PWHT

This is the finale of the four problems on the A533B-1 welded plate. It is the counterpart to Problem 3, [[bs7910-a533b-hlaw-fad-walkthrough|HLAW]], and it pushes the power of PWHT in this test series into its most visible form. The shared background and method for all four problems are covered in the overview, [[bs7910-a533b-residual-stress-fad|Where does residual stress push the assessment point?]]. What this problem asks HLHT = High-$L_r$ + Heat-Treated: PWHT applied, assessment temperature −30 ℃, high load ratio. It shares the temperature and regime of HLAW, and the difference is still that one thing — post-weld heat treatment. But at −30 ℃, PWHT delivers a double dividend: ...

This is the second of the four problems on the A533B-1 welded plate, and the companion to Problem 1 [[bs7910-a533b-llaw-fad-walkthrough|LLAW]]. The two problems were designed for a single-variable comparison: The shared background and method for all four problems are in the overview [[bs7910-a533b-residual-stress-fad|Where do residual stresses push the assessment point?]]. What this problem asks LLHT = Low-$L_r$ + Heat-Treated: post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) applied, assessment temperature −120 ℃, low load ratio. It is at the same temperature as LLAW, in the same region, and uses the same set of measured residual-stress profiles — the only variable is PWHT. The heat treatment relaxes the welding residual stress by at least an order of magnitude, so the residual $K_I^S$ drops from 46 in the as-welded state to 5 MPa·m$^{0.5}$. The load capacity rises accordingly, from LLAW’s 1.27 MN to 2.19 MN (about 1.7×). ...