Japan Welding

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Transactionsof the Japan Welding

SocietysVol.19, No. 1, April 19S8

The TRC
for High StrengthSteelin Wet Underwater
Welding'Test
By HideoYARA**,Yasiiji

MAKISHI***,

Hukuhisa

YoneoKIKUTA****and

MATSUDA*****

Abstract
The initiation
andProPagation
crack
strengtfi
sieet
welding
with
covered
(HT 60) in the avet imderwater
oj'root
ofhigh
7lest
Tl,nsile
Restraint
Cracking
Tlrst)
in
ebtigue.y,
straight
Yand
45"
single
5003)
are
evaluated
the
ZRC
<D
by
bevelgroove,
7;ee TLRC test is used becausethe testing conditlons
ofthisniethod can be retated to actual.fiiericating eonditions.
a scanaing
electron
microscope.
71-efiacturesTttface
isobserved
is to determinelythe TLRC test the resistance to cold cracking susceptibility
inthe weld
7)feePtiipose
ofthisinve.rtigatien
tnetals
and
HAZ induced byiFdragen,
the dlffusible
the tensite restraini
stress
stress)
and
l;urthermore,the relation isinvestigated
ameng
bldeagen,
(==qzaplied

etectrode

ofspecimens

mpturetime,

surface

andfiacture

tvith

pattern.

Lbederteater
weiding,
Cbldcracking,
Iij,thogenembritttement.
Tlensite
strength

Crack suscoptibility,
Crackinitiatien,

Key Words:

1. Introduction
An

increasing

use

of

offshore

such

structures

as

a
platforms,storage tanks and pipe lines has created
of
underwater
welding
demand for the development
and
that can be used
in their construction
techniques
repair.
In addition
to the practicaldiMculticsin ex-

the

ecuting

welding

underwater

underwater,

welds

are

plagued by a rapid quenching eflect from the surroundto hydrogen embrittleing water and a susceptibility
and
ductility have been
ment.
Both tensile strength
reduced
cornpared
with
similar
found to be drastically
air.
welded
in
joints
Weld crack
js one of the serious
problems in the
It has been studied
welding
of high strength
steels,
In particular,root cracks
in
by rnany
researchers.
of high strength
steels
are afilectcd
by britthe welding
tleness
and
hardnessof welds, diffusible
hydrogen content and strcss.
At least one ofthe above factorsshould
to prevent the root cracksi).
be reduccd
Because of water environment,
a high quenching rate
iscaused
and
largequantities
of hydrogcn are evolvcd,
bccomes one of the most
and
then hydrogen cracking
in
the
underwater
welding
of high
severe
problems
strength

steels,

The undersvater
One of them is
covered

cornes

welding

the

electrodes.

wet

underwater

This type is very

in

various

types.

welding

with

easy

to

of bcing applicablc
it has a great advantage
form ofjoint,
In this report, the featureof xsTeld crack
susceptibility
welding

are

ture

surface
*
**

***
****
*****

The purpose

scope,

the

use

to

by

scanning

electron

stress

and

the

and

pattern.

surface

Apparatus

2.1

and

MateriaZs Used

Materials
60)

specimen

and

in Table

1.

Table i

and

the

the

steel,

of

cornposltLons

and

ort

mcchanical

dcpositedmtal

the

and

had

which

properties
electrode

Tensiledirectionofthe
roll direction.

specimen

(HT
was

waterproofed.

mechanical
metal

cem-

class

5003) of 4mm

been

not

all-weld

Chemical compositions
of

enemHcoP

strength

compositions

wcrc

elcctrcde

(JISD

dried,but had

isparallel with

L>

covcrcd

for high

available

been suMcicntly
The chemical
shown

and

specimcn

60 kgnymm2

cf

lime-titania
type

diameter

thc

test

steels

thickncss,

comrnercial

of

Wetding Conditiens

strength

19mm

of

Procedures

and

for the TRC

used

high

(=ap-

strcss
the tcnEile rcstraint

time,

2. Experimental

mcrcial

liesin findingout

study

rupture

fracture

the

are

specimen

propcrtles

csiMnPsNlCrcuSnNb-C-qP..z)
HT60O.1-O.46r.52o.elEO.O13e.o7O.,5O.2TO.Od9O.036OASe,2s

stct4-C+Tt
M"
+-t-+r
6

I]2)

Sl

pcHnye+-+

and
e}

--chap;oe:lo

Nl
-O

M"+"ti+C.

2e

Cr

-e+-

v+-

l4Mc

NI

+rm+-+-f5e

1fi;o

properHesse

Tens;;tsttenglh[kgtlmmt)
Vietdpoint(k[{1rnrn1)SmeothedHetchedElangotiontv.}

the

te hydrogen crack
in the wct underwater
investigated
by the TRC test, The frac-

is observed

plied

stress)

this

of

the tensile rcstraint

among

relation

strength,

D500SO,07o.3eO.99O.OITO.O12u'--ur-

every

and

Ctz7itsible
h.v'diogen,
High

micro-

HT6e44

64

Dsoe349

sg

e2

i3

31

Received 25 Dccember 1987

Member, Associate Professor, Ryukyu University
Member, EmeritusProfessor, Ryukyu University
Membcr, Emeritus Professor, Osaka Univetsity
Membcr, Professor, Osaka University

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In

underwater

wclding

current

the

average

welding,

welding

220-230 A,

welding

arc

15

speed

is about

water

100-150

mm,

with

are

30-35 V

cm!min,

heat input 29.3 KJIcm,

average

conditions

voltage

and
in the

resulting

the

and
city

water

depth

Li
L

.r'

P/ Test

Load

Ii

In

used.

D, DigitalJoad

of

air

welding

apparatus

Thc TRC
root

machine

of

when

the temperature

air

about

was

from the output of

a load cell which

to

the specimen,

the

and

ap-

by dividing the Ioad by the

calculated

and
the size efthe testspecimen
are shown
in Fig. 2. In this research,
the test specimen
had three
kinds of grooves: oblique
y groove (smally type>,
straight
Y groovc (iarge
Y type) and 450 single bevci
shapc

(450type).

and

2 mm

ends

of

root

the

These grooves have 30 mm length

gap. The tab plates are fixedto both
in

specimens

to

order

the

eliminate

weld

defects.
Observatien
Sucfbce
of'R'acture

Fracturc surfaces
electi'on

scanning

immersed

were

beam
and

in

The

observation,

or

was

fracturesurface,

of

The

2,3

6oeNr';'Ly

heat-affectcd zone

of

cases.

directly with

connected

greeve

groove

susceptibi]ity

welding

The applied
load was calculated
digitalIoad indicatorconnected

area

Smally

the

evaluate

available
for both underin Fig.
is shown
schematically
1. Load was applied
by a dead weight utilizing lcver,
and
thus a constant
load was kept during the testing.
Thc load was applied
at about
10 sec. after welding
in
underwater
and
at about
120 sec, after welding
in air,

plied

to

apparatus

and

stress

vo]tage

15 cmfmin,

TRC
testing machine
is a tensilc
10 tens' capacity
placed horizontal-

water

was

a--

a)

is able

test

cracking.

testing

N.S9,/

arc

speed

2,2 TRCTlest

l500C in both
testing

welding

in the average
heat input 19.3 KJtcm, Temis
25-300C
and
humidity is about 750/.,
perature

of

Ts

Fig, lTRC

average

Iy. This tcsting

is l70-180 A,

current

the

and

resulting

cell

SSwitch

April 19S8

wclding,

25-30 V

indicator

piece

J.W.S.

the

ef

were

about

<SEM). The
to

acetone

stain

was

IOmm

voltage,

120 uA beam

tcst pieccs
before SEM
done with 25 kv

remove

observation

accelcrating

in detailwitha

observed

microscope

distance

working

current.

-)u..z

3. Experimental

Results

Discussion

and

3.1 Thermat Cycle

t2

b)

Large

Ygroove

Figure 3 compares
the
heat-affected zone
between
air

welding

in TRC

test

thermal

welding

undenvater

CA

using

of

cycle

welding

and

thermocouple

at

/50M

A.ulouUxtsljUaEde

or

-,U.-a
5eoe

2
C)

GO

o30

450vFig.

ea
T1me

2groove
Shape

of

Fig. 3

groove

Weld

:so

:lo

a[ter stert ot wetd

thermal

cycles

of

IBo

llo

:to

( sec )
we]ding

{HAZ)

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The T[RC Test for H{gh

that

O.6-O,7

zone

mm

from

away

Maximum temperature
11000C both in underwater
large diflbrencein cooling

bond,

the

heat-affected zonc
isabout
and
in air welding,
but

of

is rccognized
betMreen
them.
Namely, the cooling
time from 800 to 5000C
related
to structure
and
hardness of heat-affected zone
is about
2 sec. in underwater
welding
and
abeut
6
sec.
in air welding,
and
the cooling
time from 800 to
3000C related to cold crack of weld zone is about 5
sec. in underwater
welding
and
about
15 sec. in air
welding.
Thus, underwater
cooling
rates
are
about
3
times rnore
rapid
than those in air,
The cooling time
in

underwater

than

shorter

crack

high

of

strength

in

that

Therefbre,there is a large influence

welding.
root

rate

is much

welding

on

air

thc

steels.

The diffUsible hydrogen infiuences

the critical stress
in TRC test. Figure 4 shows the relation between value
of

diffusible
hydrogen

cases of

underwater

the

and

and

air

trapping

in both

time

difltisible
hydrogen was based on
insteadof glycerin and the
collection
of
diffusible
hydrogen was
continued
for
about
400 hrs,after which
the evolution
of hydrogen
of

measurernent

ef

JIS Z 3113 using

mercury

that the

so

D5003

red

liableto

poss

metal

welding,

heat-affected zone

and

are

crack.

bond is one of the factors

The hardness was
measured
using
a Vickers hardness testing machine
set
at a 1 kg load. Figure 5 shows
the hardnessdistribution within
underwater
and
air welds
on
HT 60 steel
ofthe
TRC
welded
usinga
large
Y
piece
groove, The
the

the

near

crack

reot

of stecls.

place is about

O,5 mrn
The

the

center

intervals.
TnaJcimum
hardnessof
Hv 440 in underwater

about
the crack

and

heat-affected
zone
is
Hv 350 in air; thus

the
and

is higher in

susceptibility

depth

the

of

underwater

weld-

ing. From the hardnesssurvey data presented in Fig.

5, itisobvious
that the underwater
welding
can
exhibit
a hardness levelin the coarse
of the
grained region
true heat-aflbcted
zenc
that is greater than that of the
The hardness

welding.

the

chcmical

expressed

and

Hmax

heat-afTbcted
base metal

the

of

compositions

The

rate.

.-..es.""pt"

deposited

Vickers hardness

same

Unde[weter

dn-oJr

One

20 ccflOO
g Fe in air
diffusible hydrogen is

and

3.3 Vickers
Hdrdness

cooling

6eo9)

welding

Thercfore,a lot of
intoweld metal zone in underwater

absorbed

affects
Used

50e:"

underwater

welding.

air
70GLo

(77)

iK)

g Fe in

measured

The procedure

welding.

Welding

bubbling stopped.
The maximum
amount
of
diffusible hydrogen was obtained
in about
400 hrs,, itwas 70
cc,tlOOg
Fe in underwater
welding
and
30 cc!100g
Fe in air welding.
In about 48 hrs.,it was
ccllOO

aflecting

Dil7i`si-ble
l)ij,deagen

3,2

inWetUnderwater

StrengthStee1

value

and

hardness is almost

of

by the

zone

of

the

equation;

(660C.q 40)

`=

40F:h

in

but it is not
because of the rapid

air

welding

50

the

welding,

in

same

cooling

underwater

rate.

;.

oodPISJm)
.

20:.i

.o

Relationbetwecn thc applicd stress and the fi]acture

in the TRC testis summarized
in Fig. 6 in both

iOe

EfactofAnPtied
Stress
on R'acture
Time

3.4

oo

.o

time
cases

1of

lod
[min.:

Time

Fig. 4

Relation betwccn

time

underwater

and

air

is similar

relation

soo

908Ut'=
jx

.Ov40oo-)Iaur

in dela}Jedcrack

during
critical

welding,

to that

diffUsiblehydrogen absorbed
Therefore, the lower

diflUsiblehydrogen

and

of

Each

lo4

-XvMxQ.x

--

HT60+D500J
ln.eit

.t.7L
s-x--

so.y--

40v.y
x

X<IS}

---..4.

20pe

4
S
2
WeldFig,metal

Base

Hardness distribution in

TRC

H
-----

h..b

L."i

tx
N--

FractuFe

Relatien

lirn

lue
e

between app]ied

;'

-S

LLL"'it'-''
'

ro

Fig. 6

D---ll

"kiliIII:i-.-!,-

metat
specimen

-O

LateeT
-S.

.
tL's-A
SL'b- 't'EH e

SmoHy

Und-tvrot!t

x..

-x

su-nlt.z

200

L i'"

oL

6.g:

sooceo[enLm!.y>
o

'

L.'.ss.

-x

lvE5

very
(a..),,is

stress,

t.-

of

welding.

rn

dooo

in.)

stress and

fracturetime

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impertant to evaluate
the crack
susceptibility.
g.. in undcrwatcr
welding
has thc highest value of
15 kgnymTn2
19 kgnymm2 with large Y groove, about
45e
with
small
and
about
II
kgS,'mm2
with
y groove
has the highsing]e
bevel groove. a.. in air welding
est value
of about
71 kggSmm2 with large Y groove,
about
68 kgnymmZ with small y groove and about 21
kgC,'mm2 with 450 single bevelgroove.
TRC
in underThus the lower critical stress (a..)
water

shows

welding

lower

value

TRC]
(a.,)

than

root

area

same

and

manner

the

shows

the

groove and

stress

relation

of

decreaserate
value

of

the

notch

metal

regard]ess
as

conccntration.

lower stre$s

of

stress

the

Therefore, 45e

at

diflt]rent
groovesand

single

used

to

con-

that

in

applied

case

stress.

weld.
air

the

wclding,

propagation

of

cracks

under

higher applied
stress
isfrom reot area to weld rnetal.
lower applied
stress, it is
On the other hand, undcr
from root area to bond and fractureoccurs in the wcld
metal

in the

except

case

450

of

lower stress.
Therefbre,these phenomena

bevel groove

single

under

applied

vertical

depth

of

bc

should

weld

metat,

to

attributed

throat

small

inclucledhydrogen in the
in
heat-aflbcted
zonc
because of
than

and

zone

time

to

stress

we]d

metal

short

more

application

ofload.

Zone
Microstructure
ofPtibtd

In the

metallographic

polishcd

and

were

Thc

typical

the

examination,

etched

2.5%

using

microstructures

in Fig. 9, as

shown

the

of

observed

under

specimens

nital.

an

weld

zone

optical

are

micro-

scope.

Small

a}

The

groove

The

Fig. 9
quenching
from bond to heatwelding,

structure

structure

martensitic

zone.

underwater

grained

coarse

clear

affected

combination

after

of

martensite

and

and
hydrogen is often associated
with
cracking
brittle
welding
behavior. Rapid quenching in underwater
Besides, a microcrack
was
obproduces martensitc.
in heat-affected zone.
The rnicrostructure
in
served
of
ferriteand bainite
Fig.9 (b)iscornposed
air we]ding,
near
bond.

e.
Large

in

microstructure

(a),was
and

b)

proin air

welding

propagate along the heatof

a large Y groovc

they
the

and

except

higher

3.6

e,

of

of the wEld
mctal
is
hcat-aflEcted
zone.
cracks
are initiatcd
from

the

welding,

thejoint,

of

and

Therefore,these phenornena should be attributed

to
near
hardened structurc
bond after quenching,embrittlement due to hydrogen and too small throat depth oE

weld

bevel groove isnot

stress

susccptibi]ity
that of the

crack

zone

under

con-

the

applied

in Fig. 8. It is supposed

underwatcr

root

afllected

ef

concentration.

of

shown

important than

In

the

of

weld-

The macroscopic
featureof the root crack for varispccimen
is that the
in
the
weld
of TRC
grooves
crack
through
only
the weld
predominantly passes

the

the root area is largeY--<sma]1

y<45e single bevel. In Yurioka et al's report2), this
has kti.4 with small and largc Y
stress
concentration
and
k,i8
with
450 single bevel groove.
grooves
In this report, there is good agreement
between the
centration

structural

ous

more

localstrcss were
welding
in each

between the shape

The stress

real

CrossSection

In
7

in a

concentration

stress

Macroscopic lileature
ofRoetCrack Path in 7leansverse

3.5

cnvlronment,

Figure

1988

April

ing.

welding

single

investigated in the

the

sider

cedure

in air welding
regardless
ofshape
ofgroove.
The dif
ference is considercd
to be attributable
to thc hardened
hydrogen remainm{crostructure
and
much
diffiLsible
welding due te very rapid cooling rate in underawter
ing. In both cases ofunderwater
and
air welding,
the
highest
value
critical
stress in different
has
the
grooves
with
large Y groove and the lowest value with 45e

bevelgroove.
The penetrationof

J.W.S.

ef the

groove

3.7

Micrescoipc Featureof'
FVaciure
Sucf}ice

A detailedobservation
of large Y groove specimens
in
thc
TRC
test
all over
the fracturesurface
obtained
Scanning
Electron
Microanalyzer
with
<SEM)revealed
fracture surface
consists
of three or four
that the whole
fracture regions.
Figure 10 shows examples
SEM
fbr the TRC
test specimen.

eo
c)

Fg.

450

7 Relation bctween shape

The

groove
ofgToove

and

stress

10

cencen-

(a),

granular

tration

in

microfractograph
consisted

and

of

of

microfractographs

underwater

hydrogen

welding,

embrittlemcnt,

by
Fig.
inter-

quasi-cleavagcfracturcpatterns. Thc

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The

Smacr=76

kgf'mm2

TRC

Test for High

Large

ytype

,a!65

2kgVmm

Underwater

Stre"gtli Stee1 in Wet

a=B7

Y rype

kgflmm2

a=7s

450
kgflmm2

C79)

Welding

Vtype
,a!2Tkgflmm2

a=49Kgflmm2

oE.yo].L-o1c

gil",mw-L,Itttt

cr-37

kgflmm2

,a=22

kgflmm2

O'=48kqflmm2

0'i 22

kgflmm2

cr= 2 6

kgflmm2.

0'=12kgfXmm'

o.EL.

sLo"olLov[D

1-1{iEr,

::,S'l'/l'1'k"'/

/'-i'i:')'"
Fig. 8Typical

root

cracks

in TRC

wat'ambw'
ttt.kk'/::/tIg,
.,w'

l/'x

'Sll',

specimens

b)

a)Underwaterwelding
Fig. 9

Micro-structures

ofdeposited

metal

t/:,,/.

and

weld

In-air

welding

metal

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C80)

Transaedong

J.W.S.

the

of

April 198S

drogen
embrittlement

Dimple

Intergranular

b)

welding

a)Underwater

Fig.10 Typical
greater part

and

ceptionally,

The

dimple fracturepattern

the

near

cdge

ofthe

in

air

was

in

than

welding

water

firmsthat hardened
hydrogen caused
by
cold

air

",elding,

and

microstructure
rapid

and

cooling

are

(b),
in-

and

also

about

20

under

to

weld

mctal.

stress

case

In

stress.

crack

air

was

oflargc

stress

was

hand,

flrom root

area

to

heat-

the

along

welding,

higher applied
On the other

Y groove under
the propagation
lfom root area

that

bond

undcr

and

in the weld metal

except
in thc
bcvcl groove under
lower stress.
The microstructure
in underwater
welding

occurred

lower
frac-

casc

of

singlc

grained

structure

Besides,a

microcrack

and

was
a

clcar

quenching
from bond to heat-affected zone.

structure

martensitic

after

was

observed

in heat-affected

near
the edgc of
ple fracturepattern was observed
showed
specimen,
Most of the microfractographs
intergranular
fracture
dimplc fracturepattern and
patternnear the root in air welding.

vvas

cc/1Oe

g Fe in ajr

hardness

maximum

Hv 440 in
the

crack

of

Acknowledgement

welding.

heat-afllectedzone

thc

underwater

and

susceptibility

Hv 350 in
was

The

air

higher in

research

in underwater
19 kgEtmm2

a..

was
thc highestbeing
I5 kgny
largeY groove,about

would
liketo thank Dr. H. Nakagawa,
instructor of Osaka Universitv.

authors

with

small

Refercnces

welding
with

11 kgf)'rnmZ with
groove and about
450 single bevel groove. a,, in air welding
was
the
highestbeing about 71 kggimm2 with Iargc Y groove,
smalL
about
68 kgnymmZ with
21
y groove and about
mm2

in the

initiated
frorn

cracks

propagated

welding.

underwater

<3)

hydrogen

ofdiffusible

400 hrs,, it was 70 ccllOO

g Fe in
and
30 cc/100 g Fc in air welding.
48 hrs.,it was 40 cc/100
g Fe in undcrwater

thus

weldingJ.

about

amount

in about

and

(2) The
was

maximum

welding

about

applied

and
joint,

except

of

the

welding,

On the other hand, it was composed

of ferrite
and
bainite near bond in air welding.
welding,
the greater part of the
(6) In underwatcr
hydrogen embrittlement
and
fracturesurface showed
intergranularsurface pattern, Exceptionally, a dim-

test was
done with HT60 stee] plates
D 5003 lime-titania type clectrode
in undcrwater
and
in air welding.
NCain conclusions
obtained
are
as fo]lows:

welding

the

of

bevel groove.

single

zone.

The TRC

In

450

with

higher

coarse

using

underwatcr

SEM

underwater

zone

high diffusible (5)

decisive for the

welding

with

afllected

45:

con-

4. Conclusions

obtained

root

ture

cracking.

<1) The

obtained

applied

in underthis

crack

the

quasi-c]eavage

fracturc patterns.
Thcreforc, more
of hydrogen
embrittlement
tergranu]ar fracturepatterns was observed

In-air

kgC,'mm2
(4) In

observed

Fig. 10

welding,

dimple, intergranularand

of

of reot

specimen.

microfractograph

consisted

microfractographs

fracture surface
shows
hydrogen
intcrgranular surface
pattern. Ex-

thc

of

embrittlement

Quasi-cleavtige

Intergranular

quasi-cleavage

1)
2)

H. Suzuki: JWS Bulletin, Ne. 1

N. Yurioka, T. Yatake, R. Kataoka and S. Ohshita:
Studics on Delayed Cracking in Steel Weldments
{1),
J. Japan
Weld Soc. Vol. 48 {1979),
pp 1103-11r3, CinJapanese)

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