The purpose of preheat:1. Reduce the risk of hydrogen cracking 2.

Reduce the hardness of the weld heat affected zone 3. Reduce shrinkage stresses during cooling and improve the distribution of

residual stresses.

If preheat is locally applied it must extend to at least !mm from the weld location and be preferably measured on the opposite face to the one being welded.

Background To Preheating "hen hydrogen diffusing from a solidified weld meets a hard microstructure under a tensile stress a crack is likely# $ydrogen cracking normally occurs in the heat%affected zone where hard microstructure is to be found& occasionally it can occur in weld metal. Hydrogen 'his is a very searching gas that can be liberated by oil( grease( rust etc. and water under the right conditions. 'he greatest risk comes from hydrogen generated within the arc from damp or contaminated welding consumables( mainly fluxes or electrode coatings. )ontamination on the parent metal can also be a risk unless the heat from the welding arc can drive it away. *oisture from condensation on the parent metal will normally be driven off by the heat from the arc before it can get into the weld pool.

$ydrogen in the atmosphere is unlikely to penetrate the arc envelope unless welding is carried out in very damp and humid conditions. + hydrogen crack can take anything from a few hours to 2, hours to occur. +fter 2, hours cracking is still possible but less likely( although there have been some reported cases of cracking at 2 hours. It is therefore good practice to allow at least ,- hours before carrying out any ./0. $ydrogen will eventually disperse from the parent metal( within a few days at room temperature or a few hours if held at around 2112). $ydrogen cracking is only possible at room temperature( this is why it is also referred to as cold cracking Parent Metal
A hydrogen crack requires a hard microstructure which is created by a hardenable material sub ect to fast cooling from !""#$ to %""#$& $ooling can be slowed down by:

applying preheat( maintaining a high interpass temperature( increasing welding power and reducing travel speed.

'he heat sink caused by the parent metal thickness and the number of available paths the heat can take to escape( also influence cooling rate. 3$owever once the heat sink reaches a certain size further increases have a negligible effect on cooling rate.4. 'his is why when determining preheat the term combined thickness is used( for a butt weld it is twice the thickness of the parent material and for a ' fillet weld three times the thickness.

'he hardening of a carbon manganese steel5low alloy steel is influenced primarily by carbon content and to a lesser extent other constituents such as manganese( chrome( silicone etc. 'he )arbon 06uivalent is a formula used to express the harden%ability of a particular alloy steel in terms of an e6uivalent plain carbon steel. 7everal such formula exist( the one favoured for low alloy steel is the II" formula8 )0II" 9 ) : *n5; : 3)r : *o : <45! : 3.i : )u451! )urrent steel specification do not restrict or limit the )arbon 06uivalent and as most steel specs permit a wide range of composition it is possible that one batch of steel may re6uire pre%heat and another may not. <ery low sulphur 3 = 1.11!>4 will increase hardening and special precautions are re6uired when determining the minimum preheat level. +dditions of niobium also re6uire special consideration. ?or welds sub@ect to high restraint more preheat is advisable 3suggest( Increase )0 by 1.3 or go down one hydrogen scale4.

'eferences& ()*"** Part + 30nglish version available from Aritish 7tandards4 'his standard is highly recommended as it gives details on this preheat method and also includes methods covering fine grain and creep resisting steels. It also includes practical guidance on the avoidance of other cracking mechanisms. *uch of the data contained in this standard comes from '"I research tempered by practical experience from industry. 3It replaces A7!13!4

,elding -teels ,ithout Hydrogen $racking. http855www.woodhead% publishing.com5 'his book is based on the original research work carried out by '"I. It covers the avoidance of hydrogen cracking and preheat in great detail. 'he preheat graphs tend to re6uire a higher preheat than the e6uivalent ones in 0.1111. The ,elding of -tructural -teels ,ithout Preheat +pril 2111 + very informative article covering recent '"I research into welding low hardenability steels without preheat. 'he article won the Cincoln arc welding foundation gold award. Preheat calculator Cincoln arc welding foundation 'he "elding Bournal

+ simple to use and inexpensive calculator. It is based on practical experience and tends to be very conservative when compared with the '"I method.

Alloying Elements

Manganese Increases strength and hardness& forms a carbide& increases hardenability& lowers the transformation temperature range. "hen in sufficient 6uantity produces an austenitic steel& always present in a steel to some extent because it is used as a deoxidiser -ilicon 7trengthens ferrite and raises the transformation temperature temperatures& has a strong graphitising tendency. +lways present to some extent( because it is used with manganese as a deoxidiser

$hromium Increases strength and hardness& forms hard and stable carbides. It raises the transformation temperature significantly when its content exceeds 12>. Increases hardenability& amounts in excess of 12>( render steel stainless. Dood creep strength at high temperature. )ickel 7trengthens steel& lowers its transformation temperature range& increases hardenability( and improves resistance to fatigue. 7trong graphite forming tendency& stabilizes austenite when in sufficient 6uantity. )reates fine grains and gives good toughness. )ickel And $hromium Esed together for austenitic stainless steels& each element counteracts disadvantages of the other. Tungsten ?orms hard and stable carbides& raises the transformation temperature range( and tempering temperatures. $ardened tungsten steels resist tempering up to ;111) Molybdenum 7trong carbide forming element( and also improves high temperature creep resistance& reduces temper%brittleness in .i%)r steels. Improves corrosion resistance and temper brittleness. .anadium 7trong carbide forming element& has a scavenging action and produces clean( inclusion free steels. )an cause re%heat cracking when added to chrome molly steels. Titanium 7trong carbide forming element. .ot used on its own( but added as a carbide

stabiliser to some austenitic stainless steels. Phosphorus Increases strength and hardnability( reduces ductility and toughness. Increases machineability and corrosion resistance -ulphur Reduces toughness and strength and also weldabilty. 7ulphur inclusions( which are normally present( are taken into solution near the fusion temperature of the weld. Fn cooling sulphides and remaining sulphur precipitate out and tend to segregate to the grain boundaries as li6uid films( thus weakening them considerably. 7uch steel is referred to as burned. *anganese breaks up these films into globules of maganese sulphide& maganese to sulphur ratio G 2181( higher carbon and5or high heat input during welding G 3181( to reduce extent of burning.