Defects - hydrogen cracks in steels - identification

Preheating to avoid
hydrogen cracking
Hydrogen cracking may also be called cold cracking or delayed cracking. The
principal distinguishing feature of this type of crack is that it occurs in ferritic
steels, most often immediately on welding or a short time after welding.
In this issue, the characteristic features and principal causes of hydrogen cracks
are described.
Identification
Visual appearance Hydrogen cracks can usually be distinguished due to the
following characteristics:
In C-Mn steels, the crack will normally originate in the Heat Affected Zone
(HAZ), but may extend into the weld metal (Fig 1 below).
Cracks can also occur in the weld bead, normally transverse to the welding
direction at an angle of 45 to the weld surface. They follow a jagged path, but
may be non-branching.
In low alloy steels, the cracks can be transverse to the weld, perpendicular to the
weld surface, but are non-branching, and essentially planar.

Fig. 1 Hydrogen cracks originating in the
HAZ and weld metal. (Note that the type of
cracks shown would not be expected to
form in the same weldment.)
On breaking open the weld (prior to any heat treatment), the surface of the
cracks will normally not be oxidized, even if they are surface breaking, indicating
they were formed when the weld was at or near ambient temperature. A slight
blue tinge may be seen from the effects of preheating or welding heat.
Metallography
Cracks which originate in the HAZ are usually associated with the coarse grain
region, (Fig 2). The cracks can be intergranular, Tran granular or a mixture.
Intergranular cracks are more likely to occur in the harder HAZ structures formed
in low alloy and high carbon steels. Tran granular cracking is more often found in
C-Mn steel structures.
In fillet welds, cracks in the HAZ are usually associated with the weld root and
parallel to the weld. In butt welds, the HAZ cracks are normally oriented parallel
to the weld bead.
Fig. 2 Crack along the coarse
grain structure in the HAZ




Causes
There are three factors which combine to cause cracking:
Hydrogen generated by the welding process
A hard brittle structure which is susceptible to cracking
Tensile stresses acting on the welded joint
Cracking usually occurs at temperatures at or near normal ambient. It is caused
by the diffusion of hydrogen to the highly stressed, hardened part of the
weldment.
In C-Mn steels, because there is a greater risk of forming a brittle microstructure
in the HAZ, most of the hydrogen cracks are to be found in the parent metal. With
the correct choice of electrodes, the weld metal will have a lower carbon content
than the parent metal and, hence, a lower carbon equivalent (CE). However,
transverse weld metal cracks can occur, especially when welding thick section
components; the risk of cracking is increased if the weld metal carbon content
exceeds that of the parent steel.
In low alloy steels, as the weld metal structure is more susceptible than the HAZ,
cracking may be found in the weld bead.
The main factors which influence the risk of cracking are:
Weld metal hydrogen.
Parent material composition.
Parent material thickness.
Stresses acting on the weld during welding or imposed (shortly) after
welding.
Heat input.
Weld metal hydrogen content
The principal source of hydrogen is moisture contained in the flux, i.e. the coating
of MMA electrodes, the flux in cored wires and the flux used in submerged arc
welding. The amount of hydrogen generated is influenced by the electrode type.
Basic electrodes normally generate less hydrogen than rutile and cellulosic
electrodes.
It is important to note that there can be other significant sources of hydrogen, e.g.
from the material, where processing or service history has left the steel with a
significant level of hydrogen or moisture from the atmosphere. Hydrogen may
also be derived from the surface of the material or the consumable.
Sources of hydrogen will include:
Oil, grease and dirt.
Rust.
Paint and coatings.
Cleaning fluids.
Parent metal composition
This will have a major influence on hardenability and, with high cooling rates, the
risk of forming a hard brittle structure in the HAZ. The hardenability of a material
is usually expressed in terms of its carbon content or, when other elements are
taken into account, its carbon equivalent (CE) value.




The higher the CE value, the greater the risk of hydrogen cracking. Generally,
steels with a CE value of <0.4 are not susceptible to HAZ hydrogen cracking, as
long as low hydrogen welding consumables or processes are used.
Parent material thickness
Material thickness will influence the cooling rate and therefore the hardness level,
the microstructure produced in the HAZ and the level of hydrogen retained in the
weld.
The 'combined thickness' of the joint, i.e. the sum of the thicknesses of material
meeting at the joint line, will determine, together with the joint geometry, the
cooling rate of the HAZ and its hardness. Consequently, as shown in Fig. 3, a
fillet weld is likely to have a greater risk than a butt weld in the same material
thickness.

Fig.3 Combined thickness
measurements for butt and fillet joints
Stresses acting on the weld
Cracks are more likely to initiate at regions of stress concentration, particularly at
the toe and root of the weld.
The stresses generated across the welded joint as it contracts will be greatly
influenced by external restraint, material thickness, and joint geometry and fit-up.
Poor fit-up (excessive root gap) in fillet welds markedly increases the risk of
cracking. The degree of restraint acting on a joint will generally increase as
welding progresses, due to the increase in stiffness of the fabrication.
Heat input
The heat input to the material from the welding process, together with the
material thickness and preheat temperature, will determine the thermal cycle and
the resulting microstructure and hardness of both the HAZ and the weld metal.
Increasing the heat input will reduce the hardness level, and therefore reduce the
risk of HAZ cracking. However, as the diffusion distance for the escape of
hydrogen from a weld bead increases with increasing heat input, the risk of weld
metal cracking is increased.
Heat input per unit length is calculated by multiplying the arc energy by a thermal
efficiency factor, according to the following formula:






V = arc voltage (V)
A = welding current (A)
S = welding speed (mm/min)
k = thermal efficiency factor
In calculating heat input, the thermal efficiency must be taken into consideration.
The thermal efficiency factors given in EN 1011-1: 1998 for the principal arc
welding processes are:
Submerged arc
(single wire)
1.0
MMA 0.8
MIG/MAG and flux cored wire 0.8
TIG and plasma 0.6
In MMA welding, heat input is normally controlled by means of the run-out length
from each electrode, which is proportional to the heat input. As the run-out length
is the length of weld deposited from one electrode, it will depend upon the
welding technique, e.g. weave width /dwell.
Mechanisms
The mechanism starts with lone hydrogen atoms diffusing through the metal. At
high temperatures, the elevated solubility of hydrogen allows hydrogen to diffuse
into the metal (or the hydrogen can diffuse in at a low temperature, assisted by a
concentration gradient). When these hydrogen atoms re-combine in minuscule
voids of the metal matrix to form hydrogen molecules, they create pressure from
inside the cavity they are in. This pressure can increase to levels where the metal
has reduced ductility and tensile strength up to the point where it cracks open
(hydrogen induced cracking, or HIC). High-strength and low-alloy steels, nickel
and titanium alloys are most susceptible. Austempered iron is also susceptible.
Steel with an ultimate tensile strength of less than 1000 MPa or hardness of less
than 30 HRC are not generally considered susceptible to hydrogen
Embrittlement. Jewett Reports the results of tensile tests carried out on several
structural metals under high-pressure molecular hydrogen environment. These
tests have shown that austenitic stainless steels, aluminum (including alloys),
copper (including alloys, e.g. beryllium copper) are not susceptible to hydrogen
Embrittlement along with few other metals. For example of a severe
Embrittlement measured by Jewett, the elongation at failure of 17-4PH
precipitation hardened stainless steel was measured to drop from 17% to only
1.7% when smooth specimens were exposed to high-pressure hydrogen.
Hydrogen Embrittlement can occur during various manufacturing operations or
operational use - anywhere that the metal comes into contact with atomic or
molecular hydrogen. Processes that can lead to this include cathodic protection,
phosphating, pickling, and electroplating. A special case is arc welding, in which
the hydrogen is released from moisture (for example in the coating of the welding
electrodes; to minimize this, special low-hydrogen electrodes are used for
welding high-strength steels). Other mechanisms of introduction of hydrogen into
metal are galvanic corrosion, chemical reactions of metal with acids, or with other
chemicals (notably hydrogen sulfide in sulfide stress cracking, or SSC, a process
of importance for the oil and gas industries).
Counteractions
If the metal has not yet started to crack, the condition can be reversed by
removing the hydrogen source and causing the hydrogen within the metal to
diffuse out, possibly at elevated temperatures. Susceptible alloys, after chemical
or electrochemical treatments where hydrogen is produced, are often subjected
to heat treatment to remove absorbed hydrogen. There is a 4-hour time limit for
baking out entrapped hydrogen after acid treating the parts. This is the time
between the end of acid exposure and the beginning of the heating cycle in the
baking furnace. This per SAE AMS 2759/9 Section 3.3.3.1 which calls out the
correct procedure for eliminating entrapped hydrogen.
In the case of welding, often pre- and post-heating the metal is applied to allow
the hydrogen to diffuse out before it can cause any damage. This is specifically
done with high-strength steels and low alloy steel such as the
chrome/molybdenum/vanadium alloys. Due to the time needed to re-combine
hydrogen atoms into the harmful hydrogen molecules, hydrogen cracking due to
welding can occur over 24 hours after the welding operation is completed.
Products such as ferrosilicates can be used to treat surfaces normally subject to
hydrogen Embrittlement in order to prevent it from taking place.
Related phenomena
If steel is exposed to hydrogen at high temperatures, hydrogen will diffuse into
the alloy and combine with carbon to form tiny pockets of methane at internal
surfaces like grain boundaries and voids. This methane does not diffuse out of
the metal, and collects in the voids at high pressure and initiates cracks in the
steel. This process is known as hydrogen attack and leads to decarburization of
the steel and loss of strength.
Decarburization is also a selective leaching type of corrosion when carbon is
preferentially removed from the surface of the alloy. One of the mechanisms is
high temperature hydrogen attack, when hydrogen reacts with carbon and
carbides, resulting in loss of strength and ductility and formation of internal
fissures.
Copper alloys which contain oxygen can be embrittled if exposed to hot
hydrogen. The hydrogen diffuses through the copper and reacts with inclusions
of Cu
2
O, forming H
2
O (water) which then forms pressurized bubbles at the grain
boundaries. This process can cause the grains to literally be forced away from
each other, and is known as steam Embrittlement (because steam is produced,
and not because exposure to steam causes the problem).

Researched by Robert Mitchell 02 August 2010