VHCF Behavior of Welded Joints with HFMI Treatment under Moisture Conditions

Fatigue tests of cruciform welded joints made of Q355B steel at very-high-cycle fatigue (VHCF) regimes were carried out on as-welded specimens using highfrequency mechanical impact (HFMI) treatment in dry air and water-spray environments, respectively. The influence of the environment on fatigue life was more obvious in the VHCF regime. It was found that S-N curves became flat over the range of 106–108 cycles for as-welded specimens, while a continuously decreasing S-N curve existed for HFMI-treated specimens. Fatigue cracks initiated from the weld toe of the as-welded specimens in dry air and water-spray environments. Due to residual stress, the crack initiation site transition of HFMI-treated specimens from the weld toe to the weld root and base metal was observed at lower stress levels. Moreover, hydrogen-assisted quasi-cleavage and intergranular fracture were captured using a scanning electron microscope and a hydrogen permeation test.

Evaluation of Welding Practices on Sour Service Performance of Carbon Steel Pipeline Girth Welds

In recent past, there have been unforeseen sour service pipeline failures in the oil and gas industry. Sub-optimal microstructure resulting in high hardness (above 250 HV10) in pipeline steel is one of the root causes of such failures. Poor girth weld quality is another leading cause which adversely affects pipeline integrity and safe operations in sour environments. While advancements in welding technologies have led to consistency in production girth welds, effects of welding parameters on performance of carbon steel pipeline girth welds for sour service are not well understood. So, a systematic study is needed to understand the effects of various welding parameters on weld properties and performance. This paper aims at evaluating the effects of various welding parameters on performance of girth welds to provide welding practice guidelines for sour service pipeline applications. In this effort, several welds on X65 grade line pipe girth welds using commercially available welding consumables were made to study the effects of preheat, hot pass tempering, copper backing, root pass heat input, wire consumable chemistry, single vs. dual torch, metal transfer mode, pipe fit-up (root gap, misalignment), on weld root performance. Detailed microhardness mapping and microstructural characterization were conducted. It was evident that the welding parameters studied have a significant impact on root performance. While preheat and pipe fit-up showed most significant impact on weld root performance, other parameters also affected the root performance by varying degree. Based on these results, recommendations for industry are provided to improve reliability of pipeline girth welds in sour service application.

Effect of Micro Solidification Crack on Mechanical Performance of Remote Laser Welded AA6063 Fillet Lap Joint in Automotive Battery Tray Construction

Remote laser welding (RLW) has shown a number of benefits of joining 6xxx aluminium alloys such as high processing speed and process flexibility. However, the crack susceptibility of 6xxx aluminium alloys during RLW process is still an open problem. This paper experimentally assesses the impact of transverse micro cracks on joint strength and fatigue durability in remote laser welding of AA6063-T6 fillet lap joints. Distribution and morphology of transverse micro cracks were acquired by scanning electron microscope (SEM) on cross-sections. Grain morphology in the weld zone was determined by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) while static tensile and dynamic fatigue tests were carried out to evaluate weld mechanical performance. Results revealed that increasing welding speed from 2 m/min to 6 m/min did not introduce additional transverse micro cracks. Additionally, welding at 2 m/min resulted in tensile strength improvement by 30% compared to 6 m/min due to the expansion of fusion zone, measured by the throat thickness, and refinement of columnar grains near fusion lines. Furthermore, the weld fatigue durability is significantly higher when fracture occurs in weld root instead of fusion zone. This can be achieved by increasing weld root angle with optimum weld fatigue durability at around 55°.

Study of features in weld root formation under double-sided synchronized arc welding of vertical joints of steel tanks

It is shown that increase in the welding productivity of vertical joints of storage tanks for oil and oil products can be achieved due to the double-sided synchronized formation of the X-shaped groove. To minimize various disturbances, including variation of gap size and root face dimension, computer engineering analysis is performed, which showed that the formation of root pass during welding with the movement of the electrode down (vertical down) with increased dimension of the root face leads to lack of penetration, but during groove filling with the movement of the electrodes up (vertical up) deep penetration is achieved given the considerable root face dimension. It is defined that during welding of 30 mm thickness plates with root face dimension range from 6 to 8 mm, it is necessary to ensure the root gap dimension range from 1.5 to 3 mm along the entire length of the seam. In this case, the remaining unfilled cross-sectional area of the groove is small, which makes it possible to fill it in during single pass under two-arc double-sided welding. There is area of double-sided synchronized welding modes in which the occurrence probability of typical defects during the formation of the weld root is minimal.

Stress Concentration Factors at Welded Connections Between Tubular Sections and a Transverse Plate

Welded connections between tubulars and transverse plates are used to build together part structures such as support of flare towers and wind turbines and deck structures on foundation structures. They are used in traditional jacket structures for oil and gas production and in support structures for wind turbines. These welded connections are typically made from the outside resulting in a weld root on the inside and a weld toe on the outside. Different S–N curves apply to these positions; therefore, stresses both on the inside and the outside are needed for fatigue assessment. From the actual design, it is noted that the thicknesses of the tubulars being connected can be different. Also, the diameters of the tubulars can be different. In addition, the fabrication is associated with some fabrication tolerances that provide local eccentricity moments to be transferred through these connections. In this paper, analytical expressions for stress concentration factors for these connections are presented based on classical shell theory. The stress concentration is dependent on the radial restraint from the transverse plate and the eccentricity of the neutral axes in the tubular thickness of one tubular relative to the other tubular. The superposition principle is used to derive resulting stress concentration factors for the inside weld root and the outside weld toe.