Senior Lecturer Welding & Quality Inspection Universiti Kuala Lumpur Carbon Manganese Steels C-Mn steels are susceptible to a form of cracking in the HAZ area of a weld which known as cold cracking or HAZ cracking. In many cases cold cracking can be prevented by application of preheat. Lower cooling rate More time for hydrogen to diffuse out CCT for C-Mn Steel Presence of embrittlement microstructures (martensite) in C-Mn steel can be indicate by hardness value exceeding 350 HV. Transformation to microstructure having hardness greater than 350 HV can be begin at temperature of 550C and continue to 200C. Preheat up to 300C will have mark effect on cooling rate in critical range and reduce possibility of cracking. The response to varying cooling rates of steels in C-Mn range can be conveniently expressed in terms of carbon equivalent, Ceq For given Ceq and diffusible hydrogen content, value of either combined thickness, arc energy or minimum preheat temperature can be determined given any two of these three factors. In some cases use high preheat has to be considered in conjunction with requirement for maximum interpass temperature. Increase interpass temperature may be accompanied by a decrease in weld metal strength because softer microstructures are formed by lower cooling rate. Low alloy steels More hardenable than C-Mn steel because of the presence of small amounts of additional alloying elements. Usually more yield strength and ultimate strength compared with C-Mn. In general, high preheats are necessary to prevent cracking for a given thickness and given welding conditions than C-Mn steels. The critical hardness is dependent upon the hydrogen level of the welding process, process energy, selected preheat (and interpass), restraint and operating stresses, fit-up and actual composition of the steel being welded. The critical value can be more than 350HV. Preheat is not be possible to avoid the formation of hardened microstructures in HAZ. Zone 1 Carbon and low alloy steels with a carbon content of about 0.10%. A hard HAZ is not produced under most conditions and hydrogen cracking is not likely under most normal circumstances. The weld metal may be more likely to crack than the HAZ. Zone 2 Most carbon and manganese steels used for structural and pressure vessel applications. A Hard HAZ may be avoided by controlling the cooling rate, otherwise hydrogen control is necessary. Zone 3 Alloy steels with more than 0.1% carbon. This include some quenched and tempered steel. Hardness cannot be controlled by cooling rate and often quite at fast cooling rate is desirable to ensure adequate HAZ toughness. Hydrogen control must be used to prevent cracking. Preheat & Interpass Temp. For most of HSLA 10C for 25mm (1-in) 50C for 50mm (2-in) 100C for 75mm (3-in) For alloy A527 gr. 60&65 and A633 gr.E There are 50C higher than above. For HY130 50C for 17mm (0.5-in) 100C for 25mm (1-in) 150C for 38mm (1.5-in) The minimum and maximum preheat temperature should be identify clearly. Austenitic steels Hydrogen cracking does not occur in austenitic steels and preheat is not required nor used to avoid this problem. HAZ cracking may be occur during elevated temperature service or stress relief. Preheating to high temperatures could reduce the cooling rate following welding to such an extent that precipitation occur during cooling in a form which prevent subsequent embrittlement during reheating. Preheats at this level are very difficult to apply in practice. Duplex stainless steels Preheat and interpass temperature will infulence the austenite-ferrite balance in duplex. Low preheat and controlled interpass temperature can contribute towards cooling rate which provide acceptable microstructure. Preheat temperature are restricted to between 10-20C with an interpass limitation of 150C. C-Mn steels Consideration for stress relief should be given if Ceq is exceeding 0.6% Thermal stress-relief treatments can be beneficial in improving resistance to stress corrosion and brittle fracture. The need for stress relief becomes greater with increased thickness of material and increased size of weld joint. In general use, C-Mn steels are not particularly susceptible to stress corrosion effect. When caustic soda, nitrate solution or sodium chloride are present in contact with C-Mn steel weldments the possibility of stress corrosion cracking arise. There are no effect or little to fatigue behavior after stress relief carry out. Care must be taken to allow for possible deterioration of properties in service. Low alloys steels Effects of post weld heat treatment become more complex than C-Mn steels. If PWHT is necessary, care must be taken to obtain maximum properties developed in weldment without destroying the inherent properties of parent metal. The tempering and precipitation effects may occur in HAZ of these steels, both during welding and heat treatment. Metallurgical effects of PWHT must be carefully assessed. Recommended fracture test to be carried out on specimens notched in HAZ. Creep resistance steels Low alloy steels that contain Cr, Mo, V, B, Nb and Ti to enhance corrosion resistance and elevated-temperature strength. Reheated to 550C-650C to reduce susceptibility of hydrogen cracking or stress corrosion cracking. However, cracking can occur in the HAZ during reheating due to formation of secondary carbides than weakening the grain boundaries. A possible solution to these problems is to heat the weldment through the critical temperature range as quickly as possible, so that relief of residual stress occurs before there is time for precipitation and embrittling effects to cause cracking. Over-ageing of the HAZ regions by heating to 650C and above is usually sufficient to prevent the problem arising in subsequent service. This treatment also restores the fracture toughness of embrittled HAZ region. Care must be taken to ensure that the heat treatment does not impair the properties of the parent meterial. Cr-Mo steels without Vanadium (V) are not usually as susceptible to stress relief cracking as those contain V. Cracking occur due to highly restrained joints. Heat treatment to reduce the residual stress. Heating and cooling rates have to be carefully selected to achieve a balance between being fast enough to prevent embrittlement and slow enough to prevent introduction of undue thermal strain. Austenitic steels PWHT of austenitic steels is necessary to give satisfactory service under some condition, but may also give rise to other problems. Two main reasons Stress relief Resolution of harmful precipitate Selection of temperature for PWHT for stress relief is not straightforward as ferritic steels. Most of the stress may removed at 950C. Around 35% will relieved at 550-650C. Stress relief should be followed by slow cooling but should be noted that through the temperature range 850-550C this will lead to some form of precipitation. Cracking during reheating can occur in certain austenitic steels. If may take place if restrained weldment in susceptible steels are heated, for example to 850C for a short periods (perhaps less than 1 hr), or to lower temperatures for a longer time, for example to 500C for about 1000hr. Susceptibility to cracking increases with restraint of joint and thick weldment. The presence of welding residual stresses gives rise to increased risks of stress- corrosion cracking in austenitic weldments in certain environments. In chloride or hydroxide. Stress-corrosion cracking occurs only in the presence of tensile stress, so that if the total stress are reduced by relief of residual stresses, susceptibility to cracking may greatly reduce or eliminated. A second form of corrosion cracking can be arise in some austenitic steels in marginally/moderately oxidising environments. This form of attack is accelerated by stress and occurs by an interganular mechanism when chromium-rich precipitation (Fe,Cr)23C6 has taken place at grain boundaries. Occur during exposure to temperature in the range 500-850C either in service or during welding. Avoided by heat treatment about 950C or above and follow by rapid cooling. Duplex stainless steels Heat treatment of duplex for stress relief is not general applied. Rapid precipitation of intermetallic phases (eg. Sigma) and nitrides form in the range 550-1050C. Some precipitation significantly reduce corrosion resistance and toughness. The primary reason for heat treatment of duplex steels is to take undesirable precipitates back into solution, i.e. solution annealing. Temperature 1050-1250C are typically used, followed by rapid quenching example with water. Slow cooling must be avoid. Lower temperature heat treatments are only applied to dissimilar metal joints to ferritic steel or to cladding when code being followed demands heat treatment for the ferritic steels HAZ. Temperature below 800C are tentatively suggested where post-weld heat treatment is unavoidable.
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