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An understanding of HSLA-65 plate steels

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Abstract

HSLA-65 plate steels can be produced using one of five plate manufacturing techniques: normalizing, controlled rolling (CR), controlled rolling followed by accelerated cooling (CR-AC), direct quenching and tempering (DQT), or conventional quenching and tempering (Q&T). The HSLA-65 steels are characterized by low carbon content and low alloy content, and they exhibit a low carbon equivalent that allows improved plate weldability. These characteristics in turn (a) provide the steel plate with a refined microstructure that ensures high strength and toughness; (b) eliminate or substantially reduce the need for preheating during welding; (c) resist susceptibility to hydrogen-assisted cracking (HAC) in the weld heat affected zone (HAZ) when fusion (arc) welded using low heat-input conditions; and (d) depending on section thickness, facilitate high heat-input welding (about 2 kJ/mm) without significant loss of strength or toughness in the HAZ. However, application of this plate manufacturing process and of these controls produces significant differences in the metallurgical structure and range of mechanical properties of the HSLA-65 plate steels both among themselves and versus conventional higher strength steel (HSS) plates. For example, among the HSLA-65 plate steels, those produced by Q&T exhibit minimal variability in mechanical properties, especially in thicker plates. Besides variability in mechanical properties depending on plate thickness, the CR and CR-AC plate steels exhibit a relatively higher yield strength to ultimate tensile strength (YS/UTS) ratio than do DQT and Q&T steels. Such differences in processing and properties of HSLA-65 plate steels could potentially affect the selection and control of various secondary fabrication practices, including arc welding. Consequently, fabricators must exercise extreme caution when transferring allowable limits of certified secondary fabrication practices from one type of HSLA-65 plate steel to another, even for the same plate thickness.

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  1. Kreative Koncepts, 15904, Johnstown, PA

    K. Sampath

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Sampath, K. An understanding of HSLA-65 plate steels. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 15, 32–40 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1361/105994906X83439

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