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thickness at which post weld heat treatment In Australia, most fabrication standards now
becomes mandatory is consistent in the 32 – refer to AS 4458 for manufacture, and all
38 mm range for most of the Codes in use in details can be found there. The American
Australia. The reason for each standard Standards still tend to retain their own
choosing a specific thickness is not entirely requirements, and ASME I, ASME VIII
clear, but little has changed over the past 30 Division 1 and ASME VIII Division 2 are
years. What is interesting though is that all different. Part 4 of the new EN 13445
experiments conducted in the mid-1970s deals with manufacture, and contains a lot of
showed that fully restrained butt welds in detail on post weld heat treatment.
carbon-manganese steels could develop
residual stresses in excess of the yield stress Fixed Furnace
at a thickness of approximately 35 mm.
This method is traditional and well known to
With alloy steels, the thickness at which post most people in the fabrication industry. A
weld heat treatment becomes mandatory is fixed furnace usually consists of a
much less. Typically, the range is 13 – 20 rectangular box made from heat resistant
mm, and even below 13 mm, a series of materials in which are embedded electric
strict conditions have to be met before post resistance elements. Doors open at each end
weld heat treatment can be waived. It is and a travelling bogie allows for loading and
clear therefore, that with alloy steels, the unloading of the charge. Furnaces such as
removal of residual stress is not the only these are often capable of heating to 12000 C
consideration for the application of post and can normalise and anneal as well as
weld heat treatment. stress relieve. Some furnaces are gas fired,
with two or even four nozzles at each end.
Post weld heat treatment of structural steels Fixed furnaces tend to be large and
is almost unheard of. Even in the offshore expensive to operate. They often have fixed
industry, the Nodes and K-joints on the thermocouples that measure the furnace
Jackets are no longer post weld heat treated. atmosphere temperature and not the
When that industry was in its infancy, post temperature of the article being heat treated.
weld heat treatment was mandatory and was This is usually satisfactory up to around
applied, but very little CTOD information 3000 C, but beyond, thermocouples
was available then, and the materials in use physically attached to the article must take
suffered laminar tearing. That has all over both temperature control and
changed now, and very few joints require temperature measurement. Furnaces such as
any attention today. Similarly, the massive these must be equipped with correctly
machines in use in the mining industry are calibrated temperature controllers/recorders
not subjected to post weld heat treatment, with at least 12 recording points.
and it is not even addressed in the range of
structural welding standards, AS 1554 parts Care must be taken when cooling after post
1 to 6. Therefore, the topic is essentially weld heat treatment. Most manufacturing
limited to the pressure equipment industry. Codes specify a controlled rate of cooling
until a certain temperature is reached
(typically 300 – 4000 C depending on the
HOW TO PERFORM POST WELD thickness), so it is normal to control cool in
HEAT TREATMENT the furnace before opening the doors.
Most of the requirements for post weld heat These are custom-built around a vessel,
treatment can be found in the fabrication rather than transport a vessel to a fixed
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