International Journal of Mechanical And Production Engineering, ISSN(p): 2320-2092, ISSN(e): 2321-2071

Volume- 5, Issue-12, Dec.-2017, http://iraj.in

ELIMINATION OF CRACK FORMATION IN STAINLESS STEEL
AFTER TIG WELDING
1
SHEKHAR GAVANDE, 2 V. S. JOSHI
1,2
MGM’s Jawaharlal Nehru Engg. College, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: 1shekharkgavande1177@gmail.com , 2vinietaa.joshi@gmail.com

Abstract - This paper presents the corrective measures to avoid crack formation in ferritic stainless steel grade 409L after
TIG welding. Amongst the numerous welding methods, TIG welding is the most commonly used method for stainless steel
welding process. Generally cracks are seen after certain duration of time at weld line or near a weld zone. This paper also
deals with complete analysis of TIG welding, respective parameters, quality of weld, causes of crack formation and suggests
remedial measures to reduce percentage of rejection due to cracks and improves quality of weld. It also reduce considerable
power requirement and achieves economical production.

Index terms - TIG, Hydrogen Embrittlement, Nascent Hydrogen, Stress Corrosive Cracking.

I. INTRODUCTION hydrogen can be added to enhance travel speeds. The

greatest advantage of this process is that it will weld
A) TIG welding (tungsten inert gas welding) more kinds of metals and metal alloys than any other
Now a day’s TIG welding is most commonly used arc welding process. TIG can be used to weld most
process for stainless steel welding applications. steels including stainless steel it can also weld
dissimilar metals to one another such as copper to
brass and stainless to mild steel. For tube
manufacturing process from friitic stainless steel
grade 409L weld parameters are shown in Table 1.

Thickness Weld Drive Purging Torch

(mm) current speed gas flow gas flow
(amps) (mm/min) (lit/min) (lit/min)
0.8 75-85 700-900 5-7 10-12
1.0 90-130 1100-1250 4-5 8-10
1.2 120-160 1000-1150 4-5 8-10
1.5 160-200 800-950 5-7 10-12
2.0 190-230 650-800 5-7 10-12
3.0 200-240 350-500 5-7 10-12
3.5 240-280 300-450 5-7 10-12
Table 1: Standard parameters of TIG welding

Weld parameters depend on thickness of pipe to be

used. According to the thickness required heat supply
Figure 1: TIG (tungsten inert gas welding) should be changed. By changing weld parameters we
can alter heat supply.
The necessary heat for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
i.e., TIG is produced by an electric arc maintained B) Material configuration
between a non-consumable tungsten electrode and the Material Alloying Properties
part to be welded. The heat-affected zone, the molten content
metal, and the tungsten electrode are all shielded Ferritic C 0.0800 Tensile 380 mpa
from the atmosphere by a blanket of inert gas fed stainless steel strength
grade 409L Mn 1.00 Yield 170 mpa
through the torch. Inert gas is that which is inactive,
strength
or deficient in active chemical properties. The P 0.040 Elongation 20
shielding gas serves to blanket the weld and exclude min %
the active properties in the surrounding air. It does Si 1.00 Hardness 179
not burn, and adds nothing to or takes anything from brinnell
the metal. Inert gases such as argon and helium do HVA max
Cr 11.5-14.5 Rockwell 88
not chemically react or combine with other gases. HRϴ max
They possess no odour and are transparent, permitting Ni 0.600
the welder maximum visibility of the arc. In some
instances a small amount of reactive gas such as Table 2

Elimination of Crack Formation in Stainless Steel after TIG Welding

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 International Journal of Mechanical And Production Engineering, ISSN(p): 2320-2092, ISSN(e): 2321-2071
Volume- 5, Issue-12, Dec.-2017, http://iraj.in
II. LITERATURE SURVAY 7) A paper “Hydrogen Cracking in Weld Metals” in
which the effects of composition, hydrogen content
1) H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia in paper titled “Prevention and preheat on weld metal cracking are studied by M.
of hydrogen embrittlement in steels” suggested, it is McParlan & B. A. Graville suggest that The preheat
diffusible hydrogen that is harmful to the toughness to avoid cracking in a higher alloy weld metal is less
of iron. It follows, therefore, that the harmful sensitive to changes in hydrogen content within the
influence of diffusible hydrogen can be eliminated by practical range than a less alloyed weld metal.
preventing its entry into steel or by rendering it 8) The paper “Weldability of Ferritic Stainless
immobile once it penetrates the material. The fact that Steels” by D. H. Kah and D. W. Dickinson suggests
diffusible hydrogen embrittles is now widely that the annealed ferritic stainless steels containing 16
recognised delayed fracture in strong steels that are to 18% Cr offer acceptable oxidation and corrosion
subjected to hydrogen ingress. Delayed fracture resistance in many environments ranging from rural
occurs when steel subjected to a stress that is small atmospheres to aggressive, hot acid solutions at lower
relative to its fracture strength measured on material cost than the common austenitic stainless
manufacture, undergoes spontaneous brittle failure steels. They are, however, subject to embrittlement,
after a period of time in service. This failure under susceptible to hot cracking during welding, and their
static load is attributed to the presence of hydrogen. mechanical properties (toughness and ductility) and
Hydrogen embrittlement is generally seen in cold corrosion resistance are adversely affected by
formed steels rather than hot formed steels. welding.
2) A paper published by “Brush Wellman alloy
products” suggested that a fine grain size will III. PROCESS DETAILS
certainly improve the yield strength and stress
relaxation resistance of the finished product. Smaller
Welding Sizing
grains will also generally improve the formability of a Tube forming Finpas
(TIG)
material.
3) A paper “Hydrogen embrittlement of stainless Figure 2: Tube manufacturing by cold forming process using
steels” by S.L. Robinson, B.P. Somerday, and N.R. TIG welding
Moody describes the phenomenon of hydrogen
In figure 2 process flow of tube manufacturing is
embrittlement particularly in ferritic steel. The
given. In this process tube forming is done in various
mechanical response of stainless steels to hydrogen
stages in which cold forming process is used. At first
exposure varies widely as a consequence of stage sheet of material stainless steel 409L enters to
composition, thermo-mechanical preparation, joining, the rollers which bend the sheet in the form of tube
and testing methods. Composition dictates phase such arrangement is given to the rollers. When tube
stability and properties Fusion welding processes in like shape is given finpass stage is there. In finpass
stainless steels introduce a readily hydrogen- two rollers arranged in vertical manner and two
embrittled ferritic (delta) phase, required for freedom rollers arranged horizontal manner from which sheet
from weld cracking. formed in tube shape passes to the welding torch.
4) J. W. Morris Jr. In paper “The Influence of grain Various sizes of tubes can be manufactured by this
size on the mechanical properties of steel” suggested
process. After welding torch formed tube is passed to
that many of the important mechanical properties of
the sizing section to give a required size with
steel, including yield strength and hardness, the
minimum tolerances.
ductile-brittle transition temperature and
susceptibility to environmental embrittlement can be
improved by refining the grain size. Grain refinement
is an effective means for improving the strength and
lowering the ductile-brittle transition of structural
alloys. The improvement can often be expressed in an
equation of the Hall- Petch form.
5) A paper “Defects - hydrogen cracks in steels -
prevention and best practice” by TWI suggests
preheat, which slows the cooling rate, allows some
hydrogen to diffuse away, and generally reduces the
hardness, and therefore susceptibility to cracking, of
hard, crack-sensitive micro structural regions.

6) A paper “Cold cracking of welds” suggests that

Cold cracking, also called Hydrogen-induced
Cracking (HIC) or delayed cracking occurs when the
metal structure is almost cold. Figure 3: Finpass arrangement

Elimination of Crack Formation in Stainless Steel after TIG Welding

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 International Journal of Mechanical And Production Engineering, ISSN(p): 2320-2092, ISSN(e): 2321-2071
Volume- 5, Issue-12, Dec.-2017, http://iraj.in
IV. OBSERVATION OF CRACKS 2) Hydrogen embrittlement: Hydrogen dissolves in
all metals to a moderate extent. It is a very small
Generally cracks are generated on the weld line, and atom, and fits in between the metal atoms in the
cracks are generated when the weld product crystals of the metal. Consequently it can diffuse
undergoes to a bending stress or shocks. Cracks much more rapidly than larger atoms. For example,
generated after time duration of welding. It is delayed the diffusion coefficient for hydrogen in ferritic steel
fracture. It is nascent hydrogen (H+) which embrittles at room temperature is similar to the diffusion
the heat affected zone or a residual stress zone in coefficient for salt in water. Hydrogen tends to be
which brittleness of residual stress zone increases attracted to regions of high triaxial tensile stress
which decreases the fracture strength of material. Due where the metal structure is dilated. Thus, it is drawn
to increase in brittleness, ductility of material at that to the regions ahead of cracks or notches that are
region decreases. Rejection rate is so severe that 30% under stress. The dissolved hydrogen then assists in
of the products are wasted due to generation of the fracture of the metal, possibly by making
cracks. Cracks formed products need to be recycled cleavage easier or possibly by assisting in the
to get metal from them. Welding line is eliminated by development of intense local plastic deformation.
cutting it. These effects lead to embrittlement of the metal;
cracking may be either inter- or transgranular. Crack
growth rates are typically relatively rapid, up to 1
mm/s in the most extreme cases. The bcc (body-
centred cubic) crystal structure of ferritic iron has
relatively small holes between the metal atoms, but
the channels between these holes are relatively wide.
Consequently, hydrogen has a relatively low
solubility in ferritic iron, but a relatively high
Figure 4: Cracks generated on welding line and during sizing diffusion coefficient. In contrast the holes in the FCC
process. (face-centred cubic) austenite lattice are larger, but
the channels between them are smaller, so materials
such as austenitic stainless steel have higher
hydrogen solubility and a lower diffusion coefficient.
Consequently, it usually takes very much longer
(years rather than days) for austenitic materials to
become embrittled by hydrogen diffusing in from the
surface than it does for ferritic materials, and
Figure 5: cracks generated during bending operation austenitic alloys are often regarded as immune from
the effects of hydrogen. All steels are affected by
V. CAUSES OF CRACK FORMATION hydrogen, as is evidenced by the influence of
hydrogen on corrosion fatigue crack growth, and the
1) Stress corrosion cracking (ssc): Stress corrosion occurrence of hydrogen-induced cracking5 under the
cracking is cracking due to a process involving influence of very high hydrogen concentrations.
conjoint corrosion and straining of a metal due to However, hydrogen embrittlement under static load is
residual or applied stresses. Very high temperature (> only experienced in steels of relatively high strength.
200 °C) water environments are very aggressive, and
will cause SCC of a wide range of materials. As one
of the requirements for stress corrosion cracking is
the presence of stress in the components, one method
of control is to eliminate that stress, or at least reduce
it below the threshold stress for SCC. This is not
usually feasible for working stresses (the stress that
the component is intended to support), but it may be
possible where the stress causing cracking is a
residual stress introduced during welding or forming. Figure 7: Hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon.

3) Residual stresses in cold forming: In cold

forming process tensile stresses generated on outer
surface of tube and compressive stresses generated on
inside surface of the tube. This stress generated tends
to regain the previous shape of metal sheet due to
plasticity present in a metal. Two causes explained
above 1) Stress corrosion cracking and 2)
Figure 6: Sample subjected to stress corrosion cracking
Hydrogen embrittlement are causing crack formation

Elimination of Crack Formation in Stainless Steel after TIG Welding

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 International Journal of Mechanical And Production Engineering, ISSN(p): 2320-2092, ISSN(e): 2321-2071
Volume- 5, Issue-12, Dec.-2017, http://iraj.in
at weld line due to residual stresses generated in the stresses on it. Elimination of cracks is possible by
formed tube, and they affect it at the weld line, hence keeping good storage of inventory.
cracks are generated.

Figure 10: Corrosion in old material kept in open atmosphere

for long duration.

4) Limited weld current: By keeping the weld

Figure 8: Crack causing elements current limited as suggested in table 1 will reduce
heat affected zone near weld line and proper weld
4) Improper cooling rate: fine grain structure gives will be there. If weld current exceeds its value then
toughness to the material. To get a fine grain structure heat affected zone will be more and hence there will
sudden cooling of weld zone is required. be more area covered by residual stress zone. By
Abrupt cooling tends to grow grain size and keeping it in the correct range heat affected zone will
manufacturer obtains coarse grains. Coarse grain be less and cracking chances will be eliminated.
tends to increase hardness and quickly undergoes
hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon as the voids 5) Proper cooling rate: As earlier suggested in the
provided by coarse grains to settle nascent hydrogen paper that fine grains are responsible for toughness of
are more than the voids provided by fine grains. material and coarse grains are responsible for
hardness of material. This requires a fine grain
VI. SOLUTINS TO AVOIDE CRACKING structure to withstand against the stresses. To acquire
fine grain structure sudden cooling after welding
1) Preheating: Heating the sheet of metal before it required. Then welded product will have closely
reaches to the first operation in the tube forming similar strength values as parent material.
process will settle down the residual stresses
generated in cold forming process. This is hot CONCLUSION
forming process. Preheating up to 600 deg. Cen.
Detail study of existing TIG welding process
Tube
concludes that the main responsible parameters for
Preaheating Fin passing crack generation are stress corrosive cracking,
forming
hydrogen embrittlement, residual stresses in cold
forming and improper cooling rate. To eliminate the
said defect the suggested solutions includes
Sudden minimizing the residual stresses and maintaining
Sizing Welding
cooling
proper cooling rate will eliminate the possibility of
Figure 9: suggested flow of process hydrogen embrittlement and stress corrosion
cracking. Essence of this research paper suggests the
2) Dust free surrounding: There might be the interdependency of all four causes of cracking.
chances of any foreign particle present at the weld
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 International Journal of Mechanical And Production Engineering, ISSN(p): 2320-2092, ISSN(e): 2321-2071
Volume- 5, Issue-12, Dec.-2017, http://iraj.in
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