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Welding Inspection
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Heat Treatments
Course notes section reference 18

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 Properties of steel
Mechanical properties :-
·Hardness - a measure of the resistance to penetration
·Tensile strength - a metal's ability to withstand stress in
tension
·Compresive strength-a metal's ability to withstand a
pressing or squeezing tog ether
·Shear strength - a metal's ability to resist a sliding past
type of action
·Fatigue strength - ability to take repeated loading
-Toughness - ability to resist shock
·Ductility - ability of a metaPs to stretches before it breaks
-Brittleness - metal does not stretches before it fractures

~ Structural forms of steel

-Ferrite :- almost a pure iron and has a little ca rbon

and is a very weak steel

·Cementite:- actually a compound of iron and carbon

known as iron carbide .Contain lots of

carbon; as mush as 1.6% - 1.8% or 2%.

It strong and hard .

·Pearlite :- solid solution ,a mixture between ferrite and

cementite. It exist at roo m temperature

and is magnetic

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~;; Structural forms of steel
·Austenite :-It occurs at elevated temperatures.!t is not
magnetic. As the steel heated to an elevated
temperature where it becomes austenite.

It structure changes from BCC to FCC.

·Martensite :-Iron at room temperature that has previously

been heated and suddenly quenched.

Martensite is the strongest and hardest and

most brittle structures.

Heat treatment

·Heat treatment can be classified as any

metallurgical process involves heating and
cooling.
Heat treatment involves :-
·Annealing
·Normalizing
·Quenching
·Tempering
·Stress releaving

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Jfeat Treatfnent:;
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All heat treatments are basically cycles of three elements

• Heating

• Holding (soaking)

• Cooling

Post weld /teal treatments are used to change the properties of

the weld metal, controlling the formation of structures
Pre heal trea tments arc used basically to increase weldabilty,
control expansion and contraction forces during welding.
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- ----- Heat Treatment:;

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The relevant variables for heat treatment process, which
must be carefully controlled are as follows .

• The heating rate

Temperature attained

The time at the attained

temperature (soak time )

• Cooling rate

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- -- - --
Jfeat TreatrnentJ
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. ,
The basic heat treatments are:

• Annealing • Normalising

• Hardening • Tempering

• Stress relieving • Pre-heating

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T he method of applyin g th e hea t to the material may vary from
procedure to procedure. c.g flame, electrical res istance and
furnaces

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fie!!! Treatrnent:.;
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Annealing
• Temperature : 920 0 e hold for sufficient time
• Cooling: Furnace cool to 650°C then cool down in air

- • Result: Produces a very soft, low hardness material

suitable fo r cold working or machining operations.
Decreases toughness and lowers yield stress
Normalising
• T emperal ure: 920' C hold for sufficient time
• Cooling : Slow coo l in air
• Result: Relieves internal stresses improves mechanical
prope rties and increases toughness, grain refinement.

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 Heat Treatment
• Normalizing -involved heating the material

above the upper critical

temperature and cooling it

slowly in room temperature .

•Annealing - Similar with Normalizing except

that cooling takes place still more

slowly in temperature controlled

oven .

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Heat Treatment
• Quenching :-

A controlled cooling process which causes

metals to harden .

• Materials must be heated at any

elevated temperature,but if hardness is
important,the materials should be heated
above the upper critical temperature.

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 Heat Treatment
Annealing and Normalizing Quenching
-Softens .Hardens
·Weakens the materials .Strengthens
·Causes ductility .Causes brittleness
·Removes internal .Causes internal stresses
stresses
·Causes distortion
·Removes distortion
·Causes cracking
- trends
oRemoves cracking trends ols a fast cooling process

ols a slow cooling process

Heat Treatment
• Tempering :-

the process of reheating the steel after

hardening or quenching to a
temperature which is below the lower
critical temperature followed by any rate
of cooling.
·Tempering is generally done between
149 0 C - 649 0 C and must be done
immediately after quenching.

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 ~~ -
fIeat Treatff!entJ .
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Quench Harden

Temperature: 920°C hold for sufficient time

Cooling: Fast cool, quench in water, oil.

Result: Hardens carbon steels. After this

treatment the material is very hard and
highly stressed. The material is brittle but
with high tensile strength.

Tempering
• Temperature: 250 to 680°C hold for sufficient
time

• Cooling: Slow cool in air

• Result: Relieves residual stresses

mechanical properties and increases
toughness, may also be used to reduce
hydrogen levels
o 2004 TWI Lid

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ffeat Treatrnenis
Stress Relief
• Temperature: 550 to 680'C hold for sufficient time
• Cooling: Slow cool in air.
• Result: Relieves residual stresses improves
mechanical properties and increases toughness, may
also be used to reduce hydrogen levels
Post Hydrogen Release
• Temperature: Approximately 250'C hold up to 10 hours
• Cooling: Slow cool in air
• Result: Relieves residual hydrogen

Copynghl "2004 TWl l W

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 Heat Treatment
Effects of Tempering
·Hardness ·Decreased
'Strength ·Decreased
'Toughness ·Increased
·Brittleness ·Decreased
'Ductility ·Increased
·Internal stresses ·Decreased
'Distortion ·Reduced
·Cracking ·Reduced
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Heat Treatment
Stress relieving
'Stress relieving is a process to relax
welding stresses without any significant
affects on the components metallurgical
structure because the austenite region is
not reached.
'Stress relief is achieved by heating the
material to 500 0 C - 600 0 C ,holding for the
required time
e.g 1 hour for every 25 mm of material
thickness, and then cooling in air.

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 •

Heat Treatment
Stress relieving
·The relevant variables which must be
carefully controlled are as follows :
'Heating rate
'Temperature attained
•Time at attained temperature
·Cooling rate

Pre Heat • ,
Preheat temperatures are arrived by taking
into consideration the following :

•The heat input

•The carbon equivalent (GE)

• The combined material thickness

•The hydrogen scale required (A, S, C, 0 )

ILF..........

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 - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - "- - --

-- - ffea!- TfeC!trf!~nt:;
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Preheat
We can preheat metals and alloys when welding for a
number of reasons . Primarily we use most pre-heats to
achieve one or more of the following:
1. To control the structure of the weld metal and HAl on
cooling
2. To improve the diffusion of gas molecules through an
atomic structure.
3. To control the effects of expansion and contraction.
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Preheat control s the formalion of un-des irable microstructures that
arc produced from rapid coo li ng of cenain types of steels.
Martensite is an undesirable grai n structure very hard and brittle it
is produced by rapid cool ing form the austeni te regio n.

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fJea! Treailnen!:;
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Preheat temperatures are arrived by taking into

consideration the following :

,-
·The heat input
·The carbon equivalent (CE)
·The combined material thickness
·The hydrogen scale required (A, B, C, D)

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-- f-(lIdr() ;len
~----~=~
;';'cale3 - - :

Below is a list of hydrogen scales taken from BS

EN 1011 regards to 100 grams of weld metal
deposited .
Scale Hydrogen Content
A > 15 ml
B > 10 ml < 15 ml
- C > 5 ml < 10 ml
o > 3 ml < 5 ml
< 3 ml

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}feo/ Treat/nen!3
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Pre-heat Requirement

-The heat input Increased Reduced

Equivalent Increased Increased

content Increased Increased

-Combined material thickn ess Increased - - Increased

Copynght ~ 2004 TWI LIe!

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 - -- -

. Preheat Cornpari3oY! Chart .

I_I---+--+--

il 60 f-- c,!-
.-.co
E ABC
8 '20i-

o.o i rO~5 ! 1-1 ~O- i ! 1.5 ~- 2.0 ' :2.5 ' ' 3.0 ' 3.5 ! -4.~ j !-4.-5 J[IQJ
Heat input
Uo

- - -
I fleal Treatfnenis !

Advantages of preheat
• Slows down the cooling rate, which reduces the risk of
hardening
• Allows absorbed hydrogen a better opportunity of
diffusing out, thereby reducing the risk of cracking
• Removes moisture from the material being welded
• Improves overall fusion characteristics
• Lowers stresses between the weld metal and parent
material by ensuring a more uniform expansion and
contraction

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Me'l I ,. M ' J! Preheat
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• Temperature indicating crayons (Tempil sticks®)
• Thermocouples or touch pyrometers
• At intervals along of around the joint to be welded
• The number of measurements taken mu st allow the inspector
to be confident that the required temperature ha s been
reached
• In certain cases the preheat must be maintained a ce rtain
distance back from the joint faces
• If a gas flame is being used for prehea t application the
temperatu re should be taken from the opposite side to the
heat source
• If this is not possible time must be allowed before taking the
preheat temperature e.g 2 min s for 25mm th ickness

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Heat Treatments
au 1. How can the levels of hardness be controlled in the
HAD
What is the maximum recommended heat treatment
temperature for steel weldments?, state which heat
treatments may be considered when maximum toughness
is required
What are the four main considerations for determining
preheat temperatures, and as a welding inspector which
factors require inspection when applying pre-heat to a
carbon steel joint to be welded?
What factors need to be checked/controlled during a heat
treatment process
Which heat treatment process is required when maximum
ductility is requ ired for example for extensive cold working
operations_
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 Welder Training
Preheating Material

Preheat

Metals and alloys are preheated for a

number of reasons. The following
reasons are:

• To control the structure of the weld metal and

HAZ on cooling .

• To improve the diffusion of gas molecules

through an atomic structure.

· To control the effects of expansion and

contraction.

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 Preheating Method

LPG Burn~n Oxy-futl Tor(h

1. .... 1.,00"
_ _ __~"'~.
".~,,~ L -____________- "

: Ind~~tio-II- Bur~ers ' ;- Enclosed Furnace I

Interpass Temperature
In multiple passes welding techniques, heat
are tremendously localised.

The increment of heat during welding could

affects:

• The material grain structures and mechanical

characteristics.

• Extreme heat cause the break down of molecules

in the grain structures

• Decrease the strength of the material .

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 Measuring Temperature
The tools that may be use to measure the
temperatures of furnaces and heated
materials are:

1. Temperature
Indication Crayon

2. Thermometer