Review of the post-weld heat treatment requirements for offshore structures
- Offshore Safety Division, London (United Kingdom)
The guidance of the United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the design and construction of offshore structures recommends that post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) be carried out on welded joints exceeding specified thickness limits. This is based on test data which have shown that as-welded joints of thicker material are susceptible to failure by brittle fracture at -10 C, the typical design temperature for exposed parts of structures in the North Sea. However, PWHT may be dispensed with, subject to the agreement of the certifying authority, if it can be demonstrated by fracture mechanics assessment methods that the structure is fit-for-purpose in the as-welded condition. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend in the offshore industry towards the use of the fitness-for-purpose approach. This is due to the growing awareness of the benefits that can be derived from taking this approach, enabled by the development of improved fracture mechanics assessment methods and of weld procedures and materials which have resulted in welds with improved fracture toughness. As a consequence, increasing amounts of structure that would otherwise have required PWHT have been left in the as-welded condition. This paper examines the PWHT requirements in the light of these trends.
- OSTI ID:
- 27923
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940230-; ISBN 0-7918-1266-9; TRN: IM9516%%48
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 13. international conference on offshore mechanics and Arctic engineering (OMAE-13), Houston, TX (United States), 27 Feb - 3 Mar 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of OMAE 1994. Volume 3: Materials Engineering; Salama, M.M.; Toyoda, Masao; Lui, S.; Dos Santos, J.F.; Kocak, M.; Patterson, E.A.; Berge, S. [eds.]; PB: 438 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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