A Study on Transverse Weld Cracks
in Thick Steel Plate with the FCAW Process
The transverse crack in thick plate welding is investigated under simulated
construction conditions
BY H. W. LEE, S. W. KANG A N D D. S. U M
ABSTRACT. The transverse crack in thick
plate welding is discussed with respect to
deposited metal. In recent years, many of
the new steel developments such as
thermo-mechanical controlled process
(TMCP) have been intended to improve
weldability. When TMCP steel is used
to achieve high strength with lean
composition, the weld metal is more
likely to suffer hydrogen cracking than
the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the base
steel. Weld metal hydrogen cracking is
even more likely if alloying is necessary
to match the strength and toughness of
the base metal. This is primarily due to
the more highly alloyed weld metal's
increased susceptibility to hydrogen
cracking (Ref. 1).
One type of cold crack, referred to as
a transverse crack, is caused by the com-
plex interaction of the diffusible hydrogen
supply, tensile residual stress and suscep-
tible microstructure. This form of cracking
generally is not encountered when weld-
ing plate sections less than 10 mm thick.
However, when thicker sections (50 mm
or more) are welded, welds are subjected
to more rapid cooling accompanied by
more severe cooling stresses (Ref. 2).
Introduction
The various cracks that can occur in
weld joints according to welding condi-
tions and processes are classified as
"cold crack" and "hot crack" according
to occurrence temperatures.
Hot cracking, such as solidification
cracks and liquation cracks, are the
most severe problems associated with
H. W. LEE is with the Welding Research Team
of Samsung Heavy Industries, Koje City,
Korea. S. W. KANG and D. S. UM are with
the Research Institute of Mechanical Tech-
nology, Pusan National University, Korea.
the partially melted zone. The cause of
hot cracking in the partially melted
zone is the combination of grain bound-
ary liquation and stresses induced by
both solidification shrinkage and ther-
mal contraction during welding (Refs.
3, 4).
The transverse crack, a type of cold
crack, occurs perpendicular to the axis of
the weld interface. It generally occurs at
temperatures below 200C (392F), ei-
ther immediately upon cooling or after a
period of several hours. The time delay
depends upon the type of steel, the mag-
nitude of the welding stresses and the hy-
drogen content of the weld (Refs. 5-7).
However, most of the literature on trans-
verse cracks published thus far differs
when compared to the appearance of
transverse cracks in actual construction.
In this study, two EH 32 steel panels
were welded to resemble actual con-
struction conditions. The appearance of
transverse cracks, hardness, impact, mi-
crostructure and residual stresses were
then determined for two different weld-
ing conditions.
KEY WORDS
Diffusible Hydrogen
Intergranular (IG)
Magnetic Particle
Inspection
Microvoid Coalescence
(MVC)
Quasi Cleavage (QC)
Residual Stresses
Stress Intensity Factor
Transverse Crack
WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT [ 503-s
Experimental Procedures
Test Panel
The size of the test panel was 2000
mm long x 1800 mm wide x 50 mm
thick. The panel was fabricated from
EH32 TMCP higher-strength hull steel
(as shown in Table 2), to provide test
conditions similar to actual construction
conditions - - Fig. 1. To magnify fabrica-
tion-related weld residual stresses, the
welding jig and test panel were fillet-
welded together.
Test Weldments
The specimen sections were welded
in layers as shown in Fig. 2. To compare
the residual stresses and the position of
occurrence of the transverse cracks, the
sections were welded under the follow-
ing conditions:
1) Below 30C (86F) of preheating
and interpass temperatures.
2) Preheating and interpass tempera-
tures of 100-120C (212-248F).
The preheating temperature of 100C
was obtained from the Yurioka (Ref. 8)
report shown in Fig. 3 (using Table 2,
50-mm-thick steel plate, Ceq 0.34). The
test specimens were welded at 100-120C
in consideration of ambient temperatures.
The panel was welded according to
AWS A5.29 E8OT1-K2 specifications,
using the flux cored arc welding (FCAW)
process (1.2 ~ diameter, electrode exten-
sion of 25-30 mm); welding parameters
are shown in Table 1.
Chemical Composition/Strength
A spectroanalyzer was used to deter-
mine the chemical composition of the
base and weld metal. Mean values of the
three specimens were then recorded in
Table 2.
 Hardness Traverses

Hardness was measured using the

macro Vickers hardness test, with a load
of 5 kg and 10 s of loading time. Mea-
surements were made on transverse
sections, 10 mm from the top surface.

Impact Test

The impact test was performed at

0, -20, -40 and -60C (32, -4, -40,
and -76F) using Charpy V-notch for
deposited metal. The test specimen loca-
tion in the weldment is shown in Fig. 4.

Measurement of Residual Stresses

Fig. I - - Schematic diagram of weld panel. The surface residual stresses along the
weld metal centerline (~ direction) were
measured using the Rosette gauge hole-
drilling method after the specimen was
cooled completely.

unit : mm Diffusible Hydrogen Test

A B 4 .C
300 ~- 300 ~ 1,400 The diffusible hydrogen was mea-
sured by glycerin method per JIS Z3118.
Before the hydrogen test, the steel plate
was kept in the furnace at 500C (932F)
for 1 h and air-cooled to remove dif-

I- D
fusible hydrogen.

Distinction of Crack Position

WELDING DIRECTION
To check the position and length of
transverse cracks according to changing
4 preheating, interpass temperatures and
A' ~B' C' welding layer, the specimens were in-
spected by ultrasonic testing. The surface
~,,~,,~,.---~ 3o" ~ / of the weld bead was then cut at 0.5-mm-
depth intervals using a milling machine
and checked for accurate position and
length of transverse cracks using mag-
netic particle inspection after each ma-
chining step.
I I
----~l root opening: 10 Results and Discussion
(A - A') (B - B') Macro/Microstructure

The macrostructures of the weldments

4#___ are shown in Fig. 5A and B.
3_~_ Some significant differences can be
noted between the HAZ that formed due
to the welding pass and the HAZ located
I I near the weld interface. The grain size
was very coarse in the HAZ near the weld
(c - c)
interface, resulting in the most brittle sec-
tion of the weld joints. Impact values im-
proved in the reheated zone because the
Section A-A" : 1/3-specimen thickness weld deposit metal grain boundary ferrite and Widmanstat-
Section B-B" : 2/3-specimen thickness weld deposit metal ten side plates were transformed into
Section C-C" : full thickness weld deposit metal pearlite and ferrite, and the grain size was
refined (Ref. 3).
Figures 6 and 7 are weldment mi-
crostructures. Figure 6 is weld joint "A"
Fig. 2 - - Schematic diagram of weld deposit metal. (preheating and interpass temperature

504-S J DECEMBER 1998

below 30C) and Fig. 7 is weld joint "B" gions are shown in Figs. 6B and C and seen in Figs. 6B and 7B, the distribution
(preheating and interpass temperature 7B and C, respectively. of pearlite and ferrite is not exactly uni-
100-120C). Figures 6A and 7A show The refined-grain region was sub- form because insufficient time was al-
the microstructure of the base metal, jected to a peak temperature just above lowed for the diffusion of carbon atoms
consisting of ferrite (white area), pearlite the effective upper critical temperatures, due to the rapid heating rate during weld-
(dark area) and bainite (slightly gray Ac3, thus allowing austenite grains to ing. The coarsened-grain region was sub-
area). The fine grain size results in ex- nucleate. Such austenite grains decom- jected to a peak temperature well above
cellent strength and toughness (Ref. 9). posed into small pearlite and ferrite the Ac3 temperatures, thus promoting the
The refined- and coarsened-grain re- grains during subsequent cooling. As coarsening of austenite grains.

Table 1--Welding Parameters

Current Voltage Speed Heat Input

Identification Welding Condition Pass (A) (V) (cm/min) (kJ/cm)
A Preheating/interpass 1 240-250 30 16 28
temperature below 30C 2-27 340-350 35 3741 26
B preheating/interpass 1 240-250 30 15 29
temperature 100-120C 2-27 340-350 35 38-42 25

Table 2--Chemical Composition of Base/Weld Metal

(%) C Si Mn P S Ni Mo V Ti TS YS El
(kgf/mm 2) (kgf/mm2) (%)
0.18 0.10- 0.90- 0.040 0.040 0.40 0.08 0.10 0.02
EH32 TMCP max. 0.50 1.60 max. max. max. 45-60 32.0 20.0
max. max. max.
Base metal 0.09 0.38 1.35 0.015 0.005 0.03 0.02 0.002 0.02 52.8 38.0 31.0
Weld A 0.04 0.29 1.05 0.012 0.017 1.32 0.02 0.017 0.01 69.4 63.7 22.8
metal B 0.04 0.29 1.03 0.013 0.016 1.31 0.02 0.018 0.01 66.3 61.4 23.4

250
(~c) H.~ = 5=~/100~ WM
-- H.I. = 1.7Klknm
Ambient~ = 10"(2

~ 150

1 1
~ 100

,/
0 ~'75 75 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 S. lOrnm

0.2 0.3 0.4

Carbon equivalent, Ceq

0.5 0.6
1!,2,3 4 ,5,6 7 8

Fig. 3 - - Diagram of preheating temperature for Ceq and steel plate

thickness.

10mm

5O
Fig. 5 - - Macrostructure of weld joint near section C - C'. A - -
Preheating/interpass temperature below 30C; B - - preheat-
ing/interpass temperature 100-120C.
Fig. 4 - - The position of Charpy V-notch impact test specimen.

W E L D I N G RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 505-$


w residual stress values for a specimen-
Hi
@'j
isu
m are caused by the hardness of deposited
q
~L
,G
I Fig. 6 - - Microstructure o f weld j o i n t A (preheating and interpass temperature b e l o w 3 0 0 . A - -
W Base metal; B - - grain-refined zone; C - - grain-coarsened zone; D - - weld metal.
W
Fig. 7 - Microstructure o f weld j o i n t B (preheating a n d interpass temperature 1 0 0 - 1 2 0 0 . A - -
Base metal; B - - grain-refined zone; C - - grain-coarsened zone; D - - weld metal.
Will
0 The test results of these three methods
Because of the relatively high cooling
rate and the large grain size in this region,
acicular ferrite rather than blocky ferrite
formed at grain boundaries-- Figs. 6C and
7C. Figure 7D is an optical micrograph
taken from the deposited weld metal area
revealing grain boundary ferrite, Wid-
manstatten ferrite and acicular ferrite. To
improve mechanical properties such as
tensile and toughness, acicular ferrite has
506-s I DECEMBER 1998
residual stress is caused by restraining the
free contraction of the thermoplastically
deformed weld zone during weld cool-
ing. Therefore, the welding residual
stresses are sometimes referred to as re-
s t r a i n t stresses. A geometrical notch in
the weld joint further induces local stress
concentration. In most cases, hydrogen-
assisted cracking is initiated at a notch of
the weld made under restraint.
The residual stresses measured at the
surface of a deposited metal in a longitu-
dinal direction of weld interface are
shown in Fig. 8. In all measured points, the
welded preheating and interpass temper-
ature below 30C was higher than the
preheating and interpass temperature of
100-120C. Transversecrack occurrences
metal, diffusible hydrogen contents and
tensile residual stressesin the longitudinal
direction of the weld interface.
Diffusible Hydrogen Contents
Hydrogen-assisted cracking is a
severe problem in the welding of thick
steel plate that occurs when the follow-
ing three factors are simultaneously pre-
sent: diffusible hydrogen in weld metal,
high stress and susceptible microstruc-
tures. The hydrogen dissolved in a weld
metal is proportional to the square root of
the partial pressure of the hydrogen gas.
The following sources of weld metal
hydrogen are considered in FCAW (Ref.
10):
1) Moisture in flux
2) Moisture in CO 2 gas
3) Organic substance in flux
4) Hydrogen in wire steel and steel
plate
5) Moisture in atmosphere
6) Extraneous hydrogenous material,
e.g., moisture, grease and paint
Hydrogen dissolved in a steel matrix
is diffusible, thereby causing hydrogen
embrittlement. The weld metal hydrogen
content is generally expressed by the
content of diffusible hydrogen. The three
methods of measuring diffusible hydro-
gen contents are:
1) Glycerin method (Hjl s)
2) Mercury method (Hi]w)
3) Gas chromatograph method (HG_c)
to form fully instead of grain boundary fer- are related as follows (Ref. 11):
rite and Widmanstatten ferrite.
More amounts of acicular ferrite can HHw = 1.27Hji s + 2.19
be observed in Fig. 7D when compared
to Fig. 6D. HG_C = 2HjI s + 0.3
Residual Stressesof Weld Joints where Hil w, HG_C and HjIS are the weld
metal diffusible hydrogen content per
Welding induces high residual 100 g of deposited weld metal.
stresses in the vicinity of the weld. The The hydrogen contents, which de-
 400 -- preheat/interpass temperature 100~120"C
preheat/interpass temperature below 300C

300
v

-
UJ
200
(A)
0
t
u~
7O
100
50 !

~ 10
---O-- preheating/interpass temp. below 30"C ] I I I I I
i
-
J
" "0"" p r e h e a t i n g / i n t e r p a s s tem p. 100-120"C
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20
ol I I I I [ I I Temperature (C)
A B C D E F G

(B)
Fig. I 0 - - Results o f Charpy V-notch impact tests for weld metal.

Fig. 8 - - Distributions o f surface residual stress for (~ direction in

deposited metal. A - - Position o f attached Rosette gauge; B - - results o f
surface residual stresses.

24000- ~ prebeating/interpass temp. 100-120"(."

preheating/interpass temp. below 30"C
800

240A X 30V, 25CPM

220.00
(~ 350A X 35V, 25CPM
s
fl,O0
(~ 200.00
m
0
O.
at
"U 400 180.00
g 1 0 ~) (D '10

/
Q
~ 16000
~ 200
W
'I" 14000
-soo -4oo ooo 4.oo 8oo ~2oo
o,oo
[ I I I I
2 4 18 48 72 Distance from the weld interface (ram)
Exposure Time (Hour)

Fig. 11 Hardness traverses 10 m m from top surface.

Fig. 9 - - Hydrogen content profiles depending on welding conditions.

pend on welding conditions, were mea- sorbed energy of preheating and inter- depends on the preheating/interpass
sured by the glycerin method and are pass temperatures of 100-120C in weld temperature, and when the preheating/
shown in Fig. 9. These data indicate that joint B are higher than preheating and interpass temperature is low, the weld
welds made with the FCAW electrode interpass temperatures of 30C in weld metal becomes more susceptible to
have hydrogen contents of approx- joint A, due to higher cooling rate. transverse crack.
imately 3-4 mL. Most diffusible
hydrogen escaped within 2 h after weld- Hardness Traverses Distinction of Crack Position
ing as shown in Fig. 9. However, when
welding conditions were changed, there Figure 11 shows the hardness tra- In weld joint B, when preheating and
were no significant hydrogen contents. verses 10 mm away from the weld sur- interpass temperatures were 100-120C,
face. When the preheating/interpass no transverse cracks were detected.
Impact Properties temperature is below 30C, the value of However, transverse cracks were de-
hardness (HV) in deposited weld metal is tected for the specimen welded with pre-
Figure 10 shows the Charpy V-notch 10-15 higher due to the rapid cooling heating and interpass temperatures
impact test results for weld metal. Ab- rate. The hardness of the weld metal below 30C in weld joint A.

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 507-s

 I(C) 16.0 mm
(A)

Fig. 12 - - MPI results of transverse cracks for 35-mm weld joint A (depth below weld top surface is shown at top right-hand corner).

9.0 mm 9.5mm I(C) 11.0 mm

(A) (B)

| lJi~I I IlliIIIII
[I}l[,l'il[!ll}flllLllIi[llillIItillIl!iiill
~' ~a ~ 9o I N n
B I I

(r- ~ ^ nm

, ; 2

(G (H) 28.0 mm

Fig. 13 - - MPI results of transverse cracks for 50-mm weld joint A (depth below weld top surface is shown at top right-hand corner).

goR-~ I IOFCFMRER 1998

 It was also noted that the number of weld metal just /
transverse cracks increased as the weld- below the final
ing layers were increased. No cracks
were observed in the one-third complete
layer of welds and
are gradually prop-
50
64layer~~
layer'---~
~ --3.-9.5-20.0t
sample. However, transverse cracks were agated toward both
formed in specimens welded in two- the top and bottom
thirds of their thickness (35 mm) and the surface. This oc- I I
full thickness of the weld joint (50 mm). curs because the (A)
Figure 12 shows the morphology of largest residual
detected transverse cracks for specimens stresses and the
welded in two-thirds of their thickness highest concentra- /
(35 mm) at various depths from the weld tion of diffusible /
surface. Figure 12A shows the morphol- hydrogen contents t5,.0
ogy of the transverse cracks that ap- can be found in
peared for the first time, located 9.5 mm these locations.
in depth from the weld surface. Some of In this study, the
these cracks can also be seen in Fig. 12B, position of trans- I ~ I
which also shows the formation of new verse cracks differed unit : m m
cracks at a depth of 10.0 mm from the from that of the (B)
weld surface. These cracks completely Takahashi report,
disappear and two new sets of cracks are since cracks were Fig. 14 - - The transverse crack position according to changing welding
visible in Fig.12C at a depth of 16.0 mm detected at a con- layer. A - - 35-rnm weld joint; B - - 50-ram weld joint.
from the weld surface. The cracks disap- stant distance from
pear as the distance from the weld sur- the top of the weld
surface (e.g.,
face is increased and a new set of cracks
9.5-10.0 mm, and
is formed - - Fig. 12D. not just below the final layer as reported by transverse crack and mechanical proper-
Figure 12E shows the continuation of Takahashi). This is due to a large restraint ties such as hardness, impact and resid-
cracks detected in Fig. 12D; however, stress under actual construction condi- ual stress measurement was studied for
their number has decreased consider- tions, as compared to a small test piece. EH 32 TMCP 50-mm-thick plate welded
ably. Transverse cracks completely dis- Figures 15A and B show an optical with FCAW under the condition of
appear at a depth of 20.0 mm from the micrograph of the middle and edge of changing preheat and interpass tempera-
weld surface-- Fig. 12F. transverse cracks. The formation of these ture. The results of this study can be sum-
It can be seen from the macrographs cracks did not follow the grain boundary marized as follows:
of Fig. 12 that transverse cracks have a ferrite; rather, they propagated across the 1) Transverse cracks were detected
pattern of appearing and disappearing grains. in the specimen welded with preheat-
in locations at depths 9.5-17.0 mm From fracture morphology, it is noted ing and interpass temperatures below
away from the weld surface. that transverse cracks occur in high 30C, but cracks were not detected for
The morphology of transverse cracks stresses. Microscopic fracture modes the specimen welded with preheat and
in the full-thickness joint is shown in Fig. from the Beachem (Ref. 13) report are interpass temperatures of 100-120C.
13. Cracks at a depth of 9.0 and 9.5 mm shown in Fig. 16. These illustrations show 2) Two different locations of crack
from the weld surface are shown in Fig. the tip of cracks growing from left to right formation were detected in this experi-
13A and B. A comparison of these two under four different K (stress intensity fac- ment as follows:
macrographs shows that transverse cracks tor) conditions, with the K decreasing
have a clearer morphology in Fig. 13B. a) In the specimen welded at two-
from Fig. 16A through D. This represents
Additionally, the morphology of cracks in thirds thickness of the joint, cracks were
a suggested explanation of the changes in
Fig. 13E and F is more delicate, with a the observed fracture modes. initiated at a distance of 9.5-10 mm away
number of small-size cracks located in from the top of the welded surface, be-
the surrounding area of the larger cracks
than the cracks detected in Fig. 13C
Conclusions tween layers 4-6.
b) In the specimen welded at full
and D. Macrostructure appearance of the thickness, cracks were initiated at a dis-
In the full-thickness weld, the trans-
verse cracks also have a pattern of
appearing and disappearing at a depth
between 9.0-27.0 mm away from the
weld surface and completely disappear
at a depth of 28.0 mm - - Fig. 13H.
The position of transverse cracks rela-
tive to the weld layer is shown in Fig. 14.
For the specimen welded at two-thirds
thickness (35 mm), transverse cracks
were located between weld layers 4-6,
as shown in Fig.14A. For the specimens
welded at full-thickness (50 mm), trans- :;4~2i~;'.~ " 5aO~m
0 ~ i
verse cracks were located between weld
layers 5-8, as shown in Fig. 14B.
Takahashi, e t a l . (Ref. 12), have shown Fig. 15 - - Optical microstructure o f transverse cracks. A - - M i d d l e o f crack; B - - crack edge.
that transverse cracks are initiated in the

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 509-s


(A)
(c)
Fig. 16 - - Microscropic fracture modes. A - - MVC with high stress intensity factor; B - - QC
with intermediate stress intensity factor; C - - IG cracking with low stress intensity factor; D - - IG
cracking with assisted hydrogen pressure.
tance of 9.5-10.0 mm away from the top
of the welded surface, between layers 5-8.
3) Hardness values of preheating and
interpass temperatures below 30C were
higher than preheating and interpass
temperatures below 100-120C in de-
posited weld metal.
4) The residual stress values for the
specimen welded with a preheating and
510-s I DECEMBER 1998
(e)
/. ..... . ....
(D)
interpass temperature below 30C was
higher than the specimen welded with a
preheating and interpass temperature at
100-120C.
5) The result of weld metal impact
test shows higher impact values for the
weld condition with preheating and
interpass temperature at 100-120C,
compared to the specimen welded with
a preheating and interpass temperature
below 30C.
References
1. Bailey, N., and Wright, M. D. 1993.
Weldability of high strength steels. Welding
and Metal Fabrication, pp. 389-396.
2. Metals Handbook. 1973.9th ed., Vol.
6 ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, pp.
129-130.
3. Kou, S. 1987. Welding Metallurgy, John
Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y., pp. 249, 326.
4. Welding Handbook, 1987. 8th ed.,
Vol. 1. American Welding Society, Miami,
Fla., pp. 230-231.
\ 5. Signes, E. G., and Howe, P. 1988.
Hydrogen-assisted cracking in high-strength
pipeline steel. Welding Journal 67(8): 163-s to
170-s.
6. Suzuki, H. 1978. Cold cracking and its
prevention in steel welding. Transactions of
the Japan Welding Society, pp. 82-86.
7. Hart, P. H. M. 1986. Resistance to
hydrogen cracking in steel weld metals, weld-
ing Journal 65(1): 14-s to 22-s.
8. Yurioka, N. 1995. A chart method to
determine necessary preheat temperature in
steel welding. Journal of Japan Welding
Society, pp. 347-350.
9. Lee, H. W., and Kang, S. W. 1996. A
study on microstructure and thoroughness of
electrogas weldments. Journal of the Korea
Welding Society, pp. 68-74.
10. Yurioka, N., and Suzuki, H. 1990.
Hydrogen assistedcracking in C-Mn and low
alloy steel weldments. International Materials
Review, pp. 217-249.
11. JlS Z3118 Method of Measurement for
Hydrogen Evolved from Steel. 1986. Japanese
Standard Association.
12. Takahashi, E. 1979. Relations be-
tween occurrence of the transverse.Journal of
Japan Welding Society, pp. 855-872.
13. Beachem, C. D. 1972. A new model
for hydrogen-assisted cracking. Metallurgical
Transactions 3(2): 437-451.