Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jngse

A review on welding of high strength oil and gas pipeline steels

Satish Kumar Sharma*, Sachin Maheshwari
Division of Manufacturing Processes and Automation Engineering, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Sector-3, Dwarka, New Delhi, 110078, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Owing to the ndings of new locations for crude oil and natural gas, the need of high strength materials
Received 5 April 2016 that can be used for pipes and their joining has gained paramount importance. Welded pipes have to
Received in revised form bear internal uid pressure in addition to the adverse external conditions. Welding of high strength
13 November 2016
pipeline materials is also a challenge for engineers in construction of pipes as well as oil and gas
Accepted 20 December 2016
transportation lines. To increase reliability and protability in this industry, effective welding techniques
Available online 28 December 2016
are needed for these materials. To understand the issues related with the welding of these high strength
steels, requirements of chemical composition and mechanical properties for these materials are dis-
Keywords:
Pipe welding
cussed in detail. Through this review article, an attempt has been made to critically analyse the issues
Oil & gas pipeline and challenges associated with the weldability of high strength pipeline materials. Status of current
High strength research for weld corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement, residual stress, weld repairing and deteriorated
Corrosion heat affected zone is also summarized. Current development trends are discussed with a view to
Hydrogen embrittlement envisage future directions. Findings of this review work emphasize the need to shift the research focus
Residual stress from currently used grades X65, X70 and X80 to the advanced grades X90, X100 and X120.
Repair welding 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Heat affected zone

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
1.1. High strength low alloy oil & gas pipeline steels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
1.2. Weldability of line pipe steels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
1.3. Manufacturing of pipes for oil & gas pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
2. Issues and challenges in welding of pipeline steels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
2.1. Corrosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
2.2. Hydrogen embrittlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
2.3. Residual stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
2.4. Weld repairing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
2.5. Heat affected zone (HAZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
3. Current development trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
3.1. Alloying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
3.2. Development in welding processes and procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
3.3. Development of welding consumables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.4. Advances in testing and assessment of welded joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.4.1. Prediction and measurement of residual stresses distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.4.2. Detection and assessment of flaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.4.3. Assessment of the applicability of a welded joint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.4.4. Microstructure transformation behaviour of the material during welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.4.5. Assessment of material's susceptibility for corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4. Conclusion and future directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: satishsharma847@gmail.com (S.K. Sharma), ssaacchhiinn@
gmail.com (S. Maheshwari).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2016.12.039
1875-5100/ 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
204 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217

1. Introduction high strength pipeline steel (Trench and Kiefner, 2001). A

Population growth and industrial development in any country
gives rise to the demand for petroleum products. Demand, which is
more than supply, can be fullled either by nding of new re-
sources location or export from any other surplus ones. With the
increasing demand and ndings of new crude oil and natural gas
resource locations, their transportation has gained considerable
attention of manufacturing industry. Sometimes the transportation
has to be continuous for a long time which is only possible by
pipeline. These pipelines may range from few kilometres to thou-
sand kilometres, passing through different geographical and envi-
ronmental conditions. Consequently, a need has arisen to
emphasise on the development requirements of high strength
materials which can withstand the onshore, offshore and under-
ground conditions as large variation of ambient conditions. Thus,
the increasing demand of oil and gas industry has motivated the
use of these high strength materials (Mathias et al., 2013). The need
of high pressure application of these materials makes job chal-
lenging for makers and welders of these pipes. To understand the
issues related to the welding of these high strength low alloy
(HSLA) steels, it is necessary to know about chemical composition
as well as mechanical properties. This information will help us in
selection of suitable welding process and accordingly welding
consumables. With the knowledge of chemical composition and
mechanical properties for a material, we can also estimate its
weldability. It can also help in prediction of phase transformation in
its heat affected zone (HAZ) during thermal cycle of welding and
microstructure of weld metal. In this section, information about
some popular designating standards, product specication levels,
chemical compositions and mechanical properties of HSLA oil & gas
pipeline steels are presented. The weldability issue of these mate-
rials, welding processes suitably used for production of pipes from
these steels are also discussed and tabulated in this section.
comparative list of high strength pipeline materials names given
by some organizations and agencies are presented in Table 1b
As specied by API, pipeline materials are manufactured or
provided with two product specication levels known as PSL 1 and
PSL 2. According to API 5L specications, PSL 1 pipes are supplied in
Grades A25, A25P, A, B, X42, X46, X52, X56, X60, X65 and X70
whereas PSL 2 pipes are supplied in Grades B, X42, X46, X52, X56,
X60, X65, X70, X80, X90, X100 and X120. Difference between PSL 1
and PSL 2 is that PSL 2 has mandatory requirements for carbon
equivalent and notch toughness in addition to the minimum as well
as maximum limit for yield strength and tensile strength whereas
PSL1 has minimum limits/specications only for notch toughness,
yield strength and tensile strength. It is also worth noting that no
limit is specied about carbon equivalent for PSL 1 grade pipes.
Other major difference is based on the type of pipe ends. PSL 1 pipes
can be manufactured and supplied with plain-end, threaded-end,
belled-end and as special coupling pipe whereas PSL 2 pipes are
manufactured with plain-ends only.
In this paper, information about chemical compositions, me-
chanical properties and pipe manufacturing techniques used is
listed for X42 through X120 pipeline steel. The starting grades A25,
A25P, A and B are left from the main frame of discussion because
these grades are considered as medium strength materials. Ac-
cording to American Society for metals (ASM), low alloy steel
showing yield strength of minimum 290 MPa is considered in the
category of high strength steel (ASM Metals Handbook, 1994).
Knowledge about chemical composition and mechanical properties
of these pipes is necessary to understand the weldability and other
issues for welding of these pipes. For this purpose, Table 2a pro-
vides the detail about mechanical properties of API grade pipe steel
and Table 2b gives an insight about the chemical composition of PSL
1 & PSL 2 oil and gas pipeline HSLA steels (American Pertoleum
Institute, 2012).

1.1. High strength low alloy oil & gas pipeline steels 1.2. Weldability of line pipe steels

The materials that are best suited to the requirements of oil &
gas pipeline industry are HSLA steels. Specications regarding
chemical composition, mechanical properties and other important
issues like welding, cutting, manufacturing etc. of oil & gas pipeline
materials are specied by American Petroleum Institute (API), In-
ternational Organisation for Standards (ISO) and other national
agencies. API standards are generally taken as reference by many
national agencies for setting their own specications for these
materials. API specications are accepted and popularly used
worldwide. Table 1a shows the year of invention for each grade of
Carbon equivalent (CE) term is used to indicate hardenability or
crack susceptibility in steel weld. CE helps in estimating the com-
bined effect of all important alloying elements on microstructure
(formation of martensite structure) during welding of steel because
it is the change in microstructure of steel that decides its properties
and behaviour after welding. So lower value of CE is always
preferred which indicates good weldability. American Petroleum
Institute has adopted two formulae (CEIIW & CEPcm) to specify the
limit of carbon equivalent for API PSL 2 grade pipe steel. CEIIW
formula is given by International Institute of Welding (IIW doc,

Table 1a
High strength pipeline steels with their year of invention.

Steel Grade (X42) (X46) (X52) (X56) (X60) (X65) (X70) (X80) (X90) (X100) (X120)
Year of Invention 1948 1953 1953 e 1966 1967 1973 1985 1985 1985 1998

Table 1b
Comparative names list for high strength pipeline materials.

Organisation/Country Specication no. Material Name (equivalent to)

(X52) (X56) (X60) (X65) (X70) (X80) (X90) (X100) (X120)

API API 5L X52 X56 X60 X65 X70 X80 X90 X100 X120
ISO ISO 3183 L360 L390 L415 L450 L485 L555 L625 L690 L830
EN (Euro-norms) EN 10208 L360 L390 L415 L450 L 485 L 555 L625 L690 L830
DIN (Japan) DIN 17172 StE 360.7 TM StE 385.7 TM StE 415.7 TM StE 445.7 TM StE 480.7 TM StE 550.7 TM e e e
BIS (India) ICS NO. 75.200; 77.140.75 YSt 359 YSt 386 YSt 414 YSt 448 YSt 483 YSt 552 e e e
Russia e e e e e K60 K65 K70 K80 K90
 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217 205

Table 2a
Differences between PSL 1 & PSL 2 pipe materials on the basis of mechanical properties.

Grade Yield Strength, Yield Strength, Maximum Ultimate Tensile Strength, Ultimate Tensile Strength,
Minimum (MPa) (MPa) only for PSL 2 Minimum (MPa) Maximum (MPa) only for PSL 2

X42 290 496 414 758

X46 317 524 434 758
X52 359 531 455 758
X56 386 544 490 758
X60 414 565 517 758
X65 448 600 531 758
X70 483 621 565 758
X80 (for PSL 2) 552 690 621 827
X90 (for PSL 2) 625 775 695 915
X100 (for PSL 2) 690 840 760 990
X120 (for PSL 2) 830 1050 915 1145

Table 2b
Differences between PSL 1 & PSL 2 pipe materials on basis of their chemistry.

Chemistry PSL 1(wt %) PSL 2 (wt %)

Max Carbon for seamless pipe 0.28% for grades  B 0.24%

Max Carbon for welded pipe 0.26% for grades  B 0.22%
Max Manganese for seamless pipe 1.40% for grades  X46 1.40% for grades  X46
Max Manganese for welded pipe 1.40% for grades  X46 &  X60; 1.40% for grades  X46 &  X60;
1.45% for X65; & 1.65% for X70 1.45% for X65; 1.65% for X70; & 1.85% for X80
Max Phosphorus 0.030% for grades  A 0.025%
Max Sulfur 0.03% 0.02%

1967) which is commonly used for plain carbon and carbon- 1.3. Manufacturing of pipes for oil & gas pipeline
manganese steels. In CEPcm, critical metal parameter denoted by
Pcm is calculated. CEPcm is adopted from the work of Ito & Bessyo API grade pipes can be manufactured either seamless or welded.
under Japanese Welding Engineering Society (Ito and Bessyo, 1968). The seamless process is a hot working process used to form a
CEPcm was proposed specially to check the weldability of high tubular product without a welded seam. Welding processes used
strength steels. for manufacturing of API grade pipes can be categorised as welding
processes without using any ller metal (continuous welding,
electric welding and laser welding) and with use of ller metal
%Si %Mn %Cu %Cr %Ni %Mo %V (submerged-arc welding and gas metal-arc welding). Processes
Pcm %C 5B used for manufacturing of two product specication levels (PSL1 &
30 20 60 15 10
PSL 2) for HSLA pipeline steels are presented in Table 3 (American
Pertoleum Institute, 2012).
    Repair by welding of pipe body, plate and skelp is permitted
%Mn %Cr %Mo %V %Cu %Ni only for PSL1 grade pipes whereas it is prohibited for PSL 2 grade
CEIIW %C
6 5 15 pipes. For welding and its testing as well as weld repairing work,
API standard 1104 (API, 2005) should be referred. API standard
In line pipe specication, API has specied that CEIIW limits will
1104 is about the welding of pipelines and related facilities. It
be considered if the carbon mass fraction is greater than 0.12%.
applies equally to both new construction as well as in-service
CEPcm is used when the carbon mass fraction in steel composition is
welding. It provides specications about welding of pipeline,
less than or equal to 0.12% (American Pertoleum Institute, 2012).
testing of welded joints, qualication of welders, radiographic
In addition to alloying of metal, thermal cycles as well as cooling
testing and methods of inspection of weld produced.
rates of welding also play an important role in microstructure
changes. Welding consumables used and the conditions of pre-
paring for and carrying out the welding process should also be 2. Issues and challenges in welding of pipeline steels
taken into account before predicting the behaviour of the steel
during and after welding (API Energy, 2008). Some pipes of HSLA steel grades have failed during their

Table 3
Processes of welding and product specication levels.

Process of Welding PSL 1 PSL 2

X42 through X70 B through X80 X90 through X120

Welded without Filler Metal

Electric welded
Laser welded
Welded with ller metal
Submerged arc welded (longitudinal, double and helical seam)
Gas metal arc welded (single and double seam)
Combined gas metal and submerged arc welded (single and double seam)
206 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
applications. The failed pipes were from the initial API grades of
HSLA steel, such as X42, X46, X52, X56, X60 and X65 (Table 4).
Various researchers and practitioners have investigated the failure
phenomena in pipelines to nd out their possible cause. Table 4
summarizes the investigations on pipeline failure revealing their
possible causes. It is inferred that in welded structures, weld metal
and HAZ are the most prone locations for failure. Among various
causes of pipeline failure, corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement,
improper welding leading to welding defects or cracks and residual
stresses are the main along with improper smoothening of weld
surface. Environmental conditions and improper welding design or
procedure together, lead to the failure of welded structure.
Improper welding gives favorable sites for corrosion or hydrogen
embrittlement to occur like defects, residual stresses and suscep-
tible microstructure in weld as well as its HAZ. Detrimental effects
of environment conditions and thermal heat of welding can be
controlled or minimized, but it may not be economically feasible
every time. Hence, keeping this in view, the present study discusses
the issues and challenges faced by the welders of pipeline industry
for the longer life of pipes and pipelines.
2.1. Corrosion
Corrosion of pipelines has always been an important topic in the
oil and gas industry because of its harmful effects on component
life. Although, researchers are continuously developing more
corrosion resistant materials, it is inevitable. However, prevention
of corrosion in pipes and pipelines becomes an important issue due
to a large amount of money spent on repairing or replacing pipes
damaged by corrosion. Corrosion may occur in many forms (ASM,
2006). Table 5 summarizes the various forms of corrosion
observed in weld structures along with their causes or favorable
conditions and mechanism leading to failure of welding joint. Be-
sides this, other forms of corrosion, as well as different terms, have
been mentioned in the literature, such as preferential weldment
corrosion (Lee and Woollin, 2005), wet carbon dioxide or sweet
corrosion and wet hydrogen sulphide or sour corrosion (Fowler,
2003).
Table 4
Summary of pipeline failure investigations with their causes of failure.
Material Cause of failure
X42 Erosion due to corrosion
X46 Cracks in fusion zone (Slag entrapment)
X46 Fatigue crack in weld (residual stress)
X46 Defects in weld
X46 Hydrogen embrittlement
X52 Misalignment of inner and outer weld
X60 Thinning of wall due to grinding of weld
X65 Dents and gouges (Mechanical damage)
X65 Cracks along the toes of the weld due to transit fatigue (residual stress) Interface of weld &
X65 diffusion of copper at the grain boundary during induction bending
operation
Table 5
Summary of different forms of corrosion and their causes or favorable conditions and mechanism.
Form of corrosion Causes/favorable conditions
Galvanic Couples Difference in compositions of ller and base material
Weld Decay Accumulation of chromium carbide on grain boundary
Pitting Metallurgical heterogeneity in materials
Stress-Corrosion Cracking Susceptible microstructure, corrosive media and tensile residual stresses.
The welded joint is susceptible to corrosion due to many rea-
sons. Mainly, it is because of the variation in chemical composition,
metallurgical structure, and residual stress levels within a welded
structure (Deckard, n.d.). The chemical composition of weld may
vary due to different composition of welding consumables or
removal of elements in slag etc. Variation in metallurgical structure
may be termed as microstructural gradient. Microstructural gra-
dients exist within HAZ and weld also. In multi-pass welding,
because of bead to bead variations in thermal experience, HAZ and
weld experience different time-temperature cycles (ASM, 2006).
Different cooling rates of HAZ and weld also generate different
amount of residual stresses in different sections of a welded
structure.
For predicting the adequate service life of a weld structure in
corrosive environment, it is necessary to test corrosion rate or its
susceptibility in the weld structure before its application. Before
testing as well as judging the suitability of welded structure for a
particular application, prior information about some working
conditions like environmental conditions, temperature ranges and
onshore or offshore application should be known (Fowler, 2003).
Various methods are reported in literature for determining the
corrosion rate or corrosion susceptibility of a high strength pipeline
steel. Table 6 summarizes the ndings of investigations carried out
for HSLA pipeline steels to determine the corrosion susceptibility of
different steels or their welded structures.
With an objective of achieving safer pipelines with greater
longevity and integrity, researchers have also suggested some
strategies for the mitigation of corrosion. These strategies are for
both, designers as well as welders. For designers of the pipeline, a
proper selection of pipe material and pipe surface coating material
for the particular conditions of application, selection of appropriate
coating technique. As welded structure remains more susceptible
to corrosion, therefore welding techniques and procedures play a
critical role in minimization of corrosion phenomena on welded
pipes. Beforehand, welder should have an idea about the following
practices-selection of welding consumables, surface preparation,
selection of welding design and welding practices, nishing of weld
surface, use of preheat/interpass temperature and post-weld heat
Location of failure Citation
Weld metal (Majid et al., 2010), (Majid et al., 2012), (Majid and Mohsin,
2012)
Weld metal (Datta and Deva, 2002)
Weld metal (Chapetti et al., 2002)
Weld metal (Fazzini et al., 2005)
HAZ (Azevedo, 2007)
Interface of weld & (Fazzini et al., 2007)
HAZ
Weld metal (Ahmed et al., 2008)
Main body of pipe (Macdonald et al., 2007)
(Al-Anezi et al., 2009)
HAZ
Main body of pipe (Shant et al., 2013)
Mechanism leading to failure
Electrochemical potential difference between two regions of weld.
Building of localized galvanic cells in sensitized zones
Higher potential difference between metal and solution
Forms an anodic crack tip and then crack branching occurs
 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217 207

Table 6
Summary of investigations carried out on HSLA pipeline steels to determine their corrosion susceptibility.

Material Strategy of investigation Findings Citation

X56 Gumbel distribution to locate maximum pit depths Maximum pit depths and variability were present in HAZ of longitudinal weld (Chaves and Melchers,
2011)
X60 Electrochemical heterogeneity Greatest corrosion rate was found in the zone of overheating of the weld joints. (Kushnarenko et al.,
1985)
X60 Electrochemical noise measurements Increase in corrosion rate with increase of rotational speed. Highest corrosion (Cruz et al., 2016)
rate with turbulent ow conditions.
X70 Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy A ne and dense corrosion product layer which has increased the corrosion (Alizadeh and Bordbar,
resistance of HAZ as well as weld. 2013; Bordbar et al.,
2013)
X70 Potentio-dynamic polarization and electrochemical Microstructures with higher bainite content in CGHAZ and weld metal exhibited (Khalaj and Khalaj,
impedance higher passive current densities while highest amounts of ferrite phase in FGHAZ 2016)
Spectroscopy showed highest corrosion current densities.
X80 Corrosion current density in simulated HAZ with As received samples were found to have least and highest corrosion current (Mohammadi et al.,
two cooling rates, in both acidic as well as alkaline density in alkaline and acidic solutions, respectively. 2012)
solutions
X80 Corrosion behavior of HAZ with the microstructural Granular bainite-ferrite structure had shown the most positive current density (Wang et al., 2014)
gradient while acicular ferrite base metal had shown the most negative current density.
X52,X60, Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility of SCC susceptibility of X60 and X65 welds was reported to increase with the rise in (Contreras et al., 2011)
X65, welds in a brine solution saturated with H2S the temperature and the amount of hydrogen uptake.
X70

treatment. Other preventive measures which can be applied for
minimization of corrosion phenomena are prevention of defect
formation, use of passivation treatment and removal of hydrogen
sources (Olson et al., 2003).
2.2. Hydrogen embrittlement
Hydrogen is a harmful gas for steel either steel is in solid stage or
molten stage. When hydrogen gas entraps in the molten steel either
during its processing or during welding, it leads to hydrogen
embrittlement. This type of cracking occurs after the solidication
and cooling of weld, therefore also known as hydrogen-induced
cold cracking. A preferable site for hydrogen-induced cold
cracking is HAZ or interface of HAZ and weld.
On the other hand, during the application of welded structure in
the sour environment which contains hydrogen sulde also,
hydrogen gets absorbed by the structure even at normal temper-
ature due to corrosion. Cracking due to hydrogen sulde contained
environment is often termed as sulde stress cracking (Kane and
Greer, 1977). While, hydrogen-induced cold cracking takes some
days to come on the surface, cracking due to environments con-
taining hydrogen sulde takes comparatively much longer time. It
is a slow process and exhibits the delayed failure of the structure.
As, welded structure is more prone to corrosion as well as hydrogen
absorption, therefore, sulde stress cracking often nucleates from
the weld (ASM, 2006). Types of cracking caused by hydrogen
embrittlement are listed in Table 7 with their cause, sources and
failure mechanism.
Besides hydrogen containing environment, steel composition
and weld microstructure (indirectly heat input and consumables of
welding process) also play an important role in deciding the pos-
sibility and rate of hydrogen embrittlement. However, hydrogen is
more soluble in austenite; it is least susceptible to hydrogen
embrittlement while microstructures with high hardness like
martensite have the least solubility for hydrogen but have a higher
tendency for hydrogen induced cracking. This happens because,
during the rapid cooling, austenite transforms into martensite and
hydrogen get trapped (ASM, 2006). Also, high strength materials
are more susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. The reason is the
ne-grained structure of higher strength steels. Due to the small
size of grains, there is a higher possibility for trapping of hydrogen
atoms in its structure. Conversely, in large grain structures, it is easy
for hydrogen atoms to escape out from it. It is important to
remember that hydrogen embrittlement leads to catastrophic re-
sults when accompanied by stress. Hence, residual stresses
resulting from welding increase the cracking susceptibility of
welded structures.
The current status of research on hydrogen embrittlement for
pipeline steels having high strength is shown in Table 8. To know
the susceptibility of microstructure of HSLA pipeline steels, re-
searchers have applied many strategies which are also listed in
same table along with their ndings.
For the prevention of hydrogen embrittlement, controlling one
or more of its favorable factors i.e. presence of hydrogen contained
environment, susceptible microstructure and stress will surely be
helpful. Baking of welding consumables and use of low-hydrogen
electrodes will be benecial in minimizing the source of
hydrogen in weld while application of preheating and maintaining
an appropriate interpass temperature between weld passes along
with high heat input will decrease the rapid cooling rates and hence
will give more time for hydrogen atoms to diffuse out.
2.3. Residual stresses
Residual stresses have a detrimental effect on the life of a wel-
ded structure. Generally, high operating stresses superpositioned

Table 7
Types of hydrogen embrittlement with their cause, source of hydrogen and failure mechanism.

Types of hydrogen Causes/favorable conditions Sources of hydrogen Mechanism leading to failure

embrittlement

Hydrogen-Induced Atomic hydrogen, susceptible Moisture in electrode, ux, metal Cracking in HAZ or weld due to hydrogen embrittlement
cracking (HIC) microstructure and tensile stress surface or environment.
Sulde stress cracking Hydrogen sulde and water Presence of hydrogen sulde in the Embrittlement of microstructure due to hydrogen absorption
(SSC) sour environment. by steel in sour environments
208 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
Table 8
Summary of investigations carried out to determine hydrogen embrittlement in HSLA pipeline steels.
Material Strategy
X46 Micro-fractographic examination
X52 Susceptibility to hydrogen damage of weld through
hydrogen permeation and cathodic charging
X52 Effect of in situ hydrogen charging with three current
densities on the fracture toughness of a weld
X52 Electrochemical hydrogen absorption ability
X60 Cold cracking susceptibility for both single bead and
multi-pass welds using implant testing
X60 Parameter optimization of ERW to improve hydrogen
induced cracking (HIC) resistance in the weldment
through design of experiment.
X65 Fracture behavior of weldment after hydrogen-charging
X65 Variation in Process parameters values during SAW
X65 SSC behavior in simulated deep sea environment was
analyzed by a combination of hydrogen charging, slow
stain rate test and electrochemistry
X70 HIC and SSC susceptibility of SAW weld with different
amounts of Ti at two levels of Mn (1.4% and 2%)
X70 Effect of hydrogen charging on the impact toughness of
simulated CGHAZs
X70 Susceptibility for HIC of HAZ in high pressure hydrogen
gas at 20  C and nite element calculations of hydrogen
diffusion.
X80 Determine hydrogen permeation and hydrogen
solubility at different heat inputs using electrochemical
permeation method.
X80 Study about the behaviour and distribution of diffusion
hydrogen in the welded joints using nite element
model (FEM)
High-strength Effect of chemical composition with diffusible hydrogen
bainitic steels on the cold cracking susceptibility using implant testing
X70 and X80 Effect of welding parameters and H2S concentrations on
the SSC inclination of HAZ in the welds
X80 Electrochemical permeation technique
X56, X80 The susceptibility of girth welds to SSC and HIC
calculated for similar (X80-X80) and dissimilar (X56-
X80) joints.
with high tensile residual stresses promote fracture in welded
structures (Bate et al., 1997). Residual stresses also increase the rate
of damage by creep, fatigue or environmental degradation. During
the welding operation, compressive yielding occurs around the
molten material due to heating and expansion of weld material
(Colegrove et al., 2009). Conversely, during cooling and shrinkage of
weld metal, a tensile residual stress in the longitudinal direction of
the weld is induced. Hence, residual stresses in the welded struc-
tures are developed by localized heating and cooling which leads to
differential volumetric expansion and contraction of metal around
the weld zone (IDC, n.d.). Due to this reason, the amount and dis-
tribution of residual stress increases during the welding of dis-
similar materials. When the amount of tensile residual stresses
exceeds the yielding limit for material, it gets deformed leading to
distorted structure. A restrained structure during welding which is
Findings Citation
Presence of H2 blisters which conrmed stress-oriented (Azevedo, 2007)
hydrogen-induced cracking
Damage due to hydrogen was found in the form of blisters with
quiz et al., 2010)
(Re
the presence of aluminium-rich inclusions.
Reduction in ductility of HAZ with increase of current density (Chatzidouros et al., 2011)
Sequence of ability to absorb hydrogen in decreasing order as (Capelle et al., 2013)
HAZ-base metal-weld
Substantial part of the hydrogen came from the coating of the (Brink and Boltje, 1983)
electrodes when rutile ferritic and austenitic electrodes were
used
HIC resistance at the bondline was improved by minimizing the (Hong et al., 2009)
elongated Si, Mn and Al-rich oxide inclusions.
Very high crack growth in the weldment giving the initiation to (Tsay et al., 2001)
a quasi-cleavage fracture and reduction in tensile properties.
Welding current and arc voltage has positive signicant effect (Jindal et al., 2015)
on diffusible hydrogen content
The corrosion potential of steels was low in deep sea (Wan et al., 2016)
environment with hydrogen evolution reaction and an increase
in SSC susceptibility with hydrogen charging is observed.
Higher hardness with increased Mn% gave higher SSC (Beidokhti et al., 2009)
susceptibility. From 0.2% to 0.5% Ti content in welds supported
precipitated titanium carbonitrides which acted as hydrogen-
traps and suppressed the cracking phenomenon in the
environment of hydrogen and sulde.
Formation of local brittle zone and hydrogen trapping as the (Lee et al., 2013)
main causes for very low impact energies of critically reheated
and unaltered CGHAZs.
Strong decrease in the fracture toughness with increasing (Alvaro et al., 2014)
hydrogen pressure due to increase in diffusible hydrogen in HAZ
Hydrogen diffusivity values were found in the order of base (Han et al., 2012)
metal > CGHAZ > weld metal and also decreased with increase
of welding heat input.
HAZ had highest hydrogen concentration level, followed by the (Yan et al., 2014a,b)
welding zone and the base metal. Both preheating and
increasing heat input were found effective in reducing the
diffusion hydrogen content remaining in the weld zone.
Cold cracking susceptibility of steels containing higher alloy (Kim et al., 2012)
content had increased signicantly due to the higher hardness
of the CGHAZ. Higher hydrogen content when mixed shielding
(98% CO2 with 2% H2) is used.
At combination of high welding heat input (40.7kJ/in.) and high (Omweg et al., 2003)
preheating temperature, X70 steel weld found more resistant to
SSC than that of X80.
However, at combination of low heat input (15.1kJ/in.) and no
preheating, weld of X80 had shown more resistivity to SSC than
of X70.
Hydrogen concentration level was found in the order, Yan et al., 2014a,b)
HAZ > weld zone > base metal.
Susceptibility to SSC and HIC was found in the form of secondary (Forero et al., 2014)
longitudinal and internal transverse cracks.
generally used to avoid the distortion of joint produces a greater
stress. However, compressive residual stresses are normally
considered as benecial, but it may cause a decrease in the buckling
load of welded structures.
The size of the stressed area and the amount of distortion are
directly related to the heat input of welding. Researchers and
practitioners are continuously trying to optimize the heat of
welding or welding process parameters for residual stress-free
weld structure. Also, it is of prime importance to know the limit
of residual stresses in the welded structure welded with a specic
process, for a particular application. As residual stress in welding is
a complex phenomenon, it is not easy to determine or predict its
exact value and nature of distribution. Still, welding industry and
researchers are using experimental methods and modeling tech-
niques with some assumptions. Table 9 summarizes the
 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
Table 9
Summary of experimental investigations carried out for determining the welding residual stresses in welded structures of HSLA pipeline steels.
Material Strategy
X52 Measurement of residual stresses in repair welds using
sectioning and hole drilling methods
X56 Modelled the heat transfer phenomena during a multi
wire SAW using FEM 2D & 3D analysis
X65 Residual stress distribution by applying a magnetic
Barkhausen noise method with HAZ-based calibration
approach
X65 Effect of welding approach on residual stresses.
X65 Application of 2D and 3D FEM based Goldak model for
predicting
thermal cycle and residual stress distribution in SAW
X70 Initial temperature method through FEM for strength
analysis with accounting of residual welding stresses
X70 Semi-destructive hole drilling experimental technique
for analyzing the stresses in pipe. The distribution of
residual stresses is calculated through uniform method,
power series method and integral method.
X70 Interrelationship between residual stress and
microstructure in multi pass welds
X80 Value of residual stresses in different directions in a
friction stir weld
investigations carried out for this purpose with the strategy and
ndings of the investigation.
Factors responsible for residual stresses in welded structures
can be divided into three categories as structural factors, material
factors and welding process parameters (Akbari and Sattari-Far,
2009). Among the structural factors, type and geometry of wel-
ded joint, and structure thickness are important to be considered.
Material factors include the mechanical properties of base as well
as ller materials. In welding process and its parameters, type of
welding process employed and its heat input play an important role
to decide the amount of residual stress in welded structure. With
proper selection and control of these parameters, residual stresses
in weld joint can be minimized.
2.4. Weld repairing
A minor problem on the pipe surface can have huge cost and
safety implications. Sources of the problem may be external or
internal. External sources of the problem are mechanical damage,
environmental corrosion and cracking. On the other hand, Corro-
sion, erosion, or their combination caused by the conveyed uids
within piping systems are the sources of internal problems (Beavers
and Thompson, 2006). After identication of the defect or crack on
the pipeline surface either inside or outside, it is necessary to assess
its severity and magnitude. On basis of the information gathered
about the nature and extent of anomaly, decision to either repair or
replace can be taken. According to pipe repair guidelines (AEA
Technology Consulting, 2001), whenever possible, repair philos-
ophy should be: replace like-for-like; temporary repair until
replacement can be carried out; permanent repair only where
replacement is not practical. For the faulty pipes, replacement is a
better solution but not economic always. As an alternate, repair and
most probably repair through welding is easy and reliable, if done
with utmost care. According to Pe
rez et al., Purpose of a repair is to
restore or reinforce a specic property such as durability, structural
strength, functionality, or appearance (Pe
rez et al., 2014).
Repair welds are often made under more challenging conditions
than production welds. Factors that make weld repairing more
209
Findings Citation
Increased residual stress distribution found in full and (Zeinoddini et al., 2013)
partial repairs.
Residual stresses and strain induced from the forming (Wen et al., 2001)
processes have played an important role in prediction of
geometrical distortion.
Presence of compressive residual stresses in the coarse (Ju et al., 2003)
grained heat affected zone (CGHAZ).
As compared to simultaneous welding sequence, (Yan et al., 2014a,b)
sequential welding sequence induced less residual
stresses and distortions.
2D model signicantly reduced the time and cost of the (Nezamdost et al., 2016)
FE computation as compared to 3D model.
Proposed the method for assessing the service life of (Kurkin and Ponomareva, 2012)
welds.
The power series method gave smooth linear variation (Nasim et al., 2015)
along depth as compared to integral method. Residual
hoop stresses found tensile at the inner and outer side
of pipe. It was compressive at the vicinity of weld zone.
With low heat input, bainite and Widmanst atten ferrite (Alipooramirabad et al., 2016)
in the microstructure of weld metal and HAZ caused
high level of residual stresses
Highest level of residual stress was found in the (Sowards et al., 2015)
longitudinal direction of weld.
challenging to make are hand grinding, restraint provided by sur-
rounding weld metal and thermal severity. Hand grinding produces
excavation geometries while restraint cooling causes greater
amount of residual stress and thermal severity gives rapid cooling
to weld (DNV-GL). However, the material to be welded and the
welding process being used are the factors of highest concern. In
case of metallurgically sensitive materials, use of high heat input
may possibly result in degradation of HAZ as well as weld metal
(TWI, n.d.). Along with this, knowledge of leak history, past defects
found, and past repairs to the pipeline will give a greater condence
to the welder (Jaske et al., 2006).
Repairs of welds repeated in the same location is often carried
out but studies show that repeated thermal cycles could have an
adverse effect on the material properties. In 10% sulphuric acid
concentrated solution, corrosion susceptibility of the weld joint in
X52 steel pipe was found increasing with the increase in number of
repairs. It is caused by the higher level of residual stresses with
multi repair of weld (Ahmed et al., 2013). Similarly, increased grain
growth and reduction in impact toughness as well as hardness of
HAZ was observed with the increase of number of weld repairs for
X52 steel (Vega et al., 2008). Partial and full repair welds are made
using shielded metal arc welding as single as well as double pass
welds on X52 steel (Zeinoddini et al., 2013). Findings of this study
have revealed higher residual stress distribution in both, fully as
well as partially repaired welds as compared to as welded condi-
tion. Studies about weld repairing in pipes reported in literature are
very meagre. Many grades of HSLA steel as well as welding pro-
cesses in repairing a aw are not explored. In authors view, this
eld needs proper attention of the researchers for further
exploration.
As preventive measures during repair of welds, proper attention
should be given to the following terms-weldability of material,
build up of residual stresses and distortion problems (TWI, n.d.).
Also, the grinding procedure should avoid excessive heat input into
the pipe while removing defects. Operating pressure should be
reduced to a safe level during the repair process, if making repair
online. Specially, during the repair of pipe anomaly caused by in-
ternal corrosion, a line around the most severely corroded section
210 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
with adequate wall thickness for the weld to proceed safely should
be identied using some reliable techniques (Grifths, n.d.). A
regular monitoring of the repair weld is suggested to ensure its
continuous tness for the intended purpose (AEA Technology
Consulting, 2001).
2.5. Heat affected zone (HAZ)
Area of parent metal adjacent to the weldment which bears the
heat of welding associated with different peak temperature (TP) is
called HAZ. During welding, HAZ does not melt but undergoes
microstructural changes. With increasing distance from the fusion
line the TP decreases. This difference of thermal cycle experience in
HAZ gives inhomogeneity and diversity in microstructure
throughout the HAZ width. Hence, depending on the different
microstructures manifested during single pass welding, the HAZ of
a fusion weld in steel may be divided into four zones: coarse-grain
HAZ (CGHAZ), ne-grain HAZ (FGHAZ), inter-critical HAZ (ICHAZ)
and sub-critical region (SCHAZ). For steels, it is observed that in
CGHAZ, TP value reaches higher than 1300  C while for FGHAZ, TP
remains below 1300  C but higher than the upper critical temper-
ature (AC3). ICHAZ experiences the TP in the range between AC3
and lower critical temperature (AC1). In SCHAZ which is located
near to the unaffected base metal (Fig. 1), TP remains below the AC1
limit for steel. However, a multi-pass welding is often used in the
fabrication of thicker structures. Therefore, HAZ regions of rst pass
are reheated to different TP values during the second weld pass
thermal cycle. Severe effects due to TP of second weld pass are
found only in the closer regions of rst pass HAZ i.e. CGHAZ and
FGHAZ (Celin et al., 2016). Dividing the TP value into three ranges,
TP > AC3; AC3 < TP > AC1; and TP < AC1; correspondingly three
reheated regions named as super-critically reheated (SCR), inter-
critically reheated (ICR) and sub-critically reheated (SR) are
further investigated (Fig. 1).
The properties of HAZ play a signicant role in deciding the
performance of welding joint. Strength mismatch among weld
metal, HAZ and base metal creates strain concentration at the re-
gion of lowest strength (Pouranvari and Marashi, 2016). These re-
gions within HAZ having lowest strength are susceptible to brittle
fracture and are called local brittle zones (Milovi

c, 2016). Softening
phenomena has also been reported in the HAZ of Cr steels during
higher heat input welding processes (Raj et al., 2009), (Hernandez
et al., 2010). Softening of HAZ is associated with tempering of
martensite in the HAZ. The knowledge about whole area as well as
subareas of the HAZ is important to judge the suitability of a welded
structure for a particular application. Usually, CGHAZ and some-
times ICHAZ have the lowest toughness (Milovi
c, 2016). The lowest
CTOD and highest ductile to brittle transition temperature were
obseved in CGHAZ of girth welded joints of X 65 pipelines (Ju et al.,
Fig. 1. Sub-regions of HAZ for single pass as well as multi-pass welding (Celin et al.,
2016).
2012). In the welded joints of X 70, a signicant loss in the crack
initiation energy of HAZ specimens was observed. Presence of large
M-A constituent in HAZ microstructure has assisted the formation
of cleavage crack. Therefore, by improving the microstructure of the
HAZ, properties of a welded joint can be improved. Also, the size of
the HAZ is an indication of the extent of structural changes (Gunaraj
and Murugan, 2002). The width of the HAZ depends on the welding
procedure, the thermal conditions and the physical properties of
the parent metal. Large amount of welding heat produces a welding
joint with wider HAZ having low toughness. In the HAZ of welded
joints of X80, K70 and X90 steels, a reduction in prior austenite
grain size is observed when joints are prepared using a linear en-
ergy less than 57 kJ/cm. Lower amount of welding heat input has
also helped in stabilizing the coarse austenite-martensite areas
without forming embrittle grain boundary precipitates (Khlusova
and Orlov, 2013).
One of the most difcult parts of HAZ life prediction analysis is
to estimate the impact of changes occurring in the structure of the


material during the welding process (Sloderbach and Paja k, 2015).
In a real welded joint, the HAZ regions are narrow in relation to the
weld and also complications such as difculty in identication of
reheated subzones, notch formation in its small area, are also
associated with the interpretation of impact properties in it. These
complications make it difcult to nd the critical property area
where material or component is most likely to fail during its service
period (Adonyi, 2006). To exactly assess and elucidate the effect of
welding thermal cycles on the mechanical properties of HAZ,
simulation of the welding temperature cycle is an appropriate
approach. Hence, with the help of welding HAZ simulators, regions
of uniform microstructure suitable for investigations, can be easily
obtained (Celin et al., 2016). Table 10 summarizes the welding
simulation studies carried out for the detailed investigation of
mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics in
different subzones of HAZ for single as well as multi pass welding
operations.
3. Current development trends
Researchers and practitioner are continuously developing new
technologies and materials in the eld of pipe welding and pipeline
fabrication for the longevity of the pipeline welded structures.
Current development trends for the purpose of better microstruc-
ture leading to enhanced properties in welded joints, mainly, are
addition and optimization of alloying elements in the weld;
development of ller materials; new welding techniques and pro-
cedures. Researchers and industry persons are also striving for new
methods of weld testing and analysis where conventional testing
techniques are unable to assess and judge the applicability of
welded structure and they have put signicant efforts in this area.
3.1. Alloying
Owing to chemical composition which provides excellent
weldability and strength, HSLA steels are suitable in the application
of high pressure oil and gas carrying pipelines. However, excessive
alloying may diminish their weldability and disturb the vigilantly
planned microstructure of these steels. In order to further enhance
the applicability of HSLA pipeline steels, understanding about the
effect of alloying on the behaviour of welded joint has a signicant
role (Pouranvari and Marashi, 2016). Table 11 summarizes the
ndings of the studies carried out either on alloying of pipeline
material or weld metal.
 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217 211

Table 10
Summary of the HAZ simulation studies carried out for the HSLA pipeline steels.

Material Aim Findings Citation

X70 Effect of second TP on properties of CGHAZ
X70 Investigation of microstructure and mechanical
properties in ICR GHAZ during SAW
X80 CGHAZs were subjected to thermal cycles with
various heat inputs (0.8e5.0 kJ/mm)
X80 Inuence of TP on the properties of SCR, ICR and
SR regions of CGHAZ.
X80 Investigation of crack-initiation sites of
cleavage fracture in ICR CGHAZ
X100 HAZ properties at different cooling rates
X100 Non-isothermal prior austenite grain growth
behavior of CGHAZ
X120 Effect of heat input on toughness energy of HAZ
Accelerating cooling rate during in-service welding was reported to (Li et al., 2011a, 2011b)
have a positive affect on the microstructure and so the impact
toughness of CGHAZs
Poor fracture toughness and higher hardness values were observed in (Zhu et al., 2014)
ICR CGHAZ as compared to original CGHAZ attributed to the presence of
M-A constituent
CGHAZs had a bainite dominant microstructure with very low amount (Zhu et al., 2015a)
of M-A constituent. The prior austenite grain size has remarkably
increased to 85 mm at 5 kJ/mm heat input.
As compared to SCR CGHAZ, ICR CGHAZ had absorbed less impact (Moeinifar et al., 2011a,
energy with higher transition temperature and higher hardness. 2011b, 2010)
Twinned martensite i.e. MeA constituents was detected in all local (Mohseni et al., 2014)
brittle zones leading to cleavage fracture
With an increase in the cooling rate above 19  C/sec, there is an increase (Ringinen et al., 2014)
in metal hardness for a simulated HAZ. Maximum value of HAZ impact
strength is observed with a structure of predominantly lath bainite.
Addition of Nb has decreased the Ti-rich carbo-nitride thermo-stability (Gu et al., 2016)
and the full dissolution temperature. Austenite grain growth found to be
strongly related to carbo-nitride precipitates.
At 30  C, impact toughness for simulated CGHAZ were found (Yin et al., 2012)
comparable with CGHAZ of practical welded plate.

Table 11
Summary of the studies carried out either on alloying of pipeline material or weld metal.

Material Aim Strategy Findings Citations

X70 To study the variations in toughness of Investigation of impact properties in Increase in CVN impact energy and CTOD value (Zhu et al., 2015b)
simulated CGHAZ as a function of Ti/N CGHAZ for steels containing different Ti with increase in Ti/N ratio. TieNbeV
ratio. and N concentrations precipitates in the CGHAZ produced high
percentage of ne austenite grains.
X70, X80 Effect of Nb-content on microstrucurtre Welding with different heat inputs and Nb content up to 0.1% have no tendency for cold (Frantov et al., 2014)
and mechanical properties of welded HAZ simulation. cracking in the HAZ during welding, even with
joint. very low heat input
X80 Effect of higher amount of oxide Addition of Mg and O2 in parent Increasing number of oxides in the (Sung et al., 2011),
content in microstructure on material microstructure were found to promote the AF (Lee, 2014)
mechanical properties content by working as nucleation sites for AF.
With higher AF, higher toughness energy
obtained. AF content decreased with increase of
weld heat input.
X80 Effect of Ni and Mn on microstructure Alloying the covering of electrodes with Ni upto 2.4% has restricted the grain size of (Jaberi and Kokabi,
developments in weld metal during of different amounts of nickel (0.8, 2.4 and columnar structure for both percentages of Mn. 2012)
SMAW 3.2%) and manganese (0.7 and 1.6%). At a constant level of Ni, Mn has prompted the
formation of AF. High Mn and Ni concentrations
caused segregation in reheated zone of weld.
X80 Effects of chemical composition and Preparation of steel with different Steels with Mo addition, had presented better (Chen et al., 2014)
welding process parameters on compositions (MneCreNb; MneMo combination of strength and strength of HAZ.
microstructure and mechanical eNb; and MneCreMoeNb steels). Also, with increased cooling rate, the
properties of HAZ microstructure became ner and hence
increased the strength and toughness.
X90 Effects of chemical composition on Welding of steels having different For improving the toughness value of weld (Nagayama et al., 2012)
mechanical properties of HAZ composition using SAW and gas metal at low temperatures, further reduction of
shielded ux cored arc welding. boron in weld metal is needed.
HSLA pipeline Effect of zirconium addition on impact Zirconium was added during steel At high heat input, HAZ of zirconium added (Guo et al., 2008)
steel toughness of HAZ making process steel has shown improved impact toughness
due to the MnS precipitation on the pre-formed
ZrO2 as well as the formation of intragranular
ferrite on solidication.
X70, X80, Relationship between chemistry and Testing of welding consumables with Alloying addition has delayed the retransform (Ramirez, 2008)
X100 mechanical strength of the welds different chemistry for different process during reheating induced during multi-
welding processes. pass welding. Presence of martensite in
reheated zones of weld metal with carbon
equivalent of 0.47 or higher was found.

3.2. Development in welding processes and procedures
Development of new grades of HSLA steel brings a challenge for
welders to nd out the appropriate welding technique and pro-
cedure for its welding. In today's world, material and
manufacturing industries are working together which makes this
task somewhat easier. With an objective to achieve properties in
the weld and HAZ comparable to parent metal, welding is always an
area of high interest. Continuous efforts are being done by re-
searchers and welding practitioners to full this need of pipeline
industry.
Yin et al. have used Q235 and X65 steel tapered plugs to perform
friction taper plug welding on X65 pipeline steel in underwater wet
condition (Yin et al., 2015). With X65 plug adequate amount of heat
212 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
was produced which resulted into the defect free welds.
Conversely, Q235 plug has failed to produce sufcient heat energy
causing lack of bonding in the root of the welded joint. Also, X65
plug weld has produced upper bainite structure while Q235 weld
gave Widmanstatten structure in the weldment of X65 steel. A
combination of laser beam and gas metal arc welding was used to
prepare single side welding of X70 plates in one setup. Laser-GMA
hybrid welding with 16 kW disk laser and two gas metal arc
welding power sources has produced a weld, successfully (Seffer
et al., 2014). Kim et al. have developed an intelligent system of
pipeline welding to determine the optimal welding parameters for
each pass and welding position (Kim et al., 2003). This system
makes use of FEM, back-scattered neural network and CNN models.
Results of this system were validated with experimentation. Au-
thors have suggested that implementation of this intelligent system
will eliminate the dependency on expert operator and reduce the
time of operation. Suitability of gas tungsten arc welding process
for the welding of two dissimilar materials, UNS S32750 and X65,
was checked by investigating the microstructure and mechanical
properties in the welded joint (Sadeghian et al., 2014). In the HAZ of
X65 at low heat input of 0.506 kJ/mm, bainite and ferrite phases
were found in its microstructure which was the cause of its poor
impact energy; but with high heat input of 0.86 kJ/mm, pearlite and
ferrite phases were created which imparted the HAZ higher
strength than the base metal.
As, welding is a vast eld having numerous types of welding
techniques, therefore, for producing desired properties in the
welded joint, optimization and characterization of process pa-
rameters of different welding processes is the area of great interest
for industry welders as well as welding researchers (Julian A. Avila
et al., 2016a,b), (Husain et al., 2015), (Wang et al., 2016), (Sisi and
Mirsalehi, 2015), (Tribe and Nelson, 2015), (Azadi Moghaddam
et al., 2016). Felber has done a very appreciable work by gath-
ering the information about welding processes and consumables
used for various materials in numerous projects (Felber, 2009,
2008, 2007a, 2007b). This information can be referred as a guide-
line to select welding process and its consumables for a specic
grade in a particular application. Moreover, because of their
versatility, hybrid welding techniques seem well-suited and eco-
nomic processes for pipeline industry. To improve its applicability
and adaptability, sophistication associated with equipment and
welding procedure of hybrid welding processes should be
addressed, clearly.
3.3. Development of welding consumables
Introduction of new grades as well as rened materials with
higher strength demands well-suited ller materials for their
welding. Researchers and welding industry is accepting this chal-
lenge and working in this area with full enthusiasm. Sirin et al.
optimized the chemical compositions of weld electrodes to get the
enhanced properties in the welded joint of X65 steel (Sirin et al.,
2016). Four different chemical compositions of electrodes were
tested by welding X65 steel with two different compositions. The
toughness in weld metal has improved with increasing content of
Mn, B and Ti micro-alloy elements in the electrode. Similarly,
Midawi et al. compared the suitability of two welding consumables
for joining X80 pipeline steel by comparing the impact toughness,
tensile properties, hardness and microstructures in weld metals.
Welding operation was performed using gas metal arc welding
process with a constant heat input of 0.66 kJ/mm. The results
revealed that the weld produced with consumable having higher
amount of C, Ni and Ti has exhibited higher strength and hardness
due to its ner nal weld metal microstructure but lower toughness
at low temperature due to the presence of titanium inclusions
which may provide crack initiation sites (Midawi et al., 2015).
As the joining of two dissimilar grades has always remained a
challenge for the developers of welding ller materials, it is not
always easy to nd a compatible ller material for the welding of
dissimilar grades. With the purpose to nd a suitable ller metal for
the shielding metal arc welding of two dissimilar grades, UNS
31803 and X52, two different ller metals named, duplex E2209
and austenitic E309, are investigated by comparing microstructures
and mechanical properties of the dissimilar metal joints (Belkessa
et al., 2016). Weldment produced with E309 electrode has shown
higher values of tensile strength and toughness as compared to
weldment produced by E2209 electrode. Fracture mode in all
specimens is found as ductile except for HAZ of X52 steel where the
presence of narrow hard and brittle band has led a quasi-cleavage
fracture (Belkessa et al., 2016).
Authors have found that studies about the development of
welding ller materials are reported very scantily in literature. For
the promising grades of pipeline steel of current application such as
X65, X70 and X80, research is in initial phase while for higher
grades like X90, X100 and X120, there is a huge scope for future
work.
3.4. Advances in testing and assessment of welded joints
With the new developments of technology, complexity in con-
ditions of application is also increasing, such as application of
material under sea, under soil, in severe corrosive environment, etc.
For the assessment of applicability of welded structures under
these severe conditions, it becomes compulsory to either improve
existing methods/standards or develop new testing methods.
Driven by the compulsion and their interest, researchers are doing
a continuous effort to come up with the better solution to the new
problems. Results of these efforts have given some valuable out-
comes for the pipeline industry. Advances in testing and assess-
ment of welded joints may further be divided into following ve
categories-prediction and measurement of distribution of residual
stresses; detection and assessment of welding aws; assessment of
the applicability of a welded joint; microstructure transformation
behaviour of the material during welding; and assessment of ma-
terial's susceptibility for hydrogen embrittlement.
3.4.1. Prediction and measurement of residual stresses distribution
As prediction and measurement of distribution of residual
stresses is not an easy task because of the complexity of interfer-
ence between many factors associated with the welding of pipes. As
a solution, Ju et al. (2003). suggested a new approach called
magnetic Barkhausen noise method with HAZ-based calibration
for the study of residual stress distribution in a welded structure.
Application of this HAZ-based calibration method on X65 pipeline
weldment showed the presence of compressive residual stresses in
the CGHAZ while base-metal-based calibration method showed the
presence of tensile residual stresses in the CGHAZ. Results from the
mechanical saw-cutting method conrmed and veried the results
of the HAZ-based calibration method so proved the method more
reliable. Song et al. used a residual stress decomposition technique
and identied two key parameters in pipe welding that control
through-thickness residual stress distributions (Song et al., 2015a).
One is component radius to wall thickness ratio and the other is a
characteristic heat input. Findings of this study are driven by
examining a large number of parametric residual stress analysis
cases. Further, they have ssuggested a classical shell theory based
model as a consistent and effective means for describing through-
thickness residual stress distribution of both axial and hoop com-
ponents at any axial location beyond weld region (Song et al.,
2015b).
 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
Moreover, some renowned institutions like IIW are bringing
reliable and versatile approaches for the prediction of residual
stress and its distribution in welded structures from time to time.
Joint working group of IIW, developed a very novel method for
pressure vessels and pipelines which gives through-thickness re-
sidual stress proles within the weld region as well as at any
location away from the weld (Dong et al., 2016). Results of the
proposed method applied for single V joint with different pipe wall
thicknesses were found in agreement with the experimentally
determined values.
3.4.2. Detection and assessment of aws
As, a small untraced welding aw can lead to the fatal damage or
failure of the welded structure, therefore, developments in the
methods concerning the detection and assessment of welding aws
and their severity are also reported in literature. An online welding
defect detection system which rst acquire and then analyze the
welding arc sound signal, is presented (Yusof et al., 2016). Analysis
of air-borne acoustic signal acquired during gas metal arc welding
of X70 steel showed a signicant energy amplitude pattern at the
location of surface as well as sub-surface pores. Such systems may
be of more signicance, only if, a quantitative feedback signal can
be processed for online monitoring and control of the welding
process. Jang et al. have introduced a new non-destructive instru-
mented indentation technique to assess the in-eld tness-for-
service of pipeline crack and veried its applicability by evaluating
the tensile properties in girth welds and base metal of X65 line pipe
(Jang et al., 2005). A material-specic aw assessment diagram
(FAD) was also constructed for reducing possible difculties in aw
assessment. According to Jang et al., FAD is one of the most popular
ways to assess crack like aws in industrial welded structures
because it can predict not only brittle fracture but also plastic
collapse. Similarly, Lee et al. proposed a HAZ-focused FAD to assess
the mechanical properties, such as CTOD and tensile strength in
HAZ (Lee et al., 2004). They have tested the approach for a welded
X65 steel and found results more promising and accurate than FADs
constructed according to current codes. Moreover, for predicting
and assessing the fatigue crack growth of weld toe surface cracks
propagating in a circumferentially welded pipe, 3D FEM models
were developed for various surface crack geometries by making use
of the stress intensity factor and weld toe magnication factor (Hoh
et al., 2016). Pisarski reviewed a number of fracture mechanics-
based procedures for assessing the tolerability of aws in pipeline
girth welds (Pisarski, 2013). Author has also given some valuable
suggestions on how the results of inspection can be used to develop
assessment methods.
An earlier assessment of the welding defect or aw in the wel-
ded structure is of immense value because it helps in preventing a
fatal failure. As complete prevention to the occurrence of welding
defect is inevitable, therefore, continuous efforts are needed to
avoid the failure of pipes and pipelines by minimizing the welding
defects.
3.4.3. Assessment of the applicability of a welded joint
Assessment of the applicability of a welded joint for a particular
application is always carried out by checking its mechanical prop-
erties against their required values. Standard procedures for me-
chanical testing and interpretation of its results are specied and
amended from time to time by various bodies, such as API, Amer-
ican society for testing and materials, ISO. Beside this, independent
research is also carried out by many researchers, practitioners and
industries to nd more economic, reliable and advance methods for
the assessment of mechanical properties in a welded structure.
According to Hashemi, charpy impact energy inherently contains
both fracture and non-fracture related energy. So, for conventional
213
charpy based failure models, it is not possible to predict the accu-
rate minimum safe fracture energy for gas transportation pipelines
(Hashemi, 2008). Keeping this idea in view, Hashemi carried out
the full-scale burst experiments on impact test specimens, drawn
from parent metal, HAZ and seam weld of X70 steel and used en-
ergy partitioning analysis. Results of this study revealed that in
steels having high strength and high toughness energy, the amount
of non-fracture related energy counts almost 30% of total energy
which is signicant.
A small scale instrumented Charpy machine and miniaturized
V-notch specimens were used to obtain the ductile to brittle tran-
sition curves for different regions of a friction stir welded joint of
X80 steel (Avila et al., 2016a,b). Transition temperatures for HAZ
and base material were found below minus 100  C. For the stirred
and hard zones, it was around minus 60  C. Fractography analysis of
fractured surfaces validated the study ndings and showed a
ductile fracture mode at high impact energies while a combination
of ductile-brittle fracture at low impact energies. Gianetto et al.
investigated the variation in strength of weld metal with respect to
test specimen location. Specimens withdrawn from outer diameter
have shown lower strength as compared to the specimens drawn
from mid-section of the pipe in its through thickness (Gianetto
et al., 2007). A method based on the combination of work-
hardening exponent and yield strength was proposed to obtain
the whole constitutive behavior of a material (Kong et al., 2016).
This method estimates the uniform elongation beforehand where
yield strength is obtained via DIC data while the work-hardening
exponent is determined through the tted Ramberg-Osgood
model. The accuracy of the proposed method was justied by the
results of conventional load method by calculating the uniform
elongation for X90 welds.
3.4.4. Microstructure transformation behaviour of the material
during welding
Chemical composition of parent metal and welding consum-
ables along with heat of welding decides the microstructure in
weldment as well as HAZ which further governs the behaviour of
welded joint during its application. Beforehand information about
microstructure transformation behaviour of the material during
welding operation may be of vital signicance in indicating its
mechanical behaviour. Literature shows that implementation and
application of some intelligent computational techniques and
analysis methods may be a worthy step in this eld. To predict
bainite transformation in CGHAZ of X70 steel, a new model named
as continuous-cooling kinetics model was proposed (Liu and Di,
2015). Predicted bainite volume fraction and transformation ve-
locity were found consistent when compared with experimentally
measured values. Moreover, models applying neural network al-
gorithm were developed and used to predict the effects of chemical
composition and tensile test parameters on HAZ hardness
(Pouraliakbar et al., 2015); UTS (Khalaj et al., 2013); hardness and
toughness in base material (Faizabadi et al., 2014). The developed
models are suggested for alloy and thermo-mechanical schedule
design in pipe manufacturing.
3.4.5. Assessment of material's susceptibility for corrosion and
hydrogen embrittlement
New approaches and methods to assess the material's suscep-
tibility for hydrogen embrittlement are also explored and sug-
gested in literature. While quantifying the susceptibility of HSLA
steels welds for hydrogen-assisted cold cracking, Kurji et al. have
suggested the use of hardness to the elastic modulus ratio as more
appropriate indicator as compared to its hardness value alone
(Kurji et al., 2016). In another study, based on the experience of
workshop as well as eld practices, some effective measures are
214 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
suggested to eliminate the chances for hydrogen assisted cracking
(Al-Anezi et al., 2014). According to this approach, a control on the
quality of various measures should be taken during following
stages-manufacturing and testing of plates or coils; manufacturing
and testing of pipes; and selection and application of pipes.
4. Conclusion and future directions
To understand the issues and challenges associated with the
welding of high strength oil and gas pipeline steels, requirements of
chemical composition and mechanical properties for these mate-
rials are discussed in detail. It can be inferred that the micro-
structure and alloying of some latest grades of high strength
pipeline steels - X70, X80, X90, X100 and X120 allows increasing
the pipe size and capacity as compared to the earlier grades - X42,
X46, X52, X56, X60 and X65.
Pipe failure investigation studies are reviewed and causes of
their failure are summarized. It helps to identify the issues and
challenges which should be addressed beforehand, for the appli-
cation of a welded structure. Through this review article, an
attempt has been made to critically analyse and discuss the issues
and challenges associated with the weldability of high strength
pipeline materials. The critical issues and challenges in welding of
pipeline are corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement, residual stresses,
weld repairing and deteriorated heat affected zone which adversely
affect the performance of a welded structure.
During preparation of welding structures, welder should keep in
mind the severity of detrimental effects of all these issues on its
intended life span. For that purpose, basic understanding of each
issue and their role in weld degradation are presented. Also, the
severity of their effect on the performance of a welded structure is
critically discussed in relation to the welding parameters and ma-
terial microstructure. Different types of corrosion as well as
hydrogen embrittlement, along with their favorable conditions and
methods of prevention are described for better understanding of
their phenomena.
Current status of research for each issue shows that maximum
studies are reported for X65, X70 and X80. Investigations con-
cerning weld corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement of welded struc-
tures and residual stresses of welding are concentrated mostly for
X65, X70 and X80 pipeline steel grades. Weld repairing is reported
very scantily in literature. Existing literature concerning challenges
associated with weld repairing are reported only for some initial
grades. As this issue is of pertinent importance for pipeline in-
dustry, therefore requires due attention of researchers.
Residual stresses can escalate the failure or deterioration rate of
welded structure; it should be explored further for currently used
grades like X65, X70 and X80 as well as ultra high strength grades.
Status of research concerning welding HAZ is found in line with
current needs. It is explored for most of the grades in relation to
various welding processes. Still, further verication of the current
ndings of existing study will enrich the literature for practical
reference.
Current development trends are also discussed and summarized
with a view to envisage future directions. The development trends
in the eld of pipeline welding are divided into total ve categories
and for each category current research status is presented and
discussed. These categories and their further division is done as-
I. Alloying-addition and optimization of alloying elements in
the weld;
II. Development in welding processes and procedures-
III. Development of welding consumables-
IV. Advances in testing and assessment methods; further cate-
gorized as-
1. Prediction and measurement of residual stresses
distribution
2. Detection and assessment of welding aws
3. Assessment of the applicability of a welded joint
4. Microstructure transformation behaviour of the material
during welding
5. Assessment of material's susceptibility for corrosion and
hydrogen embrittlement
From the current status of research for each category of devel-
opment trends, following conclusions and future scopes are drawn-
1. Studies concerning optimization of alloying elements in the
weld for its optimized properties are lacking for X90, X100
and X120 grades. For this purpose, combined efforts of
metallurgists and manufactures are needed.
2. Assessment of welding techniques for the welding of two
dissimilar pipeline grades needs further exploration. In
literature, issues related to dissimilar grades welding are
addressed very scantily.
3. Inherent versatility of hybrid welding techniques needs to be
fully explored for welding of pipeline steels, but simulta-
neously addressing the sophistication issues associated with
equipment and welding procedure of hybrid welding
processes.
4. Development of new materials and welding processes give
birth to the development of welding consumables. Welding
consumables for welding of two dissimilar pipe steel grades
and for ultra high strength materials needs to be developed
and assessed upto to its full potential for the benet of the
industry. This will also help in the use of weld repairing
instead of component replacement.
5. Residual stress distribution in welding is a complex phe-
nomenon which varies from process to process due to the
welding heat and restraint conditions. Therefore, measure-
ment and prediction of the residual stress distribution in a
welded structure need to be further explored for each ma-
terial in relation to different welding processes.
6. As complete prevention to the occurrence of welding defect
is inevitable, therefore continuous efforts are needed to
avoid the failure of pipes and pipelines by minimizing the
welding defects. Suggested approaches for this purpose need
to be veried further for the advanced grades as well as
hybrid welding processes.
7. To assess the applicability of a welded joint for a particular
application, instead of destructive methods, developments of
some non-destructive but reliable techniques need the
attention of researchers.
8. Development in microstructure transformation behaviour of
advanced ultra high strength materials during their welding
with different processes and procedures is the area of po-
tential research yet to be explored.
9. Assessment of hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility is still
carried out using conventional techniques which are time
consuming. Development of some new modeling techniques
can help to have an idea about material susceptibility for
hydrogen embrittlement.
10. Current development in corrosion susceptibility assessing
methods for pipe welds demands more efforts of the
researchers.
Finally, after reviewing the current status of research for HSLA
pipeline steels, it is observed that maximum studies are reported
for currently used grades- X65, X70 and X80. Owing to the inherent
properties, the research focus needs to be shifted to study about
 S.K. Sharma, S. Maheshwari / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 38 (2017) 203e217
X90, X100 and X120. Before their eld applications, manufacturing
facilities at laboratory level should carry out an exhaustive work
regarding their response to the issues in their welding, such as
residual stress, HAZ and weld repairing, and also, the challenges to
be faced by their welded structures, such as corrosion, hydrogen
embrittlement.
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