I N T E R - O F F I C E C O R R E S P O N D E N C E

* gETH\*Fx
B E T H L E E S T E E L
Apr i l 19, 1976
FILE REF. 2006-2
FROM
TO
SUBJECT
J, W. Frame
D. J . Blickwede
p?';Ki'rATIO OF PAPER ON WELDABILITY OF LNG HULL STEELS
pertached is a paper by T. W. Eagar and J. C. Baker on "LNG Hul l St e e l s
Vit}~ Improved High Heat I nput Wel dabi l i t y" t o be pr esent ed i n St. Louis
0-s J4ay 3, 1976. The conference "LOW-~emperature Pr oper t i es of Ship
plate'' i s a j o i n t l y sponsored ASM-ASTM-MPC symposium. The r equest f o r
a paper was made through J. B. Doran; bot h Met al l ur gi cal Engi neeri ng
a i d Plate Sal es have recommended that we p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h i s symposium
with a paper on our c ur r e nt LNG h u l l steel work. The 15 minute pr es ent at i on
will be made by J. C. Baker. The symposium proceedi ngs wi l l not be publ i shed.
We request appr oval t o pr es ent t h i s paper.
3. W. Frame
Manager
Product Research
Attachment
e ~ : TBW/EHK
EBMancke
DFBrion
RLWhi t e l e y
niTenxme1
J J O 'Keef e
EAZouck
JEWerner
LNG HULL STEELS WITH IMPROVED HIGH HEAT INPUT WELDABILITY
By T. W. Eagar and J. C. Baker
INTRODUCTION
Bethlehem St eel Corporation has been working i n conj unct i on wi t h
s ever al shi pyards i n a program coordi nat ed by t he Nat i onal Bureau of St andards
and sponsored by t he Maritime Admi ni st rat i on t o develop LNG s hi p h u l l s t e e l s
wi t h improved wel dabi l i cy at hi gh welding heat i nput s. The goal of our
Sl i de 1 research is t o develop ship steels capable of meeting 20 f t - l bs a t -60
i n the weld zone a f t e r high heat i nput welding, such a s 100 KJI i n 3/4 i nch
place. These steels w i l l be developed at t wo s t r engt h l evel s , 35 k s i yi e l d,
60 k s i t e n s i l e and 51 ks i yield, 7 1 ks i tensile.
The r at i onal e f o r t he program is t he reduced f abr i cat i on cos t of
r eadi l y weldable h u l l pl a t e a t hi gh heat i nput s . Such pl at es must r e t a i n good
low t emperat ure toughness i n t he weld and i n t he weld heat -affect ed zone.
Typi cal l y, shi pyards a r e cur r ent l y usi ng 4 t o 5 welding passes f o r 3/4 i nch
pl a t e at 60 KJI heat i nput . St eel s with improved wel dabi l i t y shoul d enabl e
higher pr oduct i vi t y t o be achieved wi t h t he high heat i nput s . Pot ent i al l y
they would al l ow welds t o be made i n two passes a t 100 KJI on 314 i nch
pl at e, wi t h less r epai r welding.
The pr i nci pal problem is t h a t under cur r ent welding condi t i ons t he
weld j oi nt toughness at low t emperat ures drops off r api dl y wi t h i ncr easi ng heat
Sl i de 2 i nput s f o r convent i onal normalized s hi p steels, pa r t i c ul a r l y a t the f usi on l i n e
of t he heat -affect ed zone. The i n i t i a l j oi nt preparat i on and t he posi t i on of
Sl i de 3
Sl i de 4
Sl i de 5
t he fusi on l i n e i n t he welded j oi nt are shown here. Other HAZ l ocat i ons a l s o
Charpy t est ed were a t t he 1, 3, and 5 mm posi t i ons. As can be seen from t he
next s l i de , t he Charpy Impact energy is a st r ong f unct i on of t he notch l ocat i on
wi t hi n t he HAZ, t he fusi on l i n e bei ng t he worst l ocat i on wi t h regard t o toughness.
For t hi s reason most of our work has been di r ect ed a t improving t he f usi on l i n e
I
toughness. The next s l i d e shows t he det er i or at i on i n f usi on l i n e toughness
with heat i nput f or a convent i onal C-Mn normalized s t e e l wi t h normal s ul f ur .
Even at r e l a t i ve l y low heat i nput s (below 60 KJI) t he 20 f t - l b requirement of
ABS is onl y margi nal l y me t . It should be poi nt ed out t ha t a l l t he s t e e l s t ha t
we have t est ed t o dat e have been l abor at or y produced.
The reason f o r this degradat i on i n toughness a t t he f usi on l i n e or
i n t he coarse-grain regi on of t he HAZ wi t h heat i nput is because of t he i ncr easi ng
wi dt h and gr ai n s i z e of t he coar se grai ned regi on as shown. Thi s compares wi t h
a base metal ASTM gr ai n s i z e of 11. To meet our toughness requirement a s t e e l
that is more r e s i s t a nt t o t he format i on of this coarse-grain regi on w i l l be
necessary. Good weld m e t a l toughness w i l l a l s o be requi red t o achi eve s a t i s -
f act or y pr oper t i es a t t he f usi on l i ne , si nce much of t he f r a c t ur e a t t h i s
posi t i on cracks through t he weld me t a l . The ABS s peci f i cat i on does r equi r e
a 20 f t - l b Charpy impact energy f o r t he weld m e t a l as wel l .
With regard t o weld metal toughness, C-Mn s t e e l s gener al l y have
marginal toughness at hi gh heat i nput s, whereas t he weld met al toughness
f o r t he microalloyed steels is somewhat lower and is usual l y below t he 20
f t - l b cr i t er i on. To dat e, a welding wi re cont ai ni ng 0.5% N i and 0.5% Mo
and a neut r al f l ux have given best r e s ul t s . We do pl an f ur t he r work i n
t h i s area.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Ef f ect of Sul fur Content
Low s ul f ur is known t o gi ve improved t r ansver se shel f energy i n
pl a t e steels. W e have found t ha t it a l s o lowers t he 20 f t - l b t r a ns i t i on tempera-
t ur e a t t he f usi on l i n e i n our steels, making t hese weldable a t hi gher heat
Sl i de 6 i nput s. The magnitude of t h i s s h i f t t o hi gher heat i nput s wi t h lower s ul f ur is
about 20 KJI. Furthermore, wi t h t he low s ul f ur s t e e l a l a r ge r cushion i n meeting
the 20 ft -l b requirement exists f o r heat i nput s below t he absol ut e maximum.
Thus* low S provides some improvement i n HAZ toughness and t hi s improvement
can be usef ul f o r many cur r ent l y used welding procedures. However, t he toughness
is still below 20 ft -l b a t 100 KJI and we bel i eve t ha t t o meet our research
obj ect i ve a low s ul f ur st eel wi t h t he addi t i on of some mi croal l oyi ng element
t o r e s t r i c t t he gr ai n s i z e i n t he coarse-grain regi on of t he HAZ w i l l be requi red.
Ef f ect of Microalloying
Regarding mi croal l oyi ng, we have br i e f l y eval uat ed t he e f f e c t s of
Cb, Ti , and V on HAZ toughness. Cb and Ti addi t i ons were found t o be bene-
Sl i de 7 f i c i a l a t high heat i nput s. However, a t low heat i nput s t her e is l i t t l e
improvement in f usi on l i n e toughness and sometimes t he toughness was found
t o be even degraded by t h e i r presence, a s is t he case shown f o r t he Cb s t e e l .
The reason f or t he f usi on l i n e toughness not being hi gher, par t i cul ar l y at
hi gher heat i nput s, is pa r t i a l l y because of poor weld met al toughness, i.e.,
. .
Sl i de 8
Sl i de 9
Sl i de 10
less t han 20 f t - l bs. Use of an a l t e r na t e welding wire and f l ux may hel p t o
a l l e vi a t e t he di f f i c ul t y. A t hi gh heat i nput s Cb and T i r e f i ne t he s t r uc t ur e
i n t he coarse gr ai n HA2 a s shown. This r ef i ned s t r uct ur e is bel i eved t o
decrease t he mean f r e e crack pat h and provide Improved impact r esi st ance.
A t low heat i nput s mi croal l oyi ng causes pr eci pi t at i on hardening although
T i does t h i s t o a much smal l er degree t han Cb i n t he steels of t h i s i nvest i -
gat i on. This hardening e f f e c t can, a t l e a s t pa r t i a l l y, negat e any benef i ci al
e f f e c t of s t r uct ur e refinement on HAZ toughness.
Vanadium was al s o found t o r e f i ne t he HAZ s t r uc t ur e somewhat at hi gh
heat i nput s but t her e was no improvement i n toughness. We cur r ent l y do not
have an expl anat i on f o r t h i s l a c k of improvement.
We have a l s o looked at the e f f e c t of ni t rogen addi t i ons. Nitrogen
was found not t o not i ceabl y a f f e c t base pl a t e toughness. However, i t di d
cause a 40-5o0F i ncr ease i n f usi on l i n e t r a ns i t i on temperature i n our
C-Mn, Cb, Ti , o r V s t e e l s . Possi bl e reasons f o r t he det r i ment al e f f e c t
of ni t rogen on f usi on l i n e toughness, hi nt ed by t he i ncr ease i n HAZ
hardness f or t he ni t rogen steels, a r e pr eci pi t at i on hardening and/or
decomposition of some ni t r i de s and i ncr ease i n f r e e ni t r ogen cont ent i n
the HAZ. We pl an t o conduct some s t r a i n aging experiments t o t r y t o
determine t he mechanism of how ni t rogen a f f e c t s mechanical pr oper t i es i n
t he HAZ versus t he base me t a l .
I n conclusion, we feel that Cb or T i microalloyed steels a r e the
most promising. However, we are cont i nui ng our st udi es t o develop compo-
s i t i o n a l limits and t o confirm t he benef i t s r eal i zed i n our l abor at or y t e s t s
on mill-produced pl at e. For the present, low S can provide s i gni f i cant
Improvements i n HAZ toughness and al l ow some i ncreases i n acceptable welding
heat input.
SLI DE 1
OBJECTIVES OF OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM
0 To develop improved LNG ship hull plates capable of meeting
20 ft-lbs at -60
welding (100 KJ 1
0 To develop these
(a) V-051
(b) EH36 (
in t he weld zone after high heat
in 314 inch plate).
improved steels at two strength leve
(35 ksi yield, 60 ksi tensile),
51 ksi yield, 71 ksi tensile).
nput
s:
SLIDE 2
Weld geometry and charpy notch location for 34"
double bevel groove plates.
a ) Joint Geometry
F L I 3 5
b ) Charpy Notch Location
F L - Fusion Li ne
I - Imm
3 - 3mm
5 - 5 mm
SLI DE 3
CHARPY IMPACT ENERGY AS A FUNCTION OF
NOTCH LOCATION WI THI N THE HEAT-AFFECTED ZONE
Charpy Energy at -60F
Heat Input Thickness Ft-Ibs
Steel
,
KJ 1 in. FL 1 mm 3 mm 5 mm
-
EH32, C-Mn,
Low sulfur
SLIDE 4
Charpy i mpact energy versus welding heat input for
conventional C- Mn steel
-
-
Values at Fusion Li ne
I I I I
50 70 90 100
WELD HEAT INPUT,KJI
SLIDE 5
W I DTH AND GRA I N S IZE OF COARSE-GRA IN HEAT-AFFECTED
REGION AS A FUNCTION WELDING HEAT INPUT
Approximate ASTM
Heat I nput Width of Bainitic Grain Size of
KJ I HAZ Region, in. Bainitic Region
Base Metal - Normalized C- Mn Steel with ASTM Grai n Size of 11
SLIDE 6
Chorpy impact energy versus welding heat input for
normalized C- Mn steels
WELD HEAT INPUT,KJI IN 3/4" PLATE
50
11.
6
(0
4 0 -
!<
u
m
83 30-
>
w
2
u
a
20
<n
01
-J
I
10-
-
\
\
\
Values at Fusion Line
\
\
Normal sulfur, ,025 %
\
\
- - Low sulfur ,.005 %
\
\
\
- --------
SLIDE 7
Chorpy impact energy versus welding heat input
Values at Fusion Line
C- Mn , Low S steel
- Ti,Low S st eel
* OO OOO* ~~OO Cb, Low S $tee 1
50 70 90 100
WELD HEAT INPUT, KdI IN 3/4" PLATE
SLIDE 9
EFFECT OF VANADIUM ON HAZ TOUGHNESS
Gleeble Simulated HAZ, 100 KJI i n 314 inch Plate
Fusion Line
Steel 20 ft-lbs Transition Temperature, OF
Vanadium +28
Vanadium-Nitrogen +70
SLI DE 10
EFFECT OF NITROGEN ON HAZ 20 FT-LBS TRANS ITION TEMPERATURE, OF
Gleeble Simulated HAZ, 100 KJI i n 314 I nch Plate
Base Metal Fusion Line
Steel 20 Ft-lb T. T. Hardness, VHN 20 ft-lb T. T. Hardness, VHN
All Steels are Normalized and Low Sul fur