A Fundamental Difficulty in Charpy
V-Notch Testing Narrow Zones
in Welds
The ''cross weld Charpy test" is proposed to offset
discrepancies that occur with conventional
V-notch testing when highly brittle weld metal (with a
sufficiently high yield strength exceeding that of the
base metal) provides CVN data showing base metal
ABSTRACT. Dangerously misleading
results obtained by conventional Char-
py V-notch (CVN) testing of narrow
zones in electron beam welds in an
X-70 fine grained micro-alloyed steel
are reported. In one case these results
suggested a 50% fracture appearance
transition temperature (FATT) of —37
C (—38 F) in the w e l d metal when a
more careful investigation using a
specially devised test determined the
FATT was actually 4-90 C (162 F)
higher at + 5 0 C (122 F).
It is proposed that this discrepancy
arose because the yield strength of the
weld metal was much higher than the
yield strength of the base metal.
Consequently, general yielding began
in the base metal and exceeded the
fracture strain of the base metal before
brittle fracture initiated in the weld
metal. Under these conditions, it is
suggested that highly brittle weld
metal can yield CVN data showing
base metal toughness providing the
weld metal yield strength is suffi-
ciently high. In order to detect such
misleading results, a simple econom-
ical test called the "cross weld Charpy
test" is proposed. It is described, and
experimental data supporting its effec-
tiveness are presented.
In another case, where bimodal
CVN data was obtained, it is shown
that the high energy mode corre-
sponds to the base metal CVN data
and the lower energy mode to the
cross weld Charpy test data for weld
Charpy
toughness
BY J. A. GOLDAK A N D D. S. NGUYEN
metal. This result suggests the cross
weld Charpy test does actually meas-
ure CVN FATT in EB weld metal. The
relevance of these results to the CVN
testing of HAZ microstructures in
general is discussed.
Introduction
In plain carbon steel structures, it
has long been recognized that brittle
fractures almost never propagate along
the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of
welds; consequently little effort was
made to measure the toughness of the
HAZ. However, with the increasing
use of medium and high strength steel
and the development of high heat
welding processes, the toughness of
the HAZ was questioned 1 "3 and a
number of papers were published on
the subject'^ 7 . Although McGeady, 3
Dolby," and Gross3 mention that notch
toughness testing the HAZ is difficult
because the fracture path will not
usually f o l l o w or stay in the zone
being tested, none explain the nature
of the errors that can result or present
any experimental data to substantiate
Paper presented at the 57th AWS Annual
Meeting held in St. Louis, Missouri, during
May 10-14, 1976.
I. A. GOLDAK is Professor of Engineering
and D. S. NGUYEN is a Graduate Student in
Materials Engineering, Carleton University,
Ottawa, Canada.
W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEME NT I 119-s
their views.
In the fusion zone, adequate tough-
ness has been readily attained by
controlling composition and cooling
rates for plain carbon steel and
medium strength HSLA (high-strength,
low-alloy) steel w i t h well established
arc welding procedures. However, for
the recently developed electron beam
and laser welding processes which
promise higher welding speeds and
better weld properties, the toughness
of the fusion zone is not well docu-
mented. In particular the possibility
that the narrow fusion zones typical of
these processes may introduce diffi-
culties in toughness testing has not
been explored.
The purpose of this paper is to
present data proving that conventional
Charpy-V notch (CVN) testing of
narrow zones in electron beam (EB)
welds can produce dangerously mis-
leading results and to describe a
simple economical technique for
measuring the true ductile brittle tran-
sition temperature of narrow zones in
welds.
Experimental
The steel used in this study was a
controlled rolled line pipe steel. Its
chemical composition is listed in Table
1. Welding parameters for the heat
inputs tested are shown in Table 2. No
preheat or filler metal was used. All
welds were bead on plate single pass
full penetration EB welds in 10 mm
(0.4 in.) thick plate. A circular beam
oscillation was used w i t h the higher
heat input welds to maintain a planar
weld nugget.
Conventional CVN tests were car-
ried out according to ASTM E23-66. In
the 35 kJ/in. (1.4 k j / m m ) weld CVN
tests were made w i t h the five notch
locations listed in Table 3 and shown
in Fig T. In the 5 kJ/in. (0.2 k ) / m m ) and
8 kJ/in. (0.32 k j / m m ) w e l d , the HAZ
was too narrow to permit accurate
location of the notch; therefore, CVN
tests in these welds were limited to
specimens w i t h notches in the fusion
zone. To accurately position notches
in the weld zones, the CVN specimens
were polished and microetched before
notching, and the notch positions
checked with a microscope prior to
testing. Absorbed energy and lateral
contraction were measured. Also frac-
ture appearance (per cent shear) was
estimated w i t h a binocular microscope
and checked w i t h a SEM for all spec-
imens.
In addition to CVN tests in w h i c h
the weld plane is parallel to the frac-
ture plane (Fig. 2A) a new test called
the cross weld Charpy test (CWCT)
was devised (Fig. 2B). The CWCT uses
a conventional Charpy-V notch spec-
imen except that the weld plane is
perpendicular to the fracture plane to
force the fracture to pass through all
zones of the weld. The fracture
appearance of the various weld zones
as measured with a binocular micro-
scope and a SEM is plotted vs. test
temperature to establish a transition
temperature. A 6 kJ/in. (0.24 k j / m m )
weld which is 0.06 in. (1.5 mm) w i d e
was positioned on the specimen m i d -
plane (Fig. 2B) with the notch in base
metal. For both CVN and CWCT tests
only longitudinal specimens of t w o
thirds size were used.
The microstructure was studied by
optical microscopy, scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), t h i n foil and repli-
ca transmission electron microscopy.
Microhardness was measured. Heating
and cooling rates were measured and
calculated. The detailed metallurgical
results will be published separately.
Table 1—Chemical Analysis of the Steel
(Ipsco X70) Used, %
C 0.04 Nb 0.05
Mn 1.66 P 0.011
Mo 0.20 S 0.013
Results
Table 3 shows the results of CVN
tests on a 35 kJ/in. (1.4 k j / m m ) weld
w i t h notches accurately placed at
various distances from the weld center
line (Fig. 1). The planar nature of the
EB weld was expected to encourage
the fracture path to f o l l o w a plane of
constant microstructure. Figure 3
shows brittle fracture in the fusion
zone and grain coarsened HAZ exactly
as expected, and the ductile fracture in
the grain refined HAZ. The microhard-
ness traverse across the weld (Fig. 4)
implies a significant loss of strength in
the grain coarsened and grain refined
HAZ.
O n decreasing the weld energy to 5
kj / i n . (0.2 k | / m m ) the hardness of the
weld increased to a maximum of 350
VPN compared to the base metal hard-
ness of 210 VPN (Fig. 5). Conventional
CVN test results for energy absorbed,
fracture appearance and lateral con-
traction are shown in Figs. 6-8. A
careful study of the fracture path
revealed the disturbing fact that no
tough fractures were ever observed in
the weld metal for this weld at any
temperature (Fig. 9). Above the CVN
FATT all fractures occurred in base
metal by a plastic hinge mechanism
(e.g., Figs. 9 and 10). Below the CVN
FATT all fractures were brittle and
traveled in the weld metal (Figs. 9 and
Table 2—Welding Parameters for Different
Levels of Heat Input
Heat
input, Speed,
kJ/in. Voltage, Current, ipm
(kj/mm) KV MA (cm/min)
5 (0.2) 80 25 22.5 (57.2)
8 (0.32) 70 30 13.0(33.0)
35 (1.4)
25 1.9 ( 4.82)
10).
At - 3 and 21 C (27 and 70 F) the
CWCT results shown in Figs. 11 and 12
show a completely brittle fracture in
the fusion zone comprised entirely of
cleavage facets. At 4-50 C (122 F) Fig.
13 shows equal areas of cleavage frac-
ture and ductile dimpling in the fusion
zone indicating a "FATT" for the
fusion zone in the CWCT.
In an 8 kJ/in. (0.32 k j / m m ) w e l d , t w o
distinct curves can be fitted to the data
points for CVN tests for longitudinal
specimens (Figs. 14 and 15). The upper
curve corresponds to base metal
toughness and the fracture path of all
such data points did indeed travel
through the base metal or grain
refined HAZ by a plastic hinge failure
mechanism. The fracture path for all
data points on the lower curve trav-
eled through the fusion zone or coarse
grained HAZ. A microhardness tra-
verse (Fig. 16) revealed the weld metal
(VPN 275) was much harder than the
base metal (VPN 210), but no HAZ
softening was observed.
Discussion
McGeady 1 ascribed the difficulties
in fracture toughness testing the HAZ
in a conventional weld to its u n d u -
lated curved shape slanted to the plate
surface which reduces the fracture
force and increases the area of fracture
surface. These factors make it difficult
to maintain plane strain conditions in
the HAZ. In work reported here, the
HAZ zone is highly planar and perpen-
dicular to the plate surface which
avoids this difficulty entirely.
McGeady also pointed out that the
HAZ is relatively narrow but did not
explain what difficulties the narrow-
ness posed. It is suggested that the
difficulties are accurately placing the
notch in the HAZ and in restricting the
plastic zone at the crack tip to the HAZ
being tested. The first difficulty is one
of technique and is easily overcome by
checking the notch position w i t h a
microscope on a polished and etched
specimen prior to testing.
Restricting the plastic zone at the
crack tip to a particular HAZ micro-
structure or a narrow fusion zone is a

Table 3—Charpy V-Notch Test Results with Notches at the Positions in the FZ and HAZ shown in Fig 1.

FZ-grain Grain coarsened

coarsened Grain HAZ-grain Grain
Fusion HAZ coarsened refined HAZ refined
Notch position zone boundary HAZ boundary HAZ

Temperature, F(C) 5 (-15) 14(-10) 5(-15) 12 (-11) 10 (-12)

Charpy energy 6(8.1) 3 (4.1) 7 (9.5) 30 (40.7) 45 (61.0)
ft-lb (joules) 4 (5.4) 6 (8.1) 10 (13.6) 52 (70.5) 48 (65.1)
Temperature, F(C) •22(-30) -4(-20) -24(-31) -6(-21) -2(-19)
Charpy energy, 3(4.1) 3(4.1) 4 (5.4) 26 (35.3) 50 (67.8)
ft-lb (joules) 4 (5.4) 5 (6.8) 20 (27.1) 52 (70.5) 50 (67.8)

120-s I APRIL 1977

 2 3 4 5
Fig. 1—Positions of the notch in Charpy V-
notch impact test on 35 kjlin. Weld: 1—
fusion zone (FZ); 2—FZ-grain coarsened,
heat-affected zone (GCHAZ) boundary; 3-
GCHAZ; 4-GCHAZ-grain refined heat-
affected zone (GRHAZ) boundary; 5—
GRHAZ
fundamental difficulty. The elastic
stress field at the crack tip varies not
simply as r— Vi, where r is the distance
from the crack t i p , but as (P 4- r)~'h
where P is the crack tip radius. s Thus
the relatively large value of r for the
blunt Charpy notch flattens the stress
gradient. Because the yield strength of
the base metal is much lower than the
FUSION ZONE
0.1(0.25)
Fig, 4-Microhardness traverse in 35 kjlin. (1.4 kj/mm) weld
PLATE FZ
METAL
400
350
300
200
150
0.1(0.25)-
DISTANCE
Fig. 5-Microhardness traverse on 5 kjlin. (0.2 kj/mm) weld
Notch position 1
(Fusion Zone)
LONGITUDINAL
Notch poslti
(First HAZ)
•JLm
LONGITUDINAL
Fig. 2—Weld position in: A (top)—conven-
tional Charpy V-notch specimen; B(bot-
tom)—cross weld Charpy V-notch spec-
imen Notch position 5
(Second HAZ)
yield strength of the weld metal in the
5 kJ/in. (0.2 k j / m m ) weld, yielding
could begin in the weaker base metal
well away from the root of the notch Fig. 3—Charpy impact fracture paths for the
on a plastic hinge and not at the notch notch positions shown in Fig. 1
surface as it w o u l d in a homogenous
material. Such deformation w o u l d
then relax the stress intensity at the
PLATE METAL root of the notch preventing crack
initiation at the crack tip and facili-
tating ductile fracture on a plastic
hinge.
This argument suggests that the
sharper notch of Charpy specimens
precracked in fatigue w o u l d reduce
the plastic zone size, and therefore is
015 IN (0.38 CM) more likely to confine the fracture to
the fusion or HAZ to be tested. One of
the authors is currently investigating
the technical merits of this argument.
However, the added cost of precrack-
ing Charpy specimens, the limited
_L _1_
availability of fatigue machines for
0.2(0.51) 0.3(0.76) 0.4(1.02) 05(125) precracking, and the relative scarcity
DISTANCE INCHES(CM) of published data on precracked spec-
imens which w o u l d make it difficult to
relate new results to previous work,
limit the usefulness of precracked
HAZ PLATE METAL
Charpy specimens.
The proposed cross weld Charpy
0.15 IN (0.38 CM)
test (CWCT) has the advantage of
1 utilizing standard readily available
CVN test facilities and is no more
expensive than a conventional CVN
test. To become an accepted test, its
results must be correlated w i t h con-
ventional CVN results for homogenous
materials. Although the work reported
here is not sufficient to establish such
a general correlation, the results are
reasonable and justify further study,
particularly since conventional CVN
testing is shown to be entirely unre-
liable for narrow EB welds.
The 4-50 C (4-122 F) FATT measured
by the cross weld Charpy test for the
6kJ/in. (0.24 k j / m m ) weld is a reason-
0.2(0.51) 0.3(0.76)
able value for the upper bainitic
INCHES (CM)
microstructure that the authors have
determined by optical, SEM, replica
W E L D I N G RESEARCH S U P P L E M E N T I 121-s
a n d t h i n f o i l T E M . For t h i s m i c r o s t r u c - b e t w e e n 21 a n d 50 C (70 a n d 122 F). IIW DOC-IX-902-74E entitled, "Rec-
t u r e in s i m i l a r steels, I r v i n e a n d P i c k e r - To the authors' k n o w l e d g e , this o m m e n d a t i o n s for t h e Use of C h a r p y -
ing" report the C V N transition temper- inability of c o n v e n t i o n a l CVN testing V I m p a c t Test as a C o m p l e m e n t a r y
a t u r e rose r a p i d l y t o 4- 75 C ( 4 - 1 6 7 F) as t o m e a s u r e t h e t o u g h n e s s of n a r r o w I n f o r m a t i o n Test o n E m b r i t t l e m e n t o f
t h e y i e l d s t r e n g t h i n c r e a s e d t o 135 ksi f u s i o n z o n e s or H A Z has n o t b e e n the Heat Affect Z o n e ( H A Z ) of W e l d -
(931 M P a ) . A l t h o u g h t h e y d i d n o t i n v e s t i g a t e d p r e v i o u s l y . For e x a m p l e m e n t s in S t e e l , " d o e s n o t m e n t i o n t h i s
relate h a r d n e s s to t h e C V N t r a n s i t i o n ,
a 4-50 C ( + 122 F) FATT a n d a y i e l d
s t r e n g t h near 120 ksi (827 M P a ) is n o t
ft-lbs joules
unreasonable for w e l d metal w i t h a
hardness of 350 V P N .
Petch 1 " has r e p o r t e d t h e C V N t r a n -
s i t i o n t e m p e r a t u r e increases 2 C (3.6 F)
per 1000 psi (6.9 M P a ) i n c r e a s e in y i e l d
s t r e n g t h . O n t h i s basis t h e o b s e r v e d 80
C (162 F) increase in FATT w o u l d
r e q u i r e a 45 ksi (310 M P a ) i n c r e a s e i n
y i e l d s t r e n g t h f r o m 70 t o 115 ksi (483 t o
793 M P a ) . T h i s is also in c l o s e a g r e e -
ment w i t h the observed hardness
increase f r o m 2 1 0 V P N t o 3 5 0 V P N f o r 5
k ) / i n . (0.2 k j / m m ) w e l d m e t a l .
A r o n s o n " r e p o r t e d an i n c r e a s e in
t h e FATT o f 90 C (171 F) f o r an u p p e r
b a i n i t i c m i c r o s t r u c t u r e in a s i m u l a t e d
H A Z in a 0.065 C, 1.06 M n , 0.04 N b
steel. T h e s e t h r e e r e f e r e n c e s a n d t h e
results o f t h i s w o r k suggest t h a t + 5 0 C tx.
cr
( + 122 F) FATT m e a s u r e d b y t h e cross <
x
w e l d C h a r p y test is r e a s o n a b l e b u t t h e o
- 3 7 C ( - 3 8 F) FATT m e a s u r e d b y t h e
c o n v e n t i o n a l C V N test is n o t f o r t h e
u p p e r b a i n i t i c m i c r o s t r u c t u r e in 5 k j /
i n . (0.2 k j / m m ) w e l d m e t a l .
A n a r g u m e n t c a n be m a d e for
r e l a t i n g t h e C W C T t o t h e d y n a m i c tear
( D T ) test by a s s i g n i n g t h e h i g h e s t
t e m p e r a t u r e at w h i c h f u l l y b r i t t l e f r a c -
t u r e is o b s e r v e d in t h e f u s i o n z o n e as
t h e nil d u c t i l i t y t e m p e r a t u r e ( N D T ) .
More precisely, this temperature
w o u l d be a l o w e r b o u n d o n the N D T
f o r f u s i o n z o n e m e t a l f o r D T s i n c e an
40 80
increase in s e c t i o n size a n d c r a c k (4) (27)
sharpness m a y s h o w t h a t t h e t r u e N D T TEMPERATURE ° F ( ° C )
is s o m e w h a t h i g h e r . In t h i s case t h e Fig. 6—Charpy V-notch energy vs. temperature curve for the 5 kjlin. (0.2
l o w e r b o u n d o n t h e N D T w o u l d lie kj/mm)

IOO

o
16 0

o
o
v o
< 12
0
i 60 o
u o 1^ o 0
o

<
tr 8 -— o
0
UJ o

0
4 -
0

n I I I I I I I I
-80 -40 0 40 80
(-62) (-40) (-18) (4) (27)
TEMPERATURE °F(°C)
TEMPERATURE °F(°C)
Fig- 8 -Lateral contraction vs. temperature for the 5 kjlin. (0.2 kj/mm)
Fig. 7-FATT curve for the 5 kj/in. (0.2 kj/mm) weld weld

122-s I A P R I L 1977
point.
The inability of c o n v e n t i o n a l C V N
tests t o m e a s u r e t h e t o u g h n e s s of
n a r r o w zones may alter t h e i n t e r p r e t a -
t i o n of C V N test results o n laser w e l d s
r e p o r t e d b y B r e i n a n a n d Banas. 1 3 T h e y
carefully measured the C V N toughness
of single pass (20 k j / i n . ) (0.8 k j / m m )
a n d t w o pass (10 k j / i n . ) (0.4 k j / m m )
laser w e l d s in 13.2 m m (0.52 in.) p l a t e .
T h e i r base m e t a l c o m p o s i t i o n d i f f e r e d
s l i g h t l y f r o m t h e steel s h o w n in T a b l e
1. T h e m a x i m u m w e l d m e t a l hardness
w a s V P N 373 f o r t w o pass w e l d s a n d
V P N 291 f o r s i n g l e pass w e l d s c o m -
p a r e d t o a base m e t a l h a r d n e s s o f V P N
226. F r o m C V N tests, t h e y c o n c l u d e d
the transition t e m p e r a t u r e for single
pass w e l d s w a s —9.4 C (15 F) a n d —51.1
C (—60 F) f o r t w o pass w e l d s . T h e y
r e p o r t e d that n o d u c t i l e fractures trav-

ft-lbs
joules

S i

Fig. 11—SEM fractograph of cross weld

Charpy test specimen (6 kj/in. (0.24 kjl
mm), -3 C (+77.6 F), 46 ft-lb (62.4 I))
showing cleavage facets indicative of brittle
fracture on the weld in the lower half of the
photograph; the base metal has failed
ductilely

1-.' *,' £ i
-80 -40 0 40 80 Fig. 12-SEM fractograph of cross weld
(-62) (-40) (-13) (4) (27) Charpy test specimen (b kj/in. (0.24 kjl
TEMPERATURE °F(°C) mm), +21 C ( + 70 F), 48 ft-lb (65.1 j)). The
Fig. 9—CVN test results showing fracture traveled in base metal above -40 C fracture in the weld metal on the lower half
(-40 F) and in the weld metal below -80 C (-112 F) of the figure is entirely brittle; the base
metal has failed ductilely by void coales-
cence

i
:
*J
A r ft :
' j ',• • -.'• #; \

it, i
Fig. 13-SEM fractograph of cross weld
Charpy test specimen (6 kj/in. (0.24 kjl
mm), +50 G (+122 F), 50 ft-lb (67.8 j)). The
fracture in the weld in the center of the
photograph shows both cleavage facets and
Fig. 10-CVN fracture paths: A (top)—following a plastic hinge 8 kj/in. (0.31 kj/ ductile dimples; the lower third oi the
mm)-64 C (-83 F), 72 ft-lb (97.61)); B (bottomj-lraveling in weld metal (8 kj/in. photograph shows a ductile fracture in the
(0.31 kj/mm),-64 C (-83 F), 18 ft-lb (24.4 j)) base metal

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 123-s

 ft-lbs

120 100

80

60
cr
<
LU

40

20

0 —

-80 -40 0 40 80 -80 -40 0 40 80

(-62) (-40) (-13) (4) (27) (-62) -40) (-18) (4) (27)
TEMPERATURE "FCC)
TEMPERATURE °F(°C)
Ff'g. 14-CVN energy test results for 8 kj/in. (0.32 kj/mm) weld
showing bimodal behavior. The fracture path in test points near the Fig. 15—CVN fracture appearance vs. temperature for 8 kj/in. (0.32
upper curve followed a plastic hinge; the fracture path in test kj/mm) showing bimodal behavior. The fracture path in the
points near the lower curve traveled in weld metal or HAZ points near the upper curve followed a plastic hinge; the fracture
path of test points near the lower curve traveled in weld metal

eled through weld metal. Their results
are so similar to the CVN results for the
5 k j / i n . (0.2 k j / m m ) weld reported
here that it w o u l d be surprising if
CWCT w o u l d not reveal a "FATT" for
their laser weld metal near + 5 0 C (122
F).
The fact that no precautions are
considered necessary in interpreting
the results of CVN tests in mechan-
ically heterogeneous narrow welds
presumably reflects a widely held
notion that the crack will seek the
lowest energy or most brittle path.
However, if the yield strength of a
narrow weld is much higher than the
yield strength of the base metal, then it
is possible that the base metal fracture
PLATE M E T A U L H A Z J . FUSION .LHAZL. PLATE METAL
ZONE
260
220
200
180
0.1(0.25) 0.2(0.51)
DISTANCE
Fig. 16—Microhardness traverse on 8 kj/in. (0.32 kj/mm) weld
strain will be exceeded before the
weld metal reaches its fracture strain.
The fracture will then propagate
through the base metal even if the
weld metal has much lower toughness.
Thus, the results reported here d e m o n -
strate the need to carefully reassess the
notch toughness testing of narrow
welds in particular and the HAZ in
general. In particular, these results
suggest that attempts to assess HAZ
toughness by accurately locating the
Charpy notch in the HAZ 13 are futile
under the above conditions and an-
other approach is required. This may
not apply to brittle zones w i t h low
yield strength and low fracture stress.
Arata et al" have also reported
015 IN (038
I CM )
— toughness of weld metal and the
0.3(0.76) 0.4(1.02)
INCHES (CM)
bimodal CVN results for EB welds in
high strength structural steels that are
similar to those shown in Figs. 14 and
15 for the 8 k j / i n . (0.32 k j / m m ) weld.
They pointed out that in the bimodal
region high energy fractures propa-
gated through base metal and low
energy fractures through weld metal.
They reported the weld hardness was
usually 100 points harder on a VPN
scale than base metal hardness in
steels containing 0.13 to 0.18 carbon.
However, no bimodal behavior was
observed in 0.18 carbon steel in which
the weld hardness reached 330 VPN
compared to a base metal hardness
near 180 VPN. Therefore, bimodal
behavior cannot of course be ascribed
simply to differences in hardness
between the weld and base metal.
A theoretical analysis of bimodal
behavior w o u l d require an analysis of
the plastic hinge fracture mode versus
the logarithmic spiral fracture mode.
This has been studied for mild steel 13 ;
however, the introduction of a narrow
hard weld that has a quite different
stress strain curve and presumably
quite different fracture toughness
from the base plate w o u l d make the
analysis exceedingly difficult.
It could be argued that since the
fracture did not propagate through
weld metal above the CVN FATT in the
5 k j / i n . (0.2 k j / m m ) weld such a weld
w o u l d not be likely to suffer brittle
fracture in service. In other words, the
resistance of a welded structure to
brittle fracture could be quite differ-
ent. However, as the size of specimen

124-s I APRIL 1977

or t h e w e l d e d s t r u c t u r e increases, t h e
load required for slip o n a plastic hinge
is likely t o i n c r e a s e r a p i d l y , f a v o r i n g a
f r a c t u r e p a t h in t h e b r i t t l e w e l d m e t a l .
W h i l e this w o u l d b e b e t t e r a n s w e r e d
b y f u l l scale tests o r b y d y n a m i c tear
tests, a N D T a b o v e 21 C (70 F) s h o u l d
seriously c o n c e r n design engineers.
Conclusions
1. T h e d u c t i l e b r i t t l e t r a n s i t i o n t e m -
perature (DBTT) of a narrow fusion
z o n e in an EB w e l d as m e a s u r e d by
conventional Charpy-V notch tests
w a s - 3 7 C ( - 3 8 F) w h e n t h e t r u e D B T T
w a s + 5 0 C (122 F). T h i s e r r o r o f + 9 0 C
(162 F) is p o t e n t i a l l y d a n g e r o u s .
2. C o n v e n t i o n a l Charpy-V notch
tests o f n a r r o w z o n e s in a n y w e l d
i n c l u d i n g t h e H A Z o f arc w e l d s a n d
t h e f u s i o n z o n e o f laser w e l d s are
s u s c e p t i b l e t o s e r i o u s error.
3. T h e t r u e D B T T o f t h e f u s i o n z o n e
in l o w e n e r g y EB w e l d s c a n be
measured simply and economically
w i t h t h e cross w e l d C h a r p y test
(CWCT).
Acknowledgments
T h e a u t h o r s ' w i s h to express t h e i r
a p p r e c i a t i o n t o M . B i b b y , B. G r a v i l l e ,
B. R o t h w e l l , P. T r u d e a u a n d K. W i n t e r -
t o n f o r helpful d i s c u s s i o n s a n d a d v i c e .
The constructive criticism of A . W .
Pense is s i n c e r e l y a p p r e c i a t e d . T h e
financial support of the D e p a r t m e n t of
Energy, M i n e s a n d Resources ( C A N -
MET) and the National Research
C o u n c i l o f C a n a d a (A2922) is g r a t e f u l l y
acknowledged.
References
1. Pellini, W. S., "Principles of Fracture
Safe Design—Part I," Welding journal, 50
(3), March 1971 Res. Suppl., pp. 91-s to 109-
s.
2. Gross, ). H., "The New Development
of Steel W e l d m e n t s , " Welding lournal, 47
(6), |une 1968 Res. Suppl., pp. 241-s to 270-
s.
3. Tischauer, P. A., "The Submerged Arc
Weld in HSLA Line P i p e - A State of the Art
Review," Welding Research Council Bulle-
tin 201.
4. McGeady, L. J., "Procedures for Evalu-
ation of Fracture Toughness of Heat-
Affected Zones," Welding lournal, 51 (12),
December, 1972, Res. Suppl., pp. 569-s to
578-s.
5. Kaae, J. L, and Bailey, N., "The HAZ
Fracture Toughness of Controlled-rolled,
Nb Treated, Low C:Mn Steels," Metal
Construction and British Welding journal,
Vol. 1 (8) pp. 371 to 377, August, 1969.
6. Dolby, R. E., and Knott, ). F., " T o u g h -
ness of Martensitic and Martensitic-Bainitic
Microstructures w i t h Particular Reference
to Heat-Affected Zones in W e l d e d Low-
Alloy Steels,"I.I.S.I., Vol. 210 (11), pp. 857 to
865, November, 1972.
7. Sawhill, ). M., and Wada, T., "Proper-
ties of Welds in Low Carbon M n - M o - C b
Line Pipe Steels," Welding journal, 54 (1),
January, 1975, Res. Suppl., pp. 1-s to 11-s.
8. Tetelman, A. S., and McEvily, A. ).,
Fracture of Structural Materials, Wiley 1967,
pp. 303.
9. Irvine, K. J., and Pickering, F. B., " I m -
pact Properties of Low Carbon Bainitic
Steels,"//S/, Vol. 201 (6), pp. 518-531, June,
1963.
10. Petch, N. I., "The Ductile-Cleavage
Transition in A l p h a - I r o n , " Proceedings ot
an International Conference on Atomic
Mechanisms of Fracture, 1959, Cambridge,
Mass. (MIT Press).
11. Aronson, A. H., "The Weldability of
Columbium-Bearing High Strength Low
Alloy Steel," Welding lournal, 45 (6), June
1966, Res. Suppl., pp. 265-s to 271-s.
12. Breinan, E. M., and Banas, C. M.,
"Preliminary Evaluation of Laser Welding
X-80 Arctic Pipeline Steel," Welding Re-
search Council Bulletin 201, December,
1974.
13. "Current W e l d i n g Research Prob-
lems," Welding Research Council Bulletin
202, p. 8, 1974.
14. Arata, Y., Matsuda, F., Shibata, Y.,
Hozumi, S., O n o , Y., and Fujihira, S., " M e -
chanical Properties of Electron Beam Welds
of Constructional High Tension Steels
(Report 1)", Trans JWRI, Vol. 3, pp. 59-74,
1974.
15. Wilshaw, T. R„ and Pratt, T. L,
/. Mech. Phys. Solids, Vol. 14, p. 2, 1966.

AWS D10.10-75
Local Heat Treatment of Welds in Piping and Tubing
In the manufacture of welded articles or structures in the shop or in
the field, it may be desirable, for a variety of reasons, to heat the weld
regions before welding (preheating), between passes (interpass heating),
or after welding (postheating). This document presents in detail the
various means commercially available for heating pipe welds locally,
either before or after welding, or between passes. The relative advantages
and disadvantages of each method are also discussed. Although the
document is oriented principally toward the heating of welds in piping
and tubing, the discussion of the various heating methods is applicable
to any type of welded fabrication.
Topics covered include the following:
• Measurement of Temperature
• Induction Heating
• Electric Resistance Heating
• Flame Heating
• Exothermic Heating
• Gas-Flame Generated Infrared Heating
• Radiant Heating by Quartz Lamps.
The price of AWS D10.10-75, Local Heat Treatment of Welds in
Piping and Tubing, is $3.50. Discounts: 25% to A and B members; 20% to
bookstores, public libraries and schools; 15% to C and D members. Send
your orders to the American Welding Society, 2501 N.W. 7th Street,
Miami, FL 33125. Florida residents add 4% sales tax.

WELDING R E S E A R C H S U P P L E M E N T I 125-s