Welding Metallurgy 2

Welding Metallurgy 2
Lesson Objectives
When you finish this lesson you will
understand:
The various region of the weld where liquid
does not form
Mechanisms of structure and property
changes associated with these regions

Learning Activities
1. View Slides;
2. Read Notes,
3. Listen to lecture
4. Do on-line
workbook
5. Do homework

Keywords:
Heat affected zone, Base metal, Solutionizing treatment, Aging,
welding procedure, heat input, Hydrogen cracking, Carbon
equivalent, Lamellar Tearing, Reheat Cracking, Knife-line attack,

Heat Affected Zone Welding

Concerns

Heat Affected Zone Welding

Concerns
Changes in Structure Resulting
in Changes in Properties
Cold Cracking Due to Hydrogen

Look At Two Types of Alloy Systems

Cold Worked Alloy Without Allotropic Transformation

Introductory Welding Metallurgy,

AWS, 1979

Welding
Precipitation
Hardened Alloys
Without Allotropic
Phase Changes
Welded In:
Full Hard
Condition
Solution
Annealed
Condition

Introductory Welding Metallurgy,

AWS, 1979

Annealed upon
Cooling

Precipitation Hardened Alloy Welded in Full Hard Condition

Introductory Welding Metallurgy,

AWS, 1979

Precipitation Hardened Alloys Welded in Solutioned Condition

Introductory Welding Metallurgy,

AWS, 1979

Questions?

Turn to the person sitting next to you and discuss (1 min.):

Precipitation hardened austenitic stainless steel is used for
high strength applications like rocket components etc.
Reviewing the various procedures for welding
precipitation hardened steels, what procedure would you
recommend? Does it make any difference that this is
austenitic stainless steel and not just plain carbon steel?

Steel Alloys With Allotropic Transformation

Introductory Welding Metallurgy,

AWS, 1979

Introductory Welding Metallurgy,

AWS, 1979

Questions?

Turn to the person sitting next to you and discuss (1 min.):

As we saw, the cooling rate can depend upon the preheat
and the heat input. Many codes actually specify the range
of heat inputs that can be used to weld certain materials.
We had an equation to determine the heat input before.
What is it? What processes have the highest Heat Inputs?
The lowest?

Cracking in Welds

Hydrogen Cracking
Hydrogen cracking, also called cold
cracking, requires all three of these
factors
Hydrogen
Stress
Susceptible microstructure (high
hardness)

Occurs below 300C

Prevention by
Preheat slows down the cooling rate;
this can help avoid martensite
formation and supplies heat to diffuse
hydrogen out of the material
Low-hydrogen welding procedure

0.1.1.5.2.T12.95.12

Dickinson

Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels

Why Preheat?
Preheat reduces the temperature differential
between the weld region and the base metal
Reduces the cooling rate, which reduces the
chance of forming martensite in steels
Reduces distortion and shrinkage stress
Reduces the danger of weld cracking
Allows hydrogen to escape

0.1.1.5.1.T9.95.12

Steel

Using Preheat to Avoid Hydrogen

Cracking
If the base material is preheated, heat flows more
slowly out of the weld region
Slower cooling rates avoid martensite formation

Preheat allows hydrogen to diffuse from the metal

T base

Cooling rate T - Tbase)3

Cooling rate T - Tbase)2

T base

Interaction of Preheat and

Composition

Steel

CE = %C + %Mn/6 + %(Cr+Mo+V)/5 + %(Si+Ni+Cu)/15

Carbon equivalent (CE) measures ability to form

martensite, which is necessary for hydrogen
cracking
CE < 0.35
no preheat or postweld heat treatment
0.35 < CE < 0.55
preheat
0.55 < CE
preheat and postweld heat treatment

Preheat temp. as CE and plate thickness

Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels

Why Post-Weld Heat Treat?

The fast cooling rates associated with welding
often produce martensite
During postweld heat treatment, martensite is
tempered (transforms to ferrite and carbides)

Reduces hardness
Reduces strength
Increases ductility
Increases toughness

Residual stress is also reduced by the postweld

heat treatment
0.1.1.5.1.T10.95.12

Postweld Heat Treatment and

Hydrogen Cracking

Steel

Postweld heat treatment (~ 1200F) tempers any

martensite that may have formed
Increase in ductility and toughness
Reduction in strength and hardness

Residual stress is decreased by postweld heat

treatment
Rule of thumb: hold at temperature for 1 hour per
inch of plate thickness; minimum hold of 30
minutes

Questions?

Base Metal Welding Concerns

Cracking in Welds

Lamellar Tearing
Occurs in thick plate subjected to high transverse
welding stress
Related to elongated non-metallic inclusions,
sulfides and silicates, lying parallel to plate
surface and producing regions of reduced ductility
Prevention by
Low sulfur steel
Specify minimum ductility levels in transverse
direction
Avoid designs with heavy through-thickness direction
stress
0.1.1.5.2.T14.95.12

Improve Cleanliness
Improve through thickness properties
Buttering

Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels

Multipass Welds
Heat from subsequent passes affects the
structure and properties of previous passes
Tempering
Reheating to form austenite
Transformation from austenite upon cooling

Complex Microstructure

0.1.1.5.1.T11.95.12

Steel

Multipass Welds
Exhibit a range of
microstructures
Variation of
mechanical properties
across joint
Postweld heat
treatment tempers the
structure
Reduces property
variations across the
joint

Cracking in Welds

Reheat Cracking
Mo-V and Mo-B steels susceptible
Due to high temperature embrittlement of the heataffected zone and the presence of residual stress
Coarse-grained region near fusion line most
susceptible
Prevention by

Low heat input welding

Intermediate stress relief of partially completed welds
Design to avoid high restraint
Restrict vanadium additions to 0.1% in steels
Dress the weld toe region to remove possible areas of
stress concentration

0.1.1.5.2.T15.95.12

Stainless Steel

Knife-Line Attack in the HAZ

HAZ

Weld

Knife-line attack

Cr23C6 precipitate in
HAZ
Band where peak
temperature is 8001600F

Can occur even in

stabilized grades
Peak temperature
dissolves titanium
carbides
Cooling rate doesnt
allow them to form
again