Patent ID: 8075714

Claim:
A method of stress treating a steel cruciform article by rapidly and permanently expanding a selected volume of the cruciform article relative to a portion of the article surrounding the selected volume, the selected volume including at least a portion of a longitudinal weld joint under tensile stress, the method comprising: providing the weld steel cruciform article having the selected volume under tensile stress due to the weld; heating the selected volume to a final temperature greater than the austenitic temperature of the steel to cause the formation of austenite in the selected volume; when the selected volume is at a temperature greater than the austenitic temperature of the steel, quenching the steel of the selected volume to a temperature below its austenitic temperature, wherein the quenching is executed at a speed causing a formation of martensite from the austenite, avoiding the formation of other phases, thus introducing a compressive force into the selected volume due to expansion of the material of the selected volume, and thus relieving the tensile stress.