Welding, Inspection and Testing

Of High Strength Steel

Sze Thiam Siong

Setsco Services Pte Ltd
11 January 2018
 Content

1. Introduction
2. Fabrication & Welding
3. Weldability of High Strength Steels
4. Hydrogen Induced Cracking
5. Preheating
6. Welding Procedure
7. Visual Inspection
8. Non-destructive Testing
9. Summary
 Introduction
High Strength Steels

Buildings and bridges offer great potential for the use

of high strength steel grades (HSS). The main advantages are :

• reduced weight and cross-sectional dimensions

• design stresses can be increased and plate thickness may be
reduced, resulting in significant weight savings
• reduced plate thickness can also save on welding costs as well as
on fabrication, erection and transportation costs
• simplified structural components and construction techniques
are often possible, particularly for large structures
• foundation costs may also be reduced due to lower dead weight.
 Introduction

Bridge Building

Marine Offshore Rig

 Introduction

Process Equipment Pipelines

Cranes
 Fabrication
Fabrication of structural steelwork consists of cutting
pieces of steel to shape and connecting them together
to form a framework.
The cutting processes used include oxy-fuel and plasma arc

Oxy-Fuel Cutting Plasma Arc Cutting

 Fabrication & Welding
The connecting processes are generally either welding or bolting.

Welding Bolting
 Fabrication & Welding
Importance of Welding

● Welding is used as a fabrication process in every

industry; large or small
● It is a principal means of fabricating and repairing of
metal products
● The process is economical, efficient and dependable
as a means of joining metals
● This is the only process that has been tried in space
● The process finds its applications in air, underwater
and in space
 Fabrication & Welding
Welding is a specialist activity and is dependent
on many factors :

● Welding Processes
● Weldability of steel
● Welding Procedures
● Welder Qualifications

Correct application and control are essential to

assure weld integrity and achieve economic
production levels.
 Welding Processes

Common welding processes used in

construction industry

● Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)

● Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
● Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)
● Submerged Arc (SAW)
● Stud Welding (SW)
Weldability of High Strength Steels
For high strength steels, greater precautions are needed
to ensure that welding procedures are satisfactory.

The strength increases in the weld are normally produced

by alloying since strengthening procedures such as
thermomechanical processing cannot be utilised in the
weld metal.

The welds therefore become more hardenable and

precautions are required to prevent weld metal hydrogen
cracking.
Weldability of High Strength Steels
The weldability of modern steels has been greatly
improved by their extreme cleanliness, and by their
low carbon content and low carbon equivalent
values.
Low hydrogen consumables are important in
reducing the possibility of hydrogen cracking and
can also lead to a reduction in the pre-heating
requirements.
No major problems have been reported in welding
steels up to 500MPa yield strength in moderate
section sizes.
Weldability of High Strength Steels
At high strength levels, preheating is required and
steelmakers are devoting considerable attention to
improving the weldability of such steels to try to
reduce fabrication costs.

For 690 grade steels, for example, preheat

temperatures of 125ºC are recommended, and
electrodes and fluxes with very low hydrogen
content must be used in order to prevent hydrogen
cracking.
Weldability of High Strength Steels
In general a steel with lower carbon
equivalent value has improved weldability
compared to a higher carbon equivalent steel.
The most common specified carbon
equivalent equation is that recommended by
the International Institute of Welding which
covers a wide range of steels:

CEV = C + Mn + Cr + Mo + V + Ni + Cu
6 5 15
Weldability of High Strength Steels
An alternative approach more commonly used in some
parts of the world is the Graville diagram shown in Figure 1
which separates the steels into three zones rated by their
ease of weldability
Zone I - easily weldable
Zone II - weldable with care
Zone III - difficult to weld

From Figure 1, it can be seen that weldability decreases as

the carbon equivalent value increases but the diagram also
emphasises the extremely important effect of carbon
content on weldability. Reducing the carbon content of a
steel is the most effective way to improve its weldability.
 Weldability of High Strength Steels
Figure 1
Graville
Diagram
 Hydrogen Induced Cracking

Precautions to take when welding high strength steels

High strength steels may be difficult to weld due its high

strength and hardenability. The base steel around the
weld is rapidly being heated and cooled during welding,
resulting in a heat affected zone (HAZ) with high
hardness. Hydrogen in the weld metal may diffuse into
HAZ and cause hydrogen embrittlement, resulting in
delayed underbead or toe cracking outside of the weld.
 Hydrogen Cracking
Hydrogen cracking occurs when the conditions outlined in
(a) to (d) occur simultaneously :

(a) Susceptible grain structure – hardness value > 350 V.P.N

(b) Hydrogen level > 15 ml/100g
(c) Temperature < 200°C for any steel and < 150°C for
structural steel
(d) Stress > 50% yield strength of parent metal
 Hydrogen Cracking
Precautions for controlling hydrogen cracking
● Pre heat, removes moisture from the joint preparations,
and slows down cooling rate
● Ensure joint preparations are clean and free from
contamination
● The use of a low hydrogen welding process such as
GMAW/GTAW
● Ensure all welding is carried out under controlled
environmental conditions
● Ensure good fit-up as to reduce stress
● The use of a Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) to
maintain the pre-heat temperature
● Avoid poor weld profiles
● Use of low hydrogen electrodes and baked as per
manufacturers’ recommendations
 Preheating
Preheating is carried out for following reasons :
● it lowers the cooling rate in the weld metal and base
metal, producing a more ductile metallurgical structure
with greater resistant to cracking
● the slower cooling rate provides an opportunity for any
hydrogen that may be present to diffuse out harmlessly
without causing cracking
● it reduces the shrinkage stresses in the weld and
adjacent base metal, which is especially important in
highly restrained joints and
● it raises some steels above the temperature at which
brittle fracture would occur in fabrication
● additionally, preheat can be used to help ensure specific
mechanical properties, such as notch toughness
Preheating
Preheating improves
weldability of high
strength steels
Preheating
Heating Torch
 Preheating

When heating the joint to be welded, the code requires that the minimum
preheat temperature be established at a distance that is at least equal to the
thickness of the thickest member, but not less than 75 mm in all directions
from the point of welding. For thicker plate there is a requirement to wait
2min per 25mm plate thickness
BS EN 1011-2 (2001) - Preheating
Preheating
AWS D1.1 (2015) - Preheating
Preheating
Preheating
 Welding Procedure

• Welding procedure qualification tests are

essential for welding high strength steels
and are designed to validate that following
a given set of parameters will produce a
joint that has the properties that satisfy the
design requirements and will achieve
specified levels of weld quality and
mechanical properties.
 Welding Procedure
Welding procedures are developed in
accordance with a welding code or
standard, and with few exceptions, require
that physical weld samples be produced,
inspected, tested to establish qualification.
Welding procedures are usually divided into
two categories ;
● Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)
● Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)
 Welding Procedure
• Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) are
usually documented work instructions that can
be used by the welder to conduct welding
operations, and are based on, but not
necessarily the same as, the parameters used
for the Procedure Qualification Record.
• Procedure Qualification Records (PQR) are the
documented values used during the actual
welding test and all the inspection and test
results obtained from the actual test samples.
Welding Procedure Specification
Max CEV = 0.45

Preheat : 0 ⁰C (min)
Interpass Temp : 225 ⁰C (max)
Welding Procedure Record
Inspection & Testing – BS EN ISO 5817 (2007)
Inspection & Testing – BS EN ISO 5817 (2007)

This standard provides three sets of dimensional values

of typical imperfections from which a selection can be
made for a particular application.

The quality level necessary in each case should be

defined by the application engineer or the responsible
designer in conjunction with the manufacturer, user
and/or other parties concerned.

The quality level shall be prescribed before the start of

production, preferably at the enquiry or order stage.
Inspection & Testing – BS EN ISO 5817 (2007)

It would normally be expected that for a particular welded joint the

dimensional limits for imperfections could all be covered by
specifying one quality level.

In some cases, it may be necessary to specify different quality levels

for different imperfections in the same welded joint.

The choice of quality level for any application should take account of
design considerations, subsequent processing (e.g. surfacing ), mode
of stressing (e.g. static, dynamic), service conditions (e.g.
temperature, environment) and consequences of failure.

Economic factors are also important and should include not only the
cost of welding but also of inspection, test and repair
Inspection & Testing – BS EN ISO 5817 (2007)
 Inspection & Testing
Visual Inspection

Due to the risk of delayed cracking, a period of at least 16 hour is generally

required before the final inspection is made of as-welded fabrications.

The minimum time may be reduced for thin materials below 500 N/mm²
yield strength or increased for materials of thickness greater than 50 mm
or of yield strength over 500 N/mm². Whatever period is used it shall be
stated in the inspection records.

Welds that have been heat-treated to reduce the hydrogen content or

which have been stress relieved, need no additional time interval following
the heat treatment before final inspection is made.

Welds which are to be inspected and approved shall not be painted or

otherwise treated until they have been accepted
 Inspection & Testing

AWS D1.1 Table 6

Acceptance criteria for Q & T steels
shall be based on visual inspection
performed not less than 48 hours after
completion of the weld
 Inspection & Testing
Scope of Visual Inspection – Pre-weld check

• Review applicable documentation

• Check welding procedures
• Check individual welder qualifications
• Establish hold points
• Develop inspection plan
• Develop plan for recording inspection results and maintaining those records
• Develop system for identification of rejects
• Check condition of welding equipment
• Check quality and condition of base and filler materials to be used
• Check weld preparations
• Check joint fitup
• Check adequacy of alignment devices
• Check weld joint cleanliness
• Check preheat, when required
 Inspection & Testing
Scope of Visual Inspection – Weld in-progress check

• Check welding variables for compliance with welding procedure

• Check quality of individual weld passes
• Check interpass cleaning
• Check interpass temperature
• Check placement and sequencing of individual weld passes
• Check backgouged surfaces
• Monitor in-process NDT, if required
 Inspection & Testing
Scope for Visual Inspection – Completion of weld check

• Check finished weld appearance

• Check weld size
• Check weld length
• Check dimensional accuracy of weldment
• Monitor additional NDT, if required
• Monitor postweld heat treatment, if required
• Prepare inspection reports
 Magnetic Particle
Testing

Non-
Destructive
Testing
Penetrant Testing
Methods Ultrasonic Testing

Used

Radiography
 Summary
1. Welding of high strength steels has its
challenges
2. Weldability is considered to be an important
property of high strength steels
3. Proper welding procedure for high strength
must be developed for avoidance of
hydrogen induced cracks
4. Control of welding consumables & processes
5. Visual inspection and non-destructive testing
to be performed as per code requirements
Thank you