• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 1983

Many pressure vessels for the hot H$\sub$2//H$\sub$2/S service are made of 2+1/4Cr-1Mo steel with austenitic stainless steel overlay to combat agressive corrosion due to hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen dissolves in to materials during operation, and sometimes gives rise to unfore-seeable damages. Appropriate precautions must, therefore, be taken to avoid the hydrogen induced damages in the design, fabrication and operation stage of such reactor vessels. Recently, hydrogeninduced cracking (or Disbonding) was found at the interface between base metal and stainless weld overlay of a desulfurizing reactor. Since the stainless steel overlay weld metal is subjected to thermal and internal-pressure loads in reactor operation, it is desirable for the overlay weld metal to have high strength and ductility from the stand point of structural safety. In section III of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Post-Weld Heat Treatment(PWHT) of more than one hour per inch at over 1100.deg. F(593.deg. C) is required for the weld joints of low alloy pressure vessel steels. This heat treatment to relieve stresses in the welded joint during construction of the pressure vessel is considered to cause sensitization of the overlay weld metal. The present study was carried out to make clear the diffusion of carbon migration by PWHT in dissimilar metal welded joint. The main conclusion reached from this study are as follows: 1) The theoretical analysis for diffusion of carbon in stainless steel overlay weld metal does not agree with Fick's 2nd law but the general law of molecular diffusion phenomenon by thermodynamic chemical potential. 2) In the stainless steel overlay welded joint, the PWHT at 720.deg. C for 10 hours causes a diffusion of carbon atoms from ferritic steel into austenitic steel according to the theoretical analysis for carbon migration and its experiment. 3) In case of PWHT at 720.deg. C for 10 hours, the micro-hardness of stainless steel weld metal in bonded zone increase very highly in the carburized layer with remarkable hardening than that of weld metal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.132-144
• /
• 2001

Fracture mechanics is one of the major areas of the pressurized thermal shock (PTS) evaluation. To evaluate the reactor pressure vessel integrity associated with PTS, PFM methodology demands precise calculation of temperature, stress, and stress intensity factor for the variety of PTS transients. However, the existence of stainless steel cladding, with different thermal, physical, and mechanical property, at the inner surface of reactor pressure vessel complicates the fracture mechanics analysis. In this paper, treatment schemes to evaluate stress and resulting stress intensity factor for RPV with stainless steel clad are introduced. For a reference transient, the effects of clad thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficients on deterministic fracture mechanics analysis are examined.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.102-107
• /
• 2017

A tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding method was used for the bonding of stainless steel. TIG welding using inert gas (He or Ar gas) is a method to prevent oxidation and nitriding of materials and to combine non-ferrous metals. This method has the advantage of obtaining a smooth weld surface. In this study, the welding characteristics of 304 stainless steel welded by TIG welding method were analyzed by using nondestructive technique. Ultrasonic and Acoustic Emission (AE) was applied to evaluate the micro-damage of TIG welded 304 stainless steel. The velocity and damping coefficient of ultrasonic wave showed a slight difference in HAZ, which is the welding part of stainless steel. The AE parameters of average frequency, rise time and event were analyzed for the dynamic behavior of stainless steel during loading. Optimal AE parameters for evaluating the degree of damage to the specimen have been derived. Fractograph and metal structures of 304 stainless steel using SEM and optical microscope were discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.7
• /
• pp.773-780
• /
• 2012

The article presented is concerned with an evaluation of the corrosion behavior of SA-508 low alloy steel (LAS) and Type 309L stainless steel (SS) cladding of a reactor pressure vessel under the simulated primary water chemistry of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The uniform corrosion and galvanic corrosion rates of SA-508 LAS and Type 309L SS were measured in three different control conditions: power operation, shutdown, and power operation followed by shutdown. In all conditions, the dissimilar metal coupling of SA-508 LAS and Type 309L SS exhibited higher corrosion rates than the SA-508 base metal itself due to severe galvanic corrosion near the cladding interface, while the corrosion of Type 309L in the primary water environment was minimal. The galvanic corrosion rate of the SA-508 LAS and Type 309L SS couple measured under the simulated power operation condition was much lower than that measured in the simulated shutdown condition due to the formation of magnetite on the metal surface in a reducing environment. Based on the experimental results, the corrosion rate of SA-508 LAS clad with Type 309L SS was estimated as a function of operating cycle simulated for a typical PWR.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.190-195
• /
• 2019

SA508 low-alloy steel for a reactor vessel was exposed to primary water in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant because the cladding layer of type 309 stainless steel for the RPV was removed, due to an accident in which the detachment of the thermal sleeve occurred. The major advantage of the electrochemical deposition (ECD) Ni plating technique is that the reactor pressure vessel can be repaired without significant thermal effects, and Ni has solid corrosion resistance that can withstand boric acid. The corrosion rate assessment of the damaged part was performed, and its trend was analyzed. Essential variables of the Ni plating for repair of the damaged part were derived. These conditions are applicable variables for the repair plating device, and have been carefully adjusted using the repair plating device. The process for establishing ASME technical standards called Code Case N-840 is described. The process of developing Ni-plating devices, and the electroplating procedure specification (EPS) are described.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.58-63
• /
• 2016

A stainless steel has high corrosion resistance because of nickel in material, so it is used as materials for transportation and storage of hydrogen. In this study, TIG(tungsten ingot gas) welding was carried out on the stainless steel using the storage vessel of hydrogen. The microscopic structures at each region of TIG welded material such as HAZ, weld and base metals using optical microscope were observed. And the damage behavior of stainless steel that underwent the hydrogen charging using nondestructive evaluation was also studied. Ultrasonic test, which is the most generalized nondestructive technique, was applied to evaluate the relationship between the ultrasonic wave and mechanical properties at each zone of TIG welded stainless steel. The velocity and attenuation coefficients of ultrasonic wave didn't show a remarkable difference at each region of welded stainless steel. However, the attenuation coefficient was the highest at the weld zone when hydrogen charged stainless steel. In addition, acoustic emission test was also used to study the dynamic behavior of stainless steel experienced both hydrogen charging and weld. Lots of AE event at elastic region of stress-strain curve were occurred both the hydrogen charged specimen and the free specimen.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.119-125
• /
• 2007

In recent days, the consumption of stainless steel in the propulsion shafting systems for small-medium class vessel is increased due to its high corrosion protection with wear resistant properties. Unfortunately the small and medium class vessel that operated in the west-south sea area of Korean peninsula experienced heavy wear down due to the role of mud. In the event of wear or broken down, the propeller shaft must be replaced by new one, but the new shaft is very expensive and time-consuming for order made supply. In this case, the methods of built up for wear and broken shaft by welding is one of the most effective cases. In this study, the built up welding for austenitic stainless steel shaft has been accomplished by various pre-surface treatment, welding methods, post heattreatment and inspection. The results confirmed that the built-up welding was one of the effective methods for stainless steel shafting.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.53-60
• /
• 2015

This study was investigated to develop process technology of laser cladding with austenite stainless steel for Weld Inlay repair of dissimilar metal weld in reactor vessel in/outlet nozzles. Weld Inlay experiments were performed by laser cladding repair system consisting of common manipulator, laser apparatus and welding process scheduler, etc. Single pass welding experiments were conducted in order to obtain the optimum welding process parameters for filler wires of ER309L and Alloy 52M before multi-layer laser cladding. Based on the above obtained results, multi-layer laser cladding experiments were carried out, and welding qualities for weld specimens were estimated by PT, OM, SEM and EDS analysis. Consequently, it was revealed that multi-layer laser cladding on austenite stainless steel using filler wires of ER309L and Alloy 52M could be possible to meet ASME Code standard without any weld defect.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.226-228
• /
• 2000

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.4-17
• /
• 1984

Overlaid weld metals of austenitic stainless steel in a pressure vessel of power reactor are usually post-weld heated for a long period of time after welding. The PWHT is considered as a kind of sensitizing and it is important to check the soundness of the weld metal after PWHT, especially about the precipitation of carbides. The purpose of this report is to obtain information on the relation between the change of microstructure and Post-Weld Heat Treatment in the overlaid weld metals. Metallurgical aspects of the problem on austenitic stainless steel heated at $625^{\circ}C$, $670^{\circ}C$, $720^{\circ}C$ and $760^{\circ}C$ for 3, 10, 30, 100 and 300 hours have been investigated by means of optical-micrography, micro-hardness measurement, scanning electron microscope and electron-probe micro analysis. From the results obtained, the following conclusions are drawn; 1) The PWHT above $625^{\circ}C$ for a long time causes a diffusion of carbon atoms from low alloy steel into stainless steel, and consequently carbon is highly concentrated at the boundary layer of stainless steel. 2) C in ferritic steel migrated to austenitic steel and carbides precipitated in austenitic steel along fusion line. At higher temperatures, the ferrite grains coarsened in the decarburized zone. 3) In the change of microstructure of stainless steel overlaid weld metal, the width of carbides precipitated zone and decarburized zone increased with increase of PWHT temperature and time. 4) At about $625^{\circ}C$ to $760^{\circ}C$, chromium carbides, mainly $M_{23} C_6$, precipitate very closely in the carburized layer with remarkable hardening. 5) Precipitation of delta ferrite from molten weld metal depends on solidification phenomenon. There was a small of ferrite near the bond in which the local solidification time was short, comparing with after parts of weld metal. Shape and amount of ferrite were not changed by Post-Weld Heat Treatment after solidification.