NOTE

This online version of the thesis may have different page formatting and pagination
from the paper copy held in the University of Wollongong Library.




UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG

COPYRIGHT WARNING

You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or
study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available
electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are
reminded of the following:

Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A
reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. A court
may impose penalties and award damages in relation to offences and infringements relating to
copyright material. Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for
offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form.

INVESTIGATION

OF

POSTWELD HEAT TREATMENT

OF

QUENCHED AND TEMPERED

PRESSURE VESSEL STEELS


A thesis submitted in fulfilment of


the requirements for the award of the degree



Doctor of Philosophy


from


The University of Wollongong


by


Zoran Sterjovski, M.E. (Hons), B.E. (Hons)


Materials Engineering
2003


ii
CANDIDATES CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the work presented in this thesis has been carried out by the
candidate whilst enrolled as a full time postgraduate student in the Department of
Materials Engineering, at the University of Wollongong. The results obtained in this
study and the conclusions drawn are those of the candidate. The work contained in this
thesis has not been submitted to any other university or institution for a higher degree.



..
Zoran Sterjovski



iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge my supervisor, Professor Druce Dunne, for his guidance, support
and inspiration during my PhD candidature. It was a great pleasure working with him
again and I will miss him when I re-enter the workforce.

I also wish to thank the WTIA, CRC for Welded Structures, Bisalloy Steels, BHP Steel,
The Lincoln-Electric Company (Australia) and ANSTO for their expertise and extensive
use of facilities. A special thanks to:
Stan Ambrose (WTIA) for his co-supervision, input and encouragement,
Geoff Hancock (BHP Steel) for his support and in-kind contributions,
Andrew Croker (ANSTO) for his input into my research,
David Carr (ANSTO) for teaching me everything about CTOD testing,
Russel Barnett (Bisalloy Steels) for his committed in-kind support and technical
expertise, and
Milo Dumovic and Chris Jones (Lincoln Electric) for their in-kind support and
technical expertise.

I am indebted to CCI Pope Pty Ltd for their financial and technical support during my
candidature. A special thankyou to Dr Chris Tabrett and Mike OBrien.

I am also grateful to all the members of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of
Wollongong. In particular, I must thank Jose Gonzales for his quality workmanship in
the preparation of samples for mechanical testing and Greg Tillman for his acumen in
the metallography laboratory.

Last but not least, I must thank my beautiful wife, Anne-Marie, and my beautiful
daughters, Mikaela and Neve, for putting up with me during the good and the bad that
are part of doing a PhD.


iv
ABSTRACT

Longitudinal and circumferential welds in transportable pressure vessels are produced
by submerged-arc welding using a single vee preparation and multiple weld runs.
Quenched and tempered (QT) steels, which are commonly used for transportable
pressure vessels, require mandatory postweld heat treatment (PWHT) regardless of the
plate thickness. During their life transportable pressure vessels may have up to four
PWHT cycles, and concerns have emerged about possible effects on material properties
such as hardness, tensile strength, impact toughness and fracture toughness.

This thesis reports on the weld procedure, microstructural evaluation and various
mechanical properties (bend, yield strength, tensile strength, elongation, fatigue, impact
toughness, CTOD fracture toughness and hardness) for 11 mm, 12 mm and 20 mm QT
steel weldments. The 11 mm and 20 mm base plates investigated were BIS80PV, which
is a pressure vessel grade steel. The 12 mm plate was BIS80, which is structural grade
steel but deemed a possible candidate for pressure vessels due to superior impact and
fracture toughness properties over currently used QT pressure vessel steels. The parent
metal, heat affected zone and weld metal regions of each weldment were examined, and
then exposed to temperatures and times in the PWHT range.

Although there was no apparent change in microstructure at an optical level and little
change in hardness for up to four postweld heat treatments, there was a marked decrease
in hardness of the parent metal for more extensive heat treatments (increasing Holloman
parameter). There was also evidence of minor secondary hardening in the 11 mm and 20
mm BIS80PV parent plate following short heat treatment times. The weld metal (WM)
and HAZ hardness typically decreased with one PWHT cycle and subsequently
stabilised with further PWHT cycles.

For all test plates, results are also presented for Charpy V-notch impact tests in the
parent metal, HAZ and weld metal region, and CTOD fracture toughness tests in the PM
region. The effect of exposure to multiple PWHT cycles on these properties is
discussed. A decrease in impact energy and fracture toughness with an increase in the


v
number of heat treatments was evident in the parent metal. In contrast, the weld metal
showed a decrease in impact energy after two PWHT cycles, and then an increase
towards the original impact energy after a further two cycles.

In PM samples, which have been extensively tempered in the manufacturing process, the
mechanism by which toughness properties are affected by cumulative PWHT holding
time is through the coarsening and coalescence of second phase carbide particles. These
particles decrease impact energy by the formation of larger voids in the plastic zone
ahead of the crack tip or by the initiation of cleavage fracture. These two phenomena
decrease the energy required for fracture.

In WM with an as-solidified structure, ductile failure in the form of void coalescence is
initiated by non-metallic inclusions. This leads to an initially high impact toughness,
which then decreases after PWHT because of the nucleation and coarsening of
metastable Fe
3
C precipitates that promote quasi-cleavage type fracture. Upon exposure
to further PWHT cycles the impact energy begins to increase again due to the
dissolution of the metastable carbides and the formation of finer, more stable carbides
based on elements such as Cr, Mo, Ni and Nb. This change in the form of the carbide
promotes localised fracture by micro-plasticity, with void formation and coalescence.

Additionally, cross-weld root bend (180) and tensile tests were carried out before and
after PWHT. None of the bend samples showed any evidence of cracking or tearing,
hence confirming the ductility of the weldment. The tensile properties of the BIS80PV
cross-weld samples complied with the Australian Standards, but the tensile properties of
the BIS80 cross-weld samples only complied in the as-welded condition.

Tensile properties of the PM showed no significant trends with the number of PWHT
cycles and the fatigue crack growth rate increased slightly in relation to the number of
PWHT cycles or PWHT holding time.

One of the primary roles of PWHT is to reduce residual stresses caused by the welding
process. Residual stress measurements using the hole drilling method were made to


vi
ascertain the need for PWHT. Residual stresses, measured in the weld centre-line by the
hole drilling technique, were compressive along both the longitudinal and transverse
directions and were no greater than 250 MPa (between 0.2-0.5 times the yield strength at
room temperature). Although, the presence of residual stresses (tensile and compressive)
of greater magnitude is not excluded, the residual stress measurements demonstrated
that PWHT significantly reduced the magnitude of the residual stresses.

The ability to predict the impact energy of a pressure vessel steel subjected to various
cumulative PWHT holding times is beneficial to pressure vessel inspectors, who are
misguidedly instructed to be wary of the mechanical properties of vessels after 6 hours
of cumulative PWHT holding time. The original impact energy of the steel, which is
determined by its chemical composition, microstructure and thermo-mechanical
treatment determines the cumulative PWHT time before the impact properties of the QT
steel decrease below the specified 40 J limit at 20C. An artificial neural network
(ANN) model has been developed using an artificial neural network to predict the effect
of PWHT time and other variables such as composition and test temperature on impact
energy. This ANN model provides a valuable design tool for predicting impact
toughness as a function of composition, heat treatment and testing conditions.

Finally, the performance of BIS80 was evaluated and its superior impact toughness and
fracture toughness properties over BIS80PV were confirmed. However, the tensile
properties of postweld heat-treated 12 mm BIS80 cross-weld samples did not comply
with AS3597, the Australian Standard for QT steels; and the PM stress ratio exceeded
the specified limit of 0.93. These deficiencies could be remedied by (i) discarding
PWHT or (ii) using a high strength WM; and (iii) abandoning or relaxing the stress ratio
requirement, which is of questionable significance, under conditions of high strain rate
impact loading (road collision).





vii
ABBREVIATIONS

BM Base metal
CGHAZ Coarse grained heat affected zone
CTOD Crack tip opening displacement
Crack tip opening displacement
DBTT Ductile to brittle transition temperature
FAS Fracture acceleration site
FGHAZ Fine grained HAZ or grain refined HAZ
FL Fusion line
GTAW Gas tungsten arc welding
n Resistance to fatigue crack growth
HAZ Heat affected zone
HP Holloman parameter or Holloman-Jaffe parameter
IE Impact energy
ICHAZ Intercritical heat affected zone
LE Lateral expansion
MMAW Manual metal arc welding
No. Number
OM Optical microscopy
PE Processing element
PM Parent metal
PS (0.2%) 0.2% proof stress
PWHT Postweld heat treatment


viii
QT Quenched and tempered
RIA Reduction in area
RMS Root mean square
RR Reduction ratio
Stress
SAW Submerged arc welding
SEM Scanning electron microscopy
t Time
T Temperature
T-L, L-T, T-S, L-S Sample orientation (see Figure 3.6)
UTS Ultimate tensile strength
VHN Vickers hardness number
W Delta rule
WM Weld metal
YS Yield strength





ix







TABLE OF CONTENTS

x
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABSTRACT

ABBREVIATIONS

CONTENTS


PART A INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW


CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 POSTWELD HEAT TREATMENT & RESIDUAL STRESSES
2.1.1 Postweld heat treatment
2.1.2 Residual stresses
2.1.2.1 Residual stresses related to welding
2.1.3 Effect of PWHT on residual stresses
2.1.4 Stress relieving to reduce residual stresses
2.1.4.1 Heat treatment as a form of stress relief
2.1.4.2 Mechanical methods of stress relief
Overloading
Vibrational Techniques
Shot Peening
2.1.4.3 Temper beading as a method of stress relief
2.1.5 PWHT in Australian Standards and Codes
2.1.5.1 Current Overview
2.1.5.2 Historical Overview
2.1.6 Methods for measuring residual stresses
2.1.6.1 Stress relaxation techniques
2.1.6.2 X-ray diffraction & neutron scattering techniques
2.1.6.3 Observing cracks to measure residual stresses
2.1.6.4 Ultrasonic residual stress measurements




iii

iv

vii

ix


1


2

7

8
8
10
13
19
20
20
21
22
22
23
23
24
24
26
27
28
29
30
31




xi
2.2 PRESSURE VESSELS- DESIGN, MANUFACTURE & CASE
STUDIES
2.2.1 Introduction to pressure vessels
2.2.2 Parts of a transportable pressure vessel
2.2.3 Case studies of failures in transportable pressure vessels
2.3 MATERIALS IN TRANSPORTABLE PRESSURE VESSELS
2.3.1 Quenched and tempered Steels (BIS80PV)
2.3.1.2 Effect of alloying elements on BIS80PV
Carbon
Manganese
Silicon
Molybdenum
Chromium
Boron
Titanium
Nickel
Copper
Calcium, Sulphur & Phosphorous
2.3.2 Welding of QT pressure vessel steels
2.3.2.1 Typical welding processes used in manufacturing processes
Manual metal arc welding
Gas metal arc welding
Fluxed core arc welding
Submerged arc welding
2.3.2.2 The different zones as a result of welding
Parent metal
Heat affected zone
Weld metal
2.3.3 Desirable properties for transportable pressure vessel steels
2.3.3.1 Fracture & impact toughness
2.3.3.2 Other desirable properties
2.3.4 Techniques for measuring fracture & impact toughness
2.3.4.1 CTOD test
2.3.4.2 Charpy V-notch impact test
2.3.4.3 Ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBBT)
2.4 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE




32

32
33
34
36
36
39
39
39
39
40
40
40
40
41
41
41
41
43
43
45
46
47
48
49
49
50
51
51
59
60
60
62
63
64


xii
PART B EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
CHAPTER 3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

3.1 MATERIALS SELECTION AND WELDING
3.1.1 Materials selection
3.1.2 Welding process and weld procedures
3.2 SIMULATED PWHT
3.2.1 Box furnace heat treatment
3.2.2 Dilatometer heat treatment
3.3 MECHANICAL TESTING
3.3.1 Hardness testing
3.3.2 Bend testing transverse guided bend test of weldment
3.3.3 Impact testing Charpy V-notch
3.3.4 Tensile testing parent plate and cross-weld specimens
3.3.5 Fatigue testing crack growth rates
3.3.5.1 Testing of 11 and 12 mm samples
3.3.5.2 Testing of 20 mm samples
3.3.6 Fracture toughness testing - CTOD
3.3.6.1 Sample preparation
3.3.6.2 Fatigue pre-cracking
3.3.6.3 CTOD the test
3.3.6.4 Post test procedure CTOD value qualification
3.4 MICROSCOPY
3.4.1 Low magnification microscopy
3.4.2 Optical microscopy
3.4.3 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
3.5 RESIDUAL STRESSES
3.5.1 Hole drilling technique for measuring residual stresses
3.5.2 Stress relaxation testing

CHAPTER 4 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

4.1 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF MATERIALS
4.1.1 Weld macrographs
4.1.2 Parent metal (PM) microstructures
4.1.3 Weld metal (WM) microstructures
4.1.4 HAZ microstructures
4.1.5 Effect of PWHT on microstructure


67
68

69
69
70
73
73
74
76
76
78
79
84
87
89
90
92
93
93
94
96
98
98
98
98
100
100
100

103

104
104
106
113
117
119

xiii
4.2 HARDNESS
4.2.1 Parent metal region
4.2.2 Weldment (cross-weld samples)
4.3 BEND TEST RESULTS CROSS-WELD SAMPLES
4.4 IMPACT TESTING CHARPY V-NOTCH
4.4.1 Parent metal region
4.4.1.1 PM test results
4.4.1.2 PM microstructure
4.4.2 Weld metal region
4.4.2.1 WM test results
4.4.2.2 WM microstructure
4.4.3 Heat affected zone
4.4.3.1 HAZ test results
4.4.3.2 HAZ microstructure
4.4.4 Comparison of the weldment zones
4.4.4.1 Test results
4.5 TENSILE TESTING
4.5.1 Parent metal region
4.5.2 Cross-weld samples
4.5.3 Comparison of PM and cross-weld specimens
4.6 FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH DATA (PM)
4.7 FRACTURE TOUGHNESS (CTOD) DATA PM
4.7.1 11 mm BIS80PV PM
4.7.2 12 mm BIS80 PM
4.7.3 20 mm BIS80PV PM
4.7.4 Comparison of CTOD values for the three plate steels
4.7.5 SEM fractography of CTOD PM samples
4.8 RESIDUAL STRESSES
4.8.1 Hole drilling technique
4.8.2 Stress relaxation data










122
122
124
130
132
132
132
140
147
147
150
155
155
156
158
158
160
160
162
163
164
166
166
167
168
169
170
174
174
175











xiv
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION

5.1 THE NEED FOR PWHT IN ACHIEVING WELDMENT
PROPERTIES
5.1.1 Microstructure and hardness
5.1.2 Bend testing
5.1.3 Impact and tensile testing
5.2 THE EFFECT OF MULTIPLE PWHT CYCLES ON
WELDMENT PROPERTIES
5.2.1 Microstructure and hardness
5.2.2 Impact toughness
5.2.2.1 Parent metal
5.2.2.2 Weld metal
5.2.2.3 HAZ
5.2.3 Tensile testing
5.2.4 Fatigue crack growth and CTOD fracture toughness
5.3 THE NEED FOR PWHT IN REDUCING RESIDUAL STRESSES
5.4 SUITABILITY OF BIS80 AS PRESSURE VESSEL STEEL

PART C MODELLING

CHAPTER 6 NEURAL NETWORK MODELLING

6. PREAMBLE
6.1 INTRODUCTION TO NEURAL NETWORKS
6.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
6.3 PROCEDURE-BUILDING, TRAINING, TESTING, AND
VALIDATING THE MODEL
6.3.1 Data file preparation
6.3.2 Building the model
6.3.3 Training the model
6.3.4 Testing the model
6.3.5 Results (experimental versus predicted and sensitivity analysis)
6.4 RESULTS
6.4.1 Actual versus predicted impact toughness
6.4.2 Sensitivity analysis of the model
6.5 DISCUSSION
6.5.1 Actual versus predicted impact toughness
6.5.2 Sensitivity analysis

PART D OVERALL CONCLUSIONS AND REFERENCES

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 8 REFERENCES



178

180

181
184
184
187

187
190
190
199
201
203
206
209
212

216

217

218
218
219
224

224
226
231
231
232
233
233
234
240
241
241

246

247

251
xv

PUBLICATIONS

APPENDICES

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I



















267

265

266

270

275

277

279

283

290

293

298