TY - JOUR A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Mente, Tobias A1 - Brackrock, Daniel A1 - Czeskleba, Denis A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Component test for the assessment of delayed hydrogen-assisted cracking in thick-walled SAW joints for offshore applications N2 - Offshore wind turbines continuously increase in size and weight and demand adequate offshore foundations concepts like monopiles, tripods, or jackets. These components are typically constructed using submerged arc welding (SAW) with high-strength thick steel plates like the S420ML. During welding, the occurrence of delayed hydrogen-assisted cracking (HAC) must be anticipated. HAC is a critical combination of the local hydrogen concentration within a susceptible microstructure under certain mechanical load, i.e., the occurring (welding) residual stresses. The welding sequence of the thick-walled plates complicates the residual stress distribution due to the necessary repeated thermal cycling, i.e., welding seam/layer deposition to fill the joint. For that purpose, SAW with two-wire-technique was used to weld a specially designed and prototype-like mock-up of a real component with a thickness of 50 mm, filled with over 20 passes and a seam length of 1000 mm. Additional welded stiffeners simulated the effect of a high restraint, to achieve critical HAC conditions. The necessity of a minimum waiting time (MWT) before the NDT can be conducted (to exclude HAC) was critically verified by the application of ultrasonic testing of the welded joint at different time-steps of the NDT of up to 48 h after the completion welding. The residual stresses were determined by a robot XRD goniometer. Tensile residual stresses up to the yield limit are found both in the weld metal and in the heat-affected zone. Numerical modeling allowed the qualitative estimation of the hydrogen diffusion in the weld. No noticeable HAC occurrence was identified and confirms the high cracking resistance of the investigated material. Finally, the applicability of the MWT concept should be critically discussed. KW - Hydrogen KW - Cold cracking KW - Minimum Waiting Time KW - Offshore steel grade KW - Component test PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-591981 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-023-01658-5 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-59198 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Wandtke, Karsten A1 - Schröpfer, Dirk A1 - Scharf-Wildenhain, R. A1 - Hälsig, A. A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Hensel, J. T1 - Influence of the WAAM process and design aspects on residual stresses in high-strength structural steels N2 - Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) enables the efficient production of weight-optimized modern engineering structures. Further increases in efficiency can be achieved by using high-strength structural steels. Commercial welding consumables for WAAM are already available on the market. Lack of knowledge and guidelines regarding welding residual stress and component safety during production and operation leads to severely limited use for industry applications. The sensitive microstructure of high-strength steels carries a high risk of cold cracking; therefore, residual stresses play a crucial role. For this reason, the influences of the material, the WAAM process, and the design on the formation of residual stresses and the risk of cold cracking are being investigated. The material used has a yield strength of over 800 MPa. This strength is adjusted via solid solution strengthening and a martensitic phase transformation. The volume expansion associated with martensite formation has a significant influence on the residual stresses. The focus of the present investigation is on the additive welding parameters and component design on their influence on hardness and residual stresses, which are analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). Reference specimens (hollow cuboids) are welded fully automated with a systematic variation of heat control and design. Welding parameters and AM geometry are correlated with the resulting microstructure, hardness, and residual stress state. Increased heat input leads to lower tensile residual stresses which causes unfavorable microstructure and mechanical properties. The component design affects heat dissipation conditions and the intensity of restraint during welding and has a significant influence on the residual stress. KW - DED-arc KW - Additive manufacturing KW - High-strength steel filler metal KW - Residual stress PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-572698 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-023-01503-9 SN - 1878-6669 VL - 67 IS - 4 SP - 987 EP - 996 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-57269 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schröpfer, Dirk A1 - Witte, Julien A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Stresses in repair welding of high-strength steels—part 1: restraint and cold cracking risk N2 - AbstractThe sustainable and resource-efficient production of wind energy plants requires the use of modern high-strength fine-grain structural steels. This applies to both foundation and erection structures, like mobile or ship cranes. During the assembly of steel structures, unacceptable defects can occasionally be found in the weld area. In most cases, the economical solution would be local thermal gouging of the affected areas and re-welding. Due to the high shrinkage restraint of the joint groove in the overall structure, the superposition of global and local welding-induced stresses may lead to crack formation and component failure, particularly in interaction with the degradation of the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steels during the repair process. However, manufacturers hardly have any information about these issues and there is a lack of recommendations and guidelines to take these safety-relevant aspects into account in adequate repair concepts. The aim of this research is to derive recommendations for repair concepts appropriate to the stresses and materials involved providing a basis for standards and guidelines to avoid cold cracking, damage and expensive reworking especially for high-strength steels. Part 1 of this study involves systematic investigations of influences of shrinkage restraint during repair welding of two high-strength steels S500MLO for offshore application and S960QL for mobile crane structures. The quantification of the shrinkage restraint of repair weld joints was achieved by means of experimental and numerical restraint intensity analysis. In welding experiments with self-restrained slot specimens, restraint intensity and introduction of hydrogen via the welding arc using anti spatter spray were varied systematically to analyse the effect on welding result, residual stresses and cold cracking. It could be shown that increasing restraint intensities result in significantly higher transverse residual stress levels. In the case of hydrogen introduction S500MLO showed no cold cracking independent of the restraint conditions. However, S960QL was found to be considerably cold cracking sensitive if hydrogen is introduced. With increasing restraint intensity length and number of cold cracks increases significantly. Part 2 [1] of this study is focussed on microstructure and residual stresses due to gouging and stress optimization via adequate heat control parameters in repair welding. KW - Metals and Alloys KW - Mechanical Engineering KW - Mechanics of Materials PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-595212 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-024-01691-y SN - 0043-2288 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-59521 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schröpfer, Dirk A1 - Witte, Julien A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Stresses in repair welding of high-strength steels—part 2: heat control and stress optimization N2 - In welding of high-strength steels, e.g. for foundations and erection structures of wind energy plants, unacceptable defects can occasionally be found in the weld area, which should be removed by thermal gouging and subsequent re-welding. High shrinkage restraint of repair welds may lead to crack formation and component failure, predominantly in interaction with degraded microstructures and mechanical properties due to repair cycles. This study aims for elaboration of recommendations for repair concepts appropriate to the stresses and materials involved to avoid cold cracking, damage and expensive reworking. In part 1 [1] of this study, systematic investigations of influences of shrinkage restraint on residual stresses and cold cracking risk during repair welding of two high-strength steels S500MLO for offshore application and S960QL for mobile crane structures were focussed. In this part 2, the microstructure, particularly hardness, and residual stresses due to gouging and influences of heat control parameters in repair welding are analysed. A clear reduction in residual stress after gouging can be observed, especially for the specimens with restrained transverse shrinkage. Gouging to a depth of approx. 2/3 of the seam height does not lead to a complete relaxation of the observed reaction forces. Particularly for the higher strength steel S960QL, there are pronounced areas influenced by the gouging process in which a degradation of the microstructure and properties should be assumed. Overall, the repair welds show a significant increase in the width of the weld and HAZ compared to the original weld, especially in the case of S960QL/G89. The repair welds show higher welding-induced stresses than the original welds, especially in the areas of the HAZ and the base metal close to the weld seam. This behaviour can be attributed overall to increased restraint conditions due to the remaining root weld or shorter gouge grooves. In good agreement with earlier investigations, the residual stresses transverse to the weld can be significantly reduced by upwardly limited working or interpass temperatures, and the reaction stresses resulting from high restraint conditions can be effectively counteracted. The influence of the heat input on the stress formation is low compared to the interpass temperature for both test materials. KW - Repair-welding KW - Wind Energy KW - High-strength steels KW - Cold cracking KW - Residual stresses KW - Offshore steels PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-600259 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-024-01731-7 SN - 0043-2288 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-60025 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -