ANALYSIS OF CRACKS RESULTING FROM

THERMITE WELDING OF CATHODIC PROTECTION

Marjan Suban, Simon Božiè, Andrej Zajec, Robert Cvelbar, Borut Bundara
Institute of metal constructions, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Introduction
Various steel pipes that are exposed to corrosion, are protected with the cathodic
protection where thermite welding of a copper conductor on a steel pipe is used. During the
welding process and due to the nature of it, steel in the solid state comes in a contact with
liquid copper. Contact of steel with liquid metal in some cases cause phenomenon known
as the liquid-metal embrittlement or LME. Phenomenon was previously studied in cases
such as soldering, but for thermite welding no records were found in accessible literature.
The purpose of this investigation was to draw attention to some irregularities and
consequences arising from it, which in this type of welding can occur.
With the presence of martensite microstructure in HAZ just below the fusion zone cracking
occurs. This phenomenon (LME) occurs due to contact of liquid metal (Cu) with a solid
metal (steel). Fracture is facilitated by adsorption-induced weakening of interatomic bonds
at crack tips, with transport of copper to crack tips occurring rapidly (crack growth rate is up
to 100 mm/s) by capillary flow. Diffusion of atoms along grain boundaries ahead of cracks
is not involved, although this can occur in some circumstances.

Thermite welding of cathodic protection

Thermite welding, also known as exothermic welding, of copper to steel is a welding
process for joining these two materials, that employs superheated copper to permanently
join the welding parts. The process takes advantage of an exothermic reaction of a copper
thermite composition to heat and melt the copper. Thermite welding process itself is shown
in Fig. 1. This type of welding is especially useful for joining dissimilar metals e.g. Cu and
steel for creating electric joints, like in our case for cathodic protection.
Figure 4: Microcracks in steel filled with copper
Measurements of micro-hardness
Micro-hardness measurements just below the weld edge showed that the values in the
martensite can be as high as 367 HV (Fig. 5 top). Such result was obtained in the case of
over-used welding mould and at a temperature of steel pipe approximately 15 °C. Fig. 5
shows that by using of new mould and at minimum preheating, reduction in hardness just
below the weld edge can be achieved. Reduced local hardness is result of absence of hard
martensite microstructures. Also microcracking cannot be found in these cases.

Figure 1: Steps of thermite welding procedure

The welding setup shown in Fig. 1 was used for the laboratory tests. Copper conductor
NYY 1x16 mm was welded on 24’’, SCH 40 steel pipe made of ASTM A106 Gr. B
(P255G1TH). Cadweld exothermic system was used for welding. Tests were performed
with new and multiple-times used moulds. Preheating temperature of steel pipe was set to:
o o o o
room temperature (15 C), 40 C, 60 C and 80 C.

Results
Macroscopic examinations
In the macroscopic investigations the following characteristics of welded joints were
observed: shape of the weld, porosity of the weld (Fig. 2a), lack of joint with steel base (Fig.
2b) and size of the heat affected zone (HAZ) in the base metal (Fig. 2c).
Figure 5: Micro-hardness results in weld cross-section
a) b) c)

Reduction of material strenght due to microcracks

Figure 2: Some examples of defects revealed by macroscopic examination
Microscopic examinations
The copper and steel formed intermediate layer, which contains the penetrated copper.
The thickness of this layer is from 10 to 20 mm.
Calculation of reduction of static strength of steel pipe due to the presence of filled crack
can be done using equations derived by Panasyuk et al., where comparison of strength of
material with empty crack and material with filled crack is made. If crack is filled with
material of almost equal strength, that just a little reduction of static strength can be
expected. In this research work crack propagation due to fatigue was not investigated, but
some other research articles can be found in literature. Microcracks in steel, which are
filled with other metal (Cu or Ni)
lead to retardation of crack
propagation, as shown
on Fig. 6.

Figure 3: Measurements of thickness of Cu-Fe fusion zone (intermediate layer) Figure 6: Crack length growth versus cycle for cracks filled with Ni (EN5) and Cu (EC3)

Conclusions
In the case of thermite welding of cathodic protection some problems connected to presence of liquid-solid metal contact (copper-steel) were detected. In welding area larger
crystal grains, martensite microstructure and consequently, the microcracks appear, which are filled with liquid copper. To reduce this unfavourable microstructure, it is necessary
to reduce the rate of cooling, which can be achieved by preheating the steel. By preheating to temperature at least 40 °C, reduction of martensite microstructure can be achieved,
hardness at weld edge is lowered and initiation of microcracks is suppressed. This preheating also reduce moisture, which may appear on the surface of pipe and causes some
other welding defects.
In conclusion, some calculations were made for static strength showed that only minor reduction of strength can be expected. In the case of dynamic load, the crack propagation of
filled crack is slower that in the case of empty crack. However, filled crack can also lead to material collapse.