TY - JOUR A1 - Steppan, Enrico A1 - Mente, Tobias A1 - Böllinghaus, Thomas T1 - Numerical investigations on cold cracking avoidance in fillet welds of high-strength steels N2 - Industry faces a growing demand for high-strength structural steels with yield strengths of up to 1,300 MPa in order to cope with increasingly higher strength requirements in engineering. Higher strength levels are achieved by a special coordinated production process and an adapted chemical composition. Nevertheless, disastrous damage cases with high-strength steels have occurred in the past. The sensitivity to mechanical property degradation by hydrogen increases dramatically with strength. This phenomenon leads to hydrogen-assisted cold cracking. T-joints with fillet welds made from one side with an included angle of 60° were examined for their cold cracking behavior. Based on the T-joint, a modified heat input, even interpass temperature, plate thickness, and length ones were examined. The diffusion behavior and the effectiveness of different post-weld heat treatments in joints were simulated. The results of post-weld heat treatments are illustrated in practical hydrogen removal heat treatment diagrams. It is noticed that the T-joint is subject to a very high risk of hydrogen-assisted cold cracking (HACC). Contrary to other joints, its most critical area for cracking is not the weld metal but the heat-affected zone surrounding area of the root pass. The simulation shows that HACC in the T-joint can only be avoided by applying a sufficient post-weld heat treatment. KW - High-strength structural steels KW - Hydrogen diffusion KW - Numerical simulation KW - Hydrogen-assisted cold cracking (HACC) KW - T joints KW - Fillet welds KW - Post-weld heat treatment KW - Hydrogen removal heat treatment diagramm (HRHT) PY - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-013-0036-4 SN - 0043-2288 SN - 1878-6669 VL - 57 IS - 3 SP - 359 EP - 371 PB - Springer CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-27952 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -