Problem of cold cracking

Prepared
By
Dr .Sunil D.Kahar
Assistant Professor
Metallurgical & Materials Engg. Dept.
Faculty of Technology & Engineering
M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara

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 Problem of cold cracking
Cracking due to welding stresses acting
on brittle microstructure, e.g., martensite

Contributing factors

Martensite
Residual stress (tensile!)
Hydrogen

Terminology : Cold, underbead, hydrogen-induced,

or delayed cracking
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Underbead crack in low-alloy steel weldment

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 Terminology
Units for hydrogen content:
ppm or mL/100g of weld metal
1 mL/100g = 0.89 ppm

Deposited weld metal and total weld metal

Total hydrogen, diffusible hydrogen and residual hydrogen

Importance of diffusible hydrogen –

can diffuse out of sample or from weld
metal to HAZ and cause cracking
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 Sources of hydrogen
Only deliberate addition:
Atomic hydrogen welding (obsolete)
Cellulosic coatings
Ar-H2 mixtures for faster welding
Others:
Welding consumables
Atmosphere
Parent metal
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 Sources of hydrogen
Hydrogen from consumables:
Combined water (water of crystallization)
and other hydrogen-containing compounds
in electrode coatings and fluxes
These decompose in arc heat →
Free hydrogen dissolved in weld metal

High hydrogen level in cellulose / rutile coatings,

but necessary for correct welding behaviour

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 Sources of hydrogen
Basic electrodes, most SAW fluxes:
Low hydrogen levels, but need for
careful storage and re-drying (baking)
Temperatures: 250-4500 C,
possibly higher for some fluxes

Acidic vs basic SAW fluxes

Fused and agglomerated fluxes

Difficulty with fused basic fluxes: CaO is hygroscopic

Agglomerated basic fluxes: CaCO3 not hygroscopic

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 Sources of hydrogen
Recent developments: Improvements in coatings’
resistance to moisture pick-up, but care still needed

GTAW, PAW, laser welding: Very low risk

CO2 welding: Low risk with solid wires,

little deterioration during storage (rusting!)
Fluxes in cored wires: Vary considerably in
hydrogen levels, from very low to medium,
difference between sealed and unsealed types

EBW, ESW: Very low risk

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 Sources of hydrogen
Hydrogen from atmosphere:
Atmospheric humidity, especially hot,
humid environment may increase
hydrogen level by 1-2 mL/100g

Underwater hyperbaric welding:

High pressure in chamber raises
partial pressure of hydrogen
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 Sources of hydrogen
Hydrogen from parent steel:
Usually ignored (processing, heat treatment)
However, exceptional situations: Welding in heavy
section, deep below surface
Surface contamination more common – grease,
oil, paint, rust
More problematic – steels from H2S service or
high-temp., high-pressure hydrogen service,
then need for heat treatment to diffuse out hyd.
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 Hydrogen levels
High hyd. level: > 15 mL/100g
Medium : 10 – 15 mL/100g
Low : 5 – 10 mL/100g
Very low : < 5 mL/100g

Ultra low (proposed): < 3 mL/100g

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 Solubility of hydrogen
Solubility of hyd. in iron drops as
shown
Austenite: 5 mL/100g at 8000 C
Ferrite: Small fraction of 1
mL/100g at RT

Rapid cooling in welding →

High degree of
supersaturation
(80 mL/100g measured in welds
from cellulosic coatings)

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 Hydrogen embrittlement
Absorption from welding atmosphere

Rapid cooling and supersaturation

Migration into HAZ

Mechanisms

• Diffusion under stress to discontinuities, local lowering

of cohesive strength, nucleation of crack

• Diffusion to discontinuities, build-up of

high triaxial pressure, embrittlement 14
 Hydrogen embrittlement …..
Intermittent crack growth and rupture

Requirement of time –
revealed only at room temperature
and at (nearly) constant load

Use of low-hydrogen consumables,

need for precautions,
superiority of gas-shielded welding

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 Diffusion of hydrogen
Higher temperatures → Faster diffusion
Important: Hydrogen diffuses much more
slowly in austenite than in ferrite
Austenite at 4500 C similar to ferrite at RT
Hydrogen thus tends to stay in austenite –
at RT diffusion is too slow;
even at high temperatures, diffusion is still
slow and solubility is very high
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 Diffusion of hydrogen
Below about 2000 C, diffusion rate in ferrite
deviates below curve for lattice diffusion – also
wide spread of rates for different steels

Effect due to second phase particles – carbides,

inclusions , especially sulphides –
acting as traps for hydrogen and slowing down
its diffusion considerably – thus removal of
hydrogen at and near RT very slow

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 Diffusion of hydrogen
Hydrogen escape or evolution from steel requires
temperature and time
Note: Only diffusible hydrogen can reach the surface and
escape!
• Reference tensile testing only after heat treatment
for release of hydrogen
• Postheating schedules based on hydrogen escape

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Temperature range of embrittlement :
From 2000 C to – 1000 C
Greater the steel susceptibility, higher the upper
limit temperature – even up to 2000 C

Maintaining most steels at ~1500 C →

Hydrogen removal and avoidance of embrittlement
Maintaining at temp. < sensitive range:
No use at all (no diffusion even after several
years, cracking on bringing back to RT)
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 Susceptibility to
hydrogen embrittlement
Susceptibility related to inherent toughness of the
steel: higher the toughness, greater the
hydrogen level required to embrittle it
to the level needed for cracking

Higher the strength and hardness,

lower the toughness
Thus, higher the hardness,
greater the susceptibility
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 Susceptibility …..
Note (for weld HAZs):
1) Hardness of as-deposited HAZ important
(i.e., before tempering by later passes or PWHT – hardness
measured in multipass weld not useful in assessing
likelihood of cracking when root weld was being made)

2) Hardness varies across HAZ,

so maximum hardness only is relevant

3) Coarse-grained HAZ: Rapid cooling, also higher

hardenability, high tensile stress, high hydrogen level –
maximum susceptibility to cracking

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 General Strategies to avoid HIC
• Direct control of hydrogen level
• Control of microstructure by
controlling cooling rate
• Temperature control
• Microstructure control through
isothermal transformation
• Use of austenitic steel or
Ni base consumables
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 Direct control of hydrogen level

Use of low hydogen consumables

Necessity for using basic fluxes !
Merit of gas shielded welding

SMAW electrodes, SAW fluxes to be

carefully stored (warm storing) and
baked up to 4500C
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 Direct control of hyd. level (contd.)

Very low hyd. electrodes : Danger in hot,

humid climates, hyperbaric chambers

Cored wire brands : Moisture pick up if reels

kept on machines unprotected for long
(in humid conditions)

Parent steel cleanliness : Rust, oil, grease,

paint, even innate hydrogen
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 Further lowering of hydrogen levels
Development of higher-strength steels –
reduced tolerance for hydrogen
Enables reduction of preheat / interpass / postheat
temperature controls

Thus incentive for lowering benchmark hydrogen level

3 mL / 100 g weld metal in SMAW
2 mL / 100 g weld metal in FCAW

Several recent developments

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 Hydrogen reduction strategies
Modifications in arc chemistry
1) Increasing slag basicity (B)
B = CaO + MgO + BaO + K2O Li2O + CaF2 + 0.5(MnO+FeO)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SiO2 + 0.5 (Al2O3 + TiO2 + ZrO2)

As B ↑, weld metal oxygen level ↓, also hydrogen level ↓

(E.g., As B ↑ from 0 to 3, HD ↓ from 12 to 2 mL / 100 g)
Reason : Complex interaction based on water vapour
solubility or hydroxyl capacity of the slag
Higher basicity → higher hydroxyl capacity → Lower HD level

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Also, dissociation of CaCO3 contributes additionally
to reduction of HD
( CaCO3 ↔ CaO + CO2, 2 CO2 ↔ 2CO + O2
This ↑ in oxygen level in arc atmosphere suppresses
the moisture decomposition reaction H2O ↔ 2H + O )
Excess CaCO3 counter-productive, for complex reasons

Note also any such excess can adversely affect,

e.g., in SMAW, operational characteristics like arc stability,
arc forces, weld pool viscosity, weld bead shape, etc.

Hence optimal level of additions necessary

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2) Addition of fluorides to flux

a) Fluorine-containing compounds ↓ hydrogen content in

weld metal : F2 + H2 ↔ 2 HF
HF insoluble in liquid iron (weld metal),
so escapes into the atmosphere,
Thus, hydrogen availability reduced
Fluorine provided by adding fluorides, e.g., fluorspar (CaF2)

b) Also, if silica is present, CaF2 reacts with SiO2 to form

SiF4 : 2 CaF2 + SiO2 → SiF4 (g) + 2 CaO
SiF4 provides shielding and ↓ hydrogen partial pressure

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c) Addition of CaF2 also ↑ slag basicity
and ↓ hydrogen level

CaF2 decomposes poorly in the arc, hence other fluorides

also tried : NaF, KF, K2SiF6, Na3AlF6, K2TiF6 , etc.
These dissociate more easily, so are more effective
than CaF2 in reducing hydrogen level

Proportion of additions to be optimized :

Too high an amount ↑ HD again
Excess CaF2 decreases arc stability
Excess K2SiF6 and K2TiF6 ↓ slag basicity
Other more complex factors

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