The WeldNet
Introduction to
Welding Technology
CONSULTANT ENGINEERS - METALLURGY AND WELDING
Welding processes
■ Fusion welding
◻ Involves melting & solidification
■ Solid phase welding
◻ Explosive bonding
◻ Diffusion welding
◻ Friction welding
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Fusion welding
■ Most commonly used processes
■ Heat source – electric arc, gas flame, laser
■ Filler metal
◻ From electrode, rod, wires, powder, fluxes
◻ Independently added filler
◻ No filler (autogenous welding)
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Weld
■ The AWS definition for a welding process
is “A materials joining process which produces
coalescence of materials by heating them to
suitable temperatures with or without the
application of pressure or by the application of
pressure alone and with or without the use of
filler material".
■ Filler (if used) has a melting temperature
similar to the parts being joined
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Weldability
■ The capacity of a material to be welded
under the imposed fabrication
conditions into a specific, suitably
designed structure and to perform
satisfactorily in intended service.
■ (ANSI / AWS A3.0)
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Factors affecting weldability
◻ Weldability is often considered to be a
material property.
■ However the effect of other variables should not
be ignored.
◻ Weldability is also affected by:
■ Design of a weld
■ Service conditions
■ Choice of welding process
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Design
■ Weld joint design and execution
◻ Thickness, location, access, environment
◻ Restraint
■ Weldment size, assembly sequence
■ Service stresses
◻ Safety factor for welds
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Physical properties
◻ Melting and vaporisation temperatures
◻ Electrical and thermal properties
■ Conductivity, expansion coefficient, thermal
capacity, latent heat
◻ Ionisation potential of electrode
◻ Magnetic susceptibility
◻ Reflectivity
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Solidification of weld metal
■ Dendritic or cellular growth
■ Segregation
◻ Depends on composition
◻ Cooling rate
◻ Can lead to solidification cracking
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Dilution
◻ Proportion of weld metal that comes from the
base material
◻ Must be considered for each weld run
◻ Affects composition, properties, risk of defects
◻ Greatest effect when filler composition is
different to either or both base metals
◻ 100% for autogenous welds
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Chemical properties
◻ Affinity of weld metal for O, N and H
■ Susceptibility to porosity, embrittlement
◻ Presence of a surface film on base metal
■ Oxide films
■ Paint or metallic surface coating
◻ Fluxing / De-oxidising properties of a slag
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Contaminant gases
■ Nitrogen and oxygen from air
■ Hydrogen from
◻ Moisture in air
◻ Moisture in consumables or surface
contaminants
◻ Organic materials (grease, oil, paint etc)
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Gas-metal reactions
◻ Liquid metal may react with air or other gases
◻ Depends on
■ Liquid metal composition
■ Gas composition
◻ Consequences
■ Porosity - gas released on solidification
■ Formation of compounds
◻ Embrittlement
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Metallurgical properties
◻ Strengthening mechanism of base material
■ Weld versus base material strength
◻ Freezing range
■ Susceptibility to solidification cracking
◻ Susceptibility to detrimental phases forming
during welding
■ Embrittlement or corrosion
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Service environment
◻ Extreme environments
■ Corrosive
■ Low temperature (brittle failure)
■ High temperature (oxidation, creep, embrittlement)
■ Others (wear, fatigue, nuclear)
◻ The more extreme the environment
■ The more difficult it is to find suitable materials
■ The more restricted the welding procedure
becomes to avoid service failure (arc energy)
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Welding variables
■ Arc energy (heat input)
■ Preheat and interpass temperature
■ Filler metal composition
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Arc energy
Q = arc energy in kJ/mm
I = welding current
E = arc voltage
v = travel speed in mm/
min
Low arc energy High arc energy
• Small weld pool size • Large weld pool size
• Incomplete fusion • Low cooling rate
• High cooling rate • Increased solidification
• Martensite and hydrogen cracking risk
cracking • Low ductility and strength
• Precipitation of unwanted
particles
(corrosion and ductility)
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Preheat and interpass
◻ Preheat is applied independently
■ Gas torches
■ Gas radiant heaters
■ Electric resistance heaters
◻ Interpass temperature
■ Temperature before next pass is added
■ Controlled by a cooling time, or air or water cooling
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Raising PH/IP temperature
■ Slows cooling rate
◻ Reduces HICC in steels
◻ Can increase risk of solidification cracks
◻ Can increase tendency to embrittlement
■ Improves fusion
■ Reduces temperature gradient
◻ Minimises distortion and residual stress
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Fusion weld structure
Composite Weld
metal
Partially
Melted HA
Zone Fusion Line
Z
Unmixed fused
base metal
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Thermal gradients in HAZ
Temperature Fusion line
Fusion line + 2mm
Fusion line + 5 mm
Time
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Thermal HAZ regions
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HAZ Structure
Disturbed microstructure Weld Coarse grain region
Original base material Grain refining
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Weld positions and
joints
Welding positions - plate
Flat 1G Horizonta Vertical Overhead
l 3G 4G
2G Up or
Down
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Welding positions - pipe
Axis Axis Axis inclined
vertical horizontal 45°
2G 5G 6G
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Weld joints
But Tee
t
La
p Corner
Crucifor 27
m
Weld Types
Weld types
◻ Butt weld
■ Between mating members
■ Best quality
■ High weld preparation cost
◻ Fillet weld
■ Easy preparation
■ Asymmetric loads, lower design loads
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Butt welds
■ Joint types:
◻ Double welded butt
◻ Permanent or temporary backing
◻ Single welded butt
■ Lower stress concentration
■ Easier ultrasonic testing or radiography
■ Expensive preparation
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Butt weld types
Single vee
can be single Single bevel Double vee
or double
welded
Backed butt (permanent or
temporary)
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Butt weld terms
Included
angle
Fusion face Bevel angle
Cap /
Reinforcement
Root
face Roo
t
gap
Root
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run
“J” Preparations
Single “U”
Root preparation
radius
Lan
d
Double “U”
butt
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Fillet welds
◻ Simple to assemble and weld
◻ Stress concentrations at toes and root
◻ Notch at root (fatigue, toughness)
◻ Critical dimension is throat thickness
◻ Root gap affects throat thickness
◻ Radiography and ultrasonic testing is of
limited use
◻ Large fillets are uneconomic
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Fillet weld terms
Toe Throat
Weld thicknes
face s
Toe
Roo
t Leg
length
Gaps shall be taken into account for minimum leg length
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Weld preparation dimensions
■ Standard preparations
◻ AS/NZS1554, AS/NZS:3992
◻ AWS D1.1, ASME B31.3
■ Non Standard (Compromise at fabricator’s risk)
◻ Weld cross sectional area
■ Cost
■ Ease of welding (risk of defects)
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Weld Defects and
Discontinuities
Welding discontinuities
Discontinuities are essentially defects that fall within the
limitations of the welding standard requirements
■ Cracks
◻ Never a discontinuity !!
■ Porosity
◻ Most common complying weld defect
■ Incomplete fusion / Inclusions
◻ Some allowed by most welding standards
■ Defective profile
◻ Under-weld, over-weld, lack of root bead, burn through, undercut,
spatter etc.
◻ Most client specifications limit these types
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Welding defects- Causes
■ Cracks
◻ HACC / HICC, solidification, liquation causes
■ Porosity
◻ Gas entrapment / ejection, poor shielding
■ Incomplete fusion
◻ Sidewall, inter run, root pass, weld toes ( cold lap )
◻ Electrode angle implicated or poor joint profile
■ Inclusions
◻ Slag, oxide, tungsten
◻ Usually operator induced
■ Defective weld profile / finish
◻ Under-weld, over-weld, lack of root bead, burn through, undercut
◻ Usually operator induced
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Some weld defects
Undercu
t Cold
lap
Incomplete
penetration Slag inclusion
Incomplete sidewall fusion Incomplete root
fusion
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Solidification cracking
■ Low melting point constituents
◻ Sulphur, Phosphorus, Tin, Lead, Niobium
◻ Undesirable eutectics
■ Grain boundary segregation
◻ Segregation of sulphides etc.
◻ Lowering ductility and raising crack sensitivity
■ Strains arising during solidification
◻ Solidification range
■ Material types, contamination
■ Base material dilution, lowering weld strength
◻ Expansion coefficient
■ Differing between base material and weld material
■ Clad materials
◻ Weld pool shape and size
■ Depth-to-width ratio
■ Surface concavity
■ Arc energy
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Solidification cracks
Crater crack
Longitudinal
crack Centreline Crack
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Weldability of structural steel
■ Benchmark against which other materials
are judged
■ Risk of hydrogen induced cold cracking.
◻ Only occurs in ferritic, bainitic or martensitic
steel
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Hydrogen induced cold cracks
■ HACC – Hydrogen assisted
◻ Presence of hydrogen
◻ Susceptible microstructure
◻ Tensile Stress
◻ Temperature
■ Below ~ 100°C
■ HICC – Hydrogen induced
◻ Hydrogen embrittlement
◻ Susceptible microstructure / stress not always
required
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Susceptible microstructure
■ Weld metal or HAZ
■ Martensite or upper bainite
◻ Composition
■ Hardenability and hardness - carbon equivalent
■ TTT diagrams – Cooling rates
◻ Cooling time between 500°C and 300°C
■ Section thickness
■ Preheat temperature
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Sources of tensile stress
■ Residual stress
■ Restraint
■ Through thickness in thick sections
■ Applied stress
■ Excessive peening
■ Lifting
■ Presetting
■ Fairing and straightening operations
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Hydrogen
■ From consumables
◻ Moisture absorption
■ Potential hydrogen test
■ “Basic” consumables have lower potential hydrogen
■ From joint contamination
◻ Fabrication practices
■ Environment
■ Machinery
■ Temperature and time dependent
◻ > 150°C lower risk – diffusion of hydrogen
◻ < 150°C to ambient - if susceptible, cracking will occour
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Methods of control
■ Preheat
◻ Slow down cooling rate between 800°C and
500°C
■ Remove hydrogen before weld cools
below 150°C
◻ Stress relief immediately after welding
◻ Low temp temperature heat treatment (150°C
to 250°C, known as out-gassing)
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HAZ Cracking
■ All these approaches are based on studies of the risk of
HAZ cracking.
■ Weld metal cracking is less understood.
■ Weld metal cracking is more likely in
◻ Alloy steel weld metals of over 500 MPa yield
strength
◻ Submerged arc welds (Chevron cracks)
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Lamellar tearing
Pull-out crack (obsolete)
Lamellar tearing
■ Separation or cracking along planes
parallel to the principal plane of
deformation.
■ Occurs in rolled sections mainly but can
also occur in extrusions and forgings.
■ Does not occur in castings
■ Not to be confused with plate lamination.
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Lamellar tearing
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Appearance
■ “Woody looking” or stepped crack
■ Parallel to rolling direction (in rolled
sections)
■ Sometimes associated with HACC / HICC
in the HAZ.
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Factors affecting risk
■ Material
◻ Through-thickness properties
■ Design
◻ Through thickness strains and restraint
■ Fabricator
◻ Over-welding
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Design approach
■ Consider corner, tee and cruciform joints
a risk
■ Thicker members are at risk (more
restrained)
■ Consider joint details with lower risk
■ Specify material with adequate through
thickness ductility (tested – Z grade)
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Joint details with lower risk
■ Reduce weld size
■ Diffuse through thickness strains with joint
design
■ Minimise restraint
■ Balance weld detail
■ Avoid welds intersecting in a corner
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Joint detail comparison
Poor Improved
details details
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Fabrication practices
■ Carefully sequence fabrication to
minimise restraint
■ Choose rolling direction perpendicular to
weld axis
■ Test cold formed materials for tearing
■ Ultrasonically inspect weld areas for
laminations before fit-up
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Welding practices
■ Do not over weld
■ Follow practices that minimise stress and
distortion
■ Buttering can be used to avoid lamellar
tearing but is expensive.
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Residual stress and
distortion
Residual stress sources
■ Uneven plastic deformation
◻ Hot or cold forming (rolling, pressing, bending,
shot blasting)
◻ Cutting (machining, shearing)
■ Uneven heating and cooling
◻ Welding, flame cutting, flame straightening
■ Uneven solid phase change
◻ Quenching steel – microstructure expansion
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Heating a restrained bar
Middle bar
is heated
20 to
0 E 600°C and
15 F allowed to
0 cool
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STRESS IN MIDDLE BAR
0
5 Tension
0 A
0 D
-5
0 C
-10
0 Compression
MPa
-15
0 B
-20
0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0TEMPERATURE
0 IN0 MIDDLE0BAR Deg
0 0
C
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Residual stress in a butt weld
sy
σ
sx
σ
X X sx
σ
Compressio 0 Tension
n
σy Tension
X X
Compressio
n
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Possible consequences
■ Distortion
■ Weld cracking
■ Brittle failure
■ Fatigue
■ Stress corrosion cracking
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Distortion
Longitudina Transverse
l
Angular
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Minimising distortion
◻ Avoid over-welding
◻ Use a planned welding sequence
◻ Restrain the weldment
◻ Preset to allow for distortion
◻ Welding techniques
■ Fast high power techniques, back-stepping,
preheat
◻ Preheat – to maximise area of shrinkage
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End of presentation
■ Questions ??
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