In order to clarify the role of different post-welding heat treatment processes in the manufacturing process,the effect of heat treatment on the performance of automatic argon arc welding joint of 12Cr1MoV low alloy steel was analyzed by means of microstructure observation,hardness test,tensile test and room temperature impact test.The result shows that the Vickers hardness(HV0.2)of the heat affected zone of the joint decreases by about 10 on average with post-weld dehydrogenation treatment compared with that without post-weld heat treatment.Compared with no post-weld heat treatment,the hardness of the joint with post-weld heat treatment changes obviously,the hardness of each area is greatly reduced,the Vickers hardness(HV0.2)of the heat affected zone is reduced by about 10,and the Vickers hardness(HV0.2)of the base metal zone is reduced by 20.After the post-weld heat treatment,the toughness of the joint weld is increased by 62 J,and the toughness of the heat affected zone is increased by 78 J.It is confirmed by analysis that the post-weld heat treatment is more beneficial to improve the performance of welding joint than the post-weld dehydrogenation treatment.