Effect of post-weld heat treatment and electrolytic plasma processing

on tungsten inert gas welded AISI 4140 alloy steel

Mohammad W. Dewan
a
, Jiandong Liang
a
, M.A. Wahab
a,
, Ayman M. Okeil
b
a
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
b
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 25 May 2013
Accepted 10 August 2013
Available online 20 August 2013
Keywords:
Tungsten inert gas welding
Post weld heat treatment
Electrolytic plasma process
Residual stress
Tensile properties
a b s t r a c t
Post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) is commonly adopted on welded joints and structures to
relieve post-weld residual stresses; and restore the mechanical properties and structural integrity.
An electrolytic plasma process (EPP) has been developed to improve corrosion behavior and wear
resistance of structural materials; and can be employed in other applications and surface modica-
tions aspects. In this study the effects of PWHT and EPP on the residual stresses, micro-hardness,
microstructures, and uniaxial tensile properties are explored on tungsten inert gas (TIG) welded
AISI-4140 alloys steel with SAE-4130 chromiummolybdenum alloy welding ller rod. For rational
comparison all of the welded samples are checked with nondestructive Phased Array Ultrasonic Test-
ing (PAUT) and to ensure defect-free samples before testing. Residual stresses are assessed with ultra-
sonic testing at different distances from weld center line. PWHT resulted in relief of tensile residual
stress due to grain renement. As a consequence higher ductility but lower strength existed in PWHT
samples. In comparison, EPP-treated samples revealed lower residual stresses, but no signicant var-
iation on the grain renement. Consequently, EPP-treated specimens exhibited higher tensile strength
but lower ductility and toughness for the martensitic formation due to the rapid heating and quench-
ing effects. EPP was also applied on PWHT samples, but which did not reveal any substantial effect on
the tensile properties after PWHT at 650 C. Finally the microstructures and fracture morphology are
analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscope to study the evolution of
microstructures.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
AISI-4140 chromiummolybdenum alloy steel is widely used in
structural, automotive, petroleum, and gas industries due to its
superior hardenability, good corrosion resistance, and higher
strength. The wide applications of steel alloy call for more efcient
and reliable welding processes which has always represented a
great challenge for designers and technologists. Unstable brittle
fracture of welded structures and components is an active global
problem. A weldment, especially the heat-affected-zone (HAZ), is
a complex problem where variable microstructures formed from
different thermal treatments and environmental conditions. This
complexity involves inherent mechanical behavior such as
strength, ductility, hardness, and fracture toughness. In addition,
three-dimensional residual stress eld can result in signicant
decrease of fracture toughness values in the HAZ area [1,2]. It
is well known that the thermal history of welded
structure strongly affects their microstructure and their mechani-
cal properties [35]. Post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is a com-
mon practice to relieve undesirable post-weld tensile residual
stresses and improve mechanical properties of welded low alloy
and high strength steel structures by grain renement. A number
of other post-weld treatment operations are also used, such as
grinding, shot peening, re-melting, and ultrasonic peening to
remove tensile residual stresses and induced compressive residual
stresses [6]. Depending on the heat treatment, the microstruc-
ture of alloy steel can be different. Sometimes it becomes fer-
riticpearlitic [7,8] or tempered martensitic or even bainitic [9].
The degree of PWHT embrittlement is dependent upon heating
rate, holding time or duration of treatment, applied stress, and
grain size of the weld and HAZ microstructures [10]. Sometimes,
PWHT is difcult to control and apply, as well as it may be
expensive and time-consuming. For this reason the authors have
explored different surface processing technique such as,
Electro-plasma processing, a new and environmental friendly
technique.
0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2013.08.035

Corresponding author. Address: 2508 PFT Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803,
USA. Tel.: +1 225 578 5823; fax: +1 225 578 5924.
E-mail address: wahab@me.lsu.edu (M.A. Wahab).
Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
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j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ mat des
Electrolytic-plasma-process (EPP) is an effective surface engi-
neering technique that combines cleaning and coating of metals
[11,12]. During EPP treatment, direct current (DC) voltage is
applied to the electrodes in the aqueous electrolyte, which pro-
duces plasma at the surface of the submerged workpiece. Thermal,
chemical, electrical, and mechanical effects caused by EPP to the
workpiece produce unique surface features [13,14]. Until now,
EPP is fully developed for industrial applications in specic pro-
cesses; and is being researched for other possible commercial
applications. EPP treatment results in sub-micro-grained surface
structure and low martensite volume fraction at the top surface.
Which provides the benets of combination of high hardness and
good corrosion resistance properties [13,15]. It is reported that
welded metals are poor corrosion resistant when exposed to corro-
sive environment [16]. Therefore EPP might be an important pro-
cessing for post-weld treatment process to improve both
corrosion resistant and mechanical properties of welded struc-
tures. Only a few handful of studies are reported in the open liter-
ature on the use of Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) coating on
welded structures, corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking related
studies [17,18]. But in the open literature, to the knowledge of the
authors, currently no study is reported on the effect of EPP on
mechanical properties of the welded alloy steel. PWHT is mostly
used for stress recovery and for improving mechanical properties
of welded structure. This prompted the authors to conduct this
current investigation on the welded structures and joints; as weld-
ing is the largest fabrication industry in the western world; and
most marine structures fall into this category and are susceptible
to corrosion and failures due to stress corrosion cracking.
In this research, a new application of EPP is investigated; where
HAZ and weld metal zone of TIG welded AISI-4140 alloy steel are
treatedusing EPP. The effects of PWHT andEPP onthe residual stres-
ses, micro-hardness, microstructures, and mechanical properties of
TIGweldedjoints are investigated inthis present study. The residual
stresses are measuredusing ultrasonic testing. Surfacial microstruc-
tural and microhardness changes are examined by optical micro-
scope and Rockwell hardness readings, respectively. Finally,
tensile tests are carried out to identify the effect on the strength
recovery and change of ductility of different heat treatment
processes.
2. Materials and experimental procedures
2.1. Materials and welding process
Rolled plates of AISI-4140 annealed multipurpose alloy steel
with 300 mm 76 mm 6.35 mm dimensions are TIG welded
with SAE-4130 chromoly ller rod according to AWS welding codes
for steel [19]. The specied chemical compositions (by %wt.) of the
base metal (BM) and ller metal (FM) are presented in Table 1. The
direction of welding for the specimens tested were normal (trans-
verse) to the rolling direction; and all necessary care was taken to
avoid joint distortion by clamping the plates at suitable positions.
Multipass welding was used to fabricate the butt joints. The weld-
ing specications are listed in Table 2. Welding was followed by
natural air cooling at room temperature. All the welds were visu-
ally and ultrasonically inspected for defects.
2.2. Experimental procedures
To ensure defect-free specimens, the welded and polished
plates were tested with Olympus Omniscan MX2.0 nondestructive
phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) unit. Angle beam wedge
(3070) and a 16-elements phased array ultrasonic probe were
used for the PAUT. After scanning the welded plate by PAUT, the
specimens were cut into dog-bone tensile samples fromdefect-free
regions according to ASTM: E8/E8M-11. Fig. 1 shows the schematic
diagram of welding groove and dog-bone tensile samples congu-
rations. Dog-bone samples were again inspected with PAUT to con-
rm no aws exist in the samples for rational comparison.
To study the inuence of post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) on
the level of residual stresses and mechanical properties of the spec-
imens, the welded samples were subjected to two different stress-
relieving heat treatment processes: i.e. (i) Annealing were done in
a furnace at 650 C temperature and (ii) hardening at 500 C for 1 h,
respectively, followed by air-cooling.
Electrolytic plasma processing (EPP) was applied on weld metal
and heat affected zones (HAZ) of the welded samples to study its
ability to relieve post-weld residual stresses. Continuously NaHCO
3
electrolyte was delivered onto the sample surface through a tube
connected with porous anodic plate. The electrical conductivity
Table 1
Chemical composition of base metal and welding ller rod metal.
wt.% C Cr Mn Mo P Si S Fe
AISI-4140 0.380.43 0.81.1 0.751.0 0.150.25 0.035 0.150.30 0.04 96.797.7
SAE-4130 0.280.33 0.81.1 0.40.6 0.150.25 0.035 0.150.35 0.04 97.398.2
Table 2
Welding specications.
Base metal Filler metal Welding type Shielding gas Welding current Electrode Groove type
AISI4140 alloy steel plate
(6.35 mm thick)
SAE4130
(3.2 mm dia.)
TIG (Manual) Pure argon
(1018 CFH)
DCSP
(240350 amps)
2% Thoriated
(3.2 mm dia.)
Single V-offset
(45 bevel angle)
Fig. 1. Welding congurations and tensile specimens (thickness = 6.35; all dimensions are in millimeter).
M.W. Dewan et al. / Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613 7
of the NaHCO
3
electrolyte is 43.1 10
3
S/cm. This connection en-
sures the plasma formation on the cathode side (the welded sam-
ples). The applied voltage and current were (150 V) and (2 0.2 A),
respectively; and EPP was applied for 5 min on each side of welded
at samples. All EPP tests were conducted at atmospheric pressure
and initiated from room temperature. Fig. 2 shows typical SEM
micrographs before and after EPP treatment [20].
To study the effect of PWHT and EPP on microstructural behav-
ior, the samples were metallographically polished according to
ASTM standard and etched with 2% Nital reagent to expose the
grain boundaries. Optical micrographs were taken using light opti-
cal microscope (OMAX-M83MPTR) equipped with image analyzing
software.
The hardness across the weld surface was measured using
Rockwell hardness tester (Type: FUTURE-TECH Rockwell type
hardness tester, Model: Digital FR-3e). The hardness prole was
measured at the center of the surface as shown in Fig. 3. Before
using microhardness tester, it was calibrated using calibration
block. We have used diamond cone indenter along with 30 kgf.
(HR 30 N scale) and converted the Rockwell hardness values into
Brinell hardness (HB scale) using ASTM hardness conversion table.
Residual stresses of the as-welded (AW), PWHT, and EPP-
treated samples were calculated using nondestructive ultrasonic
testing (UT). Ultrasonic longitudinal waves are propagated through
the thickness of the material and wave transit time is measured.
The sound velocity can be calculated by knowing the thickness
and the measured time. As a result of these measurements average
residual stress through the thickness of the material can be mea-
sured [21,22]. During the welding process, microstructure of the
material changes and this causes the variations of wave velocities.
The expression relating to the velocity of a wave propagating in the
longitudinal direction to an internal stressed eld can be written as
Eq. (1). If the measurement is made in a single propagation direc-
tion, the above equation can be simplied and expressed as Eq. (2).
For the majority of materials studied K
1
K
2
[23], so Eq. (2) can be
reduced as Eq. (3).
v v
0
=v
0
K
1
r
1
K
2
r
2
r
3
1
v v
0
=v
0
K
1
r
1
K
2
r
2
2
r
1
v v
0
=K
1
v
0
3
Here, v
0
, v are sound speeds in an unstressed and stressed medium,
respectively. r
1
, r
2
and r
3
are principal stresses, and K
1
, K
2
are the
acoustoelastic constants. The acoustoelastic constant K
1
relates to
the ultrasonic velocity to the stress, and can be obtained experi-
mentally [22]. In this study we have used acoustoelastic constant,
K
1
= 2.36 10
5
(MPa)
1
. This acoustoelastic constant is applica-
ble in the elastic range of the material.
Tensile properties were determined at room temperature using
a displacement rate of 1 mm/min in a MTS-810 universal testing
machine. The tensile strain was measured using a 25.4 mm (1
00
)
gage length extensometer that was attached to the middle of the
specimen. All testing results were computed based on a statistical
sample of four specimens. The yield strength was obtained
employing the 0.2% offset method. Toughness was the area under
the stressstrain curve and ductility was the ratio between ulti-
mate strain (e
u
) and yield strain (e
el
). To analyze fracture surfaces
of the tensile tested specimens, a JOEL scanning electron micro-
scope (SEM) was used to obtain fractographs.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Phased array ultrasonic testing
The TIG welded AISI-4140 alloy steel plates were inspected with
nondestructive phased array ultrasonic technique (PAUT) to iden-
tify defect-free welded samples. From the phased array ultrasonic
testing we obtained A, B, C, and S scans views to nd actual size,
shape and position of weld defects. The red color in 6 dB scan view
indicates weld defects. Typical B and C scan views from welded
plates are shown in Fig. 4. In the Figs. 4b1 and c1 are B and C scan
views for plate 1, respectively. In plate 1, two defects are detected
one defect is at the left side, another is at the right side of the
plate (red color). Dog bone specimens were prepared by hydro-cut-
ting from defect free locations of the welded plates. The specimens
were again tested with PAUT. Only defect-free samples were tested
in tension.
3.2. Optical micrographs
Optical micrographs of the weld, HAZ, and the base metal of the
TIG welded AISI-4140 alloy steel samples are shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 2. Typical SEM micrographs of steel before and after EPP treatment.
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram shows hardness prole along the surface of welded
plate- (a) weld, (b) HAZ and (c) base metal.
8 M.W. Dewan et al. / Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613
Welding heat changes the microstructure around the weld by
raising the temperature of these regions above the Ac1 [24]. The
typical microstructure of the base plate is ferrite and pearlite
(Fig. 5-base metal). The base metal adjacent to the weld metal is
HAZ metal, which is subjected to a complex thermal cycle during
welding. The large region of this zone is bainite with small grains
of ferrite. The grains are extended compared to base metal. In weld
zone, cooling rate is higher and resulted martensite or lenticular
microstructure (lath) formation. This type of martensite is found
in plain carbon and high strength chromiummolybdenum alloy
steels up to about 0.5 wt% carbon. The martensite reaction is a
diffusionless shear transformation, highly crystallographic in
character, which leads to a characteristic lath or lenticular micro-
structure. Martensite lath width decreases with increasing cooling
rate [24]. So, decreasing martensite lath width was observed in the
weld center line (Fig. 5-as-welded). PWHT are usually employed to
improve mechanical properties of welded structures by changing
microstructure [3,4]. Annealed at 650 C, resulted grain rene-
ment; and we observed ferrite- pearlite microstructure like as base
metal. After PWHT, the grain renement happened and we ob-
served similar microstructure as base metal (Fig. 5-PWHT). During
EPP-treatment, melting of surface takes place due to high temper-
ature plasma produced within small hydrogen bubbles. Quenching
of the melted surface along with shock wave created from collaps-
ing bubbles. Reduced lath or lenticular microstructure was ob-
served in EPP-treated samples compared to as-welded samples.
Gupta and Tenhundfeld also indicated similar effect of EPP on
un-welded steel [25].
3.3. Microhardness
Microhardness tests were performed to characterize the Brinell
hardness (HB) prole along the transverse direction of the welds.
Fig. 6 illustrates the hardness prole of TIG welded AISI-4140 steel.
Surface hardness mapping method is an easy way to observe the
microstructure of whole weld zone and investigation of distribution
of mechanical properties and microstructure [24]. At the interface
to HAZ and weld zone is known as fusion line, which is composed
with large lath width martensite. The width of martensite lath
decreases at location closer to the weld center. So, higher hardness
value was observed in the weld center line compared to fusion line.
Just after the fusion line, we have ner grain region with highest
hardness value. Further away from that region toward base metal,
hardness value decreased for the grain coarsening effect during
complex thermal cycle in the heat affected zone. PWHT resulted
grain renement and we observed lower difference in hardness va-
lue between HAZ and base metal. EPP treatment does not have any
signicant effect on the grain renement. As a result, we did not ob-
serve substantial change in hardness values as compared with as
welded samples. Gupta and Tenhundfeld also showed that a passive
surface generated after EPP treatment, which is good for corrosion
resistant, but do have signicant effect on microhardness [25].
3.4. Residual stresses
Residual stresses are essentially locked-in stress and a key
part in determining the overall strength of a welded component.
In this study, non-destructive ultrasonic testing method was used
to measure residual stresses as described earlier using Eq. (3). To
plot the distribution, residual stresses were measured at ve loca-
tions: 0, 5, 10 and 20 mm away from the weld centerline. Trans-
verse residual stresses of the as-welded (AW), PWHT (650 C and
500 C), EPP-treated, and PWHT (650 C) plus EPP treated samples
are plotted in Fig. 7. Highest residual stresses are generally experi-
enced in the heat affected zone (HAZ) followed by fusion zone [26].
Away from the HAZ, the tensile residual stresses decreases and ob-
served compressive residual stresses. Lower tensile residual stres-
ses were experienced in PWHT samples for the grain renement.
As stated earlier, EPP was applied on the HAZ and fusion zone to
investigate its ability to relieve residual stresses. During EPP-treat-
ment, a compressive thermal shock is induced by the expansion of
plasma bubbles on the surface [27], which helps to remove tensile
residual stresses and induce compressive stresses. As a result, les-
ser tensile residual stresses were illustrated in HAZ and fusion zone
in EPP treated specimens compared to AW specimens. Application
of EPP after PWHT did not exhibit signicant change on residual
stresses, which is attributed to the fact that residual stresses are al-
ready relieved by grain renement during PWHT at 650 C. As
Fig. 4. Phased array ultrasonic scan view of two TIG welded 4140 steel plates (300 mm length)- (b1) B-scan view, and (c1) C-scan view.
M.W. Dewan et al. / Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613 9
stated earlier, acoustoelastic constant is applicable only in the elas-
tic range of the material. If the residual stress is above the yield
strength, acoustoelasticity may not be used to measure residual
stresses. In his study, the measured residual stresses (highest value
was about 600 MPa) are quite below than the actual yield strength
(about 758 MPa) of AISI4140 steel. So, the use of acoustoelasticity
to measure residual stress is justied.
3.5. Uniaxial tensile test
Uniaxial transverse tensile stress strain curves of base metal
(Base), as-welded (AW), PWHT (W_HT_500 C and W_HT_650 C),
and EPP treated (W_EPP, W_HT_650 C_EPP) samples are shown
in Fig. 8. The average 0.2% offset yield stress and ultimate tensile
strength of base materials were 758 MPa and 836 MPa, respec-
tively. Corresponding values for as welded specimens were
700 MPa and 839 MPa. As welded specimens resulted about 39%
lower failure strain compared to base metal. TIG welded samples
failed by pure shear fracture mode, resulting from the dislocation
slip [28,29].
The ability of a metal to deform plastically and to absorb energy
in the process before fracture is termed toughness. Toughness is
the ability of a metal to deform plastically and absorb energy in
the process before fracture. Toughness, which is measured by cal-
culating the area under the tensile stress strain curve, is a combi-
nation of stress levels and ductility. The key to improve
toughness is a good combination of strength and ductility. Ductility
is the ratio between ultimate strain and yield strain. About 37%
reduction in toughness value was observed due to welding. Reduc-
tion in strength and ductility of welded joints can be attributed to
the prominent increase of grain size near the fusion zone [29,30].
Improvement in ductility and reduction in yield strength was ob-
served after PWHT at 650 C. This may be attributed to the decom-
position of martensite and the grain coarsening of alpha phase,
Fig. 5. Optical micrographs of AISI4140 alloy steel (etchant: 2% Nital).
10 M.W. Dewan et al. / Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613
which make easy inter-granular slip and dislocation movement. In
addition, the yield point will locally be reached earlier because of
the decrease of residual tensile stress after PWHT, thus leading to
an overall reduction in yield strength. About 88% higher toughness
was achieved by PWHT at 650 C compared to as welded samples.
PWHT at 500 C does not have any signicant effect on the tensile
strength and ductility of TIG-welded 4140 alloy steel.
EPP-treated samples showed 743 MPa and 912 MPa yield and
ultimate strength, respectively. The highest tensile strength of
the welded joint after EPP- treatment is related with the presence
of ne martensitic structure in weld and HAZ metal, and removal
of residual stresses. Martensitic structures restricted the disloca-
tion movement through the intragranular region and results lower
ductility as well as lower toughness. As a result, only 10% tough-
ness improvement was perceived compared to as-welded samples.
Similar to the specimens without EPP and PWHT at 650 C, results
good toughness values; but lower tensile strength. EPP was
applied on welded annealed samples to observe the effect on ten-
sile strength. The results show that EPP after PWHT did not exhibit
any signicant effect on the tensile strength and toughness, as EPP
works on the surface, which limits its effect on the grain rene-
ment. However, when EPP is applied on the as-welded samples,
it relieved residual stress and resulted higher tensile strength.
The summary of the uniaxial test results is given in
Table 3.
3.6. SEM fractographs
The fracture surfaces of the specimens were characterized using
SEM to understand the modes of failure patterns. The SEM images
(Fig. 9ad) were taken at the center of the failure surface of base,
as-welded, PWHT 650 C, and EPP-treated samples. The micro-
graphs indicate that all the surfaces invariably consist of dimples,
which is of typical indication of ductile fracture. During tensile
testing of ductile materials voids are formed prior to necking. If
the neck is formed earlier, the void formation would be much more
prominent; and as a result, coarse and elongated dimples can be
seen. Cleavage, which is the separation along particular crystallo-
graphic planes is the foremost fracture mechanism shown by base
metal [31]. The as-welded tensile specimens fail by shear in the
heat-affected-zone and resulted ner dimples. Grain renement
occurred due to PWHT at 650 C and turns into more ductile. As
a consequence, cup and cone fracture surface with coarse and elon-
gated dimples were detected. Fig. 9e was taken near surface of EPP-
treated sample. By comparing, Figs. 9d and e, we can conclude that
EPP works only on the surface, and have no signicant effect on the
Fig. 6. Change of Brinell microhardness (converted from Rockwell 30 N).
A
v
e
r
a
g
e

r
e
s
i
d
u
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Distance from weld center (mm)
AW
W_HT_650C
W_HT_500C
W_EPP
W_HT_650C_EPP
Fig. 7. Distribution of transverse residual stresses in TIG welded AISI-4140 alloy
steel.
Fig. 8. Tensile stress strain curves of TIG welded AISI 4140 steel.
Table 3
Tensile test results of TIG welded AISI 4140 alloy steel.
Tensile properties Base AW HT_500 C HT_650 C EPP HT_650 C + EPP
Yield strength (MPa) 758.3 20.1 700.5 14.5 698.9 5.7 618.2 20.4 743.7 12.5 627.6 11.2
Ultimate strength (MPa) 836.3 6.0 839.2 22.8 837.7 7.3 774.5 14.4 912.2 5.9 805.6 12.2
Failure strain (%) 9.54 0.7 5.80 0.3 7.11 0.2 11.52 0.5 6.33 0.3 8.70 0.7
Toughness (MJ/m
3
) 65.98 4.9 41.44 4.6 46.51 3.8 78.09 3.9 46.76 4.1 58.25 4.8
Ductility 3.77 0.22 2.71 0.16 3.41 0.10 5.90 0.23 3.08 0.15 4.34 0.30
M.W. Dewan et al. / Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613 11
bulk materials. As results, core of the EPP-treated specimens seems
similar to AW specimens, but subsurface fracture seems ner dim-
ples with brittle fracture. The specimens after EPP-treatment fail
by quasi-cleavage fracture. The petal-like cleavage faces and the
tearing edges are observed in the rupture surface [32].
4. Conclusions
The following general conclusions can be drawn for this study:
The reduction in ductility, tensile strength, and toughness is
common in TIG-welded low alloy steel for the development of
tensile residual stresses and martensitic microstructures in
HAZ and weld zone. Consequently, as-welded (AW) samples
showed about 39% and 37% reduction in failure strain and
toughness values, respectively, compared to the base metal.
Post-welding heat treatment (PWHT) is a general practice to
relieve post-weld tensile residual stresses and improve mechan-
ical properties of welded AISI-4140 alloy steel. About 88%
increase in toughness values and 12% lower yield strength was
achieved by PWHT at 650 C compared to as-welded samples.
This may be due tothe decompositionof martensite, grainrene-
ment, and removal of tensile residual stresses due to PWHT.
The electrolytic plasma process (EPP) is developed to improve
different materials surface properties, especially the corrosion
resistance property. EPP was applied on HAZ and weld zone of
TIG welded AISI-4140 steel to improve tensile properties. EPP-
treated samples showed 743 MPa and 912 MPa yield and ulti-
mate strength, respectively. Corresponding values for the AW
samples were 700 MPa and 839 MPa. The highest tensile
strength of EPP treated sample is related with the presence of
ne martensitic structure in weld and HAZ metal; and removal
of residual stresses by shock wave generation from collapsing
hydrogen bubbles. Due to the presence of ne martensitic
microstructures, surcial EPP-treatment resulted about 10%
improvement in toughness as compared to AW samples.
Most of the tensile residual stresses are relieved by PWHT pro-
cess. Thus, EPP after PWHT did not exhibit signicant improve-
ment on the tensile strength. Whereas, it resulted 25%
toughness reduction for formation of surcial martensite due
to ne martensite formation by rapid cooling and heating, dur-
ing EPP treatment.
EPP-treatment might be a good candidate technology to
improve tensile strength by relieving of post-weld tensile resid-
ual stresses, as well as imparting corrosion resistant property of
TIG welded low alloy and high strength steel structures.
In future EPP can be applied on other welded materials and
investigated their mechanical and corrosion responses to
increase the applicability of this technology.
Acknowledgements
Authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial support received
from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. Nuclear Regu-
latory Grant Account # NRC-HQ-11-G-38-0052, LSU Account No:
127-40-5003). Authors also appreciate assistances received from
Mr. Paul Rodriguez and Mr. Don Colvin during welding and sample
preparations.
Fig. 9. Fracture of surface of tensile tested 4140 steel (a) base metal, (b) as welded, (c) heat treated (650 C), (d) EPP treated (middle), and (e) EPP treated (near surface).
12 M.W. Dewan et al. / Materials and Design 54 (2014) 613
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