Welded joints are critical for building and maintaining most equipment throughout the petroleum, chemical processing, and manufacturing industries. The nature of welding – melting a filler material into a joint and heating the surrounding material to extreme temperatures – leads to microstructural changes in the heat-affected zone. This zone may exhibit diminished material properties and contain residual stresses.
The Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) process ensures material strength is maintained and relieves residual stresses in the heat affected zone. It can be employed to control hardness or even to enhance material strength. Alhoty offers various methods of PWHT for post-heating and stress relieving.