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Fig. 1 The New Mississippi River Bridge is shown here as an artists conception, because the bridge is still in the planning stages. The
new bridge, which will connect downtown St. Louis with Illinois, is to be 222 feet wide, and the main span will be 2000 feet long. The bridge
will contain 14,700 tons of structural steel, and one thousand miles of 0.6 inch stay-cable strand. Welded-notch toughness testing will be
necessary to ensure the toughness of weldments. Web site: www.newriverbridge.org.
Welded-Notch Toughness Testing
Christopher Hahin*
Illinois Department of Transportation
Springfield, Illinois
T
he welded-notch toughness
test was developed in re-
sponse to the inability of con-
ventional welding tests to de-
termine the actual toughness
of a weldment. Previous tests
evaluated the toughness of the base
metal, the weld metal, or selected
areas in thick, full-penetration welds,
typically by cutting out sections for
Charpy V-notch testing of the heat-
affected zone. However, most weld-
ments are either partial-penetration
or fillet welds, with inherent notches
typically present. Welded-notch
toughness testing is important for
structures such as bridges (Fig. 1).
This article details the steps in
welded-notch testing, describes the
characteristics of ASTM A710 Grade
B high-performance steel, and dis-
cusses the results of tests on shielded
metal arc, submerged arc, and flux-
core welding of A710.
*Member of ASM International
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/FEBRUARY 2005
TECH SPOTLIGHT
Overview of the procedure
In the welded-notch toughness
test, two plates at least 16 mm thick,
10 cm wide, and 40 to 45 cm long
(5/8 by 4 by 16-18 in.) are partially
beveled at a 30-degree angle, leaving
a land area of 4 to 5 mm. This results
in a V-groove with a 60-degree in-
cluded angle when put together.
The plates are placed in a rigid,
portable fixture, as shown in Fig. 2,
and are separated by a gap of about Fig. 2 A rigid, portable test fixture is
0.1 mm (0.004 in.). This gap is essen- used in the welded notch toughness test. Par-
tial because welds with no gap pro- tially beveled plates with 4 to 6 mm land area
duce notches of such high acuity that are placed in slots in the side restraints. The
included groove angle is 60 degrees, and the
they could not be located visually electrode is fed directly into the root of the
after machining, especially in sub- notch. Most of the penetration is actually side
merged arc welds. wall, rather than punching through the root.
After positioning the plates in the
fixture, they are tacked with weld
beads 1 to 2 cm ( to in.) long on
opposite sides of the plates to keep
them together during welding. The
electrode is run directly into the root
of the V-groove, and the remainder
of the groove is filled by a number of
subsequent passes determined by
the prescribed weld parameters.
These parameters include voltage,
amperage and heat input/unit length,
49
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electrode size, and classification. Al- a natural notch depth of about 2 mm.
though plate thickness is unlimited, Because the notch acuity varies,
thickness is normally limited to the a standard ASTM E23 V-notch is then
plate size intended for actual service. broached or milled at the apex of the
After the plates are welded, they notch, right at the weld root. This is
are rough-cut into various pre- the site in which a typical weld notch
machined segments to make tensile, would start to crack in service. Stan-
Table 1 Chemical bend, macro-etch, and Charpy V- dard Charpy V-notch acuity and
composition of notch specimens. An example of specimen size also permit compar-
rough-cut and impacted Charpy V- ison of weldment toughness test re-
ASTM A 710 Grade B notch specimens is shown in Fig. 3. sults with impact values of weld
Element Composition, wt.% The impact specimens are machined metals and base metals.
Carbon 0.03-0.09 to remove approximately 2 to 3 mm
from the welded notch edge, leaving Corrosion-resistant steel
Manganese 0.45-1.30 ASTM A710 Grade B is a new low
Phosphorus, max 0.025 carbon-Mn-Cu-Ni-Cb precipitation-
strengthened steel, with minor
Sulfur 0.025 max
chromium and molybdenum addi-
Silicon 0.30-0.50 tions for ferrite strengthening. Its
Nickel 0.80-1.00 composition was jointly developed
by Northwestern University, Oregon
Chromium 0.30 max
Steel Mills, US Steel, and the Illinois
Molybdenum 0.25 max Dept. of Transportation. Composi-
Fig. 3 Rough cut specimens are ma- tion ranges for this alloy are shown
Copper 1.25-1.50
chined into Charpy size test bars, leaving ap- in Table 1.
Columbium proximately 2 mm for the notch depth. An Because of its higher copper con-
[Niobium] 0.02-0.06 ASTM E23 standard Charpy V-notch is then
tent, this alloy has enhanced atmos-
Titanium 0.01-0.03 broached or cut into the apex of the welded
notch. pheric corrosion resistance, signifi-
cantly better than conventional
250 ASTM A588 weathering steel. A710
A 710 Gr B & AWS E7018 Grade B steel has a nominal as-rolled
yield strength of 480 MPa (70 ksi) and
200

high toughness at subfreezing tem-
peratures.
V-notch toughness, ft-lb

Tensile strength above 480 MPa (70

150 ksi) can be significantly increased by

precipitation hardening at 538C


(1000F) for one hour or more.
100
Toughness can be also increased

by normalizing the alloy at 900C
(1650F) and air cooling.
50
At room temperature, the impact
notch toughness of A 710 Grade B is

in excess of 325 J (240 ft-lb). Typical
40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 and ASTM minimum mechanical
Temperature, F properties are shown in Table 2.
Fig. 4 A plot of the welded notch toughness of a weldment of A 710 Grade B joined by
AWS E7018 electrodes. The transition temperature is estimated to be at -20oF. This manual Shielded metal-arc welding
arc, low-hydrogen electrode provides high toughness over a substantial range of temperatures, However, A710 Grade B had never
although its low-temperature toughness is substantially less than the A 710 base metal. been welded before by any process,
although other high performance
Table 2 Required mechanical properties steels previously developed, notably
Grade B, ASTM A709 HPS 70W, had demon-
Grade B, Grade B, Class 3 strated high weldability due to their
Class 1 Class 2 precipitation low carbon content. The welded-
hot rolled normalized, hardened, notch toughness test was used to de-
to 1 inch 2 inches 2 inches termine the impact toughness of
Property Typical Min Typical Min Typical Min weldments of A710 Grade B with
various electrodes and processes.
Tensile strength, ksi 85 80 82 80 95 80 The first welding process evalu-
Yield strength, ksi 76 70 73 70 82 70 ated for A710 Grade B was shielded
metal arc welding, known as stick
Elongation, %, 2 in. 27 20 34 20 28 20
welding. The AWS E7018 low-hy-
V-Notch, ft-lb 100 35* 200+ 20** 200 35* drogen electrode was chosen, as it is
For ASTM A710 Grade B Steel. *at -10oF [-23oC] **at -50oF [-45oC] commonly used in structural work.
50 ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/FEBRUARY 2005
welded.qxp 1/18/2005 11:35 AM Page 3

Fig. 5 The welded notch toughness of 250

a submerged arc weldment of A710 Grade
B using LA 75 and LA 85 electrodes with Mil
A 710 Gr B & LA75/Mil880M sub arc
880M flux. The transition temperature is es- 200
A 710 Gr B & LA85/Mil880M sub arc

V-notch toughness, ft-lb

timated to be at -20oF, similar to E7018

manual arc electrodes. Submerged electrodes 150






generally provide flaw-free weld deposits, and









have excellent side wall penetration with siz-


able weld deposits when joining thick plates. 100





The root pass was welded with a 50
3/32-in. diameter electrode at 95 am-

peres, and the remaining three se-
quential passes were welded with a 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
1/8-in. diameter rod at 125 amperes. Temperature, F
Charpy V-notch impact tests of
A710 Grade B base metal indicated
high toughness at all service temper-
atures. Toughness was consistently
in the range of 136 to 325 J (100 to 240
ft-lb) or above, from +20 to -34C
(+70 to -29F). Weldment impact en-
ergy as function of temperature is
plotted in Fig. 4. Unlike most weld-
ments, in which the weld metal is
typically stronger and tougher than
the base metal, the E7018 weld alloy
has less toughness than the A710
base metal.

Submerged-arc welding
The second process evaluated was
submerged arc welding with 3/32-
in. Lincoln LA75 and LA85 elec-
trodes, and Mil-880M flux at 28 volts
and 340 to 350 amperes. Weld travel
speed was 14 inches per minute
(ipm). These electrodes were chosen
because of their similarity of compo-
sition to A710 Grade B. Weld bead
profiles were smooth, with excellent
sidewall penetration and easy
deslagging. Weldments had very
good toughness, but it was slightly
lower than the base metal. Results of
weld notch-toughness tests for sub-
merged arc are plotted in Fig. 5.

Flux-core arc welding

The third process evaluated was
flux-core arc welding with ESAB 80
NiH4 Dual Shield wire at 1/16-in. di-
ameter. Cover gas was carbon
dioxide, which is the most econom-
ical for fabrication. Electrode param-
eters were 28 volts at 260 amperes,
and a weld travel speed of 13 ipm.
The weld notch-toughness tests for
flux-core welding, plotted in Fig. 6,
show a substantial reduction in
toughness compared with manual
shielded-arc and submerged-arc
processes. Flux-core welding elec-
trodes hold substantially more mois-
ture than their stick and sub-arc coun-
terparts, even when properly stored
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/FEBRUARY 2005 Circle 18 or visit www.adinfo.cc 51
welded.qxp 1/18/2005 11:35 AM Page 4

A36 to SAE 4130 with E7018

250
A 710 Gr B & ESAB 80 NiH4 electrodes;
flux core SAE 8620 to ASTM A572 with a
200
V-notch toughness, ft-lb

variety of electrodes.
Welding processes tested for these
150 various steels include shielded
metal-arc, submerged arc, gas-metal
100 arc, and flux-core arc welding. Con-

ventional welding parameters were


50
applied in all cases.




The welded-notch toughness test

provides high restraint to welded
30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 plates, and represents naturally
Temperature, F formed welded notches in fillet welds
Fig. 6 The welded-notch toughness of a weldment of A 710 Grade B and ESAB 80 NiH4 and in partial-penetration weld joints.
flux core electrodes, using CO2 cover gas. The transition temperature is estimated at +20oF, The machined test bars can provide ei-
with a substantial decrease in overall toughness compared to manual and submerged arc welds. ther Charpy V-notch or sharp acuity
Significant improvement in toughness is expected if argon-oxygen is used as a cover gas. Use pre-cracked KId specimens. Because
of flux-core electrodes generally results in a sacrifice of toughness vs. increased rate of metal the fixture is portable, test plates can
deposition. Loss in toughness is due to the inherent affinity of flux-core electrodes to pick up be easily welded in laboratories, shops,
moisture during storage. or in field locations.
and cured. This is important because to itself and to other alloys. In general, the welded-notch
higher moisture content in flux-core The welded-notch toughness test toughness test can serve a variety of
electrodes increases their suscepti- has also been used to measure the industries in which it is important to
bility to hydrogen embrittlement. toughness of weldments made with know the toughness of similar and
different electrodes and base metals dissimilar metals and alloys joined
Results of toughness test other than A710 Grade B. These by welding.
Results of these welded-notch other electrodes and base metals For further information: Christopher
toughness tests indicated that the include: Hahin, Illinois Department of Trans-
choice of electrode and process is im- ASTM A36 carbon steel to 304 portation, Springfield, IL 62704; tel: 217/
portant when joining A710 Grade B stainless steel with 309L electrodes; 782-0574; e-mail: HahinC@dot.il.gov.

52 Circle 19 or visit www.adinfo.cc Circle 20 or visit www.adinfo.cc