What is preheating

Preheating is heating the base metal adjacent to the weld joint above a specified temperature
prior to welding
Why preheating
Slower cooling rate with preheating faster cooling rate without preheating
Why preheating
To reduce the potential for cracking
by avoiding susceptible microstructure
by allowing hydrogen to diffuse away from the weld region
by reducing residual stresses at the weld Remove moisture and reduce porosity Help welder to
raise metal to fusion temperature and reduce LF Reduce distortion of weld joint
Factors influencing preheating:
Factors influencing preheating Base metal chemistry carbon equivalent
Base metal thickness
Heat input
Welding process
Type of electrode
Degree of restraint
How to preheat
Low intensity gas burners LPG CNG Electrical heaters
Where to preheat
The mass of material adjacent to the weld twice the thickness or 100 mm max. should be heated
above specified preheat temperature
Where to check preheat
Use temperature indicating crayons Check temperature on the opposite side of which heat is
applied Check at a distance of 2T or 100mm max from the weld
What is inter pass temperature
The temperature of the weld region immediately before the next pass is deposited in a multi pass
weld
Why control of IPT
To obtain fine grain structure and improve notch toughness of weld and HAZ Improve yield and
tensile strength of weld joint
What is post heating
Heating the weld and adjacent area to above a temperature for specified time immediately on
completion of welding and before the weld is allowed to cool to room temperature
Why post heating
To reduce the potential for hydrogen induced cracking by allowing faster diffusion of hydrogen
from the weld region

What is PWHT
Any heat treatment to which the weldment is subjected to after completion of welding
Stress relieving
Normalising
Solution annealing
Quenching & tempering
Purpose of PWHT:
Purpose of PWHT Relieve residual stresses Improve mechanical properties of weld and HAZ
Improve resistance to brittle fracture Reduce stress corrosion Improve fatigue life Improve
dimensional stability
PWHT parameters:
PWHT parameters Maximum loading temperature Rate of heating Soaking temperature range
Soaking time Rate of cooling Maximum unloading temperature
Solution heat treatment:
To improve corrosion resistance Heat to 1010 - 1095 degree C Soak @ 1 hour/25 mm rapid
cooling between 950 - 540 degree C
PREHEATING
Preheating of joints to be welded is an extremely effective method ordinarily used to reduce:
1.
2.
3.

Cooling rates of the weld and the HAZ,

The magnitude of distortion and residual shrinkage stress and;
The arc energy input required to deposit a given weld

While most of us do not look upon preheating as a form of heat treatment, its use can contribute
substantially in reducing hardness in all three constituents of a weldment; the parent metal, the
weld metal deposit and the heat affected zone.
As a weldment cools, it goes through various transformations in which molecules rearrange
themselves. If cooling is rapid, this rearrangement is arrested resulting in entrapment of stresses
and hardening of the material with coincident loss of ductility which is the highly desirable
ability of the material to bend elastically, under stress.
Preheating of the weldment area achieves better weld penetration and slows the cooling process,
thus allowing added relief of stresses and reduced hardening of the materials.
In all cases, high chrome-moly steels should be preheated prior to welding and postweld stress
relieved at around 1400oF.
The minimum preheat shall not be less than the greater of the following:
The listed preheats are minimum requirements. The actual preheat temperature selected and
used by the fabricator must be sufficient to prevent cracking and to achieve the required
hardness, if specified.

a)

10C.

b)

The required or recommended preheat listed in ASME SEC VIII.

Unless specified otherwise, the maximum interpass temperature shall be 177C for P-No. 8 and
P-No. 4x materials and 315C for P-No. 1 steels.
For specified preheat temperatures of 120C or higher, the preheat shall be maintained without
interruption until the start of PWHT. This PWHT may be either the full PWHT, an Intermediate
Stress Relief (600C for 1 hour), or a Dehydrogenation Heat Treatment (350C for 4 hours).

The first two factors are essential to prevent cracking in hardenable steels. The third is often
necessary to weld thick sections of highly conducting materials, such as copper or aluminium.
STRESS RELIEVING (post weld heat treatment)
Stress relieving, as the name implies, is designed to relieve a proportion of these imposed
stresses by reducing the hardness and increasing ductility, thus reducing danger of cracking in
the vessel weldments.
The holding temperatures vary with the P-numbers of the material which in turn are based on
alloy content.
As an example, P-1 through P-4 require 1100-F holding temperature, P-1 being carbon steels,
P-3 being carbon steels alloyed in relatively small percent with molybdemum, manganese and
vanadium.
P-4 steels are the nickel steels, chrome-molys and nickel- chrome-molys. P-5, P-6 and P-7 high
alloy steels generally require a higher holding temperature ranging up to 1350oF..
Following the holding (soaking) time, controlled cooling down to 800oF or lower is vitally
important. Many high carbon steels are subject to surface cracking if cooled too rapidly.
All caustic soda (NaOH) solutions, including conditions where caustic carryover may occur.
All monoethanolamine (MEA) solutions (all temperatures).
All diglycol amine (DGA) solutions above 138C design temperature.
All rich amino diisopropanol (ADIP) solutions above 90C design temperature.
All lean ADIP solutions above 60C design temperature.
Boiler deaerator service (i.e., ambient temperature vacuum deaerators are exempt).
Hydrogen service for P-No. 3, 4, and 5A/B/C base materials.
Austenitic or nickel-based electrodes shall not be used for ferritic materials except dissimilar
metal welds listed in 6.4.2 and overlays.
Post weld heat treatment accomplishes a wide variety of metallurgical objectives, such as;
1.
2.
3.
4.

Stress relief
Dimensional stability
Resistance to stress corrosion and
Improved toughness and mechanical properties

Stress relieving is a PWHT used for most frequently to reduce the residual welding stresses in
welds that are heavily restrained or are susceptible to cracking. The dominant mechanisms to
stress relief are:
1.

Relaxation of stress and

Tempering of martensite or over-ageing of precipitation hardening alloys

QUENCHING AND TEMPERING
Oriented toward carbide steels such as carbon-moly, this process is designed to enhance
toughness as well as controlling yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of steel.
The steel is heated to above its upper critical temperature and quickly immersed in fresh water
or brine to achieve rapid setting of the desired metallurgical structure. Oil quenching is
sometimes used.
The usual practice is to quench until cooling reaches around 800oF, quickly followed by a
tempering period in a fired furnace in order to soften the martensitic structure and achieve the
desired mechanical properties in the material including a desired measure of ductility. The
tempering process is, in effort, a stress relieving process.
NORMALIZING AND TEMPERING
This process is used for virtually the same purposes as quenching and tempering.
It differs in that normalizing is accomplished by cooling in air in place of fast quenching in a
liquid.
Air normalizing, much slower than liquid quenching, may be used by itself or the material may
be subjected to a controlled furnace tempering process in order to better control desired
mechanical properties.
As a cautionary note; alloyed steel mechanical properties are ultimately determined by the
tempering process and if the materials are subsequently welded during fabrication, subsequent
stress relieving temperature, if used, should not exceed that of the tempering process, otherwise
mechanical properties of the material may be adversely affected.
SOLUTION HEAT TREATMENT (solution annealing)
While the Code sections state that heat treatment of austenitic stainless steel (P-8) is neither
required nor prohibited, this refers to postweld stress relieving. There are certain processes to
which this material may be subjected.
In solution heat treatment the material is subjected to a high heat, around 2000oF, and rapidly
cooled in liquid in order to achieve an evenly distributed solution of carbon and austenite in the
metallurgical structure of the material.
Solution annealing is applied commonly to austenitic stainless steels, typically at 1010-1150C.
With unstabilised grades, the treatment must be followed by fast cooling or quenching.
It is applied as a softening process during manufacture or to optimise corrosion resistance (e.g.
after welding).
Some alloys due to their low carbon content do not need a solution anneal due to carbide
formation, but benefit from a solution anneal to achieve maximum corrosion resistance.
Solution annealing of SS dissolves any precipitated carbide phase at high temperature, then
rapidly cools so that carbides will not be present to lessen corrosion resistance.

Pickling removes existing surface oxides (as from heat treating or welding), surface
contamination such as iron from steel tooling, and removes the near-surface layer of metal
which is often depleted in chromium due to prior heating. Procedures given in ASTM A380.
Passivation is usually accomplished in nitric acid solutions (or increasingly with heated citric
acid solutions). It selectively dissolves Fe & Ni atoms from the surface layers, and oxidizes the
remaining Cr atoms, forming a corrosion-resistant surface oxide high in Cr2O3.
STABILIZING HEAT TREATMENT
Everything said in the first paragraph under solution heat treatment also applies to stabilizing
heat treatment. In the latter process the material is cooled slowly in order to bring as much
carbon as possible out of solution and into evenly distributed concentrations apart from the
austenite.
Both solution heat treatment and stabilizing heat treatment are used to reduce susceptibility to
intergranular stress corrosion and embrittlement also to increase high temperature creep
strength.
Production Weld Hardness Testing
Hardness testing is required on production welds for the following applications:
a)

For all materials in sour service.

b)

For vessels PWHTed for service (see 13.3).

c)

Vessels of P-No. 4 or 5 material.

The maximum allowable hardness for P-No. 1 materials is BHN 200

INDUCTION HEATING VS RESISTANCE HEATING:
In conventional heating, you will need really good thermal contact between the heated item and
the heating element, of any shape. So basically, heat is lost in transfer, and has to heat from the
outside in.
With induction heating, the heated item is subjected to an electromagnetic field. No contact is
required, the heat is only produced in the intended item, and heating is more even throughout.
Dielectric heating (also known as electronic heating, RF heating, high-frequency heating) is the
process in which radiowave or microwave electromagnetic radiation heats a dielectric material.
This heating is caused by dipole rotation.
Induction heating is the process of heating an electrically conducting object (usually a metal) by
electromagnetic induction, where eddy currents are generated within the metal and resistance
leads to Joule heating of the metal. An induction heater (for any process) consists of an
electromagnet, through which a high-frequency alternating current (AC) is passed.
Heat may also be generated by magnetic hysteresis losses in materials that have significant
relative permeability. The frequency of AC used depends on the object size, material type,
coupling (between the work coil and the object to be heated) and the penetration depth
Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of radio frequency (RF) energy - that
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum below infrared and microwave energy. Since heat is
transferred to the product via electromagnetic waves, the part never comes into direct contact
with any flame, the inductor itself does not get hot (see Figure 1), and there is no product
contamination. When properly set up, the process becomes very repeatable and controllable.

Induction heating is a process which is used to bond, harden or soften metals or other conductive
materials. For many modern manufacturing processes, induction heating offers an attractive
combination of speed, consistency and control.
HEAT TREATMENT
Below are the types of heat treatment available. The temperatures mentioned are for steel.
Process
Annealing

Temperature
920 C

Cooling
hold, furnace
cool
very slow cool

Normalising

Quench,
harden

920 C

920 C

hold, air cool

slow cool
hold, quench
cool

Stress Relief

550 C - 700
C
550 C - 700
C

annealing is a recrystalisation
improves ductility (softens)
decreases toughness
makes bending, etc. easier
lowers yield stress
increases toughness
improves mechanical properties
relieves internal stress
hardens carbon steels

hold , air cool

slow

prevents carbide precipitation in

austenitic stainless steels
prevents temper brittleness when
(in oil or water) cooling after
tempering
prepares metal for tempering
increases toughness of quenched
steels

hold, air cool

relieves residual stresses by

fast

Temper

Result

plastic deformation
reduces yield point
reduces hydrogen levels
improves stability during
machining
prevents stress corrosion cracking
Preheat for
welding

50 C - 250
C

Hydrogen
soak

hold

hold

Above 920 C the grain structure and size of grain structure are affected. Below 900 C the
grain structure is not affected. The soak time is related to thickness, usually one hour per 25
millimetres thickness. Differing cooling rates give different properties to the metal, so the cool
down rate is also critical. (Possibly monitoring at a stand off from the weld being treated.) For
preheating and hydrogen soak oxy-acetylene is not to be used (too localised a heat source),
propane is to be used.

MONITORING THE HEAT TREATMENT

The method and location of the heat treatment are important, for example in a workshop furnace
or on site using electroblanket (cooperheat type) equipment. The temperature is measured with
thermocouples and recorded on a chart. The main points are:
Controlled heat rise
Soak time
Temperature
Cool down rate to unrestricted
The last test is a hardness test after cooling.

Temperature rise

soak time

cool down

Temperature

Time
Typical heat treatment chart recording.
The inspector should ensure that:
a)

Equipment is as specified and calibrated.

b)

Operators are qualified.

c)

Procedure as specified is used.

i.e. method of application, rate of heating and cooling, maximum temperature,
(holding) time, temperature measurement.

soak
d)

All documentation and records are in order

In case of any power interruption during welding, the joint shall be wrapped with dry thermal
insulating blankets to ensure slow and uniform cooling. Requirement of uninterrupted power
supply shall be ensured for materials like P-91, T-91 & BS EN 10025
Preheating & Post Heating Methods:
Preheating & Post Heating shall be applied by any of the methods given below:
a.

Electrical resistance heating

b.

Induction heating

c.

Oxy-acetylene or other gas torches

Heat band for PWHT:

For Boilers:
When heat treating welded joints in components in the boiler proper, width of the heated
circumferential band (W) on either side of the weld, W = 3 times the width of the widest part of
the weld groove but in no case less than twice the width of weld at reinforcement.
When used in post weld heat treatment in sections - W = 3 times the plate thickness.
For nozzle and other welded attachments - W must be wider than the nozzle or attachment or 3
times the wall thickness.
For Piping:
W = 3 times the wall thickness (of thickest part ) on each side from the centre of the weld. In
case of nozzles and attachment welds, the width of the heat band shall extend beyond the nozzle
or the attachment wall on each side by at least twice the higher thickness and shall extend
completely around the header.
Thermocouples
Only Type K (Chromel-Alumel) or Type J (iron-Constantan) thermocouples are permittedFor
Type K thermocouples, copper-Constantan (Type T) compensating cables may be used with the
following conditions:
The junction between the copper-Constantan compensating cable and the Type K thermocouple
lead shall be a minimum of 0.5 m outside the insulated area.
The acceptable temperature range of the junction between the compensating cable and the
thermocouple lead is from 0 to + 80C.
Thermocouple (t/c) Fixing:
Minimum of two thermocouples per weld joint.
Thermocouples located 180 apart.
Thermocouples located at top and bottom of weld joint.
Thermocouples located at a distance of approximately 1.5 times of the wall thickness about
the centre line of weld.
Maximum Heating Rate Above
Thickness of Material

Maximum Cooling
300C
Rate Upto 300C

25 mm
> 25

50 mm

220C/hour
110C/hour

220C/hour
110C/hour

75C/hour
> 50

75C/hour

75 mm
55C/hour

55C/hour *

> 75mm

* For structural - 65C/ hour (Max.)

Temperature Records:
All the heat treatment cycles may be controlled within 10C around the midpoint of the
recommended range of temperature for the material.
POST WELD HEAT TREATMENT (PWHT) JOB CARD
Project : ____________________

Card No. : ____________________

Date : ________________________

Unit No. : _____________________

Package : _____________________

Description : ___________________

Temp. Recorder Details :

Weld Reference : _______________

1.

Make : _____________________

Material Spec. : ________________

2.

Type : _____________________

Size : Dia __________________ mm

3.

Sl.No.: _____________________

4.

Chart speed: ________ mm / hour

5.

Calibration Due on : __________

Thick (t) ______________ mm

NDE Cleared on : _______________
Report No. :

_______________

Thermocouple Locations :
Minimum 2
d = 1.5 x t from weld centre
Heating Band = 6 x t
Insulation Band = 12 x t

Date of PWHT _________________

Chart No. : _____________________

Start Time : ___________________

End Time : _____________________

Required

Rate of Heating (Max) C/h

Soaking Temperature C
Soaking Time

(Minutes)

Rate of cooling (Max)

Actual

Ambient temperature recorded on the PWHT Chart: ____________

WELD PRE HEAT AND PWHT FOR TUBES & PIPES OUTSIDE
DIAMETER
102 mm
(Applicable For Butt Welds And Socket Welds)
P. No. of

Thickness

Material

(mm)

Preheat C

PWHT C

19

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

>9

Nil

620 - 650

Nil

Nil

80 (Note 2)

620 - 650

13

150

Nil (Note 3)

> 13

150

640 - 670

150

Nil (Note 3)

>8

150

All

220

750 770

P8

All

Nil

Nil

12 x 1M

All

220

730 - 760

P1 Gr 1& SA 106
Gr C (Note 1)

P1 Gr 2

13
P3 Gr 1
> 13

P4 Gr 1

P5 A Gr 1
680 -710

P15 E Gr 1
(Note 4)

Note 1 : For SA 106 Gr .C with less than 0.25 % carbon content .

Note 2 : Pre-heating is necessary for t >16mm.
Note 3 : Less than 0.15 % carbon content .
Note 4 : 9 Cr 1 Mo V Steel ( P-91, T-91 )

(Applicable For Welding of Header to Header Joints)

P. No. of
Header Material

Thickness
(mm)
t

19

Preheat
C

Post Heating
C

PWHT
C

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

595 - 625

100
150

Nil
Nil

595 - 625
595 - 625

Nil

Nil

620 650

P1Gr 1
19 < t

25 < t 75
t > 75
t

150
19 < t

Nil

P1Gr 2

620 - 650
for 2 hours
150

25 < t
t > 75

75

100

620 - 650

150

for 2 hours
150

640 - 670

620 - 650
P4 Gr 1

All

150

for 2 hours
Nil

P5 A (Note 1)

All

150

250 for 2 hours

680 - 710

12 x 1M
Note :

All

220

Nil

710-740

1.

All P5A headers shall be inter stage heat treated at 700 - 750C for 30 minutes
soaking prior to any cold straightening operation. In lieu of this, the
straightening can be done after final PWHT. Any P5A Header with weld
thickness above 50mm requires inter stage H.T. at 700-750C for 30 minutes
soaking minimum (max. shall be limited to 2.5 minutes/mm of thickness).

2.

Soaking for PWHT shall be at the rate of 1 hour per 25 mm of thickest weld (but
not less than 30 minutes for carbon steel and 1 hour for alloy steel). Soaking
time for 12 x 1 M header material shall be 4 minutes per mm of the applicable
thickness with a minimum of 180 minutes.

3.

Seal welding of Hand Hole Plates, Radiographic plugs and Screws can be
carried out after final PWHT, provided the preheat is carried out as per the table.
For P number and Group number refer Table - IV.

4.

WELD PREHEAT AND PWHT FOR PIPES

OUTSIDE DIAMETER >102 mm
BUTT WELDS
P No. of

Thickness

Material

(mm)

Stub and Attachment welds

Note 1 & 2
Throat

Preheat
C

19 mm

Post
heat

Throat > 19 mm

PWHT
C

(Note
Preheat

PWHT

Preheat

PWHT
3)

Nil

Nil

Nil

595 19

Nil

Nil

Nil
625

595 P1 Gr 1

>19 25

Nil

595 Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

625

625

595 -

595 -

& SA106 Gr C

>25 75

150

150

Nil

150

625
595 >75

150

Nil
625

595150

625

595 150

625

Nil
625
620 -

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil
650

P1 Gr 2
620 & SA 106 Gr C

>9 19

Nil

620Nil

620 Nil

Nil

650

650

650

620-

620-

620 -

150
>19

150

150
650

150
650

for 2
650
hrs

640All

150

640150

640150

Nil

670

670

670

680 -

680-

680-

P4 Gr 1

Pipes

250
150

150
710

P5 A

Castings &

150
710

for 2
710
hrs

Forgings
280
750P15 E Gr1

All

220

750220

770

750220

770

for 2
770
hrs
280

P15 E Gr1

730All

220

730220

760

730220

760

for 2
760
hrs

P5 A
Note :
Irrespective of the stub or attachment materials, the PWHT cycle shall be governed by the pipe
material.
Throat shall be specified in the drawing. Wherever flanges are welded to pipes combined throat shall
be taken into consideration.
Post heating shall be done immediately after welding.
For butt welds of different P group combinations, PWHT temp. may be as follows:
P1 + P3

620 to 650C

P1 + P4

640 to 670C

P4 + P5A

680 to 710C

(For other P Group combinations, refer to Engineering)

a. For P1 & P3 materials soaking time shall be 1 hour per 25mm up to 50mm thickness and 2 hours +
15 minutes for each 25mm thickness over 50mm.
b. For P4 & P5 materials, soaking time shall be 1 hour per 25mm up to 125mm thickness and 5 hours +
15 minutes for each 25mm thickness over 125mm.
For P number and Group number refer Table IV

P NUMBER AND GROUP NUMBER FOR BASE MATERIALS

Grou
P.No p No. Common Name

Tubes
SA192

Pipes
SA106GRB

SA210GRA1
Carbon
Steels
P1

Plates
SA36

Forgings

Castings

SA266CL

SA216WC

SA515GR55

SA352LC

SA515GR60

SA352LC

Fittings
SA234

SA515GR65
SA516GR55
SA516GR60
SA516GR65
SA210GRC

P1

SA106GRC

Carbon Steels

SA216WC

SA105

SA516GR70

SA216WC

SA234

SA299

SA352LC

SA515GR70

SA266CL

SA209T1

SA335P1

SA217WC

SA213T2

SA335P2

SA387GR2

SA213T12/

SA335P12

SA387GR12

SA182F1

SA213T11

SA335P11

SA387GR11

SA182F1

SA213T22

SA335P22

SA387GR22

SA182F2

SA213T91

SA335P91

SA387GR91

SA182F91

Carbon-Moly
P3

1
Steels
CrMo Steels

P3

1
1CrMo/

SA217WC

SA234

1CrMo Steels
P4

1
SA234

2Cr1Mo Steels
P5A

SA217WC

SA234

9Cr1MoV Steels
P15

SA234

2
WP91

E
18Cr-8Ni Steels
SA213TP304

SA376TP304

SA240TP304

SA182F3

SA351CF

SA213TP304

SA376TP304H

SA240TP321

SA182F3

SA351CF

SA403

P8

SA213TP347

SA376TP321

SA213TP347
SA213TP321

SA240TP347

SA182F3

SA351CF

SA376TP347

SA336F3

SA351CF

SA376TP347H

SA336F3

SA351CF

SA336F3

SA351CF

SA182F310

SA351CK

25Cr-20Ni Steel
SA240TP310
P8

2
(Type 310)
20

Note : IS1239 & API 5L GR B Pipes, IS2062 Plates may be treated as P No.1 Gr No.1 material.

Pre heat & PWHT of Critical Piping with Turbine & Auxiliaries
Sl
no

Material
Spec 1

Material
Spec 2

OD

Thic
knes
s

Type Pre
of
heat
Weld Deg. C

GS 17
CrMoV 511
G17 CrMo 9
10
21 Cr Mo Ni
V47

SA335
P91
SA335
P22
SA335
P22

110

>30

110

>30

110

>30

2
3

PWHT
Temp.
Deg. C

200 TO 690+10
300
(Notes)
200 TO 690+10
300
(Notes)
200 TO 690+10
300
(Notes)

Notes :- Rate of heating 50 Deg. C per hour above 300 C

Rate of cooling 30 Deg. C per hour up to 300 C
This is as per BHEL HEEP - Hardwar recommendation.

Holding
time
minimum
(minutes)
240
240
240

PREHEAT AND PWHT FOR NON PRESSURE PARTS INCLUDING STRUCTURALS

P.No. of

Weldin
g

Gas Cutting
Material /
Material
Specification

Thickness
(mm)
25

Preheat
C

Thickness
(mm)
38

Nil

Preheat
C

PWHT
C
595-625

Nil
a) All butt welds > 50

> 38

P1 / IS 2062

63

100
mm thick

> 25

100

> 63

150

b) Any welds to a
tension member

IS 8500
620- 650 ( Soaking
Fe 540

150

time 2.5 Mts. Per

mm.

( Ceiling
Minimum 120 Mins)
Girder )
BS EN
620 650 ( Soaking
time 2.5 Mts. Per
mm.

10025 Gr
-

220

420 N

Minimum 120 Mins.

)

( Ceiling
Girder )

640-670
a) All butt welds in
tension member
P4 Gr 1
All

150

All

150

b) All fabricated
components > 16mm
thick (Note 3)
680-710
All welds

P5 A

All

150

All

150
(Note 4)

NOTE :
1.

All gas cut edges may be chipped off, ground or machined to remove the HAZ with
3mm minimum removal.

2.

Clip angles above 10mm, used for beam connections, which are sheared to length, shall
require heat treatment.

3.

All fabricated structural components of P-4 material, with any member above
16mm thickness, the entire assembly shall be post weld heat treated.

4.

All welds of P5 A material shall be post heated at 250C for 2 hours immediately
following welding.

5.

Soaking time shall be as below :

a. P1 and P3 materials one hour per 25mm up to 50mm thickness and
PREHEAT FOR FLAME CUTTING
P.No. of Material

Thickness (mm)

Preheat C

P1 Gr 1
(Note 1)

< 25
25

Nil
100

All

150

All

150

All

150

All

150

P1 Gr 2
(Note 1)
P3
(Note 1)
P4
(Note 1)
P5 A
(Note 2)

NOTE :
1. For P1, P3 and P4 materials, when the flame cut edge will be machined after cutting
and when no forming operation is required after cutting, no preheat is required for
flame cutting.
2.

P5 A materials, except when the part is scheduled for hot forming, shall be inter stage
heat treated at 680-710C for 30 minutes minimum after flame cutting and prior to any
welding. Subsequent to this heat treatment, a minimum 3 mm of the gas cut edge shall
be removed by machining / grinding.