Effects of post-weld heat treatment conditions on hardness, microstructures and impact properties of vanadium alloys

Gas-tungsten-arc (GTA) weld joints were made from V–4Cr–4Ti alloys in which oxygen levels at the weld metal ranged from 73 to 355 wppm. Both the weld metal and the base metal of the joints showed hardening after the welding. In this study, the influence of post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) on hardness, microstructure and impact properties were investigated. Change in hardness due to annealing at 673 and 973–1273 K was shown to be caused by release of contaminant hydrogen and precipitate evolution, respectively. Results indicated that the precipitation hardening increased with oxygen level. Charpy impact properties did not change significantly due to annealing at 673 K, while fine precipitation at 1073 K degraded the impact property. No improvement of impact property by PWHT is expected at low oxygen level in the weld metal. Precipitation behavior during aging and irradiation may determine the performance of V–4Cr–4Ti weld joints.