Analysis of Cracks Resulting from Thermite Welding of Cathodic

Protection
Marjan Suban, Simon Božič, Andrej Zajec, Robert Cvelbar, Borut Bundara
Institute of Metal Constructions
Mencingerjeva 7, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
marjan.suban@imk.si, simon.bozic@imk.si, andrej.zajec@imk.si, rober.cvelbar@imk.si,
borut.bundara@imk.si

ABSTRACT

Various steel pipes that are exposed to corrosion, are protected with the cathodic
protection where thermite welding of a copper conductor on a steel pipe is used. During the
welding process and due to the nature of it, steel in the solid state comes in a contact with
liquid copper. Contact of steel with liquid metal in some cases cause phenomenon known as
the liquid-metal embrittlement or LME. Phenomenon was previously studied in cases such as
soldering, but for thermite welding no records were found in accessible literature. The
purpose of this paper is to draw attention to some irregularities and consequences arising from
it, which in this type of welding can occur. At the end of article some measures to reduce
these risks are given.

1 INTRODUCTION

To prevent corrosion of the material several methods by which the material may be
protected are used in practice. One of these methods is the cathodic protection, which is
commonly used to protect steel, water or fuel pipelines and storage tanks, steel pier piles,
water-based vessels including yachts and powerboats, offshore oil platforms and onshore oil
well casings.
There are two types of cathodic protection: passive protection with active (sacrificial)
anode and protection with an external source of direct electrical current. Cathodic protection
with active (sacrificial) anode is more simple and requires the use of an anode material (Mg or
Zn anode), which protects the cathode (in our case steel). One of the methods to connect
cathode with the anode is thermite welding of the connecting copper wires to the cathode.
In order to determine the potential impact of thermite welding of Cu wires on the steel,
we performed a series of tests of this type of welding. Test data collected during a study of
welding procedure on nuclear power plant construction projects (pipeline of SW system) are
presented and evaluated. These data lead to an important hypothesis that solely visual
inspection is not sufficient because it does not enable identification of some crucial
procedural deficiencies. Therefore, inspection has to be extended by implementation of some
other methods like macro- and microscopic examination of weld cross-section that enable
detection and identification of some material defects, which can lead to failure.

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2 THERMITE WELDING

Thermite welding, also known as exothermic welding, of Cu to steel is a welding

process for joining these two materials, that employs superheated copper to permanently join
the welding parts. The process takes advantage of an exothermic reaction of a copper thermite
composition to heat the copper, and requires no external source of heat or current. The
chemical reaction that produces the heat is a reaction between aluminium powder and a
mixture of copper oxides: copper (II) oxide and copper (I) oxide. Reaction is described with
the following chemical formula:

3CuO + 2Al → 3Cu + Al2O3 + Heat (1)

This chemical reaction reaches a temperature above 1400 °C. This type of welding is
especially useful for joining dissimilar metals e.g. Cu and steel for creating electric joints, like
in our case for cathodic protection and can be found on market under various commercial
names such as Cadweld or Techweld. Thermite welding process itself is shown in figure
bellow and includes the following steps:
• grinding, cleaning and drying the surface of base material and installation of Cu
wire (Fig. 1a);
• installation of the welding mould and filling it with the thermite mixture (Fig. 1b);
• ignition and combustion of the thermite mixture (welding) (Fig. 1c);
• removing the welding mould and sealants (Fig. 1d).

a) b) c) d)

Figure 1: Steps of thermite welding procedure

If the welding process is optimal then formed weld has good mechanical strength and
excellent corrosion resistance. It is also highly stable when subjected to repeated short-circuit
pulses, and does not suffer from increased electrical resistance over the lifetime of the
installation.
However, the cost of the process is relative high comparing to other welding processes,
requires supply of replaceable moulds, suffers from lack of repeatability, and can be impeded
by wet conditions or bad weather when performed outdoors. In our experimental work
presented in continuation we observed that quality of the weld is influenced by the surface
preparation and that microstructural changes and microcracks in steel appear. Because of the
good electrical conductivity and high stability in the case of short-circuit pulses, this type of
welds are one of the options for grounding conductors and bonding jumpers. It is the preferred
method of bonding, and indeed it is the only acceptable means of bonding copper to steel.

3 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

The welding setup shown in Fig. 1 was used for the laboratory tests. Copper conductor
NYY 1x16 mm was welded on 24 in, SCH 40 steel pipe made of ASTM A106 Gr. B
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(P255G1TH). Cadweld exothermic system was used for welding. Tests were performed with
new and multiple-times used moulds. Preheating temperature of steel pipe was set to: room
temperature (15 oC), 40 oC, 60 oC and 80 oC.
While some engineering specifications require just visual or perhaps even X-ray
examination of completed exothermic weld, we performed the following examinations in
addition:
• macroscopic examinations of the welds;
• microscopic investigation of joints (a review of material microstructure, the depth
of penetration of copper into steel, the occurrence of cracks);
• measurements of hardness at the respective sites of the weld cross-section.

4 RESULTS

4.1 Macroscopic examinations

In the macroscopic investigations the following characteristics of welded joints were

observed:
• shape of the weld;
• porosity of the weld;
• lack of joint with steel base;
• size of the heat affected zone (HAZ) in the base metal.
Uneven weld shape and porosity of the weld can be attributed due to the over-used
welding mould (Fig. 2a). Fig 2b shows the appearance of the weld with insufficient area of
completed joint between copper and steel base material which lead to weld breakdown. Cause
for that is in improper welding surface preparation. From the weld macro-section it is easy to
measure size of HAZ in steel base material as shown on Fig. 2a for bad weld and on Fig. 2c
for weld of good quality.

a) b) c)

Figure 2: Some examples of defects revealed by macroscopic examination

4.2 Microscopic examinations

In the microscopic examination the cross sections of all samples processed under
different conditions were examined with an optical microscope. Microscopic examination of
joints showed the following:
• The copper and steel formed intermediate layer, which contains the penetrated
copper. The thickness of this layer is from 10 to 20 µm.

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Figure 3: Measurements of thickness of Cu-Fe fusion zone (intermediate layer)

• In some places, just below the steel surface, martensite microstructure occurs due to
rapid cooling (see Fig. 3 and 4).
• Just below the surface of the base material an increased grain size can be found (see
Fig. 4b).
• In the martensite microstructure microcracks were observed. Their length was up to
0,12 mm. The microcracks were filled with copper. In the samples without
martensite microstructure microcracks were not detected. Figure 4 shows the cross-
section optical micrographs of joints with presence of microcracks filled with
copper.

a) b)

Figure 4: Microcracks in steel filled with copper

When examining the microstructure of the base material, we noticed that just below the
welds cracking occurs in which the liquid copper was penetrated [1, 2]. This phenomenon
(liquid-metal embrittlement - LME) occurs due to contact of liquid metal (Cu) with a solid
metal (steel), as copper and steel have different melting temperatures (difference is
approximately 450 °C). At certain location the formation of hard martensite microstructure
appears, which also represent the initials for the cracks. Steels are severely embrittled by
liquid copper, and extremely high rates of crack growth up to 100 mm/s can occur during
LME so that cracks are essentially instantaneous [3, 4]. In this case, fracture is facilitated by
adsorption-induced weakening of interatomic bonds at crack tips, with transport of liquid
metal (copper) to crack tips occurring rapidly by capillary flow. Diffusion of atoms along
grain boundaries ahead of cracks is not involved, although this can occur in some

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circumstances (specific couples of materials). Cases of LME are well documented in literature
for steel soldering using high-temperature copper alloys [5, 6, 7], but articles describing LME
in thermite welding can’t be found.
It must also be pointed out that the martensite microstructure, that is present in the
surface layer of steel, is subjected also to diffusion of hydrogen. Literature indicates that in
the case of cathodic protection there are cases where atomic hydrogen can be absorbed in the
martensite layer, causing so called hydrogen embrittlement [8].

4.3 Measurements of micro-hardness

Micro-hardness measurements just below the weld edge showed that the values in the
martensite can be as high as 367 HV (Fig. 5 left-side). Such result was obtained in the case of
over-used welding mould and at a temperature of steel pipe approximately 15 °C.
When we use the new welding mould and the base material is only slightly preheated
(dried) at a temperature of approximately 40 °C, the values of the hardness of martensite
immediately decrease to values from 210 to 250 HV. If the preheating temperature is
increased to 60 °C, the hardness value just below the weld edge is safely decreased (below
200 HV). Preheating temperatures at 80 °C did not lead to lower results in micro-hardness
measurements.

Temp. (preheat): 15 °C 40 °C 60 °C
Hardness: 367 HV 217 HV 187 HV

Figure 5: Measurements of micro-hardness at weld edge for various preheating

temperatures

Fig. 6 shows that by using of new mould and at minimum preheating, we can achieve
reduction in hardness just below the weld edge. Reduced local hardness is result of absence of
hard martensite microstructures. Also microcracking cannot be found in these cases.

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400
Old mould, temp.
15°C
350
New mould, prehea t.

Micro-hardness [HV]
temp. 40 °C
300
New mould, prehea t.
250 temp. 60 °C

200

150

100
Weld edge HAZ Base ma t.

Figure 6: Micro-hardness results in weld cross-section

5 REDUCTION OF MATERIAL STRENGTH DUE TO MICROCRACKS

Calculation of reduction of static strength of steel pipe due to the presence of filled
crack can be done using equations derived by Panasyuk et al. [9]. Relation between static
strength of material with empty crack pc and material with filled crack pfc for a size of crack
shown on Fig. 7 is:

 α
 η (2)

  αβ

where the coefficients α and β are calculated using Eq. (3) below.


α and β  (0 < α ≤ 1; 1 < β < ∞ ) (3)



Figure 7: Schematic representation of tension in cracked plate [9]

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 609.7

The coefficient η varies from 0 to 1. The case η = 0 corresponds to the strength of the
material with completely “healed” crack (filled with material of equal strength) and η = 1
corresponds to the case where the crack is not “healed”. In our case for size of crack presented
in Fig. 4b, where we use in calculations Young modulus for steel (E) and copper (Efc), the
coefficient η is 0,01. This means that just a little reduction of static strength can be expected.
In this research crack propagation due to fatigue was not investigated, but some
previous research articles can be found in literature. In article [10] mechanical properties and
in-crack distribution of filled crack were investigated. Results of this research showed in Fig.
8, assume that cracks in steel filled with other metal (Cu or Ni) lead to retardation of crack
propagation.

Figure 8: Crack length versus cycle behaviour of the specimens filled with nickel (EN5)
and copper (EC3) at 0,95 Kmax crack prop-opening load [10]

6 CONCLUSIONS

Because of presence of liquid-solid metal contact in welding area larger crystal grains,
martensite microstructure and consequently, the microcracks appear. Those microcracks
observed in our research work are filled with liquid copper.
Formation of hard and brittle martensite microstructure just below the surface can be
observed, because of rapid cooling rate of weld, which may be initials for the propagation of
cracks. To reduce this unfavourable microstructure, it is necessary to reduce the rate of
cooling, which can be achieved by preheating the steel. By preheating to temperature at least
40 °C, which is especially important at low surroundings temperatures, reduction of
martensite microstructure can be achieved, hardness at weld edge is lowered and initiation of
microcracks is suppressed. This preheating also reduce moisture, which may appear on the
surface of pipe and causes some other welding defects.
In conclusion, some literature review was made to check how this microcracks
influence the static and fatigue strength of material. Calculation made for static strength
showed that only minor reduction of strength can be expected. In the case of dynamic load,
the crack propagation of filled crack is slower that in the case of empty crack. However, filled
crack can also lead to material collapse. Some further experimental investigation in this field
still need to be done.

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Proceedings of the International Conference Nuclear Energy for New Europe, Portorož, Slovenia, Sept. 6-9, 2010