FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF ELECTROSLAG WELDED A537G STEEL

This paper reports an investigation of the properties of a 2 in. thick electroslag weldment in A537G steel plate using both conventional Charpy impact tests and fracture mechanics testing methods. It was found that A537 steel normalized and stress relieved in 2 in. thickness showed good properties in notch toughness and fracture toughness tests above 100 F. In the as-welded condition, the weld metal and heat-affected zone of an electroslag weldment exhibited transition temperatures more than 100 F above the base metal and suffered corresponding losses in fracture toughness. Stress relieving erased a large fraction of the differences and normalizing plus stress relieving removed nearly all the differences in Charpy V-notch toughness of the weld metal and HAZ compared to base metal. The results of this study suggest that electroslag weldments will not provide the notch toughness expected of low temperature steels such as A537, unless heat treatment is subsequently applied.