Weldability aspects of offshore steels

Frank Hanus and co-workers, Dillinger Hütte GTS

Quality Department - Welding Laboratory

1. Introduction
Dillinger Hütte offers a wide range of structural steels for offshore installations. Initially the normalised
steel with a nominal yield strength of 355 MPa was dominating, by the way it still is one of our important
offshore steels. Some higher strength applications were served with quenched and tempered Grd 450
with the draw back of a more limited plate width. From the late 80ies on we were able to offer
thermomechanically rolled plates. “Tiffany” was our first huge platform in TMCP. The next big step came
with “Caister Murdoch” when TMCP plates substituted the QT in Grd 450 EM(Z). A lot of experience
could be gained in TM rolling of heavy plates in Grd450-EMZ according to BS7191 and S420(NORSOK)
before in 2001 the Norwegian platform projects “Grane” and “Valhal” pushed the plate requirements over
the 500 MPa yield strength boarder line. Increasing maximum plate thickness or optimisations in the
chemical composition of individual grades were intermediate steps in the development and still are
ongoing.

More recently the exploitation of resources in harsher environments (North of Canada, Sakhalin,
Kashagan, Stokman) led to lower service temperatures down to –40°C and expected –60°C and ask for
steels that we call “Arctic” or “Super-Arctic”. Some of the weldability test results from such steels will be
presented by M. Kulboten in the colloquium. Other projects need even higher strength material in heavy
wall thickness. The very extreme being the quenched and tempered plates for gear racks of jack-up-rigs
a subject adressed by M. Pickhan and M. Bonn.

For all these materials the weldability was an essential aspect in the development of the steels. Finally it
is the welded structure that safely has to stand for decades. Sometimes we had to argue with our
colleagues who were rather focussed on parent material properties than on HAZ properties. Over the
years the welding laboratory has welded many hundreds of welds on offshore steels during the
development, weldability qualification and verification tests. A kind of summary of this experience will be
given in the paper, the presentation and the workshop.

2. Weldability
The term weldability characterises the suitability of a material to produce sound and reliable welded
joints. It comprises the tendency of the material to produce hard and brittle areas in the heat affected
zone (HAZ) of a fusion weld, it’s susceptibility to form defects like hydrogen induced cold cracks, lamellar
tearing, solidification cracks, stress relief cracks or others. Steels of poorer weldability may require either
restrictions in the welding process either special measures to avoid defects or inacceptable local material
properties.

For the fabricator the most significant advantage of the normalised offshore steels compared to
conventionel structural steels is their improved weldability. This results from a reduced the carbon
content from typically 0,18% to 0,12% and reduced trace and mcroalloying elements due to the
limitations in the material standard Table 1. A reduction of the impurity level of oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur
has also a beneficial effect on parent material and HAZ properties, especially on toughness. The

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application of TM rolling allows a further reduction of the carbon content to approximately 0.08% thanks
to the grain refinement achieved by the TM process.

Compared to normal structural steel plates (EN10025) the plates for offshore are more limited in the
carbon content and content of trace elements. Also the microalloys are more restricted. If prequalified
steels are ordered, only very limited deviations are allowed against the chemical composition of the
material that had been used for the qualification tests.

Table 1: Max. product chemical composition according EN 10 025:2004, EN10225 and *) some typical
composition plate deliveries by DH Plate thickness 50 mm
C Si Mn P S Nb V
S355NL EN10025 0,20 0,55 1,60 0,030 0,025 0,06 0,14
S355 G8+N/M 0,14 0,55 1,65 0,020 0,006 0,06 0,06
S355 G8+N *) 0,12 0,3 1,5 <0,015 <0,003 <0,04 <0,03
S355 G8+M *) 0,08 0,3 1,5 <0,015 <0,003 <0,03 <0,03

S460NL EN10025 0,22 0,65 1,80 0,030 0,025 0,06 0,22

S460ML EN10025 0,18 0,65 1,80 0,030 0,025 0,06 0,14
S460G2+M/Q 0,14 0,55 1,65 0,020 0,007 <0,04 0,08
S460 G2+M *) 0,08 0,3 1,6 <0,015 <0,04 <0,03 <0,04

typical carbon equivalents CE(IIW) CET Pcm

S355G8+M 0,35 0,25 0,18
S460G2+M 0,40 0,28 0,20
Dillimax500ML 0,44 0,28 0,21
CE = C + Mn/6 + (Cr + Mo + V)/5 + (Cu + Ni)/15
CET = C + (Cr + Mo)/10 + (Cr + Cu)/20 + Ni/40
Pcm = C + Si/30 + (Mn+Cu+Cr)/20 + Ni/60 + Mo/15 + V/10 + 5B

3 HAZ hardness
The hardness measurement in the HAZ gives evidence on very local material property and serves to
assess the transformation characteristics of a steel. For a systematic HAZ hardness determination
several weld beads were welded on the plate surfaces. By applying different weld heat inputs the cooling
rates were varied. The cooling conditions were measured with thermocouples in the weld metal. As it is
common practice in the “welding society”, the cooling conditions are characterised by the duration of
cooling from 800°C to 500°C, the cooling time t8/5. Cross sections were machined out of the bead on
plate welds. They were polished and etched and hardness indents positioned as close as possible to the
weld fusion line in the coarse grained HAZ. The HAZ hardness results are shown in figure 1 versus the
t8/5 cooling time. For the low heat input welding (FCAW in position welding or laser beam welding)
leading to very short cooling times and a microstructure mainly consisting in martensite, the hardness
difference is only due to the different carbon content, because carbon governs the martensite hardness.
In case of higher heat inputs the influence of the alloy content becomes more pronounced. This is very
apparent for the higher alloyed S460N and S690Q (chemical composition suitable for 80 mm plate
thickness).

Usual welding conditions result in t8/5 times between 8 s and 30 s. In multipass welds of the TM steels
the HAZ hardness can be kept below 248HV already in the as welded condition. Due to the different
chemical composition the S460G2+M steel is almost 100 HV less hard than the normalized steel in the
complete t8/5 range.

The delivery condition respectively the initial microstructure is not significant for the hardenability in the
coarse grained HAZ but only the chemical composition and the cooling rate. Steels containing Nb and V
result in higher HAZ hardness for long cooling times which is caused by precipitation hardening during
cooling. During a possible PWHT such reprecipitation becomes more complete and the associated
precipitation hardening counteracts HAZ softening by tempering the HAZ.

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 500
usual range of t8/5
S690Q

HAZ hardness (HV10)

S355G8+N
400
S500M S 460 N
S460(N)

300

200 S 460 M
S460G2+M

1 5 10 20
cooling time t8/5 s
Figure 1 : Bead on plate HAZ hardness for various steels as a function of weld cooling time
measured in the as welded condition

4. Cold cracking and the necessary preheat temperature for welding

It is an important point for the welding engineer whether preheating and a minimum interpass
temperature is necessary to avoid hydrogen assisted cold cracking in the weld. Pre- and postheating, the
precautions against this defects, are rather time consuming and cost effective and they are also difficult
to be carried out and controlled on the yard. A steel that can safely be welded without preheat, therefore
brings a strong advantage for the fabricator.

The risk of cold cracking of welded joints is not only depending on the chemical composition of the steel
but, this is the steelmaker’s contribution to the problem. For a given chemical composition the risk
increases with increasing hydrogen content of the weld metal. It is also increased with the level of
stresses in the weld region. Thereby, it is affected by the rigidity of the weld assembly, the plate
thickness and the welding conditions. Pre- and post heating may be necessary to avoid cold cracking, by
lowering the cooling speed and allowing a more complete effusion of the hydrogen out of the weld prior
to cooling to ambient temperature. Detailed explanations about the phenomenon are given by Bailey and
co-authors [1]. Formulae for the calculation of the required preheat as a function of the main parameters
are given in Stahl-Eisen-Werkstoffblatt 088 [2] and EN1011 [3].CET and Pcm are the carbon equivalents
that are commonly used to characterise the susceptibility of the steel for this defect. We see from the
formulae that the carbon plays the most detrimental role for this weld defect. The lower carbon content
makes the HAZ less hard and less brittle. Both effects reduce the risk for crack formation. According to
the CET formulae (see Table 2) each 0.01% C increases the required preheat by 7°C.

Table 2 : formulae for calculation of preheat temperature according to DIN EN 1011

Stahl Eisen Werkstoffblatt 088 and DIN EN 1011:

CET = C + (Mn + Mo)/10 + (Cr + Cu)/20 + Ni/40

Tv = 700 CET + 160 tanh (t/35) + 62 HD exp 0.35 + (53 CET - 32) Q + 330

t = plate thickness (mm)

HD = hydrogen (ml/100 g - ISO 3690)
Q = heat input ( kJ/cm)

+0,01% CET ~ 7°Chigher preheat

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If we compare the calculated preheat for a TM steel having 0,08% C and a normalized steel with 0,18%C
we conclude that the difference only caused by the different carbon contents raises preheat by 70°C. A
comparison of calculated preheat as a function of the plate thickness for combinations of heat input and
hydrogen levels is shown in figure 2. The curves represent recommendations according to the CET-
formulae. Figure 3 allows to compare the preheat recommendations with the results of CTS cold
cracking tests. Our tests encompassed normalised offshore steels S355 +N and TM rolled offshore
steels from S355 to S500, plate thickness from 25 to120 mm, hydrogen inputs from 2 to13 ml/100g
deposit weld metal and heat inputs from 0.7 to 2.0 kJ/mm. The graph shows the percentage of crack
length ratio on the polished surfaces prepared from the CTS specimens.

Recommended preheat EN1011

150
Heat input
heat input hydrogenhydrogen S460 (N)
GSMAW
GMAW 1.0
0.7kJ/mm
kJ/mm 2 ml/100g2 DM
ml/100g
125 SMAW
SMAW 2.2
2.0kJ/mm
kJ/mm 4 ml/100g DM
4 ml/100g S355J2G3 (N)
S460N
SAW
SAW 3.3
3.3kJ/mm
kJ/mm 7 ml/100g DM
7 ml/100g
100
S355G8+N Offshore
75 S500M
S420G2+M
S460M
50
S355G8+M
25

0 20 40 60 80 100
plate thickness
Figure 2 : calculated preheat temperatures as a function of plate thickness

100
90

CTS-specimen 80
70
cracking %

60
50
40
30

polished section from 20

the CTS test weld 10
0
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100
Tp - Tp(CET)

Results of CTS tests on S355G8+N (diamonds) and TM-steels (squares)

compared with calculated preheat according to the CET concept (EN 1011)
HAZ crack caused by
insufficient preheat
Figure 3 : CTS-tests

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The recommendations of EN1011 were conservative against the measurements using the CTS test. As
this test configuration produces only a moderate restraint, the welding engineer should consider the
actual restraint level before choosing the preheat for a welding job. For highly restraint situations the
predictions of the CET concept seem correct.

Practical experience has confirmed the essential benefits of the optimised chemical composition of the
TM plates. For the huge storm barrier “Maaslant Kering” close to Rotterdam S355 TM plates of 120 mm
thickness were welded without preheating. In the Norwegian offshore yards S420M and S460M plates in
thickness up to 50 mm are usually fluxcored arc welded without preheat provided that the surfaces are
clean and dry. The examples show that especially in heavy constructions the use of TM steel replacing
normalised steel allows an essential reduction of preheat temperatures and in many cases preheating
ain’t necessary at all.[4]. It is clear that the extension of welding without preheat is related to very low
hydrogen input, hence on the appropriate welding consumable, quality assurance and reliable welders.

4. Toughness of the HAZ

Thoughness in the HAZ was a main driving force in developping steels suitable for offshore applications.
A good cleanness of the steel has a beneficial effect on the HAZ toughness. Good cleanness means low
contents of sulphur, the absence of large inclusions and a low level of trace elements. The effect of
sulphur and carbon on the HAZ impact energy is focussed in figure 4. The corresponding 355 Y.S.
steels had been welded with a heat input of 3.5 kJ/mm. Impact testing at the fusion line revealed that the
old S355N steel with the high sulphur content hardly reached the 27 J. The S355N having a reasonably
low sulphur content matched 50 J at –20°C and an upper shelf energy of 100J. The normalized offhore
steel reaches satisfactory impact results at –40°C. Low sulfur and reduced carbon content led to this
improvement. The modern TM-steel with a still lower carbon however reached 200J at –40°C.

Impact energy (J)

350
S355M (Nb) 0,08% C, 0,001% S
300 S355N Offshore0,12% C, 0.001% S
S355N standard0,20% C, 0,003% S
S355N old 0,20% C, 0,028% S
250

200

150

100

50

0
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
temperature [°C]

Figure 4 : Impact toughness in the HAZ of 3,5 kJ/mm SMAW on 20 mm thick plates of 355
MPa yield strength [5]

For plate deliveries for NAM offhore platforms weldability tests were specified. They had to carried out on
each heat of steel on the highest plate thickness which kept my welders busy when in a periode of 5
years more than 300 butt welds were produced and tested. The required 36 J average 26 J single value
were safely obtained and only very few retests were needed. A statistical evaluation (see figure 5) was
prepared after a while, in order to convince NAM to stop requiring the tests. However NAM maintained

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the requirement with the argument: Since the plates being weldability tested they did not experience any
problems during fabrication.

Impact energy (J)

impact energy

Figure 5 : Impact toughness at the fusion line of 3,0 kJ/mm SAW.

S355G7+N, 33-63 mm thick plates, V-preparation. Weldability tests for NAM
projects.

5. HAZ metallurgy

In a systematic way the influence of carbon and other alloys on HAZ toughness can be investigated by
means of weld thermal simulation. The principle of weld thermal simulation is shown in figure 6. The mid
of the specimen is exposed to a time temperature corresponding to the particular area of interest within
the HAZ. The intrinsic properties of such a microstructure can then be determined on the simulated
specimens and the steel composition can be optimized e.g. to avoid local brittle areas. In impact testing
the notch only samples the aimed microstructure. The results of the simulation test can be far worse than
impact testing on real welds because in the simulated specimens there is no energy contribution by
adjacent tougher HAZ areas.

T
1350°C

t
thermal cycle
coarse grained HAZ macro etch of HAZ of simulated
microstructure impact specimen

Figure 6 : Thermal cycle for the simulation of coarse grained HAZ microstructure

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Figure 7 shows the impact transition temperature of steels of different carbon content. The impact
transition temperature was determined on specimens having undergone a weld thermal cycle
corresponding to the coarse grained HAZ producing martensite or lower bainite. The results show that
reducing the carbon content is an effective way to improve the HAZ toughness.

Figure 7 : 27J impact transition temperature on specimens with coarse grained HAZ
microstructure after Gleeble simulation [6]

In the coarse grained HAZ the existence of upper bainite with retained austenite islands (left picture of
figure 9) has to be avoided because they can trigger cleavage fracture in impact testing and CTOD
testing. The brittle fracture initiation at a retained austenite constituent on the fracture surface is marked
with the arrow (right picture of figure 9). The part of coarse grained HAZ heated by a subsequent
welding pass to temperatures of partial austenitisation is an other area suspect for low toughness
because of carbon enrichment and high carbon martensite developing on the former austenite grain
boundaries (middle picture of figure 9).

Coarse grained HAZ Intercritically reheated coarsed

upper bainite with retained grained HAZ
austenite t 8/5 ~ 35 s
second peak temperature 775°C

Etched in white: high carbon austenite Etched in black high carbon cleavage initiation at a retained
martensite austenite island
Figure 9 :

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6. Toughness in welded joints of 500 MPa yield strength steel

For the steel qualification for offshore platforms the steel has to show sufficient HAZ toughness on
different butt welds in the range from very low heat input of 0.8 kJ/mm to high heat inputs up to 5.0
kJ/mm, sometimes also intermediate heat inputs have to be tested. The welds were impact tested at
–40°C at positions shown in figure 10.

Figure 10 : Notch positions for impact testing for the weldability qualification (EN10225)
testing of bevelled side is optional

As can be seen in figure 11 and figure 12 excellent HAZ toughness values were measured. Further
results for HAZ impact testing are given in figure 13. These were determined in the course of welding
procedure testing for a heavy penstock pipe where also a S500 TM steel is used.

Thanks to their low carbon and microalloy content the welds of our TM plates result in good impact
toughness and allow even for S500M a wide range of welding heat inputs without deterioration of the
toughness. Under many conditions welded constructions built from TM plates do not need to be PWHT
because the as welded condition is already sufficiently tough and HAZ hardness moderate.

Impact energy at –40°C

300

250

200

150

100

as welded PWHT
50
straight side
bevelled side
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
heat input [kJ/mm]
Figure 11 : Impact results at –40°C of welded joints of a S500M offshore steel in 30mm and
70 mm wall thickness

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 CTOD at -10°C
mm

0.25

crack positions
weld metal
fusion line
SC-IC-HAZ
0.1
0 1 2 3 4 5
weld heat input kJ/mm

Figure 12 : CTOD results on 70 mm thick S500M welded joints, full size BxB SENB
specimens, a/W~0.5, through thickness notch, as welded condition, data
reference [7]

impact energy

300 - HAZ-GTAW man.

HAZ-GTAW

HAZ-SAW
200 -

HAZ-SMAW
100 -
HAZ-FCAW

-150 -100 -50 0 50

test temperature

Figure 13 : Impact results welded joints of Dillimax 500ML welded with different processes
[8] – approval tests for a hydropower penstock

7 Post weld heat treatment

A post weld heat treatment (typically 550-580°C) for 2 hours can, however, be performed if this should
be stipulated by the code or design requirements. Such a heat treatment hardly alters the parent material
properties nor the impact properties of the heat affected zone of our structural TM plates.

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Steels with higher Vanadium content may suffer a decrease in HAZ toughness during the PWHT [9]. This
embrittlement was observed and systematically investigated in the 80ies when S460N became
commercial. The effect could mainly be attributed to the precipitation of vanadium carbides. Increasing
vanadium shifted the HAZ impact transition temperature in a linear relation (figure 14). Our TM plates for
offshore applications do not need vanadium to achieve the required tensile properties. Accordingly the
detrimental effect observed on the normalized 460 steels is not a problem with our TM steel. It should,
however, be noted that EN 10225 allows up to 0,08% V for the S420 and S460 grades. For a steel with
the vanadium content close to the upper limit of the standard, a negative effect of PWHT on the HAZ
toughness must be expected.

increase of 27J impact

transition temperature

Figure 14 : Embrittlement in the HAZ of normalized steels during PWHT (560°C 5h) caused
by Vanadium [10]

8 Aspects of welding S690 QT steel

The high strength QT steels with a yield strength of 690 MPa and higher are much more difficult to weld
compared to the beforementioned offshore steels. More precautions are needed due to their much
higher carbon and alloy content. Also the weld metal properties are difficult to match with the parent
metal properties. In order to produce sufficiently high strength properties in the weld, the heat input must
be restricted to approximately 2 kJ/mm. Thereby, the deposition rates and the welding economy are
reduced and together with the precautions, the welding time may increase in spite of the reduced weld
volume needed for lower wall thickness.

To achieve satisfactory weld metal properties the welding parameters must be limited with increasing
yield strength. Acceptable properties for an S690 steel are normally obtained with cooling times between
6 s and 20 s. Within this cooling range the coarse grained HAZ a 80 mm thick S690Q steel transforms
mainly into martensite with a corresponding hardness above 400 HV (refer to fig.1)

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Table 2 : Typical carbon equivalents characterising the hardenability (CE) and the HAZ cold cracking
susceptibility (CET. Pcm) for some structural steels

CE CET Pcm
S355J2G3 80mm 0.44 0.33 0.25
S500M 50mm 0.42 0.26 0.18
S690QL 20mm 0.44 0.29 0.24
S690QL 80mm 0.70 0.39 0.32

Fig. 15.1 : Hydrogen induced cracks in the Fig. 15.2 : Positions of the cracks in the
weld metal of a submerged arc weld of a weld metal, polished surface etched in 3%
S690Q steel nital

One example for hydrogen induced cracking of an S690Q weld is shown in figure 15.1. On the
polished surface cracks, as well transverse as parallel to the welding direction are present. On the photo
the cracks appear bright. After etching it became evident (figure 15.2) that the defects are located in the
weld metal in the center of individual welding passes or transverse in the weld metal. The cracks were
arrested in the HAZ at the fusion line. How can this behaviour be explained? The welding consumables
that produce tensile properties overmatching the ones of S690Q need a relatively high alloying content.
A combination of 1-2.5 % nickel, 0.5-1.5% of chromium and about 0.5% molybdenum is typical here.
Due to this chemical composition and its as cast microstructure weld metals for steels of 690 MPa yield
strength are often more susceptible to hydrogen induced cold cracking than the HAZ of the high strength
steels. In order to avoid cracking, preheat and interpass temperature must then be adapted to the weld
metal. A steel with reduced carbon equivalent would not allow to drop these precautions in welding.
Consequently, high strength parent material with reduced carbon equivalents, as achieved by TM–
rolling, need essentially the same precautions as the higher alloyed QT steel.

9. Summary and conclusion

Figure 13 compares applicable working ranges for different structural steels.

The different plate thicknesses are chosen to produce the same load bearing capacity.
The lower limit of the temperature is set for the avoidance of cold cracking, the upper limit for the heat
input and interpass temperature are introduced by gaining sufficient tensile and toughness properties.

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 Temperature [°C]
250
max. interpass temp.

200 S355G8+N 70 mm
S690Q 30 mm higher heat input
S355J2G3
150 70 mm

100
min. preheat and S355M - 70 mm
interpass temp. S420M - 60 mm
S500M - 50 mm
50
1 2 3 4 5
Heat input [kJ/mm]
Figure 16 :

The Offshore steels permit a wider working range than the traditional structural steels
The application of low carbon TM steels still widens the range The excellent weldability as a result of the
optimised chemical composition, is a main feature of the thermomechanical rolled plates. Economical
advantages for the fabricator can be the omission of preheating, the application of higher weld deposition
rates and omission of stress relief or tempering post weld heat treatment. This led to a steadily
increasing success of TM plates in the past 2 decades.

High strength QT steels belong to another league of materials that need special care in welding as can
be estimated from the limited working window drawn in the diagram.

Bibliographic reference

1 Baley N. et al.: „Welding steels without hydrogen cracking“, (1973) Abington publishing, ISBN 1855730146
2 STAHL-EISEN-Werkstoffblatt (SEW) 088, Beiblatt 1 'Kaltrißsicherheit beim Schweißen; Ermittlung angemessener
Mindestvorwärmtemperaturen' , (1993) Verlag Stahleisen, Düsseldorf
3 EN 1011-2:2001 „Recommendations for welding of metallic materials“
4 Berghout, C.F., und H. Crucq: 'Kaltrißsicheres Schweißen an einer Brücke ohne Vorwärmung', DVS-Berichte Bd. 131,
S. 154/58. Deutscher Verlag für Schweißtechnik DVS-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1990.
5 Dillinger Hütte SVZ Berichte Schweißuntersuchungen zu BS7777, 02/2006, 03/2006
6 K. Richter, F. Hanus, P. Wolf: "Structural steels of 690 MPa yield strength - a state of art", Proc. of 2nd
Symposum on High strength steels 2002 , 23.-24 April 2002 Stikklestad Norway
7 Coiffier,J.C., Th. Fröhlich et al.: "Measurement of CTOD properties in welds of 500MPa yield strength steel recently
developed for offshore application", USINOR-CRDM Dunkerque, Document no 0002015 (June 2000)
8 EDF: „Etude de la soudabilitée des aciers S690QL et S500ML ...“, Journées Membres Inst. de Soudure, Villepinte,18.
Sept. 2007
9 Brenner U., G. Gnirß: ' Schweißtechnische Verarbeitung von Feinkornbaustählen im Druckbehälterbau', Technische
Überwachung, Bd.27 (1986), Nr.3, S 131ff.
10 De Boer, H. und U. Schriever: Experience gained in the manufacture of Vanadium-alloyed HSLA-steels, Thyssen
Techn. Berichte Heft 2.S.135ff/(1989)

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