Great Minds of Carbon Equivalent - 1 PDF

The Great Minds of Carbon Equivalent
Part l: Invention of the Carbon Equivalent

Wesley Wang, Senior Engineer
Materials Group, EWI
Modern steels made using complicated alloying The effect of Si was overlooked in McWilliams
strategies and thermomechanical rolling processes equation because steels at that time only
have exhibited unprecedented weldability since contained minimal amounts. When the carbon
World War II. Using this advantage, steel structure content in steel was increased to 0.5%, the
designers and fabricators have achieved many predicted tensile strengths from equation (1) were
modern marvels from machinery to deep-water oil significantly lower than those measured, hence;
and gas platforms. Through extensive research on McWilliam updated the equation by adding the Si
the integrity of steel structures, rigid qualification term as follows:
welding tests have evolved for various fabrication
UTS (psi) = 38,000 + [800 + 4(C-20)] + 120Si
codes. Weldability testing, for example, is no + [100 + 2(C-20)]Mn + 100P
(2)
longer focused only on producing crack-free welds
as was the case in the early part of the last century.
Testing now emphasizes the robustness of the It is important to note that equation (2) already
weld. As a result qualifying steels and welding includes the effect of the interaction between C
procedures to build important structures, such and Mn.
as oil and gas pipelines, well heads, and offshore
platforms, is significantly more challenging. To In 1918, McWilliam[1] presented a figure clearly
streamline this process, fabricators need a method showing that the strengthening effect of C was
of effectively evaluating the robustness of steel five to eight times greater than that of Mn (Figure
base-materials and welding consumables before 1). Indeed, equation (2) weighed the strengthening
the start of a fabrication project. Carbon equivalent effects of C, Mn and P differently and addressed
(CE) equations are capable of predicting the cold- their contributions in a linear function. This
cracking tendency of steels and have recently equation is significant as it introduced a prototype
been receiving significant attention, leading to this CE equation describing the strengthening effects
retrospective work on their evolution. of alloying elements.
In the early 20th century before traveling to a steel

plant in India, Scottish metallurgical inspector
Andrew McWilliam [1] pioneered the idea for an
equation that could predict the tensile strength
of steel using its chemical composition. At that
time, steels were rather simple, and were mainly
strengthened by C, Mn, and P. After McWilliam
arrived in India, he explored his database on steel
strength and chemical composition. He found
that tensile strength had a linear relationship
with concentrations of C, Mn, and P. For steels
with 0.20-0.26% C, he formulated the following
equation:
UTS (psi) = 38,000 + 800C + 100Mn + 100P (1)

In 1939, after decades of extensive research on This linear Equation (4) was used as a mathematic
steel strengthening, metallurgist Louis Reeve model to determine the coefficients used in the CE
[2] presented the following conclusions to equation. For example, a steel with a 39.6 tons/
Subcommittee R11 of the Research Committee of in.2 tensile strength was composed of 0.25% C,
the Institute of Welding at a welding conference in 1.50% Mn, 0.14% Si, and 0.036% P. Using the
Cambridge: given coefficients of C, Si, and P in Equation (3),
the following could be calculated:
1. If the heat affected zone (HAZ) hardness
was lower than 350 HV, no cracking would Carbon
occur. Element Calculation
Equivalent %
C 0.250 1 0.250
2. If the HAZ hardness exceeded 400 HV,
cracking was almost certain on a restrained Si 0.140 1/6 0.023
joint; however, no cracking would occur if P 0.030 1/0.8 0.045
the joint was not restrained. Subtotal 0.318

3. Welds with small cross-sectional areas Since Equation (4) gave a 0.590% carbon
were more prone to cracking. equivalent with respect to a 39.6 ton/in.2 tensile
strength, the difference between the above
4. Certain welding consumables could subtotaled carbon equivalent (i.e. 0.318%) and
promote more cracking than others. the 0.590% total carbon equivalent from Equation
(4) was the contribution from Mn. Therefore, the
In brief, the above addressed the importance of coefficient of Mn could be deduced as follows:
carbon content, thermal stress, weld size, cooling
rate, and diffusible hydrogen as it relates to Carbon
welding consumables. Element Calculation
Equivalent %
In October 1940, less than a year after the (0.590-
Mn 5.5
Cambridge conference, Dearden and ONeill [3] 0.318)/1.50
invented the concept of carbon equivalent and
The same process was applied to other steels with
published their equation, stating that CE means
different Mn contents. The mean value was used
the influence of any one element is expressed in
as the coefficient of Mn in Dearden and ONeills
terms of the amount carbon which would have
updated CE equation. This process was applied
the same result. Dearden and ONeill studied
to other elements until the following equation was
Wickhorst [4] and McWilliams results on the
developed based upon the tensile strength data on
strengthening effect of C, Si, Mn, and P on pure
steels with 0.2% C, 0.4-0.8% Mn, 0.4-0.65% Mo,
steels, and used their strengthening coefficients to
<0.08% P, and <0.5% Cu, resulting in the following
formulate the following initial CE equation:
equation, to be used with equation (4) to predict
CE = C + Si/6 + P/0.8 + Mn/5 (3) strength.
C + Si/6 + Mn/8 + Cr/7 + Ni/16 +
Dearden and ONeill then plotted the known tensile CE = (5)
Mo/4 + Co/16 + P/0.8
strengths of 50 steels against their calculated
carbon equivalents per Equation (3) and drew a
best-fit straight line to acquire the following tensile To simplify the testing method, Dearden and
strength equation. ONeill used the Vickers hardness test to replace
tensile and yield strength tests and determine
UTS (tons/in.2) = 16 + 40CE 2 tons/in.2 (4) the coefficient of each element. This yielded the
following classic carbon equivalent equation based Equations (5) through (7) suggest that the
on hardness: steel strength or hardness can be designed by
manipulating contents of alloying elements at a
CE = C + (Mn + Cr)/5.5 + Ni/15 + V/5 (6) low carbon level to prevent HAZ cracking after
+ Mo/4 + Co/150 + P/2
welding. This strategy laid the foundation for the
development of modern steels featuring good
This equation can then be used with the following weldability.
linear equation (7), which is an important
application of the CE equation to predict hardness:
Hv = 120CE - 200 (7) References

[1] McWilliam, A., The Influence of Some Elements
As long as the predicted hardness was lower than on the Tenacity of Basic Steel, with a New Formula
the maximum weld hardness, cold cracking for Calculating the Maximum Load From the
could be avoided. Based upon their results from Composition, The Journal of the Iron and Steel
Reeves-type tests, Dearden and ONeill confirmed Institute, Vol. XCVIII, pp. 43-58, 1918.
the maximum weld hardness to be 350 HV; the
same value that was announced in 1939 by Louis [2] Reeve, L., Metallurgy of Ferrous Welding, Note
Reeve himself [2]. on Cambridge Welding Conference, Transactions
of the Institute of Welding, Vol. II, pp. 7-18, 1939.
It should be noted that the maximum weld
hardness mentioned by Dearden and ONeill [3] Dearden, J. and ONeill, H., A Guide to the
refers to the hardness adjacent to the fusion line on Selection and Welding of Low Alloy Structural
the parent steel side, as opposed to the hardness Steels, Transactions of the Institute of Welding,
in the weld metal. As such, the term maximum Vol III, pp. 203-214, 1940.
weld hardness is actually referring to maximum
HAZ hardness. The same is true of Dearden and [4] Wickhorst, M.H., Formula for Deflection of
ONeills use of the term weld cracking in Part Rails in Drop Test, American Railway Association,
(6) of their paper [3]. Here they state the area Bulletin 170, 1914.
in which cracking is liable to occur is in the parent
plate and just alongside the weld bead. Here, the
term weld cracking is actually referring to HAZ
cracking.
Wesley Wang is a senior engineer in EWIs Materials group. His expertise includes ferrous and nonferrous welding
materials (selection, development, evaluation/analysis, and qualification), WPS design, welding processes, weldability
evaluation, failure analysis, microstructure and phase transformation, similar/dissimilar alloys welding, corrosion, pipe-
line welding, underwater welding, and hardfacing. He possesses an in-depth understanding of welding metallurgy and
strategies to optimize welding performance and weldment mechanical properties.
1250 Arthur E. Adams Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43221-3585 Phone: 614.688.5000 Fax: 614.688.5001, www.ewi.org

Great Minds of Carbon Equivalent - 1 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Great Minds of Carbon Equivalent - 1 PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Great Minds of Carbon Equivalent - 1 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Great Minds of Carbon Equivalent

Part l: Invention of the Carbon Equivalent

In the early 20th century before traveling to a steel

UTS (psi) = 38,000 + 800C + 100Mn + 100P (1)

Hv = 120CE - 200 (7) References

You might also like