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Finite element analysis of type IV

cracking in 2.25Cr1Mo steel
weldment based on micromechanistic approach
Article in Philosophical Magazine A August 2011
DOI: 10.1080/14786435.2011.570279

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Philosophical Magazine
Vol. 91, No. 23, 11 August 2011, 31283154

Finite element analysis of type IV cracking in 2.25Cr1Mo steel

weldment based on micro-mechanistic approach

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Sunil Goyal, K. Laha*, K.S. Chandravathi,

P. Parameswaran and M.D. Mathew
Metallurgy and Materials Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,
Kalpakkam-603 102, India
(Received 25 October 2010; final version received 1 March 2011)
Creep studies were carried out on 2.25Cr1Mo steel base metal and its
fusion-welded weldments at 823 K over the stress range 100240 MPa. The
weldment possessed lower creep rupture strength than the base metal due to
type IV failure at the outer edge of the heat-affected zone (HAZ).
Premature failure of the weldment was associated with pronounced creep
cavitation accompanied with localized creep deformation in the soft
intercritical region of the HAZ that was sandwiched between relatively
higher creep deformation-resistant microstructural regions. The cavitation
was associated with coarse intergranular precipitates in the intercritical
region of the HAZ. The type IV cracking in the intercritical region of the
HAZ was found to initiate deep inside the weldment and propagate
towards the specimen surface. Finite element analysis of stress and strain
distributions across the weldment was carried out considering the micromechanical strength inhomogeneity across it to explain the observed
features of type IV cracking. The estimated higher von-Mises and principal
stresses deep inside the intercritical region of the HAZ of the weldment led
to the localized creep deformation and preferential cavity nucleation and
growth, resulting in type IV failure of the weldment. The role of
intergranular precipitate particles in the intercritical region of the HAZ
in facilitating creep cavity nucleation by the exhaustion of creep ductility of
the material close to the precipitate was corroborated from finite element
analysis of stress and strain distribution around the precipitates.
Keywords: ferritic steel weldment; heat-affected zone; type IV cracking;
creep fracture; cavitation; finite element modeling

1. Introduction
The operational lifetime of the fusion-welded CrMo steel components in power
generating and petrochemical plants is generally limited by the creep cavitation
associated with weldments [13]. Failure of these weldments is generally found to be
associated with the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal. The HAZ in
weldments of CrMo ferritic steels is a transition region between weld metal and base
metal. Microstructure developed across the HAZ is extremely complex and is

*Corresponding author. Email: laha@igcar.gov.in

ISSN 14786435 print/ISSN 14786443 online
2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/14786435.2011.570279
http://www.informaworld.com

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controlled by the interaction of thermal fields produced by the heat input from the
welding process and the phase transformation and grain growth characteristics of the
materials being welded [4]. Microstructures developed across the CrMo ferritic steel
HAZ have been characterized extensively by Coleman et al. [5]. The HAZ can be
subdivided into various zones, i.e. coarse grain HAZ (CGHAZ) adjacent to weld
metal, fine grain HAZ (FGHAZ) and intercritical HAZ (ICHAZ) merging with the
unaffected base metal, depending upon the peak temperatures experienced during
weld thermal cycle. The CrMo ferritic steel weldment under creep condition fails
prematurely at the outer edge of the HAZ (also called the type IV region), commonly
known as type IV cracking, following the failure classification scheme proposed by
Schuller et al. [6]. A number of studies have been carried out to understand the
type IV failures in CrMo ferritic steel weldments by many investigators [711].
Type IV cracking is found to develop in the intercritical/fine grain region of the
HAZ of weldments and is associated with pronounced creep cavitation and
deformation [1216].
In the CrMo steel weldment, each distinct microstructural region is surrounded
by regions that have different creep flow behaviors. The consequence is that the flow
of the low creep resistant intercritical HAZ region is restricted by the surrounding
regions having higher creep resistance. The constraint effect leads to stress
redistribution [17,18] and development of multiaxial state of stress [19,20] across
the weldment. The assessment of weldment performance under creep conditions
depends on how the microstructure varies across it. In particular, the extent,
geometry, distribution and property differences affect the localized creep deformation and cavitation behavior leading to failure. Complex stress and strain
distributions across the weldment develop during creep exposure owing to the
difference in properties of the different constituents of the weldment, which influence
the creep cavity nucleation and their growth leading to premature failure at the outer
edge of the HAZ in the weldment. Attempts have been made to estimate stress and
strain distributions developed across the weldment and its consequences for type IV
creep cavitation [5,21,22] using finite element analysis (FEA). Hayhurst and coworkers have extensively used physically based continuum damage mechanics
(CDM) coupled with FEA to predict the creep damage evolution and failure life of
the butt-welded components [2330]. Hall and Hayhurst [17] and Perrin and
Hayhurst [31] had developed creep constitutive equations of weldments considering
the physical processes of dislocation substructural evolution, carbide coarsening and
creep cavity nucleation and growth under multiaxial state of stress. These creep
constitutive equations were incorporated in a finite element model to study the stress
and strain distribution, creep damage evolution and failure life of the weldments.
Creep cavitation proceeds with the nucleation of creep cavities at a grain
boundary and their growth and linkage into discrete cracks leading to final fracture.
Creep cavitation terminates the useful creep rupture life and ductility of high
temperature materials. The creep cavity nucleation is associated with stress
concentration at the irregularities like ledges, grain boundary triple points or
second phase particles on grain boundaries. If the stress concentrations, produced
when grain boundary sliding is held up by a finite amount of material, are not
relaxed, then cavities nucleate at the irregularities on the grain boundary like
particles by decohesion of particle/matrix interface. Cavity nucleation by the

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mechanisms based on either stress or strain criteria, is strongly dependent on the

cohesive strength of particle with matrix, the surface energy of particle/matrix
interface and the stress and strain distribution around the particle [32].
Cavity growth is most significant within the process of creep cavitation. Basically,
two mechanisms have been put forward for the growth of a creep cavity, inelasticity
induced cavity growth and diffusive growth of the cavity by transport of atoms from
the cavity surface onto a grain boundary. In cavity growth by inelasticity, the growth
of cavities takes place by the action of strain concentration at the cavity surface,
which causes it to grow along the direction of maximum principal stress [33]. In a
diffusion-controlled mechanism, cavity growth proceeds with diffusive transport of
matter from the cavity surface onto a grain boundary, where they have been
deposited [34]. Under unconstrained conditions, where accommodation of the
deposited matter is readily available, the cavity growth rate is controlled either by
grain boundary diffusion or by surface diffusion depending on which process is
slower. However, under constrained conditions, arising from the incomplete
accommodation of deposited material on the grain boundary and from the nonuniform cavitation on grain boundary in polycrystalline materials, the growth rate is
controlled by inelastic deformation of the matrix by which accommodation of the
deposited matter takes place. Needleman and Rice [35] modeled the combined effect
of diffusive and inelastic flow on cavity growth. These combined effects lead to rates
of cavity growth, which can be appreciably greater than would be the case for either
mechanism acting in isolation. But the applicability of the above mentioned
cavitation mechanisms [36,37] in predicting type IV creep cavitation in soft
intercritical HAZ under constrained deformation, which leads to complex stress
redistribution and multiaxial state of stress, is limited [31,38,39].
In the present investigation, type IV cracking behavior in fusion welded 2.25Cr
1Mo steel weldment was studied based on the micro-mechanistic analysis of stress
and strain distributions across the various constituents of the weldment, which
influence the creep cavitation, by FEA. The role of precipitates in the intercritical
region of the HAZ in enhancing the creep cavitation has been illustrated based on the
stress and strain distributions across it by FEA.

2. Experimental
2.1. Materials and creep testing
The 2.25Cr1Mo steel used in this study was in the normalized (1223 K for 17 min)
and tempered (1003 K for 60 min) condition. The chemical composition of the base
steel is shown in Table 1. A 2.25Cr1Mo steel weld pad of dimensions

Table 1. Chemical composition of 2.25Cr1Mo steel base metal and weld metal (wt %).
Material
2.25Cr1Mo base metal
2.25Cr1Mo weld metal

Si

Mn

Cr

Mo

Fe

0.06
0.05

0.18
0.40

0.48
0.72

0.008
0.020

0.008
0.012

2.18
2.30

0.93
1.10

Bal
Bal

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500  250  12 mm3 was fabricated by a shielded metal arc welding process using a
basic coated 2.25Cr1Mo electrode. The weld preparation angle was kept at 70 , as
shown in Figure 1. Table 2 summarizes the welding conditions employed. The
chemical composition of the deposited weld metal is also given in Table 1. The weld
pads were subjected to a post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) at 973 K for 1 h followed
by air-cooling and subsequently examined by X-ray radiography for their soundness.
Optical metallographic examination and micro-hardness testing of the polished and
etched section of the weldments were carried out to study the microstructural
variation across the weldment. The samples were etched using 2% Nital reagent.
Microstructural variation across the transverse section of the weldment at the midway thickness was studied by optical microscopy.
Creep tests were carried out on the base metal and the weldments at 823 K over
the stress range 100240 MPa with rupture lives ranging from 10 h to 12,000 h. Base
metal, weld metal and weldment specimens of 5 mm gauge diameter and 50 mm
gauge length were machined from the weld pads. The loading axis of the base and
weldment specimens was parallel to the rolling direction of the base plate. Location
of the weldment creep specimens in the weld pad is shown in Figure 1. Temperature
was maintained within 2 K across the creep specimen throughout the creep test.
Creep elongation was measured by an extensometer and digital dial gauge
attachment during the creep test. Creep-deformation inhomogeneity across the
weldment specimen was monitored by interrupting specially conducted creep tests at
periodic intervals and measuring the distance between the hardness-indentation

Figure 1. Weld pad configuration and location of weldment specimen in the weld pad.

Table 2. Welding procedure.

Process
Preheat
Electrode diameter
Arc voltage
Arc current
Number of passes

MMA
473 K
3.15 mm
22 V
110 A
10

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marks made across the weldment specimen before creep test. Creep-ruptured
weldment specimens were sectioned longitudinally and mechanically polished to
carry out the microhardness testing and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to
estimate creep cavities. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on the selected
constituents of the weldment was also carried out.

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2.2. Finite element analysis

The variation of microstructures, from wrought base metal through transformed
HAZ to cast base metal in a weldment, gives rise to considerable inhomogeneity with
respect to mechanical strength and ductility across it. The multiaxial state of stress
across it during creep exposure arises due to the strength inhomogeneity having been
analyzed by finite element analysis. Nortons creep law relating the steady state creep
rate with applied stress (e s A n, where e s is the strain rate (h1),  is the stress
(MPa) and A and n are constants) was used as a constitutive equation for the
analysis. In order to incorporate the material model in FEA, creep tests on the
different constituents of weldment, i.e. base metal, weld metal and heat affected
zones comprising coarse grain structure, fine grain structure and intercritical region
of HAZ were carried out at 823 K over the stress range 100240 MPa. Tensile tests at
823 K and nominal strain rate of 3  104 s1 were also carried out on the different
constituents of the weldment. The different microstructures in the HAZ of the
weldment were simulated on the base metal by isothermal heat treatment cycles
because of the practical difficulty in extracting specimens for tensile and creep tests
from small extent of HAZ. The HAZ simulation was based on the detailed
comparison of the microstructures, prior-austenitic grain size and the hardness of the
heat-treated samples with those of in the HAZ of actual weldment [40]. Heat
treatment cycles used to simulate the different HAZ structures of the 2.25Cr1Mo
steel are shown in Table 3.
Widths of the different microstructural zones in the weldment were identified
from the hardness profile and microstructural variation across the weldment and
these were used to model the geometry of the weldment in FEA. The finite
element simulations were carried out using ABAQUS 6.9 finite element software.
The specimen was modeled using three-dimensional (3D) 8-noded brick elements,
as shown in Figure 2. The weldment specimen had a gauge length of 50 mm but
only half of the specimen was modeled for analysis because of geometrical
symmetry. The stress was applied at nodes on face-1 of the weldment and face-2

Table 3. Heat treatments used to simulate HAZ structure.

HAZ structure
2.25Cr1Mo coarse grain bainite
2.25Cr1Mo fine grain bainite
2.25Cr1Mo intercritical structure

Soaking
temperature (K)

Soaking
time

Quenched
in

SPWHTa

1473
1173
1100

1 min
1 min
1 min

Oil
Oil
Oil

973 K/1 h
973 K/1 h
973 K/1 h

Note: aSPWHT: simulated post-weld heat treatment.

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Figure 2. Typical FE mesh for weldment specimen used in the analysis.

was restraint along the z-axis, as shown in Figure 2. In addition, the center point
of face-2 was fully constrained to avoid the rigid body motion. The regions of
high stress gradient were refined to obtain more accurate stress and strain
distributions across the weldment specimen without sacrificing the computational
time. Implicit analysis with automatic increment was carried out. The automatic
time increment was controlled by accuracy tolerance defined by stress error
acceptable divided by elastic modulus. A mesh convergence analysis was first
performed to avoid the effect of mesh size. This was carried out by running
different models with varying element size until the difference in results between
two consecutive models was negligible. Youngs modulus and Poisons ratio of
the different constituents of the ferritic steel weldment were chosen as 160 GPa
and 0.3, respectively. The analysis was carried out for creep test at 823 K and
150 MPa and was continued until the stationary state of stress distribution had
been reached. It was observed that the stress distribution in FEA saturated after
500 h of creep exposure, whereas under similar conditions an actual weldment
specimen failed in 1267 h.
In order to study the effect of precipitate on creep cavitation, FEA of stress and
strain distributions across it was carried out. The model consisted of 3D 8-noded
brick elements for both the matrix and precipitate, as shown in Figure 3, with
imposed boundary conditions. Precipitate size was considered as 0.2 mm, typically
observed in the HAZ of CrMo steel weldments [41]. The model assumed a
spherical precipitate of radius 0.2 mm embedded in a matrix of 4  4  4 mm. The
typical distance between two precipitates was assumed to be 4 mm. The 3D model
used in the current study was 1/8 of the physical model. The elastic modulus and
Poissons ratio of the precipitate (Cr23C6) were taken as 218 GPa and 0.367,
respectively [42]. The matrix was considered to deform both elastically and
inelastically, whereas the precipitate was considered to deform elastically because
of its very high hardness.

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Figure 3. Typical FE mesh used to analyze the stress and strain distribution across the
precipitate.

3. Results
3.1. Microstructure and strength variation across the weldment
The microstructural variation across the transverse section of the weldment at the
mid-way thickness is shown in Figure 4. The base metal and weld metal had typical
bainite structure. The base metal had a prior austenitic grain size around 30 mm. The
microstructure in the HAZ near the fusion boundary consisted of a granular bainitic
structure with a prior austenite grain size typically around 100 mm. Beyond this
region, a fine-grained bainite with a prior austenite grain size of around 15 mm was
found. In the HAZ region adjoining the base metal, intercritical microstructure
consisted of uniformly distributed carbides in a ferrite phase (tempered bainite)
surrounded by austenite transformation products. The hardness profile across the
transverse section of weldment at the mid-way thickness in the post weld heat treated
condition is shown in Figure 5. The hardness variation reflected the change in
microstructure across the weldment. A rapid fall in the hardness was seen as the
distance from the fusion boundary toward the base metal was increased. A hardness
trough is developed in the intercritical region of HAZ. The average width of
constituents of HAZ, i.e. coarse grain structure, fine grain structure and intercritical
region as measured from the microstructure and hardness variations were around
0.6 mm, 3 mm and 1.5 mm, respectively.
Tensile strength of different constituents of the weldment was in the increasing
order of intercritical HAZ, base metal, fine grain HAZ, weld metal and coarse grain
HAZ (Table 4). The tensile ductility (fracture strain) was in the decreasing order of
intercritical HAZ, fine grain HAZ, base metal, weld metal and coarse grain HAZ.
The variations of steady state creep rate of the different constituents of the weldment

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Figure 4. Microstructure across 2.25Cr1Mo steel weld joint: (a) base metal; (b) weld metal;
(c) coarse grain HAZ; (d) fine grain HAZ; (e) intercritical HAZ.

as a function of applied stress at 823 K are shown in Figure 6. The steady state creep
rate variation with applied stress obeyed a power law relation as e s A n. The coarse
grain HAZ possessed lowest creep rate whereas the intercritical HAZ possessed
highest creep rate among the constituents of the weldment. Table 4 shows the values
of the constant A and n of the various constituents of the weldment, which were used
in FEA as constitutive material model. The values of n and A were obtained from the
slope and intercept on steady state creep rate axis of the loglog plot of stress and
steady state creep rate, respectively.

3.2. Creep deformation and rupture behavior of the weldments

Creep deformation across the weldment was found to be highly inhomogeneous. The
progress of creep strain accumulation across the weldment at 823 K and 150 MPa

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Figure 5. Hardness profile across the post-weld heat treated 2.25Cr1Mo steel weldment.

Table 4. Coefficients of Nortons law (e s A n) and tensile properties of base

metal, weld metal and different simulated HAZs at 823 K. Coefficients A and n
were obtained from Figure 6.
Zone
WM
CGHAZ
FGHAZ
ICHAZ
BM

A (MPan h1)
31

9.93  10
1.67  1036
3.09  1036
1.39  1021
5.15  1032

Yield stress (MPa)

Fracture strain

11.2
13.5
13.9
7.7
12.1

453
480
415
273
373

0.101
0.079
0.158
0.168
0.143

Figure 6. Stress dependence of steady state creep rate of 2.25Cr1Mo steel base metal, weld
metal, simulated coarse grain, fine grain and intercritical HAZ at 823 K.

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with creep exposure is shown in Figure 7. The creep strain was found to accumulate
preferentially in the intercritical region of the HAZ adjacent to the unaffected base
metal. The preferential strain accumulation in intercritical HAZ of the weldment is in
accordance with the lowest creep deformation resistance of the constituent in the
weldment (Figure 6).
The 2.25Cr1Mo steel weldment possessed lower creep rupture strength than base
metal and the strength reduction became more on longer creep exposure (Figure 8).
The weldment failed in intercritical region of HAZ (Figure 9) with the progressive
localization of creep deformation (Figure 7). Several investigators have also reported
premature failure of CrMo ferritic steel weldment at the outer edge of weldment on

Figure 7. Creep strain accumulation with creep exposure in 2.25Cr1Mo weldment creep
tested at 823 K and 150 MPa.

Figure 8. Variation of rupture life of 2.25Cr1Mo steel base metal and weldment as a function
of applied stress at 823 K.

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creep exposure [713,31]. Failure location in CrMoV steel butt-welded pipe under
creep conditions had been accurately predicted based on continuum damage
mechanics coupled with finite element analysis by Hayhurst et al. [18].
Creep cavity distribution across the weldment after creep rupture (tr 2242 h) at
823 K and 130 MPa is shown in Figure 10 (cavity measurement was carried out on the

Figure 9. Location of creep failure in 2.25Cr1Mo steel weldment (130 MPa, 823 K).

Figure 10. Type IV creep cavitation (a) in the intercritical region of HAZ of creep tested
(823 K, 130 MPa) weldment. (b) Predominant type IV creep cavitation in the central region
than near surface of weldment specimen.

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Figure 11. SEM micrographs of (a) ductile dimple fracture in simulated intercritical HAZ of
2.25Cr1Mo steel (130 MPa, 823 K, and tr 1456 h), (b) mixed-mode dimple and intergranular creep failure in 2.25Cr1Mo weldment (150 MPa, 823 K, and tr 1267 h). Creep
cavities (indicated in the figure) are surrounded by ductile dimples.

intact side of HAZ, other side broken). Creep cavitation was predominantly confined
to the intercritical region of HAZ (Figure 10a), which experienced more pronounced
localized creep deformation (Figure 7). However, creep cavity density was higher in
central region of intercritical HAZ, where plane strain condition prevailed, than near
surface region, where plane stress condition prevailed, as depicted in Figure 10b.
SEM fractographs of the weldment failed in the intercritical region and that of
simulated intercritical HAZ are shown in Figure 11. A remarkable difference was
found in the mode of failure between the simulated intercritical HAZ and the
weldment failed in intercritical HAZ. Typical transgranular dimple failure was
observed in the simulated intercritical HAZ (Figure 11a), whereas mixed mode
failure comprising predominantly intergranular creep cavities surrounded by
transgranular dimple was observed in the weldment (Figure 11b).

3.3. FEA of stress and strain distributions across the weldment and precipitate
The difference in creep deformation characteristics of the constituents of a weldment
leads to stress redistribution across it [43]. Further, the constraintcreep deformation

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Figure 12. Variation of predicted principal stress across the weldment at the center line
location of it with creep exposure, creep tested at 150 MPa and 823 K.

results in a multiaxial state of stress across the weldment, as in the case of notch
specimens [19], thus influences the creep deformation and rupture behavior of the
weldment. FEA of the stress distribution across the weldment revealed that it varies
with time until it approaches a stationary state, as shown in Figure 12. For a creep
test at 150 MPa and 823 K, the stress distribution reached its saturation state around
500 h of creep exposure, much before the rupture of the weldment at 1267 h.
Distributions of the saturated maximum principal stress and normalized vonMises stress along the centerline and surface of the weldment at 150 MPa and after
500 h of creep exposure are shown in Figures 13 and 14, respectively. The von-Mises
stress was normalized by yield strength of the individual constituents of weldment to
indicate the relative deformation capability of the constituents on creep exposure.
The stresses were found to vary significantly along the length as well as across the
diameter of the weldment specimen. The near-center region was expected to deform
in plane strain condition because of the constraint effect by the surrounding material,
whereas the near-surface region deformed under plane stress conditions because of
the relatively unconstraint free surface.
The predicted creep strain accumulation across the weldment on the surface
during creep exposure is shown in Figure 15. Preferential creep strain accumulation
in the intercritical HAZ, as observed experimentally (Figure 7) has been predicted
accurately by FEA. However, lower values of the predicted creep strain on longer
creep exposure than experimental value could be due to the onset of necking in the
specimen. The principal stress was higher in the central location of the intercritical
region of the HAZ than in the near-surface region, whereas it was higher in nearsurface region of coarse grain HAZ. The von-Mises stress was higher in the
intercritical region of the HAZ than other constituents of the weldment in both
center and near-surface regions.

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Figure 13. Variation of predicted principal stress across the weldment at center and nearsurface regions after 500 h of creep exposure at 150 MPa and 823 K. (Data points for surface
were shifted to make the weld line straight for clarity in results.)

Figure 14. Variation of predicted normalized von-Mises stress (von-Mises stress was
normalized by yield stress of the individual constituent of the weldment) across the weldment
at center and near-surface regions after 500 h of creep exposure at 150 MPa and 823 K. (Data
points for surface were shifted to make the weld line straight for clarity in results.)

A precipitate particle embedded in a matrix disturbs both the stress and strain
fields around it [41,44]. Stresses and strains around a spherical particle of 0.2 mm
radius embedded in intercritical HAZ and coarse grain HAZ matrix were estimated
by FEA considering the maximum stress (180 MPa) developed in these zones due to
strength inhomogeneity across the weldment, creep exposed at 150 MPa and 823 K
(Figure 13). Figure 16 shows the variation of principal stress along the loading line in

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Figure 15. Predicted creep strain accumulation in weldment with creep exposure, 150 MPa
and 823 K.

Figure 16. Variation of predicted maximum principal stress in coarse grain and intercritical
region matrix around precipitate along the loading line.

both the zones at 180 MPa and 823 K for 1000 h of creep exposure. In this figure, r
represents the field point distance from the center of the spherical precipitate and a is
the radius of the spherical precipitate. The maximum principal stress was found to be
maximum in the matrix near the particle/matrix interface and reduced to the far field
values beyond a distance around three times the particle radius from the interface.
The principal stress developed was much higher in the intercritical region of the HAZ
than that in coarse grain HAZ structure. The preferential accumulation of creep

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Figure 17. Predicted creep strain accumulation with creep exposure in the intercritical region
matrix around the 0.2 mm size precipitate with time, 180 MPa.

strain occurred progressively in the matrix close to interface (Figure 17) and its
magnitude increased sharply with creep exposure.

4. Discussion
4.1. Creep strength of the different constituents of the weldments
The 2.25Cr1Mo ferritic steel derives its creep strength mainly from solid
solution strengthening by molybdenum, substructural strengthening by bainitic
transformation-induced dislocation substructure and precipitation strengthening.
The general sequence of the precipitation of carbides in 2.25Cr1Mo steel on
tempering has been reported by Baker and Nutting [45]. The most effective
creep strengthening in 2.25Cr1Mo steel results from the fine dispersions of
semi-coherent acicular Mo2C particles (Figure 18a). However, the Mo2C
precipitates are relatively less stable against thermal and creep exposures and
are eventually replaced by molybdenum-rich M6C through the intermediate
precipitation of M7C3 (chromium and molybdenum rich) and M23C6 (chromium
rich) [45].
The creep deformation resistance was found to vary significantly among the
different constituents of the weldment. The coarse-grain bainitic HAZ possessed a
much higher creep deformation resistance, whereas the intercritical HAZ possessed
the lowest (Figure 6). The high temperature experienced by the base metal during the
weld thermal cycle, leading to the formation of coarse grain bainitic HAZ, dissolved
the prior existing carbides and enriched the austenite with various alloying elements.
The presence of alloying elements in austenite would lower the bainite transformation temperatures, which facilitated the formation of finer bainite with greater
strength on subsequent cooling. Subsequent simulated PWHT led to the

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Figure 18. TEM micrographs of 2.25Cr1Mo steel: (a) base metal; (b) intercritical HAZ.

precipitation of fine carbides, adding strength to the coarse-grain HAZ. A lower

creep rupture life of the intercritical HAZ in 2.25Cr1Mo steel has also been
reported by Chilton et al. [46] and the strength reduction has been attributed to the
absence of molybdenum-rich fine acicular Mo2C carbide and coarsening of bainitic
laths rendered by intercritical heating. A TEM micrograph of the intercritical HAZ
extracted from the weldment is shown in Figure 18b. Comparison with the TEM
micrograph of the as-received base steel (Figure 18a) clearly revealed the partial or
complete absence of needle-shaped intragranular precipitate in the intercritical
region of the HAZ. The partial or complete absence of Mo2C in the intercritical
HAZ resulted in the increase of its creep deformation rate, which decreased its creep
rupture life. Reduction in density of M23C6 precipitate, which corresponds to coarser
particle size, was observed in the intercritical region of the HAZ rather than in other
constituents of the weldment, which became more pronounced on creep exposure
(Figure 19).

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4.2. Creep behavior of the weldments

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In the weldment, each unique microstructural region is surrounded by regions that

have different creep flow behaviors (Figure 6). The effect is that the flow of the low
creep resistant intercritical HAZ region is restricted by the surrounding regions
having higher creep resistance. The tri-axial state of stress (Figure 20) resulted from

Figure 19. Particle size distribution across the weldment in post-weld heat treated and creep
tested (130 MPa, 823 K) condition.

Figure 20. Distribution of stress triaxiality across the weldment after creep exposure at
150 MPa and at 823 K for 500 h.

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the metallurgical notch induced creep cavitation in the soft intercritical region of
the HAZ in the 2.25Cr1Mo steel weldment to produce type IV failure (Figure 9).
The failure response of 2.25Cr1Mo steel under multiaxial stresses has been
studied by Cane [47]. The rupture under multiaxial creep conditions was found to
depend on both the maximum principal stress ( 1) and von-Mises stress ( von-Mises).
The representative rupture stress under multiaxial creep condition was defined as
 rep  1 (1 ) von-Mises, where  is a material constant ranging from 0 to 1 and
determines the bias of the multiaxial rupture behavior of the material between
maximum principal stress and von-Mises stress. For 2.25Cr1Mo steel base metal
and HAZ, the  values were reported to be 0.5955 and 0.4298, respectively [17],
implying that both the stresses are equally important in governing the creep life of
2.25Cr1Mo steel under multiaxial stress conditions. Hall and Hayhurst [17] have
carried out detailed rupture behavior studies of butt-welded pipes of CrMo steel
under creep conditions considering  as 0.4298 for both the HAZ and weld metal.
They developed a continuum damage mechanics model incorporating multiaxiality
to define the material model and predicted well the creep life of the welded pipe.
In the present study, the triaxiality was calculated from the FEA estimated
variation of different components of principal and von-Mises stresses through the
equation, TF (triaxiality factor) 1 2 3 =vonMises . Triaxiality was found to
be higher in the intercritical region of the HAZ than in the other constituents of the
weldment. Within the intercritical HAZ, the triaxiality was higher in the central
location than near-surface region of the weldment specimen. As the central region of
intercritical HAZ had higher triaxiality than surface and other regions of weldment,
the possibility of cavitation would be higher at the center than in the near-surface
region, as found experimentally (Figure 10b).

4.3. Creep cavitation across the weldment

Creep cavitation proceeds with the nucleation of creep cavities at a grain boundary
and their growth and linkage into discrete cracks leading to final fracture. Creep
cavity nucleation is generally associated with stress and strain concentrations at the
discontinuities on the grain boundary, such as precipitates, ledges, grain boundary
triple points, etc. As the creep rupture behavior of 2.25Cr1Mo steel under
multiaxial stress conditions is governed both by the principal stress and von-Mises
stress, as observed by Cane [47], type IV creep cavity nucleation and growth in the
intercritical HAZ under constraint conditions is expected to be influenced by both
the stresses developed across the steel weldment.
4.3.1. Cavity nucleation
Nucleation of r-type intergranular creep cavities in the intercritical region of the
HAZ was observed to be associated with intergranular precipitates (Figure 21) and
accompanied by extensive matrix deformation (Figure 7). Both the cavities and the
matrix were found to elongate in the stress direction (Figure 21). Two mechanisms of
creep cavitation in material have been put forward based on stress and strain
concentrations around a grain boundary particle in the material. If the stress
concentrations, produced when grain boundary sliding is held up by a finite amount

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Figure 21. Creep cavitation along with creep strain in intercritical HAZ of 2.25Cr1Mo steel
weldment (150 MPa, 823 K, and tr 1267 h).

of material around a discontinuity like a precipitate on a grain boundary, are not

relaxed, then cavities nucleate at the precipitate/matrix interface by athermal
decohesion of atomic bonds between the precipitate and matrix [48]. Nucleation of
creep cavity by this mechanism is expected in materials having low particle/matrix
interfacial energy and with high stress concentration developed at the interface.
The principal stress was much higher in the central location of the intercritical
HAZ compared to other regions of the weldment, whereas it was higher in the nearsurface location of coarse grain HAZ (Figure 13). The presence of precipitate in the
matrix further increases the stress notably around it (Figure 16), the magnitude of
which was found to depend significantly on the matrix deformation characteristics.
The estimated higher principal stress around a precipitate in the central location of
the intercritical region of the HAZ than in the coarse grain of the weldment
appears to justify the preferential nucleation of cavity in this zone of weldment by
the athermal decohesion at the particle/matrix interface. However, intergranular
precipitates in the intercritical HAZ of the weldment were predominantly chromium
rich M23C6-type of carbides, which are reported to have significant coherency with
the matrix [32]. Nucleation of creep cavities by decohesion at the particle/matrix
interface might not be the likely mechanism of type IV cavity nucleation in the soft
intercritical region of the HAZ as the higher stress concentration is estimated to
develop not at the particle/matrix interface but in the matrix very close to it and also
the developed stress would be relaxed appreciably by creep deformation of the soft
matrix.
The second mechanism of creep cavity nucleation is based on the criteria of
critical strain accumulation at or close to the particle/matrix interface. If the strain
produced by local stress concentration exceeds the critical strain to rupture, then the

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local rupture can lead to the nucleation of creep cavity. Goods and Brown [49]
reviewed the models of creep cavity nucleation in particle-strengthened materials
based on the critical strain approach. With the assumption that under stress the
matrix undergoes inelastic deformation while the particle deforms only elastically,
cavitation by interface separation between particle and matrix will not occur unless
the elastic energy released by removing the stress from the particle is at least as large
as the surface energy created, i.e. DEel DEs  0, where DEel is the internal elastic
energy of the particle and DEs is the energy increase in forming the new internal
surfaces. The elastic energy of the particle, estimated based on the combined
continuum and micro-mechanical approaches, was approximated as 4/3m*r3e*p2,
where e*p is the measure of incompatibility between the matrix and particle
deformation, m* is the shear modulus of the particle and r is the particle radius. If the
stress relaxation by inelastic deformation occurs due to secondary slip of dislocation
around the particle then e*p varies with ep as (bep/r)1/2, where ep is the shear strain
producing the shape change of the material. The total cohesive energy of the
interface was estimated as 4r2 and so the critical strain required for cavity
nucleation by this mechanism was expressed by Brown and Stobbs [50] as
"c 3=mb,

where "c is the critical strain to nucleate cavity, b is the burgers vector,  is the
particle/matrix interface energy. In the present study on a 2.25Cr1Mo steel
weldment containing a dispersion of Cr23C6 particles on a grain boundary, the
critical strain for cavity nucleation is estimated to be around 0.124, considering
 80.1  103 MPa,   1 J m2 and b 0.3 nm. The creep strain accumulation
around a precipitate embedded in a hard coarse grain HAZ matrix and soft
intercritical HAZ matrix at 180 MPa (approximate maximum stress experienced by
both the zones when weldment was creep tested at 150 MPa and 823 K) for 1000 h
creep exposure is shown in Figure 22. Much larger accumulation of creep strain
around the precipitate occurred in intercritical region of the HAZ than that in the
coarse grain structure of the HAZ. The creep strain accumulation around a
precipitate embedded in the coarse grain structure was one order less than that
required for rupturing (Table 4).
Figure 23 shows the accumulation of strain with creep exposure at and around
a precipitate particle of size 0.2 mm embedded in the intercritical HAZ matrix, creep
exposed at 180 MPa. The critical strains required to nucleate cavity at the particle/
matrix interface by decohesion (Equation (1)) and in the matrix close to precipitate
by localized rupturing (Table 4) are also shown as horizontal lines in Figure 23.
The strain to rupture intercritical matrix was estimated as 0.168 by carrying out
tensile tests on the simulated HAZ structure. Accumulation of strain to nucleate
the creep cavity by critical strain approach was found to realize much earlier in the
presence of precipitate than without it, showing the possibility of creep cavity
nucleation associated with particles, as observed experimentally (Figure 21).
However, in the presence of precipitate, the critical strain to rupture the soft matrix
appeared to realize earlier than that at the particle/matrix interface. Earlier studies
have also shown the concentration of strain in the matrix at close vicinity of
precipitate [44].

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Figure 22. Creep strain around particle of 0.2 mm size embedded in (a) CGHAZ and (b)
ICHAZ, after 1000 h of creep exposure at 180 MPa and 823 K.

4.3.2. Cavity growth

Although nucleation of creep cavities is expected to depend on principal stress (stress
criterion) or von-Mises stress (strain criterion), their subsequent stability is
determined by the following expression:
rc 2c =1 ,

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Figure 23. Creep strain accumulation in the intercritical HAZ matrix around the precipitate
and in absence of precipitate.

where rc is the critical size of cavity,  c is the surface energy and 1 is the maximum
principal stress. For growth of an existing cavity it has to attain a critical size,
otherwise the cavity will sinter. As the principal stress was found to be higher in the
central region of the intercritical HAZ (Figure 13), the cavity would reach a critical
size earlier in this region than in other zones of the weldment. Further growth of
cavities could be facilitated by either of the mechanisms discussed below.
Basically, two mechanisms of creep cavity growth have been put forward:
(i) inelasticity controlled growth and (ii) stress-directed flow of atoms (diffusive
growth). Cavity growth by inelasticity occurs as a result of creep deformation of the
matrix surrounding the grain boundary cavities in the absence of vacancy flux
[33,51]. This mechanism of cavity growth during creep is closely related to the cavity
growth during low-temperature ductile failure [52]. The strain concentration at the
cavity surface causes it to grow along the direction of maximum principal stress. The
cavity growth rate according to this model is given by da/dt ae  c /2 G, where a is
the cavity radius,  c is the surface energy of the cavity and G is the bulk modulus.
At some critical strain, inelastic deformation becomes localized and cavities
coalescence, and fracture follows. This mechanism becomes important under high
strain-rate conditions, where significant strain is realized.
Thomason [53,54] and Brown and Embury [55] both used a critical distance of
approach of the growing cavities as a criterion for coalescence. Although their
models differ in detail, both require a local slip-line field to be developed between
adjacent cavities, a condition that is met when the cavity height; 2 h is about equal to
its separation from its neighbors: 2 h (2 l 2 a), where  is a constant and l is the
distance between cavities. Predicted higher normalized von-Mises stresses (Figure 14)
associated with strain localization (Figure 7) in the central region of the intercritical
HAZ rather than in other constituents of the weldment would induce higher growth
rate of the nucleated cavities leading to type IV failure. Cavitation by this mechanism

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is predominant at relatively higher applied stresses where extensive localized

deformation (Figure 7) occurred and cavity elongated in tensile direction (Figure 21).
The diffusion-controlled cavity growth mechanism is described as timedependent stress directed flow of atoms from cavity surface to grain boundary
through cavity surface and grain boundary diffusions [56]. An important assumption
made in this model is that the grains are effectively rigid (i.e. non-deforming). This
means that in order to grow the cavities, grains are required to move apart uniformly
as rigid bodies through the transfer of matter by diffusion along the entire segments
of grain boundary between cavities. In such a case, the principle stress controls the
growth of the cavity. Higher principal stress in the central region of the intercritical
HAZ (Figure 13) would facilitate a higher cavity growth rates in this region resulting
in higher creep cavitation, as observed experimentally.
Needleman and Rice [35] explained the enhanced cavity growth based on
interaction between the diffusive transfer of matter from cavity surface and the
inelasticity of matrix. The principal effect is that creep deformability of the grains
allows the matter diffused from cavity surface to be accommodated by local
separations of the adjoining grains near the cavity. This shortens the effective
diffusion path length and results in higher rates of cavity growth than would be the
case if either diffusional or inelasticity controlled flow of matter acted in isolation.
The center line region of the intercritical HAZ, higher principal stress (Figure 13)
coupled with higher von-Mises stress (Figure 14) would induce more effective
interaction of diffusive growth of creep cavity with matrix deformation leading to
enhanced creep cavitation (Figure 10).
Preferential creep cavitation in the intercritical region of HAZ associated with
coarse particle has been explained based on the micro-mechanistic analysis of creep
stress and strain across the weldment. However, in this investigation, finite element
analysis was carried out considering steady state creep deformation of the different
constituents of the weldment, which obeyed Nortons power law relation (e A n)
neglecting the effect of primary and tertiary creep on creep damage accumulation.
During primary creep, material strain hardens. The time spent in primary creep is
significantly less in 2.25Cr1Mo steel and would not affect the prediction of type IV
cavitation significantly. The material shows significant softening during tertiary
creep due to on-set of necking, microstructural instability and void nucleation and
growth. In 2.25Cr1Mo steel base metal under unconstraint condition, microstructural instability is the prime cause of on-set of tertiary stage of creep deformation.
Certainly, the exclusion of tertiary stage of creep deformation in the finite element
analysis of stress and strain distributions across the weldment in predicting creep
cavitation across it, as in the present investigation, is expected to yield less severe
type IV cavitation than it would be. Nevertheless, the very essence of type IV creep
cavitation would remain the same considering only the steady state creep
deformation. If the primary and tertiary stage of deformation would have been
accounted for in the current finite element analysis, the critical strain for cavity
nucleation would be realized at early stage of creep exposure of the weldment and the
cavity would have grown at a faster rate, but the basis of prediction would have been
the same. Earlier finite element analysis carried out on CrMo steel weldments by
Hyde el al. [20] has shown that steady state creep solution without considering the
softening effect due to tertiary stage of creep deformation gives over estimation of

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rupture stress. For materials with a relatively short tertiary creep regime, the steady
state solution is expected to predict the life of the weldment close to the realistic
value. Studies carried out by Hall and Hayhurst [17] using continuum damage
constitutive equations which included softening due to tertiary creep, carbide
coarsening, stress redistribution and multiaxial state of stress predicted the creep
rupture life the butt-welded vessels adequately.

5. Conclusions
Based on the studies of creep behavior of a 2.25Cr1Mo steel weldment and finite
element analysis of stress and strain distribution across the weldment and precipitate
particles, the following conclusions have been drawn.
(1) The weldment of 2.25Cr1Mo steel possessed lower creep rupture strength
than the base metal and the strength reduction was higher at lower applied
stresses. The failure in the weldment occurred in the intercritical region of the
HAZ, commonly known as type IV cracking.
(2) Premature failure of the weldment was manifested as pronounced creep
cavitaion accompanied with localized creep deformation in the soft
intercritical region of the HAZ, which was sandwiched between relatively
higher creep deformation resistant surroundings. The cracking was found to
initiate deep inside the weldment and was associated with particles.
(3) Finite element analysis showed higher principal and von-Mises stresses deep
inside the intercritical region of the HAZ rather than in other regions of the
weldment, which led to the localized creep deformation and preferential
cavity nucleation and growth in the intercritical region of the HAZ, resulting
in type IV failure of the weldment.
(4) Finite element analysis of stress and strain distribution around the precipitates could explain the creep cavity nucleation associated with the precipitates based on the relatively rapid exhaustion of creep ductility of the matrix
near the particle/matrix interface.

Acknowledgements
The authors express their deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Baldev Raj, Director, Indira Gandhi
Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam and Dr. T. Jayakumar, Director,
Metallurgy and Materials Group, IGCAR for their keen interest in this work and
encouragement. The authors thank Mr. Utpal Borah for invaluable discussions on finite
element analysis.

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