
HT 1000/650 605.0
HT 1200/500 621.0
HT 1200/650 758.0

Welded joints have a yield limit (LE), but it is difficult to quantify the yield in each section of the TB. As API 5 L considers only resistance limit (LR),
the yield limit results were not considered.

Fig. 16. Resistance limit for each heat treatment condition. The red line represents the minimum yield stress required by the API 5L standard for
base metal grading. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

650 presented the highest results, 21.6% and 23.0%, respectively, in relation to the specified minimum, and 30.0% and 31.0% higher
in relation to the without condition. This, in turn, was disapproved, as it reached only 89.5% of the minimum required in the
standard. It should be remembered that this TB is considered the reference for the other TBs in relation to the other assays. After
tempering at 500 and 650 °C, this condition reached acceptable values. One possible explanation for this result is that the region of
greater hardness of the melted zone of the bed in the finishing passes can act as a stress concentrator, favoring the beginning of the
fracture the base metal in the tensile test. The best heat treatment result was presented by the TBHT 900/650, as the “HT 0/650” and
the “HT 0/500” are not applicable in the hot folding of the tubes and the “HT 1200/650” presents a very high temperature, which
allowed the solubilization of the entire welded joint microstructure, for the hot field bending. In the work of Zou et al. [20] with an
X80 similar to that of this study, it obtained better tensile strength results using austenitization temperatures of 950 °C, tempering in
water and annealing at temperatures of 600 °C and 650 °C, reaching results close to 700 MPa of LR. On the other hand, Batista [21]
showed that the best treatment is between 900 °C and 1000 °C, with tempering between 600 °C and 650 °C, presenting results between
600 MPa and 650 MPa.

3.4. Vickers micro hardness

The results of the micro hardness tests are presented below through the mappings and profiles. In the mapping shown in the
figures below, a similarity is observed with the macrographs, that is, the HAZ delimitations, the intersections between the deposition
layers, the effect of the last welding pass on the hardness of the previous passes, and as its own hardness, as a consequence of the
cooling rates. In other words, the last pass obtained a higher micro hardness, as it cooled more quickly due to heat losses due to
radiation and convection on the surface, besides the loss by conduction by the thickness of the tube. These effects are only evident in
the TBs whose phase transformations were not as marked as those suffered by TBs austenitized at 1200 °C. The micro hardness
mapping is a powerful tool to evaluate the microhardness behavior, since the results are shown in figure form, in 2 dimensions. Thus,
it is possible to evaluate the behavior of the microhardness of one region in relation to the other. On the other hand, the micro-
hardness profile has a more specific role in evaluating this behavior in only one region of the specimen within the mapping. By way of
example, the profile of Fig. 17 shows microhardness behavior in the root pass, including its WM, HAZ and BM. Fig. 17, Fig. 18 and
Fig. 19 show the microhardness profiles TB ‘WithoutHT’, the three regions analyzed, the root, filling and finishing. The region of the
weld metal of the root pass had a microhardness of (239 ± 5) HV0.5. This value is lower than the filling and finishing passes, with
values of (247 ± 6) HV0.5 and (255 ± 6) HV0.5. This microhardness drop in the root pass can be explained due to the reheat from

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Fig. 17. MicrohardnessProfile of root of TB Without HT.

Fig. 18. Microhardness profile of the filling of TB Without HT.

Fig. 19. Finishing microhardness profile ‘Without HT’.

the subsequent passes. The heat imposed may have refined the microstructure present in the MS, thus reducing the hardness of the
region under analysis. Consequently, HAZ is less harsh, for the same reason given above. However, the base metal in this same
direction presents uniform hardness throughout its thickness, with a mean of (222 ± 7) HV0.5. The microhardnesses presented in the
filling region were very close to those of the finishing and root passes. This can be explained due to the less influence of the reheat of
the numbers of passes in that region.
The following microhardness maps are those that correspond to samples that have undergone the heat treatments. Fig. 20 shows
the microhardness mapping of the HT 0/650 TB. Fig. 21 presents the comparison of the microhardness mapping of the Without-HT
condition with respect to the conditions HT 0/500 and HT 0/650, with their respective macrographs.
As shown in Fig. 21, in general, tempering at temperatures of 500 °C and 650 °C showed less harsh regions than the No HT
condition. However, the maximum hardness value found in the WM of the filling region was in the HT 0/650 condition, while the BM
hardness for the same region was lower than the without HT condition. Fig. 22 shows the comparison of the microhardness mappings
of the conditions HT 900/0, HT 900/500 and HT 900/650 with respect to the ‘Without HT’ condition.
It is observed that the quenching in water at 900 °C promoted a higher hardness in DM and ZAC, in relation to ‘Without HT’
condition. However, through the tempering carried out at a temperature of 500 °C, there was a greater reduction of the hardness in
relation to the TB tempered at 650 °C. This can be clearly evidenced by the maximum microhardness measured in the MS in each TB
in the region of the filler. The higher hardness in the TB HT 900/650 may explain the higher mechanical resistance compared to the
HT 900/500 condition.

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Fig. 20. Microhardness Mapping of TB HT 0/500″.

Fig. 21. Comparison of the microhardness mappings of the ‘Without HT’ condition, HT 0/500 and HT 0/650, with their respective macrographs.

3.5. Charpy impact test with “V” notch

For the realization of the Charpy-V impact tests, the notches were machined in the WM and HAZ regions (distant 1 mm from the
bonding zone). Since the chamfer is in V, the notch takes a mean between the values of the fused zone and the different regions of the
ZAC. The test specimens were tested at temperatures of −40 °C and 0 °C. A variance analysis was performed on the results of the
Charpy “V” impact test to identify whether the averages were statistically equal or not.. Fig. 23 shows all Charpy impact test results
performed at temperatures of −40 °C and 0 °C. Then the data will be compared by region of the notch and by the test temperature. It
is observed in the figure that the energies absorbed in the weld metal are much smaller than in the heat affected zone, in general.

4. Conclusion

In view of the materials and techniques employed it can be concluded that:

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Fig. 22. Comparison between the microhardnessmapping of the Without HT, HT 900/0, HT 900/500 and HT 900/650 conditions, with their
respective macrographs.

Fig. 23. Comparison between the results of the Charpy tests at 0 °C and − 40 °C and the thermal treatments.

✓ The stress relief heat treatment (SRHT) ‘HT 0/500’ and ‘HT 0/650’ showed better mechanical strength and tenacity at 0 °C
compared to ‘Without HT’ condition. Thus, SRHT is suggested in welded joints in order to improve mechanical properties.
✓ The ‘HT 900/650’ condition showed the largest increase (17%) in the tensile strength of the welded joint in relation to the
‘Without HT’ condition. This result is related to the microstructure obtained for this type of thermal treatment.
✓ The results of the ‘V’ notched Charpy impact test performed at −40 °C for the MS region of the ‘HT 900/650’ and ‘HT 1200/650’
conditions are statistically the same and lower than the result of the ‘Without HT’ condition. On the other hand, the results of this
same test, but performed at 0 °C, present statistically different results in ‘Without HT’ condition, ‘HT 900/650’ and ‘HT 1200/650’.
‘Without HT’ condition had the highest absorbed energy, followed by ‘HT 900/650’ and ‘HT 1200/650’. The thermal treatments
influenced the reduction of the toughness when compared to the results of the ‘Without HT’ condition. The ‘Without HT’ con-
ditions at 0 °C and − 40 °C and ‘HT 900/650’ at 0 °C were approved according to API 1104.
✓ The results of the ‘V’ notched Charpy impact test performed at 0 °C for the HAZ region, ‘Without HT’ condition and ‘HT 900/650’
condition are statistically the same. The condition ‘HT 1200/650’ is statistically equal to the above conditions, although this high
absorbed energy value was influenced by Delaminations cracks during the Charpy assay. On the other hand, the results of the
Charpy impact test with ‘V’ notch at −40 °C in the HAZ of the conditions' Without HT, HT 900/650 ‘and’ HT 1200/650 ‘were
statistically’. Heat treatments do not affect notch toughness in all three test conditions at 0 °C, although the minimum average
energy is 40 J at 0 °C, according to API 1104.
✓ Considering the results of the Charpy impact tests at 0 °C and the results of the tensile tests as well as the hardness measurements,
the ‘HT 900/650’ condition showed better results than the ‘Without HT’ condition and ‘HT 1200/650’. This treatment would be
recommended for hot bending of pipes.

Conflict and interests

No

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A. Mahdjour, et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 104 (2019) 448–461

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