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Introduction
The heat treatment given to a particular grade of steel by the steelmaker/
supplier should be shown on the material test certificate and may be
referred to as the supply condition.
Welding inspectors may need to refer to material test certificates and it is
appropriate that they be familiar with the terminology that is used and have
some understanding of the principles of some of the most commonly applied
heat treatments.
Welded joints may need to be subjected to heat treatment after welding
(PWHT) and the tasks of monitoring the thermal cycle and checking the heat
treatment records are often delegated to welding inspectors.
Because the main reason for (and benefit of) PWHT is to reduce residual
stresses, PWHT is often called stress relief.
Note 1: There are circumstances when a welded joint may need to be
normalised to restore HAZ toughness. However, these are relatively rare
circumstances and it is necessary to ensure that welding consumables are
carefully selected because normalising will significantly reduce weld metal
strength
4.1
Heating rate
This must be controlled to avoid large temperature differences within the
fabricated item. Large differences in temperature (large thermal gradients)
will produce large stresses and these may be high enough to cause
distortion (or even cracking).
Application standards usually require control of the maximum heating rate
when the temperature of the item is above ~300C. This is because steels
start to show significant loss of strength above this temperature and are
more susceptible to distortion if there are large thermal gradients.
The temperature of the fabricated item must be monitored during the
thermal cycle and this is done by means of thermocouples attached to the
surface at a number of locations representing the thickness range of the
item.
By monitoring furnace and item temperatures the rate of heating can be
controlled to ensure compliance with code requirements at all positions
within the item.
Maximum heating rates specified for C-Mn steel depend on thickness of the
item but tend to be in the range ~60 to ~200C/h.
4.2
Soak temperature
The soak temperature specified by the code depends on the type of steel
and thus the temperature range required to reduce residual stresses to a
low level.
C and C-Mn steels require a soak temperature of ~600C whereas some
low alloy steels (such as Cr-Mo steels used for elevated temperature
service) require higher temperatures typically in the range ~700 to
~760C.
Note: Soak temperature is an essential variable for a WPQR. Thus, it is
very important that the it is controlled within the specified limits otherwise it
may be necessary to carry out a new WPQ test to validate the properties of
the item and at worst it may not be fit-for-purpose.
4.3
Soak time
It is necessary to allow time for all the welded joints to experience the
specified temperature throughout the full joint thickness.
The temperature is monitored by surface-contact thermocouples and it is the
thickest joint of the fabrication that governs the minimum time for
temperature equalisation.
Typical specified soak times are 1h per 25mm thickness.
4.4
Cooling rate
It is necessary to control the rate of cooling from the PWHT temperature for
the same reason that heating rate needs to be controlled to avoid
distortion (or cracking) due to high stresses from thermal gradients.
Codes usually specify controlled cooling to ~300C. Below this temperature
the item can be withdrawn from a furnace and allowed to cool in air because
steel is relatively strong and is unlikely to suffer plastic strain by any
temperature gradients that may develop.
Figure 6 is a typical PWHT thermal cycle.
Local PWHT
For a pipeline or pipe spool it is often necessary to apply PWHT to individual
welds by local application of heat.
For this, a PWHT procedure must specify the previously described
parameters for controlling the thermal cycle but it is also necessary to
specify the following:
Width of the heated band (must be within the soak temperature range)
Width of the temperature decay band (soak temperature to ~300C)
Other considerations are:
Position of the thermocouples within the heated band width and the
decay band
If the item needs to be supported in a particular way to allow movement/
avoid distortion
The commonest method of heating for local PWHT is by means of insulated
electrical elements (electrical mats) that are attached to the weld.
Gas-fired, radiant heating elements can also be used.
Figure 7 shows typical control zones for localised PWHT of a pipe butt weld.
Normalising
Temperature,C
~900C
Time
Figure 1 Typical normalising heat treatment applied to C-Mn and some low alloy steels
TemperatureC
~ 900C
>~ 650C
Quenching
cycle
Tempering
cycle
Time
Figure 2 Typical quenching and tempering heat treatment applied to some low
alloy steels
Temperature,C
Austenite
()
~900C
Austenite + ferrite
(+)
~700C
Ferrite + pearlite
( )+ iron carbide)
As-rolled
or
hot rolled
Control-rolled
or
TMCP
Time
Figure 3 Comparison of the control-rolled (TMCP) and as-rolled conditions (= hot
rolling)
Rev 1 January 2010
Heat Treatment
Copyright TWI Ltd 2010
Temperature,C
Quenching
Time
Figure 4 Typical solution heat treatment (solution annealing) applied to austenitic
stainless steels
Annealing
Temperature,C
~900C
Time
Figure 5 Typical annealing heat treatment applied to C-Mn and some low alloy
steels
Temperature C
~600C
~300C
Soak
time
Controlled
heating & cooling
rates
Air cool
Time
Weld seam
temp.
decay
band
heated band
temp.
decay
band