What is Post Weld Heat Treatment - When, Why and How to Do It

Have you heard of post weld heat treatment (PWHT)? Of course you have. If you are
involved in welding you have definitely heard this term. But what is PHWT? When is PWHT
required? What temperature should PWHT is done at? Heat treating of materials can be a
very complicated subject, but when it comes to heat treatment after welding it boils down to
a simple concept: PWHT is done in order to maintain or improve material strength and
mechanical properties and to relieve residual stresses. In steel fabrication, the most common
PWHT procedures applied are post heating and stress relieving.
When we weld, we introduce enough heat to melt the base material. This elevated
temperature causes microstructural changes to the base material which can change very
important material properties such as tensile strength, hardness, ductility and toughness. The
degree to which these properties are affected depends on the chemical composition of the
base material and the cooling rate after welding. PWHT treatment requirements are typically
dictated by codes and standards and by any special requirements due to the service conditions
of the welded structure.

For steel fabrication the use PWHT is driven by the need to resist brittle fracture via post
heating and to reduce residual stresses via stress relieving.

Post heating is primarily done to avoid hydrogen induced cracking (HIC), also known as
cold cracking and hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC). In order for HIC to occur three things
must be present:
1. A susceptible base material microstructure (usually due to high levels of carbon)
2. Threshold level of hydrogen
3. Elevated stress levels (internal or external)
For more detail on this topic you can read Factors Influencing Hydrogen Induced Cracking.
If you eliminate one of the three things above, hydrogen induced cracking will not take
place. Post heating allows hydrogen to diffuse out of the weld and heat affected zone (HAZ),
thus reducing diffusible hydrogen below the threshold level. For more information on
preventing HIC read Preventing Hydrogen Induced Cracking.
The weld should not be allowed to cool to room temperature before post heating. HIC will
occur once the material temperature drops below 200F. Before this happens the part must
be heated to a specific temperature and held for a specific amount of time which depends on
the material type and thickness. This allows hydrogen to diffuse out of the weld and prevent
cold cracking upon reaching room temperature.

Codes and standards will specify temperatures and holding times. In general, you must heat
the part high enough to allow hydrogen to diffuse out of the weld and HAZ but not high
enough to create any type of microstructural change. Typically, this bake out procedure is
done between 300˚F – 600˚F [149˚C – 316˚C]. This temperature is held for at least 1 hour per
inch [25mm] of material thickness. Always consult the code you are working with or the
engineer in charge before developing your own post heating procedure.
Charts showing post heating and PWHT temperatures and holding times should be included
with all WPSs. An example of this type of chart is shown below.

Sample PWHT chart for P91 steel - Actual temperature and holding times are determined by
material composition and thickness.

Stress relieving is the other common purpose of applying PWHT. Stress relieving is done at
a much higher temperature and usually for a longer period of time than post
heating. Stresses can develop in weldments due to high levels of restraint and shrinkage
forces. These stresses may not cause the part to crack right away, but significantly reduce the
fatigue life of the welded structure or component.
Stress relieving will reduce these residual stresses that are present after welding by carefully
controlling the heating of the part to a specific temperature, holding it for a specific amount
of time and then controlling the cooling rate. Unlike post heating, the temperatures for stress
relieving are much higher. For most carbon steels stress relieving is done at 1000˚F – 1400˚F
[538˚C – 760˚C].

Other than relieving stresses, PWHT provides other benefits: tempering, hydrogen removal,
improved ductility, and toughness and corrosion resistance. However, be aware that PWHT
can also have damaging effects if done improperly or done on materials that should not be
post weld heat treated.

Exceeding the stress relieving temperatures can reduce tensile strength, reduce creep strength
and reduce notch toughness. Additionally, some steels should not be post weld heat treated
or at least it is not recommended. AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code (Steel) states that
stress relieving the following common structural steels is not recommended:

 ASTM A514 (commonly referred to as T-1 steels – Arcelor Mittal trade name)
 ASTM A517
 ASTM A709 Grade HPS 100W
  ASTM A710
It is worth restating that any PWHT must be done according the specific code or standard
that governs the fabrication of the structure or component. Even though PWHT is done
after welding it forms part of the welding procedure specification (WPS) and clear
instructions must be shown in this document on how to perform the PWHT.

Factors Influencing Hydrogen Induced Cracking

Hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC) is a far too common type of failure. It is also called
hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC) and delayed cracking since it does not occur right after
welding, but a few hours or days after the weld has completely cooled down to ambient
temperature. Cracking occurs due to a significant loss in ductility in the weld metal and/or
heat affected zone (HAZ).
A professor at Ohio State explains that there are three factors that contribute to hydrogen-
induced cracking. These factors are:
 Threshold level of hydrogen

 Susceptible microstructure
 Restraint level
There are several theories to explain the mechanism for HIC, but simply put, hydrogen
introduced into the weld will diffuse to the HAZ of a susceptible microstructure (such as
martensite and bainite), and form a crack when the material cools and enough restraint is
present.

In order for hydrogen-induced cracking to occur all three factors need to be present.
Eliminate one and it can’t happen.
The three factors explained:
Threshold level of hydrogen – Although most materials contain at least traces of hydrogen,
the hydrogen associated with HIC is introduced during the welding process. Hydrogen
introduced into the weld during welding comes from three sources:
 Moisture in the electrode, flux, shielding gas or environment

 Decomposition of cellulosic-type electrode coatings and combustion products of oxyfuel

gas welding
 Contaminants containing hydrogen (i.e. grease, oil, cutting fluids, water, etc.) on the
surface of the material to be welded
Low-hydrogen practice minimizes or eliminates these sources to prevent HIC.

Susceptible microstructure – In steels there can be a wide array of microstructures

depending on the composition of steel and the welding process parameters. Hard and brittle
microstructures are the most susceptible to HIC. These microstructures are usually the
product of fast cooling rates which tend to form martensite or bainite on most steels. Keep
in mind that simply looking at the composition of a base material and determining the carbon
content or carbon equivalent is not enough to know the microstructure after welding. The
heat input of the welding process and preheat, or lack thereof, are significant factors in the
final microstructure. In general, fast cooling rates should be avoided. Consult with the
appropriate code for preheat, post weld heat treatment and interpass temperature
requirements.

The microstructure of a weld and the heat affected zone is a product of the base material
composition and the heat effects of the welding process and cooling rates.
Restraint level – The level of restraint is determined by the stress and strain state of a weld
resulting from factors such as clamping and fixturing, geometry of weld joint, thickness and
strength of the base metal, presence of weld discontinuities and residual stress. Out of the
three factors this is typically the one that is hardest to control.
Remember that for HIC to occur you need all three factors. Seek to eliminate the ones you
can most easily control. Avoiding hydrogen in the weld is typically the easiest to affect,
followed by control of microstructure. To learn more about reducing susceptibility to
cracking due to hydrogen read Preventing Hydrogen Induced Cracking.
Preventing Hydrogen Induced Cracking

Our last post (Factors Influencing Hydrogen Induced Cracking) went over the factors that
contribute to hydrogen-induced cracking. We will now go over how to prevent HIC from
happening. If you recall, we mentioned you need all three factors to be present in order to
have HIC: These factors are
1. A susceptible microstructure,
2. Threshold level of hydrogen, and
3. High restraint levels. So let’s see how we can eliminate at least one of these factors

Susceptible Microstructure

A susceptible microstructure is the product of two things: base metal composition and the
thermal cycle induced by welding. We may not always be able to change the base material,
but we should be able to significantly affect the thermal cycle induced by welding. In order
to prevent a microstructure that is susceptible to HIC we need avoid the formation of
martensite. Martensite is very hard and brittle. Martensite will form when we have rapid
cooling in steel.

The final microstructure of a weld and the HAZ is a product of the base metal composition
and the thermal cycle induced by welding.
To avoid rapid cooling we need to preheat the base material. To learn more about why
preheating you can read: Why Is Preheating Necessary. By bringing the base material to
certain preheats temperature the weld and heat affected zone will take much longer to go
back down to room temperature and thus reducing or elimination the formation of
martensite. The use of thermal blankets to further slowdown the cooling rate is also
helpful. Lastly, using post weld heat treatment to “bake out” the hydrogen is also an option.

Threshold Level of Hydrogen

From our last post we know that most materials contain traces of hydrogen, but the hydrogen
associated with HIC is a product of the welding process. This hydrogen is introduced into the
weld due to: moisture in the electrode, flux, shielding gas or environment and contaminants
containing hydrogen such as grease, oil, and cutting fluids.

In order to eliminate these sources of hydrogen we implement low-hydrogen practices which

include:
 Use a low hydrogen process (GMAW and GTAW are best due to not having flux that
can pick up moisture)
 If SMAW is to be used make sure to use low-hydrogen rods such as E7018.
 With processes involving flux make sure consumables are stored properly. In the case of
opened cans of stick electrode these should be kept in a holding oven at the temperature
specified by the manufacturer.
 Clean the base material, especially the edges to be welded
 Proper control of preheat and interpass temperature.
Effect of process selection in susceptibility to HIC

Restraint

The level of restraint is typically hard to change. The restraint will be come from shrinkage
resulting from solidification, thermal contraction and external forces such as fixtures, clamps
and the sheer size of the components being welded. As you can image it is hard to do away
with these. You can control residual stresses with proper post weld heat treatment, but some
parts are too massive to fit in a furnace. You may be able to change your welding process to
avoid excessive heat input but it may not be practical or economical.

Avoiding stress concentrations due to welding is critical. This means make sure you have no
weld discontinuities such as undercut, excessive reinforcement, concave face, overlap, etc.