TY - JOUR A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Czeskleba, Denis A1 - Fleißner-Rieger, H. A1 - Nietzke, Jonathan A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Combined heating rate and restraint condition effect on stress relief cracking during PWHT of thick-walled Cr–Mo-V steel SAW joints N2 - Creep-resistant steels such as 13CrMoV9-10 are utilized in the manufacture of thick-walled pressure vessels and are typically joined by submerged arc welding (SAW). However, these materials are susceptible to stress relief cracking (SRC) if the required post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is not applied correctly. Existing PWHT guidelines, encompassing heating rate and dwell (or holding) time at a given temperature, are derived from a synthesis of empirical knowledge and typically free-shrinkage weld experiments to assess the susceptibility to SRC. Therefore, this study discusses the combined effect of the PWHT heating rate under free-shrinkage compared to restrained shrinkage. Welding experiments were conducted (using plates with a thickness of 25 mm) for both shrinkage conditions for a variety of heating rates and maximum temperatures. In-situ acoustic emission analysis was used to locate propagating SRCs during PWHT. Hardness measurements, mechanical property characterization (Charpy impact strength), and microstructure correlation were used to evaluate the SRC susceptibility. The results suggested that the influence of heating rate could not be directly related to SRC formation and that the initial weld microstructure prior to PWHT was more relevant in terms of very high hardness in the coarse grain heat affected zone, especially that of the last beads in the top layer of the welding sequence. This was seen in the form of random, unexpected SRC occurrence in only one specimen at a heating rate commonly used in welding practice (approximately 100 K/h). In this context, the additional effect of an external shrinkage restraint on SRC must be considered in the form of increasing mechanical loads during welding, which are typically not within the scope of welding practice. To mitigate the probability of SRC during PWHT, it is imperative to reduce the welding heat input and to restrict the structural shrinkage restraint of the weld joint. KW - Component test KW - Stress relief cracking KW - PWHT KW - Creep-resistant steel PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-631439 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-025-02062-x SN - 1878-6669 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-63143 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Czeskleba, Denis A1 - Nietzke, Jonathan A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Investigation of stress relief crack susceptibility of CrMoV steels coarse grain HAZ via simulation of uniaxial stress conditions during PWHT N2 - Creep-resistant steels such as the 13CrMoV9-10, used in the construction of thick-walled pressure vessels, are most commonly submerged arc welded (SAW). These steels can develop stress relief cracks (SRC) if the mandatory post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is performed improperly. Current PWHT parameters, such as heating rate and holding time at a specific holding temperature, are based on both empirical experience and conventional free shrinking welding experiments to characterize the SRC-susceptibility of the weld. These cannot adequately depict the higher residual stresses caused by the structurally induced stiffness of the surrounding construction. This study discusses the development of a repeatable, precise, and time-efficient methodology to study the effects of different stress levels and heating rates on the SRC susceptibility of the coarse grain heat-affected zone (CGHAZ). For that purpose, samples were thermically treated to simulate a coarse grain heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) and subsequently exposed to representative levels of stress during the heating phase of a PWHT. The recorded stress and heating rate–dependent strains were mathematically analyzed via curve tracing/calculus to identify interdependent effects. This procedure facilitates the measurement of material characteristics such as carbide growth on grain boundaries at the µm-scale via an integrated value over the entire sample volume. The first and second derivatives show a slight, precipitate-dependent, increase in hardness of the sample, depending on the heating rate and applied stress. This new methodology generates an improved assessment of the SRC susceptibility of SAW microstructures of creep-resistant CrMoV steels. KW - Submerged arc welding KW - Creep-resistant steel KW - Stress relief cracking KW - Component-like test KW - Post weld heat treatment PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-576007 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-023-01539-x SN - 0043-2288 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Springer Nature CY - Basel (CH) AN - OPUS4-57600 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -