How Often Can Joints Be Cut and Rewelded in Low-Carbon Steel? Tests were conducted to determine how often a weld could be cut and rewelded without making deleterious changes to the metallurgical structure of the HAZ In places where manual welding is ex: tensively used, such as boilermaking and plateworking shops, and for piping and Structural steel prefabrication and job Sites, it is common to cut a finished weld, then reweld it Two reasons for doing this, are to cortect the position ofa piece and to repair flaws detected during nonde~ structive tess. Tt s also not uncommon forcutting and rewelding to be done two ‘oF more times, The cutting operation can bbe done in several ways, such as with an ‘oxyacetylene or plasma are torch, or air ‘carbon are gouging. For low-carbon steel, ‘oxyacetylene culling isthe pracess most ‘commonly used During welding, the metallographic structure ofthe heat affected zone (HAZ) undergoes changes, due mainly to the temperature increase in this region and tothe carbon content ofthe hase metal ‘Therefore, the common opinion is that repeated cutting and rewelding of the same weld increases the metallographic Changes in the HAZ. up to point where further euting and rewelding is no longer possible “This situation hasbeen, and stills rea- son for endless discussions between sup- pliers (plateworking shops and eontrac- tors) and cients, with the former attempt ing to justify successive cutting and rewelding and the later trying to forbid them from doing so, ‘As far as we know, this problem has not yet been studied in depth, and there is no unanimous opinion among welding Cengincers as to how many times it is pose sible tocut and remake a weld without ru- BY ANTONIO GONGALVES de MELLO, JR. GIOVANNI S. CRISI, EVERALDO VITOR, ining the structure and properties ofthe base metal. Welding standards from the AWS, ASME, API, AISC, and others are silent on his matier, and the solution © the problem is left up to the technicians Invoked in the work. Ofcourse, there are rules of thumb used by welding profes: sionals or that have been stated by large corporations and engineering and con struction companies, but they are based ‘on empirical experience rather than ac- {wal research — "This is how we did it ‘once, We had no problems, and so we will Keep on doing it in the same way.” ‘Before writing this article, the authors did some research on the AWS Forum (Ref. 1) The result ofthe research was that none of the Forum participants knew fof any experimental bass forthe rules of ‘thumb used in these cases ence, the authors decided to conduct tests to establish wh wow be the maxi ‘mum numberof times a low-carbon steel weld could be cut and rewelded. The ‘methodology, the procedure followed, the results obtained, and the conclusions that, ‘were reached are described inthis atc Methodology ‘Two low-carbon stecl flat plates, with known, aboratory-checked chemical and mechanical properties, were welded to- gether with the gas metal are welding (GMAW) process, with a wire compatible with their chemical composition. The bevels were hand made with an oyacety Jene torch and then cleaned witha grind ing disk. The welder was qualified in the AND ROGERIO A. LOPES DA SILVA {at (1G) postion, in acenedance with the ‘requirements of Section IX ofthe AS} Boater and Presure Vessel Code Onyaceiylene cutting was chosen be- cause its the method most frequently ‘sed at workshops and job sites tcut ear bon steel The intention was to reproduce as closely as possible the real conditions existing in practice. Specimens were taken after welding in ‘order to carry out the following tests, ae- cording to widely accepied standards: bending, ultimate tensile, impact, elonga- tion, average grain size, and metallo- sraphic stmcture of the HAZ. The following conditions would have deserved special attention i one of them had occurred: +The specimen didnot pass the bend test. + The ultimate tensile strength of the specimen was lower than what the ap- Plicable standard required far the base metal + The impact strength and elongation were significantly lower than that ofa specimen with a single cut and weld ‘The average grain size was significantly Digger than that of a specimen with a single eut and weld. + The metallographic structure of the HAZ was not compatible with that of the base metal in good conditions Test Conditions ‘Tested Metal, The tested metal was = incthick, low-carbon ste! plate. Labora- {ory anaiyses performed before the tests showed the following properties ANTONIO GONCALVES de MELLO, JR., GIOVANNI S. CRISI (ascrisi@ mackonaie br), and EVERALDO VITOR are professors at ‘Mackenzie Enginering School, Sdo Paulo, Brus ROGERIO A. LOPES DA SILVA i chief technician ofthe Metallurgical Laboratory of ‘Mackenzie Engineering School [_WetoIne JOURNALFig 1 — Micrograph ofthe base metal 1. Chemical composition: 0.122% ear- ‘bon, (1.38 manganese, DO13% si (0.04% phosphorus, and 0.014% sulfur. 2. Mechanical properties: 285.9 MPa yield point, 398 MPs ultimate tensile Strength 4.2% total elongation on a 200- ‘mm-long specimen, 52% elongation st bth sides ofthe rupture. “These results classify the metal as being ASTM A 283 GrB, This standard ‘does not require a given impact strength, {rain size, nd metallographic structure: however, these parameters were also measured to compare them fo those ofthe metal resulting from repeated cutting and reweldng. Therefore the following meas- lurements were obtained: 3. Impact test: performed on two spec mens with a 30-kg hammer: 205 ken? ‘Thespecimen did not break in either case 4. Average grain size: 7 55. Metallographic structure: ferrite, with small peaite grains ‘The micrograph of the base metal is shown in Fig. Wire and Gas Used for Welding. The wire used was ER 0S-6 (irom AWS 'AS.18, Specification for Carbon Stel Elec- ‘nodes an Rods for Gas Shielded Are Weld- ing) for direct current, which is recom mended for the welding of low-carbon steel. The diameter was 1.2 mm. The chemical composition was 01.06-0.15% bon, 14-1.88% manganese, 08-115 silicon, maximum 0.025% phosphorus, and maximum 1,035 sulfur. “The brand was ahigh quality one widely known in Brasil. The gas composition was 75% argon and 25% carbon diese. Bevel Preparation. The bevel angle ‘was 60 deg, which we considered accept Able for ai-in-thick groove weld, As ex plained previously, the bevel was cut with An oxyacetylene torch and cleaned with ‘grinding disk-As the cutwas hand made, even though done carefully, the 6O-leg. angle was approximate, ‘Position ofthe weld, The weld was per formed inthe flat (1G) position. Preheating and postweld heat treat- ‘ment. No preheating nor postweld heat ‘reatment wis conclucted because they are not required by Section VITTof the ASME Code for low-carbon ste! in. thick. No special precautions were taken for slow cooling ofthe metal after welding. Brazil, {sa tropical country and welds were never ‘made ata room temperature of less than 25°C. ‘Standards followed for the tests. + Bend testing: ASME Section IX, pars graph OW-I4l and subsequent. Accord Ing to this standard, the tests approved when the overall length ofall the eracks that may have appeated after bending is pot higher than 3.2mm (im). + Utimate tensile: ASME TX, paragraph (QW-462 and subsequent. + Tinpact, with triangular notch: ABNT. NBR 261-1.2003. (ABNT is the Brazil fan Association of Technical Stan- dards) + Average erain size: ASTM E 112/08, ‘Comparison Procedure, Plate L Procedure Six sections 200 mm wide x 440 mm Jong were used for the tests. To identify them, & number from ane to six was stamped on a corner of each one. firs, bevel wats made on all sections, as de- seibed ina previous paragraph. "Next, Section No. was welded. Once the weld was concluded, the root was gouged by means ofa triangular lie and the resulting groove was filled. The re- sultwas a metal section with one torch cut and one weld, from which we took off the Specimens to be used for root and face bending, ultimate tensile, elongation, and root and face impact tess. The remaining section was used to verify the average arain size and the metallographic struc- ture of the HAZ. The results are shown in Table I and Fig.2. Again, on Section No. 2the first weld was applied and the root was gouged and hled, The weld was cut and the bevel was redone, always as described above, A new weld was applied for the second time. (Once again, the root was removed and re- filled. The resulting seetion had to torch cols and two welds, from which We ex- tracted the specimens forthe tests and checking described above. “Then the fist weld was applied to sec- tion No, $ and the root was removed and filled, Tae weld was cut and the bevel was redone, A second weld was applied and the root removed anid filed. Altera new cut and beveling the third weld was applied, with the root once again removed and fille. This resulted ina section with three torch cuts and three weld, from which the specimens for the tests were extracted, “This procedure was followed up tothe sixth specimen, which resulted in six cuts and six welds Test Results For a quick comparison, the tests re- sults, including those of the base metal fre shown Table I. The micrographs are shou in Fig. 2 ‘The metallographic structure isthe same in ll the cases. Observed are the ex istence of clear ferrite grains and darker rains where, on a ferrite matrix, the ex- “Tle 1 — Revels of Tests om Welded Metat Section No, UTS (MPs) Elongation (%) Bend Face end Root_—_ Impact Face (kd) Impact Root (kJ) Average grin size Bawe Metal 38 402 Noteseouted Not exsouted 20500) Noterecuted 7 1 a9 1760 oK oK 12 106, 7 2 a7 153 OK OK 150 1 7 3 au 166 OK OK a 10 6 4 as ls OK OK 17 1 7 5 avr 110 OK OK us ns 9 6 a 0 OK OK us uM 8 (a) Tews i only pact at as aca bene he eta a nee enor (6) Th contin as murder farthest psf the poinen nronng, before and afr he es quo 68 mm inal essere thee EE Fearvany oreSpecimen 4 Specimen 5 Fig, 2— Micrographs ofthe HAZs ofthe successive welds made on the base metal istence of cementite is seen, The shape of the cementite is sometimes spots, some times small flakes, and ina few eases the shape of small stains. These are neither ferrite nor martensite, because the equiv- alent carhon content is too small to pro- ‘duce martensite, The structure isthe typ- ieal one of a heat-affected zane. Interpretation of Results ‘The ultimate tensile strength shows 3 increase of approximately 5% in compar ison to the base metal, beginning in Sec- tion No. 1, and remains approximately ‘constant up tothe last section, “The elongation shows a decrease to Jess tham hall in comparison tothe base metal begianing in section No. I, and e- ‘mains approximately constant up to the last specimen, “The impact strength shows a decrease in comparison tothe base metal, Not con- Sidering the face test of Section No.2, the root test of Section No.3 and face and root tests of Section No 4, the average de ‘rease ofthe other tests in comparison to the base metal is approximately 40%. ‘The changes in these three parameters are de othe fet the welds were not sub- T-In workshops ancl at job ses, gouging of owscarbon set is usually done by means ‘ofuircarbon arc. However ecuuse then ‘ersin’s weld lab does not have this equip- ‘ment, we used the fle mitted to any postweld heat treatment. ‘Also, no precautions were taken for slow cooling after the cone dactityn both the weld bead and the HAZ. As sated previous, or intention ‘esto eprodcetclosl spose the procedures followed in workshops and job Stes here those precautions te not ws aly taken when ascin-thic, low-carbon ‘el weld has to be cat and redone espe Gilly when the ambient temperature i never blow 25°C which happens ot only in opi eounties but ao inthe sm terme in cold ones. “The face and root bend tests were sat Istactry in al canes, ey some spect toms here were cracks anda at trsthe overall crack length wastes than ‘Tin asspcied nthe ASME Coxe, Sec sion IX paragraph OW-163. No bend tess wer cried nt onthe orignal bse metal because that was not considered The Zverage gran ist af the heat affected zones were not significa dit ‘erent fom tht he base metal. This dhe tothe fact the sizes were not meas uredin he region immeately next the vel ead, bat inthe fine gain region of the HAZ, and in any cass lays within the HAZ. Conclusions (Our conclusion i that the main cha acteristics that ensure the mechanical Specimen 6 strength and ductility of the weld bead and the heat-affected zone, reported by the ‘ultimate tensile strength and bend tests, remained unchanged alter six cuts and ‘ewelds inthe same region ofthe original base metal. The elongation also remained constant afer the First cut and reweld "The research demonstrated that the cutting and subsequent welding operation in the same region can be performed safely at least six times on low-carbon Sel Further research may confirm the oon- clusions of this one, and may also show the possibility that cutting and welding can bbe executed more times, or also on other materials, such as alloy and stainless Steel es Acknosledgments ‘The authors wish to thank PROAQT Empreendimentos Teenoldgicos Lid. and VOITH Hydro Ltd, both of S20 Paulo, {or performing the metallographic analy- ses mentioned in this article References, 1. “Multiple welding repairs in the same area.” Discussion om the AWS Forum available at wiicawsonglegi- binimftopic show pPtid=7304. Last ac- cess was January 2, 2012 WELDING JOURNAL EE