Indian Institute of Welding – ANB

Refresher Course Module 02

Structure, properties, heat

treatment and testing of
welded joints
Formation of regions having different
microstructures during welding

Weld is a composite having different

properties in different zones
Evolution of structure in weld pool

Part of the base metal gets partially melted during welding

Metallurgical Zones in a typical weld

4
 Illustration:
Weld deposited
on grey iron
with Nickel
Filler Metal

Composite Zone
– Austenite

Unmixed Zone
– White Iron

HAZ –
martensite
&un-dissolved
graphite

5
 Segregation

Equiaxed
dendrite

During solidification impurities are pushed towards GB

Evolution of microstructure during solidification

equiaxed
dendritic Columnar
dendritic
cellular
% Solute
dendritic

cellular

planar

Solidification parameter, G/R

G = thermal gradient, R = Growth rate

Effect of weld speed on the structure of fusion zone of Al

HS

Low speed

LS

Curved columnar grains point

towards weld direction at low speed.
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10
Various regions in HAZ formed during welding
 The Weld and Heat Affected Zones

 Weld zone : Columnar solidification

structure
 Fusion Zone: Boundary of weld and HAZ
 HAZ 1: Zone heated below 600 C, base
metal unaffected
 HAZ 2 – Sub-critical zone 650-727 C,
tempering and some spherodisation
 HAZ 3 – Inter-critical zone A1 to A3, partial
transformation to Austenite recrystalised
fine grain size.
 HAZ 4 – Super-critical zone above A3 full
transformation to austenite. On cooling F +
P or hard B or M may form depending on
rate and composition
 HAZ 5 – Super critical zone above 1050,
grain growth of recrystalised austenite,
reduced strength & impact Macrograph
of
Weld & HAZ
Effect of cooling rate on micro-structure
and properties

A variety of microstructures & hence properties can be

obtained in steel by controlled cooling
 Structural features of ferritic steel

Ferrite + TS = f(P) ~ %C; grain

Pearlite F P size & carbide spacing
Continuous plate
Cooling rate / strength

Upper Bainite TS = f(plate width %

carbide & its spacing)
B Broken platelets

Lower Bainite TS = f(plate width, %

carbide & its spacing)
B Broken fine platelets

Martensite TS = f(%C)
Brittle & unstable
M No ppt.
Needle (lens) shape
Microstructure & hardness of HAZ in
steel

Preheating helps reduce hardness of

HAZ by extending time it spends
between 800-500deg C
 Weld cracking

 CG   FG
coarse

fine

To maintain strain compatibility both must

creep at same rate. Thus coarse grain portion
has to support higher stress. This is why HAZ
is more susceptible to cracking.
 Post Weld Heat Treatment

Carried out to achieve any one or

more of the following objectives

 Stress relief
 Dimensional stability
 Resistance to stress corrosion
 Improved toughness and mechanical
properties

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Common Heat Treatment Processes

 Group I – recrystallisation annealing or

more commonly known as “stress
relieving”
 Group II – full annealing & normalizing
 Group III – solution annealing
 Group IV – hardening & tempering
19
a. Temp. below A1:
a. Mixture of ferrite & pearlite grains; hence
microstructure not affected.
b. Temperature below A3:
a. Pearlite transformed to Austenite, A3 temp is not
exceeded, hence not all ferrite transforms to
Austenite.  On cooling, only the transformed
grains will be normalized. 

20
c. Temperature just exceeds A3, thereby
causing full Austenite transformation. 
a. On cooling all grains will be normalized.
d. Temperature significantly exceeds A3 line
permitting grains to grow. 
1. On cooling, ferrite will form at the grain boundaries,
and a coarse pearlite will form inside the grains. 
2. A coarse grain structure is more readily hardened
than a finer one, therefore if the cooling rate
between 800°C to 500°C is rapid, a hard
microstructure will be formed –(brittle fracture may
occur in this region)
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 Welding versus heat treatment

Interpretation of HAZ structure needs a different set of

CCT diagram
A typical CCT diagram of a plain carbon
steel used for heat treatment

Microstructure depends on the time spent between 800-

500deg C during cooling
 Stress Relieving

 Effective for reducing residual welding

stresses in
 Heavily-restrained welds
 Welds that are susceptible to cracking
 Dominant mechanisms in stress-relieving
are:
 Relaxation of stress by eliminating distortions
in lattice and by forming new grains in distorted
grains
 Promoting plastic flow by reducing yield stress

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 Stress Relieving

 Purpose:to relieve internal stresses, reduce hardness and

increase the ductility of strain hardened metal to a certain
extent
 Heating temperature of “stress relieving” is not associated
with phase transformations
 It is carried out by heating to a suitable temperature below
the transformation temperature, holding at this temperature
for a predetermined period of time and followed by uniform
cooling
 Typical S.R. Temperature for LA steels – 595 to 675oc
 Typical S.R. Temperature for chrome-moly steels is higher –
680 to 720oc
 Relief of Stress vs Time & Temperature

Stress relieving temperature C

300 400 500 600
25
Relief of residual stress av. %

35
45
4 hours
55
1 hour
65
75
6 hours

85
95
 Full Annealing

 The second group consists of second order or full annealing, which

involves phase recrystallisation and consists of heating the steels
above the phase transformation temperatures
 This treatment is followed by slow cooling. Full annealing
substantially changes the physical and mechanical
properties and may refine a coarse grained structure
 The purpose of annealing is to obtain softness, improve
machine-ability, increase or restore ductility and toughness,
relieve internal stresses, reduce or eliminate structural in-
homogeneity, refine grain size and to prepare steel for
subsequent heat treatment
 Full Annealing

 Consists of heating the steel 30 - 50o C above the ac3, holding at

this temperature and then slowly cooling at a rate of 30 -200o C per
hour, depending on the composition of steel
 The rate of heating for annealing of rolled stock or forging maybe
as high as the furnace can provide. For welded assemblies rate of
heating may need to be controlled to avoid stresses and distortion
 Holding time is usually 30 minutes to an hour per ton of charge
 Slow cooling enables the austenite to transform to pearlite, ferrite
and / or cementite structure depending on the composition
 The more stable the austenite is, the slower should be the cooling
to allow this transformation. Thus alloy steels, where the austenite
is more stable, should be cooled more slowly (at the rate of 30-
100o C per hour) than carbon steels (at a rate of 150-200o C per
hour)
 Solution Annealing

 To dissolve all carbides, nitrides and other inter-

metallic compounds in a phase stable at high
temperature. Temperature depending on phase
diagram of the alloy
 Carried out mainly on non-ferrous alloys,
maraging steels and other precipitation hardening
stainless steels prior to quenching and
precipitation hardening / aging treatment
 Austenitic stainless steels may also be solution
treated and quenched to eliminate harmful
carbide precipitation
 Normalizing 

 Normalizing of steel is a process of heating steel to

a temperature 40-50o C above Ac3, holding at this
temperature for a short time and subsequent
cooling in air
 This is used to eliminate coarse-grained structures
obtained in previous working (rolling, forging or
stamping), to improve the structure in welds or to
reduce internal stresses
 Also to increase the strength of medium carbon
steels to a certain extent (in comparison with
annealed steel) and to improve the machinability of
low carbon steels,
 Hardening & tempering
 In the third group - hardening, alloys are heated above the
critical phase transformation temperatures, held at this
temperature and then quenched (rapidly cooled) in water, oil
or molten salt baths
 During heating the ferrite and considerable amounts of
cementite (or pearlite in eutectoid steels) are transformed
into austenite
 Cooling at a rapid rate ensures that austenite is transformed
into a hard phases called martensite.
 Higher alloyed steels may harden by air cooling
 The hardened steel is then tempered below the A1
temperature between 350 – 650 C to develop the required
combination of strength and toughness.
 Quenching

 The effectiveness of quenching depends on the cooling

characteristics of the quenching medium as related to the
ability of steel to harden
 Thus results may be varied by changing the steel
composition or the agitation, temperature and type of
quenching medium
 The success of the process therefore depends on the
design of the quenching system
 The design of the part to be quenched also contributes to
the mechanical properties and the distortion that will result
from a particular quench
 Quenching Media Used for Steels
 Water
 Brine solutions (aqueous solutions containing salts such as
sodium or calcium chloride)
 Caustic solutions
 Oils polymer solutions
 Molten salts
 Molten metals
 Gases, ( still or moving )

They differ in respect of cooling characteristics

and heat transfer at various stages of quenching
 Classification of Mechanical Tests

Uniaxial & uniform loading Non-uniform / multi-axial

•Tensile / compression •Bend test
•Stress Relaxation •Rotating beam fatigue
•Fatigue (Load / Strain Control) •Impact (CVN)
•Creep •Hardness
•Notch tensile test
•KIC, JIC etc

Material parameters required for stress analysis of engineering

structures primarily come from uniaxial tests
 Mechanical Tests: Test Variables
Tensile / Compression Creep
v = constant L or stress = constant

Moving Cross head

Test variables
l •Cross head velocity: v
•Load: L
Load cell
•Strain: e
Fixed Cross Head
Stress relaxation Fatigue: v=f (t)
Strain Control Load Control
e = constant
e t L t
v=0
 Tensile test
Uniform Necking
P deformation
Load P UTS
Stress  
Area A0

Elongation 
L  L0
100 0.02% Proof Stress
L = L-L0 L0
Proportional limit: YS Fracture
A A
RA  0 100 stress

Stress
A0
Stress
E if stress  YS
Strain

P % Elongation
Plastic deformation

Strain Elastic strain

P
LC steel
E,YS & UTS are material properties. These are
independent of specimen dimension. Ductility
Strain depends on specimen size. Shorter specimen
exhibits higher ductility due to necking.

E,YS & UTS decrease as temperature increases.

 Creep test: shape of creep strain time plot

Tertiary
Primary Secondary /
Steady state
Strain

l
 s  Steady state creep rate
l  l0
tr = time to rupture
Strain 
time
l0

Creep is a slow time dependent deformation. All metals & alloys under go creep.
It is measurable if test temperature is > 0.5TM (melting point in deg Kelvin). It is a
strong function of stress & temperature. Creep test at a given temperature and
stress gives us time to rupture, steady state (minimum) creep rate, rupture strain
 Stress & temperature dependence of creep

stress Temp.
strain

strain
time time
1000
Master rupture plot
700 650 600 550

Safe stress
Stress

100
tr
10
15000 16000 17000 18000 19000

LMP = T (20+log tr) Temperature

Rupture data are more readily available for design & selection of
material for high temperature components (boiler & turbine).
 Hardness
Hardness is a measure of resistance to deformation. Three common methods
of measuring hardness: Scratch, Rebound & Indentation Hardness.

Hardness Indenter Magnitude Load

Brinell P Fe : P  30 D 2
P
BHN 
D  D / 2 ( D  D2  d 2 ) Al : P  5D 2
d

Vickers Diamond 1 - 120 Kg

Pyramid: 1.854 P
DPH 
136deg L2
DPH  f  P 
20 – 300 g
L Microhardness

Rockwell Diamond cone: Rc: 0-100: Steel 150 Kg

120deg: Brale RA: 0-100: Brass 60 Kg
Steel ball: RB: 0-100: Al 100 Kg
1.6mm

Hardness gives an idea of strength & heat treatment of metals.

 Fatigue test
A metal subjected to a fluctuating stress fails at a stress much lower than that
required to cause fracture. This phenomenon is called fatigue.

Mild steel
max
Endurance limit


1234
min
S-N curve
Al alloy

Rotating beam fatigue testing machine Log Nf 108

Inert: vac.


Corrosive
environment

Log Nf
Fatigue strength = Endurance limit = f (size, surface finish, surface
prop, residual stress, UTS, inclusion content, environment)
 Hydrogen embrittlement test
Steel picks up hydrogen during welding, pickling, heat treatment,
electroplating or corrosion due to cathodic charging. This makes the
steel notch sensitive and makes it susceptible to delayed fracture.
P Charpy impact test is not
No hydrogen suitable to detect hydrogen
 embrittlement.

Slow strain rate test, slow

Hydrogen charged bend test, notch tensile tests
Log tr show loss of ductility.

P
There is a critical stress below which delayed fracture
does not take place.
 Stress corrosion tests
P
Chemical species Alloy Temperature
Chlorides in water Austenitic steel Above room temp
NaOH, KOH soln. Carbon steel 100 deg C
Nitrates in water Carbon steel 100 deg C
NH3 or ammonium Copper alloys Room temp. P
salts in water

fracture
KIC III
II
KI
da/dt

KISCC I
threshold
Log tr
K
 Impact testing

CVN, J

Temp.
HAZ has coarse grain & high transition temperature. This
was the cause for failure of Liberty ship.
 Fracture mechanics


2a Crack propagates when E

New free 
surface:  elastic stored energy is a
large enough to create
new surface.   s  p
Ductile: p >> s Brittle: s >> p
Crack tip stress field
y K c  E

r Criterion for unstable crack growth: K > Kc
 y  f  K , r , 
K   a  GF 
Kc can be easily estimated if we know the load at which
GF = 1 for infinite plate
UCE takes place. Quite difficult for ductile material.
K = SIF
 Experimental FM
Pc P
w

P
 K
B w
P
 w
f a Kc LEFM

B = thickness
For most commercial alloys do not exhibit such plots.

EPFM Variation of fracture
a dU toughness with plate
J Kc thickness.
Bda 2
P
J K
a+a J   KIC = material property
E
 B
NB. Normal design: if a plate deforms, increase thickness. FM based
design: if a plate cracks, reduce thickness.