Critical Conditions of Cold Cracking in High Strength Steel Weld Based on the Local Stress Distribution and Hydrogen Accumulation

Abstract

In this study, the occurrence of cold cracking in high strength steel welds were investigated in terms of residual stress and hydrogen diffusion behavior. The y-groove weld cracking test of TS780MPa grade steel plate was conducted with intentionally introducing hydrogen into the shielding gas during the gas-metal arc welding (GMAW). Since local stress is one of the most important factors for the cold cracking, residual stress distribution in the weld joint was measured by the neutron diffraction using TAKUMI in J-PARC. The root region, which is usually the crack initiation site in the y-groove cold cracking test, was under a multi-axial stress state and showed highest tensile residual stress in the transverse direction. It was considered that hydrogen diffusion and accumulation could be enhanced in the high stressed root region, resulting in cold cracking. Therefore, hydrogen diffusion behavior and stress distribution in the y-groove weld joint was investigated by a coupled thermo elastic plastic and hydrogen diffusion analyses. Hydrogen accumulation occurred in the root region where showed highest hydrostatic stress. The point where showed the hydrogen accumulation was well corresponded to the crack initiation site. It was indicated that local hydrogen concentration after welding was another important key factor for the cold cracking. From these investigations, it was essential to take the combination of local hydrogen concentration and residual stress distribution near the root region into account for the highly precise estimation of cold cracking.