Stress Relief Cracking in Heat-Affected Zone (Report 1)

Heat-Affected Zone Cracking in Welded High Tensile Steels due to Stress Relief Heat Treatment

Abstract

Heat-affected zone cracking due to stress relief heat treatment has been investigated on a wide variety of ferritic steels by simple welding tests and a bend restraint SR cracking test.
The results indicate that intercrystalline cracking may occur during the heat treatment ; local stress raisers are necessary to initiate this cracking ; this cracking may not occur in deposited metal and parent metal inaffected ; and susceptibility to cracking depends markedly on chemical composition.
Suggested remedies for the cracking problems are : the use of (1) buttering technique prior to welding, (2) grinding off the excess weld metal to remove the notch of the weldment before stress relieving, and/or (3) preventive bead technique before stress relieving.