Thomas J.C.

Eun

1/19/2001

5. Metallurgical Review for Effect of Tempering and PWHT

(1) Tempering effect : When steel is rapidly cooling from above temperature than A3 transition point,
it has the structure of tetragonal martensite and a certain amount of retained austenite. Steel in
this condition is hard, brittle, highly stresses and liable to develop quench cracks, particularly in
tool steels. Thus steels in the as-hardened condition are of limited usefulness. To overcome
this, the hardened steel should have a potential tendency to pass the low mobility of atoms. As
the temperature rises, the mobility of atoms increases due to the accelerated diffusion rate, and
this result in a structural change of the hardened steel to give rise to a stable state. This, in
effect, is the process of tempering, below than Ac1 transition temperature. In the majority of the
structure steels, the purpose of tempering is to obtain a combination of high strength, ductility,
and toughness. By tempering, ductility can be increased, and hardness and strength
decreased because of elimination of internal stresses. As the tempering temperature is
increased, elongation and reduction of area are also increased. However, the low alloy steels
have more carbide by the increases of temperature and holding time. Therefore the tempering
temperature is limited to 1100 to 1370 F (593 to 740 C) for low alloy Cr-Mo steels.
The formation of martensite from the retained austenite and the precipitation of carbides
together create an increase in hardness, which is a characteristic feature of highly alloyed steels
and high speed steels. The increase in hardness, as a result of the austenite decomposition, is
common to all steels, but it is scarcely noticed in carbon steels and low alloy steels (e.g., A372Gr.11-Cl.2) because the amount of retained austenite is small. On the other hand, the amount
of retained austenite is 5-30% more in highly alloyed steels.
The metallurgical transformed characteristics are as follows.
Properties

Before Tempering

After Tempering

Main structure

martensite (tetragonal)

tempered martensite (cubic)

Minor structure

rich retained austenite

lean retained austenite

Carbide (M3C, M7C3),

M = Fe, Cr or Mo

residual carbides

The carbides are more finely scattered,

however as the temperature increases,
carbides are more grown up.
Grain refinement effect.

Dislocation density

High

low

Tensile and yield strength

high

medium

Elongation, reduction area,

low

high

impact toughness
(2) PWHT for tempered steels : The PWHT is required for cold worked or heat affected parts in
order to eliminate the residual stresses. However if PWHT temperature is above the tempering
temperature, some tempering effects above may be lost because of higher carbides cluster and
grain growth. Therefore in spite of reducing of residual stress by PWHT, the likelihood of
embrittlement may be still remained.
Many companies spec still have the following
requirements as a rule of thumb.

Thomas J.C. Eun

1/19/2001

- The tempering temperature of the metal should not be less than PWHT temperature or
- The PWHT temperature should be at least 20-30 deg.C less than the tempering temperature.
However recently several heavy wall Cr-Mo reactor manufacturers are in a great dilemma to
meet the rule of thumb because it is very difficult (or impossible) to meet the required
mechanical properties from lower PWHT temperature. Actually the results of impact test and
any other mechanical tests (After the PWHT temperature is 30-60 deg.C higher than the
tempering temperature) were completely passed the requirements with sufficient margin.
Therefore this rule of thumb may not be applicable for heavy wall Cr-Mo steel if they can meet
all materials and fabrication requirements per codes and company specs.