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Cooling rates in various processes

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Weld thermal cycles
Max. temperature (and cooling rate)
decrease on going away from weld metal
Faster heating Faster cooling

Higher heat input [(V x I)/s in arc welding)]
Slower cooling
Thick sections cool faster than thin ones

Fillet welds cool faster than butt welds

Preheating reduces cooling rate
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Microstructures across the weld
Impose weld thermal cycle (i.e., cooling
curve) on CCT diagram

Thus different microstructures under
different welding conditions

Possibility of undesirable microstructures,
especially martensite

Danger of cracking due to martensite

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Problem of cold cracking
Cracking due to welding stresses acting
on brittle microstructure, e.g., martensite

Contributing factors

Martensite
Residual stress (tensile!)
Hydrogen

Terminology : Cold, underbead, hydrogen-induced,
or delayed cracking
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Underbead crack in low-alloy steel weldment
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Hydrogen embrittlement
Absorption from welding atmosphere

Rapid cooling and supersaturation

Migration into HAZ

Mechanisms

Diffusion under stress to discontinuities, local lowering
of cohesive strength, nucleation of crack

Diffusion to discontinuities, build-up of
high triaxial pressure, embrittlement
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Hydrogen embrittlement ..
Intermittent crack growth and rupture

Requirement of time
revealed only at room temperature
and at (nearly) constant load

Use of low-hydrogen consumables,
need for precautions,
superiority of gas-shielded welding
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Tendency to martensite formation
Depends on intersection of weld cooling curve
with CCT diagram of the steel

More the martensite formed, greater the danger of
cracking

To modify microstructure, shift intersection
Change composition (Lower %C, alloy content)
Reduce cooling rate (Preheat, heat input
control)
l
Weld metal : Both options

HAZ : Only cooling rate option

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HYDROGEN CRACKING
Factors responsible
Brittle microstructure
Hydrogen
Residual stress

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Terminology
Units for hydrogen content:
ppm or mL/100g of weld metal
1 mL/100g = 0.89 ppm

Deposited weld metal and total weld metal

Total hyd., diffusible hyd. and residual hyd.
Importance of diffusible hydrogen
can diffuse out of sample or from weld
metal to HAZ and cause cracking
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Sources of hydrogen
Only deliberate addition:
Atomic hydrogen welding (obsolete)
Cellulosic coatings
Ar-H
2
mixtures for faster welding
Others:
Welding consumables
Atmosphere
Parent metal

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Sources of hydrogen
Hydrogen from consumables:
Combined water (water of crystallization)
and other hyd.-containing compounds in
electrode coatings and fluxes
These decompose in arc heat Free hyd.
dissolved in weld metal

High hyd. level in cellulose / rutile coatings,
but necessary for correct welding behaviour
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Sources of hydrogen
Basic electrodes, most SAW fluxes: Low hyd.
levels, but need for careful storage and re-drying
(baking)
Temperatures: 250-450
0
C,
possibly higher for some fluxes
Acidic vs basic SAW fluxes
Fused and agglomerated fluxes
Difficulty with fused basic fluxes: CaO is
hygroscopic
Agglomerated basic fluxes: CaCO
3
not
hygroscopic

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Sources of hydrogen
Recent developments: Improvements in coatings
resistance to moisture pick-up, but care still
needed
GTAW, PAW, laser welding: Very low risk
CO
2
welding: Low risk with solid wires,
little deterioration during storage (rusting!)
Fluxes in cored wires: Vary considerably in hyd.
levels, from very low to medium
difference between sealed and unsealed types
EBW, ESW: Very low risk

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Sources of hydrogen
Hydrogen from atmosphere:
Atmospheric humidity, especially hot,
humid environment may increase hyd.
Level by 1-2 mL/100g

Underwater hyperbaric welding: High
pressure in chamber raises partial
pressure of hydrogen
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Sources of hydrogen
Hydrogen from parent steel:
Usually ignored (processing, heat treatment)
However, exceptional situations: Welding in heavy
section, deep below surface
Surface contamination more common grease,
oil, paint, rust
More problematic steels from H
2
S service or
high-temp., high-pres. hyd. service,
then need for heat treatment to diffuse out hyd.

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Hydrogen levels
High hyd. level: > 15 mL/100g
Medium : 10 15 mL/100g
Low : 5 10 mL/100g
Very low : < 5 mL/100g

Ultra low (proposed): < 3 mL/100g
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Solubility of hydrogen
Solubility of hyd. in iron drops as shown
Austenite: 5 mL/100g at 800
0
C
Ferrite: Small fraction of 1 mL/100g at RT
Rapid cooling in welding
High degree of supersaturation
(80 mL/100g measured in welds from
cellulosic coatings)
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Diffusion of hydrogen
Higher temperatures Faster diffusion
Important: Hydrogen diffuses much more
slowly in austenite than in ferrite
Austenite at 450
0
C similar to ferrite at RT
Hydrogen thus tends to stay in austenite
at RT diffusion is too slow;
even at high temperatures, diffusion is still
slow and solubility is very high

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Diffusion of hydrogen
Below about 200
0
C, diffusion rate in ferrite
deviates below curve for lattice diffusion
also wide spread of rates
for different steels
Effect due to second phase particles
carbides, inclusions , especially sulphides
acting as traps for hyd. and slowing
down its diffusion considerably thus
removal of hyd. at and near RT very slow

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Diffusion of hydrogen
Hydrogen escape or evolution from steel requires
temperature and time
Reference tensile testing only after heat treatment
for release of hydrogen
Temperature range of embrittlement:
From 200
0
C to 100
0
C
Maintaining most steels at ~150
0
C
Hydrogen removal
Maintaining at temp. < sensitive range: No use at
all (no diffusion even after several years,
cracking on bringing back to RT)

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Testing for hydrogen embrittlement
Temperature: Room temperature

Strain rate: Should be very slow
Impact testing totally ineffective
Tensile testing only in special cases
Constant load rupture test ideal
(time to rupture, limiting stress, etc.)

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Susceptibility to
hydrogen embrittlement
Susceptibility related to inherent toughness of the
steel: higher the toughness, greater the hyd.
level required to embrittle it
to the level needed for cracking

Higher the strength and hardness,
lower the toughness
Thus, higher the hardness,
greater the susceptibility

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Susceptibility ..
Note (for weld HAZs):
1) Hardness of as-deposited HAZ important
(i.e., before tempering by later passes or
PWHT hardness measured in multipass
weld not useful in assessing likelihood of
cracking in weld root as weld is being
made)
2) Hardness varies across HAZ,
so maximum hardness only is relevant
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Susceptibility ..
Near HAZ: High peak temperature, coarse-
grained austenite (higher hardenability),
also rapid cooling, high hardness
(limited only by %C) max. likely here
For any particular welding situation ( H level,
restraint, preheat, heat input, postweld
cooling particular max. hardness at
which cracking occurs critical hardness
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Carbon Equivalent
Tendency of a HAZ to develop a particular
hardness under a particular cooling regime
related to a single compositional
parameter carbon equivalent
CE(IIW) =
C + Mn/6 + (Cr+Mo+V)/5 + (Ni+Cu)/15
CE(IIW) < 0.42 easy to weld w/o cracking
CE(IIW) > 0.5 difficult to weld w/o cracking
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Carbon Equivalent
Several other CE formulae also proposed:
CE(AWS): C + Mn/6 + Cr/5 + Mo/4
+ Ni/15 + Cu/13
[Notice close similarity to CE(IIW)]

Ito and Bessyo (Japan):
P
cm
= C + Si/30 + (Mn+Cu+Cr)/20 + Ni/60
+ Mo/15 + V/10 + B (Note importance of B)

Dren: CEq = C + Si/25 + (Mn+ Cu)/16
+ Ni/40 + Cr/10 + Mo/15 + V/10
Note greater emphasis on C itself, these two are especially useful
for low-C steels (many modern steels, e.g., pipeline steels),
for which CE (IIW) is not entirely suitable




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Carbon Equivalent
CE (IIW) - developed in the late 1960s -
and based on work from 1940 -
originally hardenability formula,
now used as hydrogen cracking formula
(Si ignored in formula, but affects hardenability
same way as Mn,
but Si does not increase cracking tendency,
unlike Mn)
(CE(IIW) cannot be used to find HAZ hardness of
single-pass weld containing Si!)

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Carbon Equivalent
Empirical formulae relating CE(IIW) to hardness and yield
strength
Applicability of CE to be modified by
1) Inclusion content
(Stray instances, e.g., low-S steel showed HIC, but not
similar steel with high S
sulphide inclusions nucleate ferrite at higher
temperatures, more crack-resistant than lower-
temperature products)
2) Segregation, especially in concast plates higher %C
and alloying elements at centreline,
greater cracking tendency there
3) High scarp casts can have higher alloy content
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HYDROGEN CONTROL IN
HIGH-STRENGTH STEEL WELDS
Importance of HIC/HAC in high-strength steels

Current remedies

Development of HSLA-80 and HSLA-100

Preventive measures also required for FZ

Alloy design approaches for developing
optimized consumables
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HYDROGEN CONTROL..
Constraints-based modelling for selecting electrode
compositions for GMAW of HSLA-80 and HSLA-100

Metallurgical criteria:
B
50
temperature in the range of 400-500
o
C
M
s
temperature lower than the corresponding B
50

Carbon equivalent in the range 0.28-0.41%
Combined O + N < 550 ppm

Chemical composition evolved using these criteria

Model validated by welding trials
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Different approach: Reduce H
D
in the weld

Further lowering of limit for new, higher-strength steels

Measures for decreasing H
D
:
Increase slag basicity
Increase oxygen content
Reduce partial pressure of hydrogen in the gas shield
Reduce hydrogen activity by adding fluorides in flux


K
2
SiF
6
, Na
3
AlF
6
, KF, MnF
3
found more effective than
CaF
2

HYDROGEN CONTROL..
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Another approach: Hydrogen traps

Hydrogen in lattice and in crystal defects and second-
phase particles

Mean residence time longer in trap than as solute

Specific rare earth and transition metal additions
compounds such as Ce
2
O
3
, TiC, Y
2
O
3
, etc. with high
binding energy for hydrogen

Addition of 1600 ppm Y: H
D
reduces to 1-2 mL/100g
HYDROGEN CONTROL..
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Retained austenite (RA) as hydrogen trap

Differences in solubility and diffusivity

Effectiveness of RA demonstrated by experiment

Caution:
RA could transform to martensite, high H
D
in martensite

Tailor RA content to service conditions
HYDROGEN CONTROL..