Influence of welding procedure on stress-rei ief cracking in Cr–Mo–V steels: Part 1 use of cross-weld specimens

Rupture tests at the stress-relieving temperature have been made on specimens cut transversely from welds in a Cr–Mo–V steel known to be very susceptible to stress-relief cracking. The welds have been made by the manual metal-arc process and various weld procedures used to achieve different degrees of refinement in the weld heat-affected zones. Failure generally occurs in the weld heat-affected zones and the strengths and mean deformation to rupture are a function of the welding procedure. Rupture strengths are compared with those obtained in earlier work from thermally simulated specimens and the mean rupture deformations are compared with the relaxation strain expected in large welds during stress relief. The relevance of these results to stress-relief cracking and the repair of crack-prone steels in power station plant is discussed.