Welding Dissimilar Metals: Practical Issues with

Forged Steel AISI 8630 Tubular and API X80

Quenched-Tempered Steel Pipe

Michael Okhawere and Michael A. Adegbite

07 March, 2024
 Outline

 Introduction
 Materials
 Fabrication Process
 Examinations and Tests
 Results
 Conclusions

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 Introduction

AISI 8630 API 5L X80

 HSLA Steel  Yield Strength (min): 555MPa
 Yield strength (min): 85 (80 ksi)
ksi Tensile Strength (min):
 Good strength, excellent 700MPa
toughness and ductility Widely used oil and gas
 High strength-to-weight transmission
ratio applications Welding of AISI 8630 forging steel
 Widely used in the tubular to API 5L X80 quenched and
automotive, aerospace, tempered steel pipe - commonly used
defense and, oil and gas in the oil and gas industry for subsea
application during Drilling operations
industries
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 Introduction

Aim: Understanding solidification cracking in

typical field applications

“Solidification (hot) cracks occur when the weld

bead has insufficient strength to withstand
contraction stresses from the cooling weld” (Alan
Denney 2013).

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 Introduction

Solidification cracking may occur under numerous factors:

• insufficient weld bead
• poor workmanship by the welder
• impurities in parent materials such as sulphur and phosphorus
• poor welding sequence, which can result in residual stresses on the joint

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Figure 1: Wellhead Assembly indicative of welding joint
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 Introduction

 The case study considered is based on welding sequence and its effect on
solidification cracking, cause and solution; with same material grade,
welding consumables and welding process (assumed not presenting any
challenge)
 During the fabrication of a 20 x 31.75mm pipe, forged steel and
quenched/tempered steel, welded using Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
and Submerged Arc Welding process (SAW)
 Minimum of 230oC preheat temperature was maintained throughout
welding and with Non-destructive testing (NDT) performed 48 hours after
welding
 A crack of 300mm was detected, this crack further propagated to a final
length of 500mm
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 Examinations and Tests

Metallurgical examination to establish the nature and

possible causes of the defect
• Macro examination
• Micro examination
• Hardness testing

Examined regions:
• Base Material
• Heat Affected Zone (HAZ)
• Weld Metal
• Cracked Section
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 Examinations and Tests
 Visual Examination
 Magnetic Particle Inspection
 Fractographic examination
 SEM
 EDS
 Metallographic examinations

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 Results

 The metallurgical investigations indicated that the defect

on the external surface had features of Solidification
Cracks

 These cracks with varying depth on the examined

sections are exclusively located in the weld metal of the
butt welds, in the last capping pass and on the forged
parent material side (AISI 8630) of the assemblies

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Results

Figure 2: Wellhead assembly – General of Figure 3: MPI of Sample A

Sample A
Presence of numerous linear and aligned discontinuous indications parallel to the weld
axis located on the AISI 8630 forged parent material side of the assembly
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Results

Figure 4: SEM revealed the presence of numerous more or less aligned cracks
breaking through the external surface of the sample, with depths varying from a
few tens of millimeter to 1.5 mm on the opened portion 12
 Results

Figure 6
ELEMENTS DETECTED BY EDS
Spectrum Fe C Mn O Ni Mo Cr Si Ti
Dendrite 85.4 5.7 1.8 2.0 0.9 1.2 0.8 0.9 1.4

Dendrite 89.9 3.7 1.8 1.3 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.3

Dendrite 87.5 5.8 1.8 1.5 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.3

Parent metal 93.9 2.4 1.3 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.1

Figure 5 Parent metal 93.6 2.6 1.3 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.0

Parent metal 89.5 5.6 1.3 1.3 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.3

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 Results

Figure 7 Figure 8

Cracks are located in the weld metal of the butt welds, more precisely in the lateral capping pass,
on the forged parent material side (AISI 8630) 14
 Conclusion
1) Solidification cracking is a damage mechanism that occurs during
the later stage of welding

2) Cracking appears during cooling at temperatures approaching the

solidus of the weld metal, generally when chemical elements with
low-melting points are rejected from the solidifying dendrites and
segregate to the dendritic boundaries

3) In the final stage of solidification, liquid films may be formed over

the interface between adjacent dendrites. The thermal shrinkage
due to the solidification process induces strains across these low
cohesive strength films causing some of them to rupture
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 Conclusion
4) Generally, a width to depth ratio of 0.5 is best for resistance to
solidification cracking. Furthermore, concaved-topped weld
shows greater crack sensitivity than convex welds due to
solidification contraction being accommodated by the overfill

5) The welding parameters such as current and speed. High currents

give rise to high dilution and lead to high depth/width ratios weld
beads that are detrimental to solidification cracking resistance.
Welding procedures that minimize dilution and weld beads
depth/width ratios are recommended

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Acknowledgement

• Egina Project
• TotalEnergies

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 Thank you for attending
Merci d’avoir participe

Question and answer session

Seance de questions et reponses

adegbiteam12@gmail.com 18