By Albert J. Moore Jr.

Feature

Selected Subjects of Metallurgy

Essential concepts and expanded information about metallurgy
for the welding inspector

The Certified Welding Inspector essentially ferrite that is supersaturat-

(CWI) examination includes questions Heat Treatments ed with carbon. The higher the carbon
on the subject of basic ferrous metallur- content, the more martensite will be
I have identified four different
gy — a mastery of the subject is not re- formed when quenched from the
heat treatments in Fig. 1 that can be
quired to pass the examination. Yet, the austenitizing temperature. The hard-
used with steels. They include temper-
subject plays an important role in the ness and strength of the steel is de-
ing, stress relief, annealing, and nor-
success or failure of welds during pro- pendent on the amount of carbon in
malizing. We’ll begin with the heat
duction, as well as once the weldment is the steel and the quench rate em-
treatment that involves the lowest
placed into service. It is worthwhile to ployed by the heat treatment. To im-
temperature range: tempering.
review some of the basic concepts, and prove toughness, the steel can be tem-
perhaps, expand upon the information pered. The steel is reheated to a low
provided by the CWI study material on
Tempering temperature to allow some of the ex-
the subject of metallurgy. Tempering is heat treatment car- cess carbon to come out of solution
This article will address how car- ried out after the steel has been heat- and form small carbides. This reduces
bon and low alloy steels typically en- ed, austenitized, and quenched to the hardness and the strength, but in-
countered in structural steel framing, harden it. The quenching operation creases the toughness and ductility.
and the manufacturer of machinery, can utilize different quenchants. Brine The optimum properties of the
respond to heating and cooling. Figure — composed of water, ice, and salt — steel are produced once the quenched
1 depicts a modified iron-iron carbide cools the steel very quickly and maxi- steel is tempered. In other words, the
equilibrium diagram. Some of the de- mizes the volume of martensite pro- optimum balance between hardness,
tails have been omitted for the pur- duced. The carbon content strongly in- strength, ductility, and toughness is
pose of simplification. fluences the amount of martensite obtained by tempering. For a plain car-
Because we are limiting the discus- that forms by the diffusionless decom- bon steel, tempering is usually per-
sion to steels typically used for welded position of austenite. The ferrite, formed between the temperatures of
construction, much of Fig. 1 simply which can only absorb 0.005% carbon 400° and 800°F. As a point of interest,
does not apply. The carbon content of at room temperature, must distort to low alloy quenched and tempered
plain carbon steels used for structural accommodate the excess carbon (in ex- steels are tempered at much higher
steel and machinery is typically limited cess of 0.005%) that was trapped in temperatures than a plain carbon
to 0.3% or less. That percentage is often the lattice when the steel was steel. Steels with low carbon content
called “3 points of carbon” by the iron quenched. rarely need to be tempered because
industry. There are cases when the car- The crystalline body centered they do not contain sufficient carbon
bon content is increased, but the de- structure is elongated to form a body- to be hardened by quenching.
signer must consider how the increased centered tetragonal crystalline shape.
carbon content complicates welding and The body-centered crystalline struc- Stress Relieving
decide whether the decrease in weldabil- ture is highly deformed, thus it is very
ity is worth the increase in strength and hard, very strong, and has little ductil- Stress relieving is performed at a
loss of ductility associated with higher ity. The new crystalline structure is higher temperature than tempering.
carbon content. given the name martensite, which is While tempering removes some of the

Inspection Trends / November 2017 27

hardness, stress relieving reduces the
hardness even more. When compared
to tempering, stress relieving allows
more carbon to come out of solution.
Stress relief is usually performed after
cold forming (for example, bending or
rolling) or after a thermal operation
such as thermal cutting or welding. In
each case, after cold working or a ther-
mal cycle, the residual stresses are on
the same order of magnitude as the
yield strength of the base metal. Resid-
ual stresses are usually much higher
than the allowable unit stress permit-
ted by a design standard. Residual
stress can be analyzed as vectors. Thus,
if there are intersecting stress fields
(from the residual stresses), imagine
two intersecting welds as depicted in
Fig. 2, the resultant can exceed the ten-
sile strength of the base metal.
Intersecting welds (and the result-
ing residual stresses) produce an in-
creased potential for cracking. As the
examples in Fig. 2 indicate, the result- Fig. 1 — Modified iron–iron carbide diagram.
ant residual stress may be less than
the tensile strength of the base metal form cooling is critical to a successful
or it may exceed. As indicated by the Both tempering and thermal stress
relief are considered to be subcritical heat treatment.
examples in Fig. 2, as the yield An increase in temperature slight-
strength of the steel increases, the re- heat treatments because the operations
are performed at temperatures below ly above the A3 line will allow the car-
sulting residual stress quickly ap- bon to dissolve into the face centered
proaches or exceeds the tensile 1335°F, the lower temperature of trans-
formation (A1). Thus, there is no danger cubic iron. If the temperature is per-
strength of the base metal. If the re- mitted to exceed the A3 temperature,
sultant (stress) exceeds the tensile of the base metal becoming harder re-
gardless of the cooling rate. Indeed, if the steel is austenitized. All the carbon
strength of the base metal, the poten- goes into solution, with the iron pro-
tial for developing a crack increases. the steel is heated to a temperature be-
low the A1, cooling it with cold air or ducing a microstructure that is face-
The orientation of the crack will be centered cubic, soft, and ductile. The
perpendicular to the resultant. cold water will not make the steel
strength is minimal and the material is
easily worked. The residual stress is
nonexistent because the strength of
the steel is extremely low.
A basic understanding of the terminology and the Notice in Fig. 1 that the line
slightly below the temperature ranges
different heat treatments can be useful to the CWI. It is identified for annealing and normaliz-
essential for the CWI to recognize the differences in the ing is sloped downward toward the
right. As the carbon content of the
steels provided by vendors. steel increases, the temperature of
austenitization decreases to 1335°F
when the carbon content is exactly
0.76%. If the steel is heated and al-
lowed to “soak” above the minimum
Thermal stress relief does not elimi- harder. Heating the steel to tempera- austenitizing temperature, all the car-
nate residual stress, it simply reduces tures above the A3 temperatures can in- bides are dissolved and (the carbon)
it to something that can be tolerated. crease hardness and strength of the goes into solution in the face-centered
Stress relief is also a benefit when steel if it is cooled quickly (quenched). cubic iron. If the steel containing ex-
the component has to be machined to Cooling rates, regardless of the thermal actly 0.76% carbon is allowed to cool
a tight tolerance. When the part has heat treatment, must be controlled to very slowly, the austenite decomposes
not been stress relieved after welding, mitigate the possibility of thermal gra- and the carbon comes out of solution
the machining operation removes met- dients between thin and thick parts of and forms pearlite, a composite con-
al from the exposed surfaces and alters the component. Thermal gradients ( T) sisting of a ferrite matrix and laths of
the stress field. As the stress field as low as 220°F can produce residual cementite (Fe3C). If the austenitized
changes, the workpiece moves and it is stresses on the same order of magni- steel is quenched and no time is al-
very difficult to hold the required tude as the yield strength of the base lowed for the carbon to diffuse, the
tolerances. metal, which can distort the part. Uni- austenite decomposes into martensite

28 Inspection Trends / November 2017

 The strength is slightly higher than an-
nealed steel, the hardness is slightly
higher, and the ferrite and pearlite is
uniformly distributed. Faster cooling
typically results in fine pearlite, which
is harder and stronger than the coarse-
grained pearlite obtained by annealing.
A basic understanding of the ter-
minology and the different heat treat-
ments can be useful to the CWI. It is
essential for the CWI to recognize the
differences in the steels provided by
vendors. A steel produced to an ASTM
specification is typically hot rolled and
air cooled (for example, normalized).
However, there are cases where the
higher strength steels are quenched
and tempered to produce improved
strength, but with the accompanying
high hardness and lower ductility.
Steel ordered to an AISI specification
can be provided in the hot or cold
Fig. 2 — Vector analysis of longitudinal residual stresses in intersecting welds.
rolled, forged, normalized, or annealed
condition. The specific heat treatment
is not controlled by the material speci-
(it said to be a diffusionless decompo- hours to allow all the carbides (Fe3C) fication. Where the final heat treat-
sition of austenite). At lower carbon to decompose and allowing the carbon ment of the steel is not specified, the
content, the temperature required for to go into solution with the iron. The mechanical properties of AISI steels
the carbon to go into solution is high- austenitized steel is furnace-cooled cannot be assured. For that reason,
er. With no carbon, ferrite (body- very slowly to ensure the carbon is most fabrication standards will not al-
centered cubic iron) does not trans- permitted sufficient time to diffuse low the use of AISI steels for primary
form into face-centered cubic austen- through the lattice to form a composi- load carrying members unless the
ite until the temperature exceeds tion of coarse ferrite and pearlite. To manufacturer performs additional op-
1673°F. As mentioned, the line defin- reiterate, the amount of pearlite erations that may include subsequent
ing A3 slopes downward from the left formed is a function of how much car- heat treatment that will control the
vertical axis at 1673° to 1335°F where bon was in the steel to begin with. This mechanical properties.
the carbon content is exactly 0.76%. eliminates residual stress, provides The CWI must recognize that dif-
The line drawn vertically up from the steel with the maximum ductility, low- ferent metals respond to heat treat-
horizontal axis where the carbon is est hardness, and lowest strength. An- ments differently. The heat treatment
equal to 0.76% is called the eutectoid. nealing is typically performed prior to used to harden steel will soften (an-
The eutectoid is the lowest tem- deep drawing operations, cold rolling, neal) copper. Don’t assume that the
perature at which the steel will trans- and machining where it is desirable to metal you are working with will re-
form into austenite. If cooled slowly, start with a material that is very soft spond to heat treatment the same way
all the austenite containing exactly and ductile. steel does. We preheat carbon steel to
0.76% carbon will decompose into reduce the potential for cracking. One
pearlite. As the carbon content de-
creases, less pearlite is formed and Normalizing should not preheat certain aluminum
alloys to the same high temperature
more ferrite is formed. As the carbon one would use with steel of the same
is reduced (moving toward the left Normalizing is performed at a
temperature slightly higher than the thickness, but those are subjects for
axis) until there is no carbon available future articles.
to go into solution, ferrite is the only annealing temperature. As indicated by
microstructure formed (okay, that is a Fig. 1, the steel is austenitized and all
little white lie; ferrite at room temper- the carbides dissolved, allowing the
ature will tolerate as much as 0.005% carbon to go into solution with the
carbon. Austenite at 1335°F will toler- face-centered iron. The temperature is
ate as much as 2.41% carbon. 0.005% maintained long enough to ensure the ALBERT J. MOORE JR.
carbon is the same as no carbon in my carbon is fully dispersed and in solu- amoore999@comcast.net is vice
world). tion with the face-centered iron. The president, Marion Testing & Inspection,
cooling rate is faster than that of an- Canton, Conn. He is an AWS Senior
nealing. Normalizing typically employs
Annealing cooling in still air after being held at
Certified Welding Inspector and an ASNT
NDT Level III. He is also a member of the
the austenitizing temperature. The AWS Certification Committee and the
Annealing involves heating the grain structure is somewhat refined in Committee on Methods of Inspection of
steel above the A3 temperature, hold- comparison to the coarse grain associ- Welds.
ing at that temperature for several ated with a full annealing operation.

November 2017 / Inspection Trends 29