Chapter 8
Preheating and Postweld Heat Treating
Preheating and postweld heat treating may
be necessary in order to produce sound
welded assembliesfor ceriain base metals and
welded joints. These preheat and postweld
heat-beat requirements should be specified in
the applicable welding procedure specifica-
tion@)and should be followed during produc-
tion welding.
8.1 Preheating
Preheating is the heating of the weld joint
to attain and maintain the specified preheat
temperature prior to welding. In addition to
establishing a preheat temperature, an inter-
pass temperature limitation may need to be
considered for many materials.
When preheating is specified, the entire
weld joint area should be heated through the
metal thickness to the desired minimum tem-
perature. To obtain a uniform temperature
through the metal thickness, it is desirable to
locate the heating source(s) on one surface
of the metal and to measure the metal tem-
perature on the opposite surface. However,
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when heating and temperature measurement
should be done from the same surface, the
inspector should be certain that more than
just the surface has been heated; the heat
should have soaked through the entire mate-
rial thickness.
In a multipass weld, the temperature of the
weld area prior to depositing the next weld
pass is called the interpass temperature.
When specified, the interpass temperature
should be checked prior to the next pass. The
applicable code may specis the location at
which interpass temperature is to be mea-
sured. Welding may not continue if the mea-
sured temperature is not within the
temperature range specified in applicable
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welding procedures. Within the instructions
of the W S ,accelerated cooling is sometimes
authorized for certain alloys (e.g., austenitic
stainless steel and high-nickel alloys). How-
ever, it should be noted that for other alloys,
accelerated cooling may be detrimental, and
its use should be investigated carefully.
Depending on the metallurgical or mechan-
ical properties of the weldment, or both, pre-
heat and interpass temperature may be
specified as follows:
(1) Minimum temperature only (e.g., mild
carbon steel without special requirements)
(2) Maximum temperature only (e.g., alu-
minum and nickel alloys)
(3) Minimum and maximum temperatures
(e.g., low-alloy steels with impact
requirements)
In situations where a preheat temperature
has been specified but neither range nor inter-
pass temperatures have been defined, it is nor-
mal to consider the preheat temperature as a
minimum preheat and interpass temperature.
While furnace preheating is sometimes
employed (as for cast iron), local heating
sources are selected for most preheating oper-
ations. Local heating sources include resis-
tance elements, induction coils, and oxyfuel
torches. The selection of a heat source is usu-
ally based on the shape of the component, the
number of welds involved, the geographic
location of the work, the availability of equip-
ment, and the cost of the operation.
The welding inspector should monitor the
heating process with thermocouples, pyrom-
eters, or temperature-indicating materials
such as crayons, paints, and pellets that melt
or change color at predetermined tempera-
tures. Such indicators should be removed
prior to depositing the next bead to avoid con-
taminating the weld. When thermocouples
45
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46keheating and Postweld Heat Treating
and surface pyrometers are employed, they
should be calibrated according to the manu-
facturers instructions.
A drying operation is desirable for most
metals and is designed to remove surface con-
densate and other forms of moisture that oth-
erwise would cause porosity or weld
cracking. Such a drying operation requires
only that the surface be heated to evaporate
the surface moisture prior to starting a weld-
ing operation.
8.2 Postweld Heat Treating
(PWHT)
As the name implies, PWHT is any heat
treatment occurring after the welding opera-
tion. In a stress relieving treatment, the resid-
ual stresses created by the localized heating
and cooling associated with welding are
reduced by plastic and creep deformation. All
welds can be expected to retain localized
residual stresses equal to the room tempera-
ture yield strength of the material. When the
equipment designer or the applicable code
considers the retention of such stresses unac-
ceptable, the situation can be corrected by
heating the weldment to a temperature at
which the yield strength is considerably
reduced. At such elevated temperatures, the
residual stresses will dissipate or equalize
with time to a level equal to the yield strength
of the material at that temperature. Thus, the
effectivenessor the completeness of the stress
relieving operation is increased as the holding
temperature or holding time, or both, are
increased. To prevent the reestablishment of
high residual stresses, slow and uniform cool-
ing is needed from the PWHT temperature.
The effectiveness of stress relieving
depends primarily on the holding temperature
selected for the PWHT operation. Some
codes permit a lowering of the stress relief
temperature with a concurrent increase in
time. Other factors that may contribute to the
success of PWHT operations include the
following:
COPYRIGHT 2003; American Welding Society, Inc.
(1) Holding time should be of sufficient
length, since stress relieving does not occur
instantaneously. For carbon steels, holding
times of one hour per inch of thickness within
a minimum of one hour has proven effective
when no other instructions are available.
(2) The heating area is of special concern
during localized PWHT. Since spot PWHT
causes high localized stresses, the heating of a
wide area or a circumferential band is desir-
able and usually mandated by the applicable
code.
(3)The rate of heating should be uniform
over and through the thickness to be treated.
Some codes and other standards restrict the
maximum heating rate for this purpose.
(4)Cooling rates and the uniformity of the
cooling operation should be specified in detail
and executed with care. Some codes restrict
the maximum cooling rate. To achieve spe-
cific properties in some metals, accelerated
cooling is desirable. However, for most com-
ponents, slow cooling maximizes tempering
and minimizes residual stresses. Some PWHT
operations have failed to meet their objective
due to the occurrence of improper cooling
rates.
Applicable codes and specifications, job
requirements and qualification test results
govern the specific PWHT cycle. The ade-
quacy of a PWHT operation on carbon and
low-alloy steels can often be measured by
hardness testing. Such a testing is mandated
by a few specifications (e.g., ASh4E B31.3,
Chemical Plant and Petroleum Piping).
in addition to full furnace PWHT opera-
tions, local PWHT equipment is frequently
employed. The same processes used for pre-
heating, mentioned earlier in this chapter,
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may be successfully employed for this pur-
pose. However, the use of oxyfuel torch heat-
ing is generally undesirable for PWHT
operations since uniform temperature dis-
tribution is difficultto achieve. A detailed dis-
cussion of each process, including the relative
advantages and disadvantages of each, is pre-
sented in AWS D1O.lO, Recommended Prac-
tices for the Local Heating of Welds in Piping
and Tubing.
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8.2.1 Heat 'hating Inspection. Many pro-
grams implemented by the manufacturer to
control the quality of the product utilize
inspection during various points of the fabri-
cation sequence. Those inspection points
related to weldment heat treating may include
the following:
(1) Verification of preheat, interpass, and
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postweld heat treat temperatures
(2) Verification of surface cleanliness prior
to preheating, welding, and postweld heat
treating
(3) Calibration of temperature indicating
and measuring devices and monitoring of
their correct placement
(4) Monitoring the postweld heat treating
operation to assure that the procedure require-
ments have been met
(5)Verification of the dimensional accu-
racy of the weldment after the nal heat
treatment
(6)Verification of weld quality after nal
heat treatment
8.2.2 Precautions. in all heating operations,
care is needed to assure that the heat sources
and the temperature-indicating tools do not
adversely affect the weldment.
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Preheating and Postweld Heat Treating47
Weld surfaces should be thoroughly
cleaned prior to heat treating if they have
been exposed to materials that may be detri-
mental to the metal during heat treating. Items
of special concern include:
(1) Copper, lead, and mercury (this applies
to most metals)
(2)Chiorides and zinc (this applies espe-
ciaily when using stainless steels)
(3) Sulfur in smali quantities (this applies
especially when using nickel alloys)
(4) Suifur in large quantities (this applies to
most metals)
(5)Metal cutting fluids used for cooling
that contain halogens
(6)Painted metal should have the paint
removed prior to heating operations
(7) Paint or other surface coatings
The aforementioned contaminants can
deteriorate the properties of the weld and
adjacent area or accelerate the corrosion pro-
cess. The most severe deterioration will occur
when an accidental arc strike or a scheduled
welding operation melts the contaminant.
Such molten materials can attack and destroy
the grain boundaries, resulting in cracks in the
weld or the base metal.
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