Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400

Eliminating post-weld heat treatment in repair welding by temper bead

technique: role bead sequence in metallurgical changes
A.S. Aloraier, R.N. Ibrahim∗ , J. Ghojel
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Monash University, P.O. Box 197, Caulfield East, Vic. 3145, Australia

Abstract

There are several industry attractive aspects of flux cored arc welding (FCAW) process that need further investigation. Also, the welding
parameters that can provide better microstructure, mechanical properties and minimum residual stresses in thick walled weldments need
to be established to validate the application of FCAW process.
This paper investigates two different welding sequences and studies their effects on the microstructure, the hardness and the size of the
heat-affected zones (HAZs).
The results show that there were no significant differences in the microstructure, hardness and the size of HAZ between the two proposed
sequences. However, significant improvement in the microstructure and a reduction in the hardness and the size of HAZ were achieved
after depositing the second welding bead irrespective of the depositing sequence.
© 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Post-weld heat treatment; Temper bead welding; Heat-affected zone; Flux cored arc welding

1. Introduction the case of welding, this distortion may be longitudinal,

Requisites of satisfactory repair welding of in-service
structures include the challenge of carrying out the task
with minimum disruption to operation. Repair welding usu-
ally involves the complete shut down of all the equipment,
the removal of all dead loads and the carrying out weld-
ing to original manufacturing standards. Welding of mild
steels and low alloy ferritic steels often requires stress re-
lieving by using post-weld heat treatment (PWHT). These
heat treatments can be carried out easily during initial fab-
rication processes. However, PWHT is almost impossible
when there are mechanical loads on the structure since it
can cause deformation of the structure. Also, the process of
PWHT is expensive and time consuming. PWHT may be
necessary but extraordinarily expensive in the case of repair
welding of thick walled structures.
1.1. Residual stresses, applied loads and distortion
Residual stresses usually result from the inability of
the material to return to an unstressed condition after
experiencing intense heat input of welding. The differ-
ential cooling following a localised application of heat
gives rise to shrinkage, which in turn causes distortion. In
transverse, angular or combinations of these. When thick
section pressure vessel is welded, the vessel itself cannot
deform to accommodate the contraction of the weld as it
solidifies and cools. Residual stresses after welding can
thus result in tension stresses of the order of the yield
stress of the material and this can initiate and even drive
cracking.
Restraining components from distortion during welding
can lead to the imposition of significant through-section
residual stresses which will have the same effect as having
a continuously applied mechanical load and must be taken
into account when designing welds [1,2].
The presence of residual stresses and specifically their
nature (tensile or compressive) has an influence on the
behaviour of welded joints in service. In some circum-
stances the residual stresses (generally, the compressive
ones) may enhance the performance (for example, com-
pressive stresses can improve resistance to stress corrosion
cracking). However, in most situations, residual stresses are
tensile in nature and are known to have detrimental effects,
such as increasing susceptibility to fracture and reducing
fatigue life of industrial structures [3–5].
1.2. Post-weld heat treatment

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-3-99032484; fax: +61-3-99032766. PWHT is the common technique employed for relieving
E-mail address: raafat.ibrahim@eng.monash.edu.au (R.N. Ibrahim). residual stresses after general repair welding. Besides the

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.383
 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400
primary purpose of reducing the effect of stresses induced by
welding, PWHT is also intended to temper the metallurgical
structure of the heat-affected zone (HAZ).
Various codes and specifications require that welded
structures such as pressure vessels and heat exchangers be
post-weld heat-treated, and the schedule depends on the
type and thickness of the welded joint. Recommended [6]
temperature for PWHT is 580–620 ◦ C for carbon steels,
and up to 760 ◦ C for low alloy steels. For example, accord-
ing to AS4458 2.25% Cr 1% Mo requires heat treatment
in the range of 680–730 ◦ C for a minimum of 2 h at all
thicknesses). At these temperatures a low level of creep
is expected but if any external mechanical loads or severe
restraints are applied then the whole structure may distort.
On the other hand, PWHT does not always have a pos-
itive effect on the material properties, especially toughness
of the weldments [7]. Brittleness from stress relief treatment
can arise from the segregation of phosphorus to the grain
boundaries of the weld metal and precipitation hardening
produced by niobium, vanadium and other carbides. Thus
these elements have to be specifically reduced in the con-
sumables for the weldments to be post-weld heat-treated.
ASME codes specify that PWHT is mandatory while
welding heavy sections of carbon steel and alloy steel fab-
rications. However, a survey [8] on the practice for repair
welding of thick walled structures in industry suggested that
only 30% of the organisations in the survey used PWHT.
Nevertheless, the survey also suggested that in many of the
remaining 70% cases of repairs, PWHT should have been
carried out. The survey also found that 40% of all repairs
cracked again after returning to service, which clearly sug-
gests that the repair welding may lead to new problems
[9–12]. The harmful effects of unsatisfactory weld repair
techniques include; increase of residual stresses, degradation
of microstructures (caused by factors such as grain growth,
precipitation of carbides and other species), causing em-
brittlement and thermal straining, and decrease in fracture
toughness. These deleterious changes are known to be par-
ticularly relevant to the HAZ of the weldments.
In any case, there are many reasons for omitting PWHT
altogether in maintenance and repair activities because it
is an expensive process, both in the requirements of the
equipment and in the duration of the process which could
go on for many hours.
1.3. Bead tempering for avoiding PWHT
One of the alternative techniques for PWHT is bead tem-
pering during the welding process, where this technique is
usually called temper bead welding (TBW). In actual ef-
fect, the HAZ created by the former of two successive beads
is tempered by controlling the heat input ratio between the
two beads (which may also form two weld layers). The final
passes of the weld bead may be in an untempered state but
these can be removed by grinding. The idea is to manipulate
a standard welding process in such a way that the heat of one
393
pass of the weld pool can be used to temper the metallur-
gical structure of previous beads, thereby during the weld-
ing stage itself achieving the metallurgical structure that is
obtained after PWHT. The task involves controlling metal-
lurgical transformations by modifying the welding technol-
ogy, such as by using different sizes of electrodes [13]. The
amount of damage and the depth of material that requires to
be tempered is reduced by using small weld beads, which
means small diameter consumables and lower amperages
and heat inputs.
Several techniques for bead tempering have been devel-
oped to modify the microstructure of both weld metal and
HAZ in order to improve the as-welded fracture toughness.
These include:
• The half bead technique, where the beads are ground back
before welding the next layer.
• The back step technique, where the laying of the weld bead
is repeatedly moved opposite to the direction of welding
progress.
• The two-layer TBW technique, where the subsequent weld
beads partially heat-treat the earlier passes.
Among those techniques the two-layer (TBW) technique
has been included as an accepted alternative to the half-bead
technique described in Section XI of the ASME Code [14].
An extensive research project [15], jointly conducted by both
TWI in the UK and EWI in the USA, concentrated on the
assessment of TBW technique for its applications for various
carbon and low alloy steels, commonly used in the power
industry. The Welding Research Council’s critical review
and publications [16–19] have discussed the practical aspects
of the temper bead technique processes. However, systematic
understandings of the microstructural changes as a result of
the varying in welding sequences and the resulting properties
have not been established.
1.4. Flux cored arc welding (FCAW)
FCAW [20,21] is a semi or fully automatic arc welding
process in which the electrode is a hollow tube wire that
is continuously fed to the weld area, and the flux material
forms the core of the tube. The material of the tube conducts
the electricity that forms the arc and then becomes the filler
metal as it is consumed. Shielding of the molten weld pool,
arc and adjacent areas of the base metal is obtained from the
flux contained within the electrode. Additional shielding is
often obtained from an external supply of gas or gas mixture
that is fed through the welding gun.
Recent studies [22,23] indicate that FCAW has a num-
ber of advantages over the commonly employed welding
techniques that use solid wires such as manual metal arc
welding (MMAW) and gas metal arc welding (GMAW).
Using FCAW as a repair technique can provide better con-
trol over current and heat input that is necessary to carry
out the temper bead repair. FCAW is considered to be a
394 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400

high deposition rate welding process that adds the benefits

of flux to the welding simplicity of MIG welding.
This paper presents an investigation which attempts to un-
derstand microstructural changes in the experimental tem-
per bead welds produced by employing a standard FCAW
process, with view to effectively employ TBW for avoid-
ing PWHT. The paper particularly investigates the role of
the deposition sequence and the spatial deposition of the
welding beads in microstructural variation in the critical
zones of the resulting weldments such as HAZ and char-
acterising the metallurgical properties (viz., hardness) of
such zones.

Fig. 1. Cross-sections of the first sequence.

2. Experimental work

The main objective of the experimental work is to carry
out welds following well-defined parameters and variables.
These parameters and variables are obtained from a prelimi-
nary work, which has been conducted earlier at Monash Uni-
versity [1–4,22,23]. Welding of the mild steel plates (chem-
ical composition, as given in Table 1) was carried out by
controlling the welding parameters as shown in Table 2. The
experimental work consisted of three tasks.
2.1. TBW with different bead sequence
TBW of the steel plates was carried out by employing two
distinctly different sequences, i.e., by varying the relative
deposition of the beads, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Table 1
Chemical composition of the parent material (As 3678-250)
C 0.22
Si
Mn
P 0.04
S 0.03
Cr
Ni
Cu
Mo
Al
Ti
CE
2.1.1. The first sequence
In the first sequence, the first bead was deposited on the
parent material as shown in the first step (Fig. 1(I)). The
second bead deposition was located lateral to the first bead,
such that half of the second bead overlapped the first bead
by 50% (Fig. 1(II)), and the third at a similar location with
respect to the second bead (Fig. 1(III)). Bead overlap was
achieved by placing the electrode tip at the toe of the pre-
vious bead. These three beads formed the first layer of the
weld. The second layer (i.e., the tempering layer, which con-
sists of one bead) was then deposited on the top of the first
layer as shown in step 4 (Fig. 1(IV)).
2.1.2. The second deposition sequence
The first two steps (i.e., deposition of the first two beads)
of the second sequence are identical to those in the first
sequence. The third bead was deposited on the other side
of the first bead and opposite to the location of the second
bead as shown in Fig. 2(III). These three beads form the first
layer and overlap the previous bead by 50%. The top layer,
0.55 which consisted of only one bead, was placed on top of the
1.70
first bead (i.e., the one placed on the centre of the first layer
as shown in Fig. 2(IV)).
0.30
0.50
0.40
0.10
0.10
0.04
0.44

Table 2
Fixed parameters used in the experimental work
Electrode diameter (mm) 1.2
Current range (A) 215–245
Voltage range (V) 23–25
Traverse speed (mm/min) 360
Wire feeding speed (mm/min) 3600
Electrode stick-out distance (mm) 15
Gas flow rate (L/min) 18
Fig. 2. Cross-sections of the second sequence.
 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400 395

Fig. 3. Two-degree line used for hardness measurements. Fig. 4. Microstructure of the parent material (ferrite and pearlite).

2.2. Microscopy of temper bead welded plates

Microstructure variations across the weldments prepared

and characterised by reflected microscopy for the TBW se-
quences are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Transverse sections
of the weldments were ground and polished to 3 ␮m fin-
ish, and etched in nital solution (2%), before microscopy.
Microscopy was also employed to measure the width of
the HAZs produced in specimens of different welding se-
quences. Fig. 5. Schematic illustration of the HAZ.

2.3. Hardness of the different weldment zones

The microstructural features in the weld metal and the
HAZ regions of the single bead weld were more clearly
Hardness was measured using Vickers hardness tests. The
revealed at a higher magnification, and were seen to be
hardness measurements were taken on the two-degree slope
consisting of martensite and bainite needles regardless
line as shown in Fig. 3. Hardness profiles were then gener-
of the deposition sequences used. This could be seen in
ated across the weld bead and the HAZ, which were pro-
Fig. 7a and b, respectively. The photomicrographs in Fig. 7a
duced under different welding conditions.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. The effect of sequence deposition on the microstructure

Microstructure of the parent material, shown in Fig. 4,

consists of elongated (in the rolling direction) grains of fer-
rite and pearlite.
Fig. 5 shows a schematic illustration of the weld
metal (weld bead) and the HAZ of weldments of typical
ferritic–pearlitic steels. It particularly illustrates the depth
of penetration and the variation in the grain size after single
bead deposition.
Variations in the microstructure in a single bead weld are
shown through the broad microstructural of the features of
the weld metal, HAZ, and parent metal regions in Fig. 6,
which are consistent with those schematically illustrated in
Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Microstructure of the weld metal, the HAZ and the parent material.
396 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400
Fig. 7. (a) Microstructure of the weld metal, martensite and bainite phases (first sequence at location A as indicated in Fig. 1(I)). (b) Microstructure of
the HAZ (first sequence at location B as indicated in Fig. 1(I)).
and b were taken at locations A and B as indicated in
Fig. 1I.
Microstructure of the first bead was considerably trans-
formed after the deposition of the second and the subsequent
beads. However, the variations in microstructure were also
subject to the sequence of the subsequent beads shown in
Figs. 1 and 2.
Upon depositing the second and third beads using the two
welding sequences (steps (II) and (III), respectively as in
Figs. 1 and 2), the martensite, which was formed after de-
positing the first bead, was considerably tempered, as shown
in Fig. 8.
The volume of the first bead that underwent tempering
of the martensite was determined by the location of bead
numbers 2 and 3. In sequence number 1 (Fig. 1), only 50% of
Fig. 8. Ferrite and bainite structures with tempered martensite (first se-
quence at location C as indicated in Fig. 1(II)).
the volume of the first bead was covered by the subsequent
beads (bead number 2), consequently; only partial volume
of the first bead was transformed to tempered martensite.
However in bead sequence number 2 (Fig. 2), the entire
volume of the first bead was covered by the subsequent
beads (bead numbers 2 and 3 are on both sides of bead 1),
and hence all martensite in the first bead was transformed
to tempered martensite.
Specific photomicrographs were taken in certain locations
to examine and to validate the technique of TBW in pro-
ducing desirable microstructures under different welding se-
quences (sequence 1 and 2). These include locations D–F
as indicated in Fig. 1 of the first sequence and G and H as
indicated in Fig. 2 of the second sequence. Figs. 9–11 show
the photomicrographs related to locations D–F of weldments
Fig. 9. Predominantly bainitic structure (first sequence at location D as
indicated in Fig. 1(III)).
 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400
Fig. 10. Bainite and widmanstatten ferrite (first sequence at location E as
indicated in Fig. 1(III)).
using the first sequence and Figs. 12 and 13 show the pho-
tomicrographs related to locations G and H of weldments
using the second sequence.
3.2. The effect of sequence deposition on the hardness of
the HAZ
Fig. 14 represents the hardness measurements of the first
bead in both sequences. Every time weld bead was added,
one sample was prepared for a hardness test using Vickers
diamond indenture.
By studying the hardness graphs produced by different
welding sequences, it was noticed that the hardness was
increased in the areas that are not tempered by a subsequent
Fig. 11. Ferrite and pearlite microstructure (first sequence at location F
as indicated in Fig. 1(IV)).
397
Fig. 12. Bainitic microstructure (second sequence at location G as indi-
cated in Fig. 2(III)).
bead or layer. In the case of the sample, which contains
single bead, high hardness values were recorded in the
untempered areas of the weld beads, however these values
were decreased significantly after depositing the subsequent
beads.
By studying the HAZ region, it was found that the
coarse-grained HAZ associated with the first bead of the first
sequence was partially refined after depositing the second
and the third beads because it is a unidirectional welding
(welding going in one direction away from the first bead).
On the other hand, the coarse-grained HAZ of the second
sequence was fully refined after depositing the left and the
right beads because it is a bidirectional welding (welding
going in two directions, right and left to the first bead).
Fig. 13. Bainitic microstructure (second sequence at location H as indi-
cated in Fig. 1(IV)).
398 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400

Fig. 14. Hardness measurements produced by the first bead in sequences 1 and 2.

Fig. 15. Hardness measurements of bead numbers 2–4 of the first sequence.

Fig. 16. Hardness measurements of bead numbers 2–4 of the second sequence.
 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400
To show the effectiveness of TBW technique, a compari-
son was made based on the hardness measurements between
the first and the second sequence.
It was found that hardness of both sequences was very
close in measurement, which indicate that there was no sig-
nificant difference in the hardness after depositing the sub-
sequent beads and layers in both sequences.
Figs. 15 and 16 show the hardness measurements of both
sequences. It is clear that the hardness measurements were
decreased in both sequences after depositing the subsequent
beads, which validate the technique of TBW. However, there
is no significant difference in the hardness of the HAZ ob-
tained using the proposed welding sequences.
3.3. The effect of sequence deposition on the size
of the HAZ
In the final task of the experimental work, the size of
HAZs obtained using different welding sequences as ex-
plained before was measured using a travelling microscope.
The experimental results indicated that there was no signifi-
cant difference in the size of the HAZ obtained using the pro-
posed welding sequences. However, there was a significant
reduction in the size of the HAZ (of approximately 15%)
after depositing the second welding layer. The size of the
HAZ was 2.67 mm before tempering (i.e., before depositing
the second weld bead layer). After depositing the second
weld bead, the size of the HAZ was reduced to 2.23 mm.
4. Conclusions
In this study, FCAW was used as an automatic arc weld-
ing process in which the electrode is a tube wire that is
continuously fed to the weld area. The key difference from
more familiar welding process is that the flux materials are
in the core of the tube. Shielding of the weld is obtained
from the flux in the core and also often by gas shielding of
the arc.
The studies indicated that FCAW might have a number of
advantages over the more commonly used processes such as
MMAW or GMAW. Using FCAW can provide better con-
trol over current and heat input that is necessary to carry out
temper bead repair. Better control leads to better composi-
tion, dilution and grain size.
In this study, two welding sequences were investigated us-
ing experimental work to assess the effectiveness of FCAW
in association with bead tempering for welding repair. The
experimental work indicated that there were no significant
differences in the microstructure, hardness and the size of
HAZ between the two proposed sequences. However, sig-
nificant improvement in the microstructure and a reduction
in the hardness and the size of HAZ were achieved after
depositing the second welding bead irrespective of the de-
positing sequence. Further studies are recommended to be
carried out to investigate the effect of preheating, shielding
399
gases and electrode diameters on microstructure and me-
chanical properties of the weld bead and the HAZ.
References
[1] R.N. Ibrahim, D. Ischenko, Finite element analysis used to op-
timize welding patterns for marine structure, in: Proceedings of
the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference (DETC’98),
ASME, September 13–16, 1998.
[2] R.N. Ibrahim, D. Ischenko, Investigation of welding residual stresses
in structural elements of ship, Key Eng. Mater. 144–149 (1997)
859–864.
[3] B.B. Kerezsi, J.W.H. Price, A. Kotousov, Features of fatigue crack
growth due to repeated thermal shock, J. Fract. Fatigue Eng. Mater.
Struct. 25 (2) (2002) 215–222.
[4] B.B. Kerezsi, J.W.H. Price, R. Ibrahim, A two-stage model for
predicting crack growth, due to repeated thermal shock, Eng. Fract.
Mech. 70 (6) (2003) 721–730.
[5] P. Don, F.W. Brust, Welding residual stresses and effects on fracture
in pressure vessels and piping components: a millennium review and
beyond, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 122 (2000) 329–338.
[6] Australian Standards, Pressure Equipment—Manufacture, AS 4458-
1997, Sydney, 1997.
[7] Kobe Steel, All-position, titania-based flux cored welding wires: high
toughness at low temperatures maintained after stress relief treatment,
Brochure, Kobe Steel, Tokyo, 1998.
[8] D.W. Gandy, S.J. Findlan, R. Viswanathan, Weld repair of steam
turbine casings and piping and industry survey, ASME J. Pressure
Vessel Technol. 123 (2001) 157–160.
[9] J.R. Gordon, Modelling of residual stress and distortion in welded
structures: an overview of selected North American research initia-
tives, Structural Performance of Welded Joints, International Insti-
tute of Welding (IIW), Commission X, Fracture Avoidance Doc. No.
X-1350, 1996.
[10] J.M. Blackburn, M. Kirk, P. Brand, et al., An overview of some
current research on welding residual stresses and distortion in US
Navy, IIW, Doc. No. X-1359-96.
[11] H. Petershagen, H. Paetzold, Evaluation of design details of welded
joints in ship construction, FDS Report No. 142/1983, Institute for
Shipbuilding, University of Hamburg.
[12] I.A. Burch, The tensile fracture behaviour of the weld steel of BIS 812
ENA Q1N naval construction steels, DSTO Reports, Commonwealth
of Australia, 1995.
[13] T.W. Lau, M.L. Lau, et al., Development of controlled deposition
repair welding procedures at Ontario Hydro, WRC Bulletin 412,
1996, pp. 35–42.
[14] American Society of Mechanical Engineering, Boiler and Pressure
Vessel Code, Section XI, In Service Inspection, Issued Annually,
ASME, New York.
[15] L. Friedman, EWI/TWI controlled deposition repair welding proce-
dure for 11/4 Cr–1/2 Mo and 11/4 Cr–1/2 Mo steels, Repair Tech-
nology Workshop, EPRI, San Diego, USA, February 1996.
[16] J.S. Edgley, M. Pitrun, The temper bead welding repair of station
components, in: Proceedings of the WTIA Seminar: The Welding
Technology of Alloy Steels, Melbourne, October 1993.
[17] M. Pitrun, Weld repair of turbine chest, in: Proceedings of the 45th
International Conference, Melbourne, November 1997.
[18] D.W. Gandy, R. Viswanathan, S.J. Findlan, State-of-the-art weld
repair technology for high temperature pressure parts, EPRI Report
TR 103592, vols. 1–7, EPRI, Palo Alto, 1998.
[19] Welding Research Council, Overview of results from PVRC
(Pressure Vessel Research Council) programs on half-bead/temper
bead/controlled deposition techniques for improvement of fabrication
and service performance of Cr–Mo steels, Bulletin No. 412, June
1996, pp. 16–26.
400 A.S. Aloraier et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153–154 (2004) 392–400

[20] M. Sato, K. Suda, H. Nagasaki, How to weld using flux-cored wires?
J. Jpn. Weld. Soc. 6 (1996) 13–20.
[21] Sanpo-Shuppan, Practice of Flux Cored Wire, The Japan Welding
Engineering Society, 1994, p. 28.
[22] R.N. Ibrahim, T. Shehata, Effect of flux-cored wire on temper bead
welding technique to repair damaged carbon steel structures, in:
Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Mechanical
Behaviour of Materials, BC, Canada, May 16–21, 1999, pp. 771–
775.
[23] A.A. Sadek, R.N. Ibrahim, J.W.H. Price, T. Shehata, Optimization
of welding conditions of FCAW process to weld thick-wall steel
constructions, in: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference
and Exhibition Operating Pressure Equipment, Brisbane, Australia,
April 2001.