XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 CUJAE November 30 to December 3, 2004

A PRACTICAL METHOD OF COMPARING HEAT TRANSFER THEORY IN THE

HEAT AFFECTED ZONE (HAZ) USING SUBMERGED WELDING (SAW)
TECHNIQUE

By
Gossett D.A. Oliver
Dean, Faculty of Engineering & Computing
University of Technology, Jamaica

Abstract

Standard heat flow equations have been used in conjunction with continuous cooling
transformation diagrams (CCT), to predict as-welded HAZ microstructures for a wide range of
welding conditions. The present work represents a practical experimental technique to ascertain
the temperature distribution during SAW.

The results obtained showed that the thermal cycles were in agreement with theoretical models.

Introduction

The thermal history in HAZ can be predicted from welding process parameters using heat
conduction theory. The fundamental equation for heat transfer by conduction, in the case of the
arc treated as a moving source is:

∂2T + ∂2T + ∂2T = ρcv ∂T …….. (1)

∂x2 ∂y2 ∂z2 k ∂x

where x, y and z are coordinators referred to the moving source.

k = thermal conductivity
T = temperature
v = speed of source
ρ = density
c = specific heat

solutions of this equation, for different boundary conditions, allow relationships between time,
temperature and distance to be established appropriate to different weld situations. However,
attempts to solve the above equation analytically have necessitated simplifying assumptions
being made because of its complexity. In general, it has been assumed:-

1. Thermal conductivity, specific heat and density remain constant with temperature.

2. The source of heat is a point of zero volume.

XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

3. Heat losses by convection and radiation are negligible.

4. Steady state conditions prevail in moving heat source solutions.

5. No phase changes occur and the material remains solid.

The situation of heat flow, caused by a moving source on an infinite plate, was analyzed by
Rosenthal [1]. Solutions describing heat flow in plates of finite dimensions have since become
available, dealing with situations such as welding on large thin sheets or thick plates of limited
dimensions [2]. A typical analytical solution of equation (1) is that of Rosenthal’s for a moving
source on the surface of an infinite plate:

T – To = q . 1 . θ ρcv (R + x) …….. (2)

2πK R 2k

Where To = initial plate temperature

q = net arc energy, input into plate
R = (x2 + y2 + z2)½, the modulus of the radius vector of any point with
respect to the source.
T, x, v, c, k, ρ, as for equation (1).

Christensen et al [3] and Hess et al [4] have shown that equation (2) accurately predict
isothermal widths and cooling rates for heat-flow situations for a wide range of welding
conditions.

When plotting solutions of this type graphically, it has been found convenient to do so in a non-
dimensional manner, thus making the results generally applicable to a range of materials and
welding conditions.

The approach in the present work was to compare measured and theoretical values of several
temperature distributions parameters, appropriate to bead-on-plate deposited by submerged arc
welding (SAW).

Experiments were confined to plate of 15mm thickness, this being the thickness of the 50D
material that was available. An important consideration in determining the theoretical
temperature parameters was whether heat flow resulting from the bead on plate welds could have
been influenced by this limited thickness. This was resolved by reference to published graphical
analytical solutions [5] for cases where the plate thickness is intermediate between the thin sheet
and infinitely thick plate situations. These enable corrective factors to be determined which can
be applied to either the two or three dimensional solutions. It was found that the corrective
factors were sufficiently small to be neglected for all the welding conditions studied and it was
concluded that the heat flow in the 15mm thick plate could be regarded as three dimensional and
unaffected by the finite dimensions of the test plates used.
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

1. Experimental Method

1.1 Preliminary Work

Test specimens were machined from mild steel place (EN8). The plate dimensions were 315mm
x 100mm x 15mm.

Single beads-on-plate were deposited by SAW process under different conditions of heat input to
provide a range of beads, heating and cooling cycles for examination. The experimental
arrangement is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: General experimental arrangement of welding equipment

Thermal cycles experienced in the HAZ on the weld center line were measured by drilling blind
holes to predetermined depths into the underside of the test blocks prior to welding. Chromel,
alumel thermocouples having diameters of 0.25mm with 1mm diameter alumina twin core
sheathing were fitted into the steel plugs and a “ball” twisted on the face. The steel plugs were
then tight fitted into the plate. This arrangement is shown schematically in Figure 2, and the
dimensions of the steel plugs are given in Figure 3.
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Figure 2: Preliminary work showing arrangement of T.C. fixing

Key: MATL = mild steel (say EN8)

All dimensions are in mm (not to scale)
*Important Dimensions
Number Off = 25

Figure 3: Diagram showing dimensions of the steel plugs

XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Thermocouples were connected to a Cambridge recorder. Cold junction temperatures were

monitored. During welding sections were made by sawing, milling and grinding for
metallographic examination. Figure 4 illustrates a typical section taken through a couple.

Figure 4: Transverse section through thermocouple bend,

Φ = 1.5 kJ/mm x 12

Measurements were made of peak temperatures, cooling rates and retention times at particular
temperatures, from the Cambridge recorder thermal cycle traces. A number of problems were
encountered using this method; these are listed below:

1. The response time was very low;

2. Results were not reproducible;
3. Time consuming in making up steel plugs.

In order to rectify (1) above the recording equipment and temperature sensors evaluation were
made.

1.2 Equipment Evaluation – Recording Equipment

Traditionally chart recorders have been used to record temperature changes. However in a
welding situation where peak temperature can be reached in fraction of a section these type of
recorders exhibit low response rate [6]. The more advanced recorders using photo-sensitive
paper and ultra-violet beams scanned by mirrors, are found to be fast enough to cope with
welding situations. The Rikadenki Multipen Recorder, R-10 series which was available in the
department was found to be as fast in response time as the U-V recorders and hence this was
selected to be used.
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

1.3 Temperature Sensors

Values sited for thermocouples response times vary widely, depending on the type and size of
the couple and the type of material used to insulate the thermocouple wires in the sheath [7]. It
was therefore decided to optimize the response time of the style of thermocouples employed in
the experimental set-up as recommended by Humpston [8], by using the graphite powder around
the contact area of the hot junction. This is shown schematically in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Exploded view of sheathed thermocouple

In order to improve on the reproducibility of the experiments the steel plugs were considered to
be too large and difficult to locate accurately in a HAZ of about 2mm width. Holes of 1mm
diameter were drilled to predetermined depth and the alumina twin core sheathing used in its
place. The ends of the thermocouples are spot welded into a ball shape. This is shown in Figure
6.
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Figure 6: Showing alumina twin core sheath with thermocouples welded

into “ball” shape

Having established that considerable improvements were made by the above alterations for the
same welding conditions the preliminary work was concluded. The corresponding specimens
thirteen and fourteen is shown in Figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7: Transverse section through thermocouple bead

Φ = 1.5 kJ/mm x 12
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Figure 8: Transverse section through thermocouple bead -

Φ = 1.5 kJ/mm x 12

1.4 Post-Preliminary Work

Single weld beads on plate were deposited by the SAW process on the surface plates machined
from the as received 50D plates, composition given in Table 1. Welding was carried out under
different conditions of arc energy, travel speed to provide a range of beads and HAZ for
microstructural and fatigue examination.

The welding conditions are given in Table 2, and the experimental arrangement shown in Figure
9.

Table 1: Composition showing single weld beads on plate deposited by the SAW process on
the surface plates machined from the as received 50D plates

Your Samples ELEMENT WEIGHT %

Reference # C S P Si Mn Ni Cr Mo V Cu Nb Ti Al B Pb Sn Co
AS3 0.18 0.025 0.02 0.37 1.31 0.05 0.09 0.01 <0.01 0.07 0.03 <0.01 0.017 <0.001 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

Table 2: Welding conditions (*Reference [3])

STICK OUT WIRE DIAMETER E I TRAVEL SPEED (V) ARC ENERGY

DIST. mm VOLTS AMPS mm/sec KJ/mm
mm
30 2.5 26 400 6.6 1.5
30 2.5 38 400 6.6 2.3
30 2.5 30 400 6.6 1.8
30 2.5 24 340 4.2 1.9

Arc Energy, Where η = 99% of

SAW*
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Figure 9: Showing experimental set up

The weld thermal cycles experienced in the HAZ were measured in two ways. For some
experiments, blind holes of predetermined depths into the underside of the test plates on weld
center line and on other off-set on the center line. Chromel, alumel thermocouples (0.25mm
diameter) in twin core refractory sheathing were spot welded into a ball shape and pushed with a
tight fit into the blind holes, which had enough graphite powder to eliminate the air gap and
hence improve response time of the thermocouple. In order to stop the thermocouples moving,
once contact was made with the plates, high temperature epoxy resin was used around the
sheathing and the base of the plates as can be seen in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Showing high temperature epoxy resin around the sheathing
and the base of the plate
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

The bead positions of the thermocouples were checked in two ways, one by radiography, see
Figure 11, for specimens 11 and 12 and the other by sectioning and metallographic examination.
The other end of the thermocouples was fitted to a Rikadeki Multipen Recorder (fullscale
response time 0.01 sec) via electrical cold juctions.

Measurements were made of peak temperatures, cooling rates and retention times at particular
temperatures from the recorder thermal cycle traces.

Specimen 11

Specimen 12

Figure 11: Showing the radiography of the thermocouples positions

for specimens 11 and 12
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

2. Results and Discussion

2.1 Comparison of Experimental Results with Theoretical Predictions

2.1.1 Distribution of Maximum Temperatures

Because of the finite size of a thermocouple bead, there were difficulty in fixing the exact
position of the couple and therefore in accurately determining the distribution of maximum
temperatures with respect to reference points, such as the fusion boundary. Normally, the plane
of temperature measurement of the thermocouple is X-X in Figure 12, this representing the
shortest current path between the dissimilar wires of the couple. However, in the present
experiments it can be argued that since the beads were sited in blind holes and therefore
effectively in a black body, it is unlikely there can be a temperature difference between the bead
leading edge in contact with the root of the hole and the plane X-X. It followed that the recorded
thermal cycle reflected the temperature changes at the bead edge nearest the heat source. This
reasoning was supported by the evidence of Figure 13. This thermocouple (0.25mm diameter
wire) indicated that temperature exceeding the melting point of the steel had been reached, but
inspection showed that only the bead leading edge was in contact with weld metal.

Figure 12: Section through thermocouple bead

XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Figure 13: Section through thermocouple bead which indicated a temperature exceeding the
melting point x 12

2.1.2 Cooling Rates

Cooling rates at a given instant vary considerably with location in the HAZ but, at the same
temperature, Adam [9] has shown that measured cooling rates are virtually independent of
distance from the weld. This was confirmed in the present investigations, as seen from Table 3,
where good agreement between results is seen even in the case of couples which were melted.
However, the constancy of cooling rate with position in the HAZ is not supported by theory. For
example, following Myers et al [5], the predicted cooling rate in the HAZ at 300oC in a 1.5
kJ/mm weld, ranges from 80-100oC/sec. With the highest rates corresponding to regions in the
HAZ close to the fusion boundary. These values are in any case considerable over-estimates of
the measured values in Table 3.
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
CUJAE & Atlantic Hotel, Santa Maria Del Mar, Havana, Cuba

Table 3: Variation of cooling rates at 300oC with position in HAZ

A number of empirical approaches have been proposed, which enable cooling rates to be
predicted from the welding parameters. For example, Cottrell and Bradstreet [10] found that the
following formula gave good agreement with cooling rates (R) measured at 300oC:

1 E + 1000 N
= …………..(3)
⎛ T ⎞
⎟( N + 0.5)
R
54T ⎜1 +
⎝ 1000 ⎠

where N = thermal severity number, E = arc energy and T = 300 – initial plate temperature.
Table 4 shows predicted rates for two weld conditions, compared with measured values and the
former are seen to be approximately 50% greater.

Table 4: Comparison of measured cooling rates at 300oC with predicted values

Measured cooling Predicted by Cottrell Predicted by

Weld Condition rate oC/sec & Bradstreet Kihara et al
o o
range mean C/sec C/sec

1.5 kJ/mm 20.5-21 20.7 43 26.8

2.3 kJ/mm 5.6-6 5.8 9.6 8.1
XII Scientific Convention of Engineering & Architecture 2004 November 30 to December 3, 2004
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Kihara et al [11] proposed the following formula based on experiments with manual metal arc
bead on plate welds.

(°C / sec) = 0.35 (T − Tο ) ⎛ 2

1.6
1 + Tan −1 t − tο ⎞
0.8

Cooling Rate ⎜ ⎟ ………….(4)

Iν ⎝ π α ⎠

where T = temperature of interest, To = initial plate temperature, I = current, v = travel speed, t =

plate thickness, to and α are constants.

Although not strictly applicable to SAW Table 4 shows that much better agreement with
experiment is shown by relation (4) compared to Cottrell and Bradstreet’s formula.

An alternative form of expressing cooling rate is the cooling time between fixed temperatures,
e.g. 800oC and 500oC. Kas and van Adrichen [12] found very good agreement between theory
and experiment.

Conclusion

The results show that measured cooling rates are virtually in agreement with the theoretical
values and could be used ton pre-evaluate weldment for HAZ microstructure prediction.

References

1. Rosenthal, D., Welding Journal, (1941), 20 (5) 2015.

2. Alberry, P.J. and Jones, W.K.C., Metal Tech. (July 1977).
3. Christensen, N., et al: British Welding Journal, (1965), 12, 54.
4. Hess, W.F., et al: Weld. J., (1943), 12, 3775.
5. Myers, P.S. et al., Welding Research Council Bulletin No 123, (July 1967).
6. Lynch, D. PhD Thesis, The solidification sequence in austenitic stainless steels studies
using digital thermal analysis, Brunel University.
7. Kardos, P.W., Chemical Engineering, (August 29, 1977).
8. Humpston, G. PhD Thesis, Brunel University, (1984/5).
9. Adams, C.M., Welding Journal, (1958), 37, (5), 2105.
10. Cotrell, C. L.M., and Bradstreet, B.J., British Welding Journal. (1955), 2, (1), 305.
11. Kihara, H., Susuki, H. and Kanatari, F., Trans National Research Institute for Metals
(1959), 1, (1), 51.
12. Kas, J. and van Adrichen, T.J., Scheweissen and Scheiden (1969), 21, H.5, 199.