A review of the metallurgy of heat treatment of welded joints

This paper deals with the metallurgical changes which occur during heat treatment of welded joints. Stress relieving heat treatment in the temperature range below A₁, the normalizing heat treatment and the heat treatment in the intercritical range A₁–A₃, are all considered. The thermal regime of welding is described. The practice of intercover of the weldment before applying PWHT to ambient temperature is described. It is stressed that the aim of stress-relieving heat treatment is not only to relax internal stresses but also to improve the microstructure and impact properties of HAZ and weld metal, to improve dimensional stability and increase resistance against stress corrosion. Examples are given of the effect of annealing in the intercritical range A₁–A₃ on the improvement in toughness of electroslag welded joints. Changes in dislocation distribution and density, precipitation processes and grain sizes during PWHT are described.