1.

0 INTRODUCTION

Welding is an essential part of operating and maintaining assets in the petroleum (upstream,
midstream, downstream) and chemical processing industries. While it has many useful
applications, the welding process can inadvertently weaken equipment by imparting residual
stresses into a material, leading to reduced material properties.

In order to ensure the material strength of a part is retained after welding, a process known
as Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) is regularly performed. PWHT can be used to reduce
residual stresses, as a method of hardness control, or even to enhance material strength.

If PWHT is performed incorrectly, or neglected altogether, residual stresses can combine

with load stresses to exceed a materials design limitations. This can lead to weld failures,
higher cracking potential, and increased susceptibility to brittle fracture. PWHT
encompasses many different types of potential treatments; two of the most common types
are post heating and stress relieving:

Fi
g u
r e
1:

Induction Heating of large Pipe Figure 2: PWHT chart

a) Post Heating:

Hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) often occurs when high levels of ambient hydrogen
permeate into a material during welding. By heating the material after welding, it is
possible to diffuse hydrogen from the welded area, thus preventing HIC. This process
is known as post heating and should begin immediately after the weld is completed.
Rather than being allowed to cool, the material needs to be heated to a certain
temperature depending on the type and thickness of the material. It should be held at
this temperature for a number of hours dependent on the thickness of the material.

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 b) Stress Relieving:

By the time its complete, the welding process can leave a large number of residual
stresses in a material, which can lead to an increased potential for stress corrosion
and hydrogen induced cracking. PWHT can be used to release these residual
stresses and reduce this potential. This process involves heating the material to a
specific temperature and then gradually cooling it.

Whether or not a material should undergo PWHT depends on a number of factors, including
things like its alloying system or whether its been subject to heat treatment previously.
Certain materials can actually be damaged by PWHT, while others almost always require it.

In general, the higher the carbon content of a material, the more likely it needs PWHT after
welding activities have been conducted. Similarly, the higher the alloy content and cross-
sectional thickness, the more likely the material is to need PWHT.

1.0 THEORY

Microstructure

Welding involved melting the base metal and filler metal and solidified during solidification
process. Verities of microstructures were formed in fusion zone (FZ) and heat affected zone
(HAZ). At FZ development of microstructures mostly depend on cooling rate and chemical
compositions, otherwise at HAZ depend on cooling rate and peak temperature experience.
Microstructure and phase play important rule to mechanical and chemical properties of
weldment. Different phases, microstructures and size, carry their own properties.

The common method used to examine the microstructure and phase of weldment by using
an optical microscope. To reveal the microstructure, grain boundary and phase, the weld
specimen must go through the grinding and polishing with fine abrasives till finish surface
look like mirror and follow by etching process with specific chemical solution. Microstructures
of welded carbon steels shown in Figure 2 and 3.

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 BASE METAL

Figure 3: Region in weldment

Figure 4: Example of microstructure at Fusion Zone of carbon steel

Hardness Vickers Test

Vickers hardness is a measure of the hardness of a material, calculated from the size of an
impression produced under load by a pyramid-shaped diamond indenter. The indenter
employed in the Vickers test is a square-based pyramid whose opposite sides meet at the
apex at an angle of 136 o. The diamond is pressed into the surface of the material at loads
ranging up to approximately 120 kilograms-force, and the size of the impression (usually no
more than 0.5 mm) is measured with the aid of a calibrated microscope. The Vickers number
(HV) is calculated using the following formula:

The
Vickers test is reliable for measuring the hardness of metals, and also used on ceramic
materials. The Vickers testing method is similar to the Brinell test. Rather than using the

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 Brinell's steel ball type indenter, and have to calculate the hemispherical area of
impression, the Vickers machine uses a penetrator that is square in shape, but tipped on
one corner so it has the appearance of a playing card "diamond". The Vickers indenter is
a 136osquare-based diamond cone, the diamond material of the indenter has an
advantage over other indenters because it does not deform over time and use.

Figure 3:

The impression left by the Vickers penetrator is a dark square on a light background. The
Vickers impression is more easily "read" for area size than the circular impression of the
Brinell method. Like the Brinell test, the Vickers number is determined by dividing the
load by the surface area of the indentation (H = P/A). The load varies from 1 to 120
kilograms. To perform the Vickers test, the specimen is placed on an anvil that has a
screw threaded base. The anvil is turned raising it by the screw threads until it is close to
the point of the indenter. With start lever activated, the load is slowly applied to the
indenter. The load is released and the anvil with the specimen is lowered. The operation
of applying and removing the load is controlled automatically. Several loadings give
practically identical hardness numbers on uniform material, which is much better than the
arbitrary changing of scale with the other hardness machines. A filar microscope is
swung over the specimen to measure the square indentation to a tolerance of plus or
minus 1/1000 of a millimeter. Measurements taken across the diagonals to determine the
area, are averaged. The correct Vickers designation is the number followed "HV"
(Hardness Vickers). The advantages of the Vickers hardness test are that extremely
accurate readings can be taken, and just one type of indenter is used for all types of
metals and surface treatments.

2.0 OBJECTIVE

I. To study the effect of post weld heat treatment to the hardness of carbon steel.

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 II. Analyze the microstructure of Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) specimen and non
PWHT specimen.
III. Comparative the hardness difference between Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT)
and without (PWHT) specimens.

3.0 METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE

Procedure preparation of the specimen:

1. The specimen was given two welded specimen SA 516. One goes through PWHT
process and other not.

2. The specimen is 95mm x 23mm x 36mm plate butt joint single v using SMAW type of
welding process.

3. Polished the specimen using polishing machine using sand paper grade with
sequence P240, P320, P400, P600, P800 and P1000 and followed with diamond
paste/slurry for 3m and followed by 1m.

4. Cleaned specimen using water.

5. Swabbing etchant solution (Nital 2%) for a few seconds to weld specimen then
directly washed the specimen by water and followed by alcohol.

6. The weld zone such as HAZ, fusion zone must be appearing, if not repeat the etching
process 7 to 8.

7. Set the suitable magnificent (5x, 10x, 20x or 50x) and focused until image is clear.

8. Captured image for macrostructure for both weld specimen at Base Metal, Heat
Affected Zone and Fuzion Zone.

9. For HAZ, captured image for two different locations, first close to fusion and second
close to base metal.

10. Saved image in JPEG format and placed the weld specimen on anvil of hardness
test.

11. Select the suitable load (200,300 or 500 gram), let it be in dwell time for 10 to 15
second.

12. Select the location for test (Center of weldment).

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 13. Focus until microstructure image appear.

14. Push load button and wait until process completed. (Machine work automatic for test)

15. Refocused the indentation on specimen.

16. Click at the image to capture photo.

17. Measured at d1 and d2 and save image as JPEG format.

18. Move specimen to the right/left for 1mm and repeat the hardness test.

19. Continue step 18 till 15mm from centre of weldment.

Figure 4: Specimen Completed Weld Figure 5: Polishing using sand paper

Figu
r e 6:
Polishing using diamond Figure 7: Etching

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Figure 8: Washing the etching solution with Figure 9: Pour the alcohol liquid to remove the
water water from the specimen

Figure 10: Microscope and Computer Set Figure 11: Hardness Vickers Test Machine

4.0 RESULT AND DISSCUSION

Microstructure Examination

From the observation of the result below, it was found that the microstructure of the
specimen changed when Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) is applied. It is considered that
when the Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) is applied the size of microstructure of the post
weld specimen is finer than the microstructure of non-post weld specimen.

Pearlite is usually a lamellar combination of ferrite and cementite (Fe 3C). It is formed by
eutectoid decomposition of austenite upon cooling by diffusion of C atoms, when ferrite and
cementite grow contiguously, C precipitating as Fe3C between laths of ferrite at the
advancing interface, leaving parallel laths of Fe and Fe3C which is pearlite.

Ferrite forms by the slow cooling of austenite, with the associated rejection of carbon by
diffusion. Ferrite has a good strength and moderate ductility. These ferrites are
ferromagnetic. They are not heat treatable and have excellent corrosion resistance,
moderate formability, and relatively inexpensive.

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Base Metal

The base metal of both with and without Post Weld Heat Treatment PWHT we get uniformly
distributed ferrite pearlite grain structure. The ferrite is white and the pearlite is dark because
the lamellae are much too finely spaced to be resolved at the 20X magnification in micros
tropic. The grain structure of PWHT base metal is finer and in order compare to non PWHT
base metal as we can see above. Thus, PWHT base metal grain structures are better than
non-PWHT base metal specimen. The finer grain size leads to increase of yield strength and
better resistance to fracture.

Figure 11: Base Metal without PWHT Figure 12: Base Metal with PWHT

Heat Affected Zone

Adjacent to the weld metal zone is the heat affected zone that is composed of parent metal
that did not melt but was heated to a high enough temperature for sufficient period that grain
growth occurred. The grain size of both PWHT and non PWHT are smaller than base metal
but PWHT specimen shows superior HAZ size compare to the non PWHT HAZ specimen as
shown in figure below.

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The HAZs structure which depicts clearly the microstructures of the zone. It composed of
Widmanstatten ferrite, and colonies of pearlite. Solid state phase transformations take place
in the HAZ of steel welds. The coarse-grained region of the HAZ next to the weld fusion
zone consists of grains larger than those in the base metal. It has been reported that there
are two phase transformations that take place in the HAZ during cooling. The first is the
transformation of high temperature ferrite () to austenite (). The second transformation is
that of to (room temperature ferrite).

Figure 13: HAZ without PWHT Figure 14: HAZ with PWHT

Fusion Zone

As shown in figure below the grain structure of fusion zone is coarse. However, when we
compare both of the specimens the PWHT specimen fusion zone show quality grain
structure compare with the non-PWHT specimen fusion zone. The PWHT specimen show
clear grain structure comparing with the non PWHT specimen. Thus, this proves that post
weld heat treatment (PWHT) can produce superior microstructure comparing with the non
PWHT for thick metal.

In the Fusion zone illustrates as-cast structure and a microstructural in homogeneity which is
a result of the highest cooling rates. It contains mainly ferrite and colonies of pearlite. The
microstructure is heterogeneous due to the temperature and the chemical gradients that
generate during the welding process.

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Figure 15: Fusion Zone without PWHT Figure 16: Fusion Zone with PWHT

Hardness Vickers Test

The higher the Vickers hardness number (HV) in each scale means the harder the material.
By referring to the table 5.1 and 5.2 below show both specimens with applying PWHT and
without PWHT shows similar result with average hardness number of fusion zone greater
than heat affected zone (HAZ) and greater than base metal.

FZ > HAZ > BM

When comparing the both specimens, specimen with non PWHT on Vickers hardness
numbers are larger than PWHT specimen in all regions. This shows the non PWHT
specimen is harder than PWHT specimen. PWHT soften at the HAZ region and thus

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improving toughness. The Vickers Hardness test is a hardness measurement based on the
net increase in depth of impression as a load is applied. The higher the number in each of
the scales means the harder the material.

Specimen without PWHT

Hints:
Base Metal = Point 8, 9,10, 11, 12
Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) = Point 6, 7
Fusion Zone (FZ) = Point 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Average
(HV)

Base - - - - - - - 179 175 176 172 169 174

Metal

HAZ - - - - - 189 185 - - - - 187

Fusion 198 201 196 195 193 - - - - - 196

zone

Table 5.1: Result for Vickers hardness number (HV) without PWHT

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Point 1 (198 HV) Point 2 (201 HV)

Point 3 (196 HV) Point 4 (195 HV)

Point 5 (193 HV) Point 6 (189 HV)

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Point 7 (185 HV) Point 8 (179 HV)

Point 9 (175 HV) Point 10 (176 HV)

Point 11 (172 HV) Point 12 (169 HV)

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Specimen with PWHT
Hints:
Base Metal = Point 8, 9,10, 11, 12
Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) = Point 6, 7
Fusion Zone (FZ) = Point 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Average
(HV)

Base - - - - - - - 160 157 156 158 155 157

Metal

HAZ - - - - - 170 172 - - - - - 171

Fusion 190 189 187 184 182 - - - - - - - 186

zone

Table 5.2: Result for Vickers hardness number (HV) with PWHT

Point 1 (190 HV) Point 2 (189 HV)

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Point 3 (187 HV) Point 4 (184 HV)

Point 5 (182 HV) Point 6 (170 HV)

Point 7 (172 HV) Point 8 (160 HV)

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 Point 9 (157 HV) Point 10 (156 HV)
Point 11 (158 HV) Point 12 (155 HV)

Comparison Distribution in Line of Hardness Value For PWHT and Non-PWHT Specimen

200

150

100

50

0
Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Point 5 Point 6 Point 7 Point 8 Point 9 Point 10 Point 11 Point 12
PWHT Non-PWHT

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The graph illustrates comparative of carbon steel undergoes PWHT and non-PWHT. The
specimen with PWHT is represented as blue line and non-PWHT represented in red line. It is
clearly shows that the steel that undergoes PWHT have lower number of average hardness
value compare to non-PWHT. Fusion zone is the region where steel is result higher number
of hardness value. The number can go up to 190 HV for PWHT whereas non-PWHT the
value can up to 201 HV. The experiment objective is to measure the hardness value of steel
after and before heat treatment. So that we know to differentiate the different in mechanical
properties like ductility or hardness of material after and before heat treatment was done.

By theoretically we know PWHT will result in an improvement of the mechanical properties

by improving the diffusion of hydrogen out of weld metal, softening the heat affected zone
(HAZ), improving dimensional stability during machining, improving the resistance to stress
corrosion cracking and reducing the effects of cold work and helps in refine the
microstructure thus result a good strength in weldment. As can be seen, it covers 12 point of
hardness. We start from the centre of the weldment as point 1 and continue in a straight line
on a right side until it reaches portion of base metal which is point 12. Point 1 to 5 is present
for fusion zone. Whereas point 6 and 7 for heat affected zone (HAZ) and Point 8 to 12
present for base metal.

5.0 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, after done the experiment. We able to conduct the experiment successfully.
We gain knowledge on how to polish the specimen according to the right selection of sand
paper number, how to see the microstructure, able to identified the microstructure, and
implemented hardness test and made a comparison between non-PWHT and PWHT. These
lab experiments were made based on constant and same parameters, which were made to
the Tee Joint specimen. This lab experiment proved that Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT)
greatly influenced on microstructure and mechanical properties of materials where in this
study on its hardness. This shows by the Vickers Hardness Test results that is a significant
difference can be seen between both of the specimens hardness numbers. PWHT will help
to reduce the percentage of cracking to weld joint by reduce the hardness and increase the
toughness, and to decrease residual stresses associated with welding. This can be proved
by PWHT specimen has lower hardness comparing to non PWHT specimen. Both specimen
resulting the same as hardness number of fusion zone while in the heat affected zone (HAZ)

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the heat treatment does in soften the region comparing to the non-heat treatment and this
can be proven by the data recorded at the data result and greater than base metal.

The study shows that the PWHT specimen produces superior microstructure comparing with
the non PWHT. The microstructure of a material can strongly influence the physical
properties such as strength, toughness, ductility, hardness, corrosion resistance and others.
Metallurgical structure is improving towards higher strength and reduce the risk of brittle
fracture due to refining heat affected zone (HAZ) region. PWHT are essential to improve the
properties of a weldment. Two most common procedures used are post heating and stress
relieving. Other desired results from PWHT may include hardness reduction, and material
strength enhancements. In general, when PWHT is required, the goal is to increase the
resistance to brittle fracture and relaxing residual stresses.

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