Effects of Heat-Affected Zone Microstructure on Fracture Toughness of Two X70 Pipe Girth Welds

In the previous study, unstable brittle crack extensions were observed during ductile tearing from all the single-edge notched bend [SE(B)] specimens with an initial crack placed in heat-affected zone (HAZ), machined from one of the two studied X70 pipe girth welds, performed at 258 K (−15 °C). Thus their microstructures and properties have been investigated using optical microscopy, microhardness measurement, and advanced scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy so as to (1) characterize their metallographic properties including crystallographic texture and (2) correlate them with the unstable brittle crack occurrence and propagation. The results suggest that HAZ softening—strength loss—is a major factor responsible for the cleavage occurrence in the given HAZ specimens as it could induce a large local strain concentration by limiting plasticity in base metal when a ductile crack crosses from the HAZ to the base metal. The HAZ softening seems to be associated with the disappearance of pearlite packets in the HAZ region, which presumably occurred during welding, for the given material. High angle grain boundaries in the fine-grained HAZ appear to affect the direction of cleavage propagation at the point of cleavage initiation (i.e., pop-in).