Weld thermal cycle

What is preheating ?

Preheating is heating the base metal

adjacent to the weld joint above a specified

temperature prior to welding

 Who wants preheat ?

 Welder 

 Shop supervisor 

 Shop manager 

 Welding engineer 
Why preheating ?
Why preheating ?
 Why preheating ?

Slower cooling rate

with preheating

Faster cooling rate

without preheating
Why preheating ?
 Why preheating ?

 To reduce the potential for cracking

 by avoiding susceptible
microstructure
 by allowing hydrogen to diffuse
away from the weld region
 by reducing residual stresses at
the weld
 Remove moisture and reduce porosity
 Help welder to raise metal to fusion
temperature and reduce LF
 Reduce distortion of weld joint
Factors influencing preheating

 Base metal chemistry - carbon

equivalent
 Base metal thickness
 Heat input
 Welding process
 Type of electrode
 Degree of restraint
 How to preheat ?

 Low intensity gas burners

LPG
CNG

 Electrical heaters
 Where to preheat ?

 The mass of material adjacent to

the weld twice the thickness or
100mm max. should be heated above
specified preheat temperature
 Where to check preheat ?
 Use temperature indicating
crayons

 Check temperature on the

opposite side of which heat is
applied

 Check at a distance of 2T or
100mm max from the weld
 What is interpass temperature?

 The temperature of the weld

region immediately before the
next pass is deposited in a
multipass weld
 Why control of IPT ?

 To obtain fine grain structure and

improve notch toughness of weld
and HAZ

 Improve yield and tensile

strength of weld joint
 What is post heating ?

 Heating the weld and adjacent

area to above a temperature
for specified time immediately on
completion of welding and before
the weld is allowed to cool to
room temperature
 Post heating

time
 Why post heating ?

 To reduce the potential for

hydrogen induced cracking by
allowing faster diffusion of
hydrogen from the weld region
 What is PWHT ?

 Any heat treatment to which the

weldment is subjected to after
completion of welding

 Stress relieving
 Normalising
 Solution annealing
 Quenching & tempering
 Purpose of PWHT

 Relieve residual stresses

 Improve mechanical properties of
weld and HAZ
 Improve resistance to brittle
fracture
 Reduce stress corrosion
 Improve fatigue life
 Improve dimensional stability
Purpose of PWHT
 PWHT parameters

 Maximum loading temperature

 Rate of heating
 Soaking temperature range
 Soaking time
 Rate of cooling
 Maximum unloading temperature
 Solution heat treatment

 To improve corrosion resistance

 Heat to 1010 - 1095 degree C

 Soak @ 1 hour/25 mm

 Rapid cooling between 950 - 540

degree C