Heat Affected Zone Softening Factor
The heat-affected zone softening factor indicates how much the strength in the weld zone of a material is affected by welding. For high-strength steels, careful control is required to avoid cracking and brittleness.
Physical-Chemical Mechanism of Action
The heat-affected zone softening factor (WZW) describes the loss of strength in the weld zone of a material due to thermal effects. During welding, laser or flame heating raises the temperature of the surrounding material, leading to softening and loss of strength.
Metallurgical Relevance & Welding Risks
In high-strength materials such as fine-grained structural steels, a high WZW can lead to increased brittleness and cracking in the weld zone. This can pose a serious hazard, especially in critical applications or under high mechanical stress.
Workshop Practice & Action Instructions
To minimize WZW, it is important to carefully control welding parameters such as temperature and time. For fine-grained structural steels, slow cooling after welding should be applied (t8/5 > 25 s) to stabilize the microstructure and reduce strength loss.