WEEKLY TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

20th OCTOBER 2001

WELDING ENGINEERING
CRACKING IN WELDMENT

BY JAYESH DAVE
CRACKS & MICRO FISSURES
CRACK
❂ Discontinuity Produced by Local rupture of material due to
the effect of cooling or stresses.
❂ Occurs in Weld Metal, Fusion Line, Heat Affected Zone

MICRO FISSURES
❂ Cracks having microscopic dimensions
 TYPES OF CRACKS
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON APPEARANCE
•LONGITUDINAL
•TRANSVERSE
•STAR
•GROUP OF CRACKS
•CRATER
CRATER CRACKS

CRATER CRACKS
❂ Occur due to abrupt stopping of arc at the end of the bead
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON CONDITIONS OF
OCCURRENCE

❂ HOT CRACKING or SOLIDIFICATION CRACKING

❂ COLD or DELAYED CRACKING

❂ REHEAT CRACKING
HOT CRACKING or SOLIDIFICATION CRACKING

❂ Occurs at elevated temperatures.

• terminal stages of solidification
• a thin continuos liquid film having lower freezing temperature
• rupture due the contraction stress during solidification.
❂ Commonly occurs in Ni Alloys, Al-Alloys, Austenitic
Stainless steels, Ferritic Steels
❂ Maybe further classified as
- Centre Line
- Shoulder or Flare
- Radial
HOT CRACKING

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON MICROSTRUCTURAL FEATURES:

❂ Cracking in Austenitic SS
❂ Cracking in Ferritic Steels
❂ Segregation Cracking
❂ Cracking due to Progressive Solidification
❂ Ductility Dip Cracking
 HOT CRACKING IN AUSTENITIC S.S.

❂ Presence of impurities/ alloying additions - increase the

freezing range e.g. S,P, Bo, Nb, As, Se, Pb, Zr, Ta, Cu.
❂ Primary Solidification phase plays a very important role
❂ SS should solidify in primary δ-ferrite mode
❂ Ferrite has higher solubility for elements like S, P.
❂ Austenitic SS have some amount of Ferrite phase - which
acts as a “sink” by absorbing the impurities.
❂ Ni >12% - primary Austenite solidification mode -
susceptible to hot cracking
HOT CRACKING IN AUSTENITIC S.S.

Nature:
❂ Due to segregation of low melting phases at the grain
boundaries.
❂ Crack tip is rounded (unlike that in case of H2 Cracking)
❂ Intergranular in nature

REMEDIES:
❂ Presence of δ-ferrite
❂ Control over filler metal chemistry
HOT CRACKING- FERRITIC STEELS

❂ Presence of Low melting phases in the solidifying weld

metal
❂ Lower Width/ Depth ratios
❂ Crack Susceptibility formula for Sub-arc welding
(Units of Cracking Susceptibility)
UCS = 230C + 190S + 75P + 45Nb -12.3Si - 5.4Mn -1
(For Steel having 0.08-0.23%C; 0.010-0.050%S; 0.010-0.045%P,0.015-0.65%Si
0.010-0.045%P,0.015-0.65%Si,0.45-1.6%Mn,,0.07%Nb,
,0.45-1.6%Mn,,0.07%Nb, 1%Ni,
0.5%Cr, 0.4%Mo)

❂ The UCS is recommended to be <=30. It also depends on

the W/D ratio and other factors
HOT CRACKING - PROGRESSIVE SOLIDIFICATION

❂ Occurs due to Shrinkage, Segregation & Restraint

❂ Centre Line Cracking - which may / may not be open to
surface
❂ Occurs in Deep penetration beads with low width to depth
ratio
❂ Solidification progresses from base metal towards weld
centre, inclined towards the surface of the bead.
❂ Insufficient liquid metal in the weld Centre due to - High
travel speed, Longer weld pool, deeper bead
HOT CRACKING

Other Parameters:
❂ Weld Pool Length
❂ Welding Speed
❂ Weld Strain and restraint on the weldment
HOT CRACKING

❂ HOT CRACKS ARE NEVER TRANSVERSE TO THE WELD

❂ TYPICALLYORIENTED AT 45° TO THE SURFACE OR
PERPENDICULAR TO THE SURFACE
❂ MOST USUAL LOCATION IS AT THE WELD CENTRE-LINE (HEAT
CENTRE - NOT THE GEOMETRIC CENTRE)
❂ INTERGRANULAR IN NATURE
HOT CRACKING

Remedial Action
❂ Control of the solidification pattern
e.g. reducing the current, reducing the travel speed,
decreasing the penetration by switching from DC +ve to
AC, increasing stick out, making a less steep WEP,
❂ Maintaining optimum preheat - uniformly to avoid
localized thermal strain
❂ Proper selection of consumables e.g. basic flux for SAW -
which controls ‘S’ pickup during welding. Having low UCS
value.
❂ Addition of cold or hot wire in the weld pool
LIQUATION CRACKING

❂ Occurs in the High Temperature region of the HAZ - low

melting phase (when sufficient impurities are present)
forms at the grain boundaries in the HAZ.
❂ The liquid film is unable to accommodate the tensile
strain caused due to contraction during cooling.
❂ If segregation is more and the Weld metal is susceptible,
the crack propagates as solidification crack in the WM.
❂ Sulfur is the main element causing this type of cracking
alongwith high ‘C’ and lower ‘Mn’
❂ Liquation cracks are restricted to High Temperature HAZ &
are approximately perpendicular to Fusion line
COLD CRACKING or DELAYED CRACKING

❂ OCCURS BELOW 200°C due to

- Presence of H2 in the weld metal
- Hardenable microstructures in base metal and weld
metal
(eg. Martensite)
- Presence of restraints
❂ May not occur immediately after welding
COLD CRACKING or DELAYED CRACKING

❂ Factors affecting:
- H2 - in flux, coating, atmosphere
- Hardenability of the WM depending on the Carbon
Equivalent
CE = C + Mn/6 + (Cr+Mo+V)/5 + (Ni+Cu)/15
Steels with CE of 0.42 or less are at lesser risk of cracking
Steels with higher CE require precautions to be taken
COLD CRACKING or DELAYED CRACKING

❂ Control on the cooling rate of the HAZ - by controlling the

heat input
❂ Giving preheat to the joint
❂ Introducing postheating - to provide sufficient time for
the H2 to diffuse out
❂ Use of low hydrogen type consumables
❂ Use of Austenitic or nickel alloy consumables
❂ Temper bead - helps in tempering the HAZ of the top layer
REHEAT CRACKING

❂ Only possible in welds which undergo PWHT

❂ Appears to be restricted to WM / Steels which have at least
2 of the elements Cr, Mo, V, B
❂ Usually in HAZs - coarse grained regions
❂ Intergranular in nature
❂ During heating, the grain boundaries area available for
coarser grains, is unable to accommodate the localized
deformation associated with stress relief
❂ If WM Creep strength is > HAZ - then HAZ is more likely to
crack e.g. cracking in the coarse grain HAZ for Ferritic
materials which have been overlaid by Austenitic SS
Liquation Crack
Solidification Crack