Measurements of the Reduction Due to Proof Loads of Residual Stresses in Simulated Pressure Vessel Welds

2009 ◽  
pp. 30-30-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
RH Leggatt ◽  
TG Davey
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Pressure Vessel

Weld Residual Stresses and Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking in Bimetal Nuclear Pipe Welds

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick W. Brust ◽  
Paul M. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Weld Metal ◽  
Stress Corrosion ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Stress Corrosion Cracking ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Corrosion Cracking ◽  
Primary Water

There have been incidents recently where cracking has been observed in the bi-metallic welds that join the hot leg to the reactor pressure vessel nozzle. The hot leg pipes are typically large diameter, thick wall pipes. Typically, an inconel weld metal is used to join the ferritic pressure vessel steel to the stainless steel pipe. The cracking, mainly confined to the inconel weld metal, is caused by corrosion mechanisms. Tensile weld residual stresses, in addition to service loads, contribute to PWSCC (Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking) crack growth. In addition to the large diameter hot leg pipe, cracking in other piping components of different sizes has been observed. For instance, surge lines and spray line cracking has been observed that has been attributed to this degradation mechanism. Here we present some models which are used to predict the PWSCC behavior in nuclear piping. This includes weld model solutions of bimetal pipe welds along with an example calculation of PWSCC crack growth in a hot leg. Risk based considerations are also discussed.

Establishing Recommended Guidance for Local Post Weld Heat Treatment Configurations Based on Thermal-Mechanical Finite Element Analysis

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip E. Prueter ◽  
Brian Macejko
Keyword(s):  
Heat Treatment ◽  
Finite Element Analysis ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Post Weld Heat Treatment ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Weld Heat

Post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is an effective way to minimize weld residual stresses in pressure vessels and piping equipment. PWHT is required for carbon steels above a Code-defined thickness threshold and other low-alloy steels to mitigate the propensity for crack initiation and ultimately, brittle fracture. Additionally, PWHT is often employed to mitigate stress corrosion cracking due to environmental conditions. Performing local PWHT following component repairs or alterations is often more practical and cost effective than heat treating an entire vessel or a large portion of the pressure boundary. In particular, spot or bulls eye configurations are often employed in industry to perform PWHT following local weld repairs to regions of the pressure boundary. Both the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code and the National Board Inspection Code (NBIC) permit the use of local PWHT around nozzles or other pressure boundary repairs or alterations. Additionally, Welding Research Council (WRC) Bulletin 452 [1] offers detailed guidance relating to local PWHT and compares some of the Code-based methodologies for implementing local PWHT on pressure retaining equipment. Specifically, local PWHT methodologies provided in design Codes: ASME Section VIII Division 1 [2] and Division 2 [3], ASME Section III Subsection NB [4], British Standard 5500 [5], Australian Standard 1210 [6], and repair Codes: American Petroleum Institute (API) 510 [7] and NBIC [8] are discussed and compared in this study. While spot PWHT may be appropriate in certain cases, if the soak, heating, and gradient control bands are not properly sized and positioned, it can lead to permanent vessel distortion or detrimental residual stresses that can increase the likelihood of in-service crack initiation and possible catastrophic failure due to unstable flaw propagation. It is essential to properly engineer local or spot PWHT configurations to ensure that distortion, cracking of adjacent welds, and severe residual stresses are avoided. In some cases, this may require advanced thermal-mechanical finite element analysis (FEA) to simulate the local PWHT process and to predict the ensuing residual stress state of the repaired area. This paper investigates several case studies of local PWHT configurations where advanced, three-dimensional FEA is used to simulate the thermal-mechanical response of the repaired region on a pressure vessel and to optimize the most ideal PWHT arrangement. Local plasticity and distortion are quantified using advanced non-linear elastic-plastic analysis. Commentary on the ASME and NBIC Code-specified local PWHT requirements is rendered based on the detailed non-linear FEA results, and recommended good practice for typical local PWHT configurations is provided. Advanced computational simulation techniques such as the ones employed in this investigation offer a means for analysts to ensure that local PWHT configurations implemented following equipment repairs will not lead to costly additional damage, such as distortion or cracking that can ultimately prolong equipment downtime.

scholarly journals Residual Stresses in Weld-Deposited Clad Pressure Vessels and Nozzles

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Jones ◽  
W. R. Mabe ◽  
J. R. Shadley ◽  
E. F. Rybicki
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stress ◽  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Fatigue Testing ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Flat Plates ◽  
Spherical Head ◽  
Layer Removal Method ◽  
Ring Segment ◽  
Cladding Material

Results of through-thickness residual stress measurements are provided for a variety of samples of weld-deposited 308/309L stainless steel and Alloy 600 cladding on low-alloy pressure vessel ferritic steels. Clad thicknesses between 5 and 9 mm on samples that vary in thickness from 45 to 200 mm were studied. The samples were taken from flat plates, from a spherical head of a pressure vessel, from a ring-segment of a nozzle bore, and from the transition radius between a nozzle and a pressure vessel shell. A layer removal method was used to measure the residual stresses. The effects of uncertainties in elastic constants (Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio) as well as experimental error are assessed. All measurements were done at room temperature. The results of this work indicate that curvature plays a significant role in cladding residual stress and that tensile residual stresses as high as the yield stress can be measured in the cladding material. Since the vessel from which the spherical and nozzle corner samples were taken was hydrotested, and the flat plate specimens were taken from specimens used in mechanical fatigue testing, these results suggest that rather high tensile residual stresses can be retained in the cladding material, even after some mechanical loading associated with hydrotesting.

Assessment of a Stress-Free Temperature Model for Residual Stresses in Surface Cladding of a Reactor Pressure Vessel

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Richard Bass ◽  
Paul T. Williams ◽  
Terry L. Dickson ◽  
Hilda B. Klasky
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stress ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Thermal Expansion ◽  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Base Metal ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Reactor Pressure Vessel ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Inner Surface ◽  
Reactor Pressure

This paper describes further results from an ongoing study of a simplified engineering model that is intended to account for effects of clad residual stresses on the propensity for initiation of preexisting inner-surface flaws in a commercial nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The deposition of stainless steel cladding during fabrication of an RPV generates residual stresses in the cladding and the heat affected zone of the under-lying base metal. In addition to residual stress, thermal strains are generated by the differential thermal expansion (DTE) of the cladding and base material due to temperature changes during normal operation. A simplified model used in the ORNL-developed FAVOR probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) code accounts for the clad residual stress by incorporating a stress-free temperature (SFT) approach. At the stress-free temperature (Ts-free), the model assumes there is no thermal strain, i.e., the thermal expansion stresses and clad residual stresses offset each other. For normal cool-down transients applied to the RPV, interactions of the latter stresses generate additional crack driving forces on shallow, internal surface-breaking flaws near the clad/base metal interface; those flaws tend to dominate the RPV failure probability computed by FAVOR. In a previous report from this study (PVP2015-45086), finite element analysis was used to compare the stresses and stress-intensity factors (SIF) during a cool-down transient for two cases: (1) the existing SFT model of FAVOR, and (2) directly applied RPV clad residual stress (CRS) distribution obtained from empirical (hole-drilling) measurements made at room temperature on an RPV that was never put into service. However, those analyses were limited in scope and focused on a single flaw orientation. In this updated study, effects of CRS on the SIF histories computed for both circumferential and axial flaw orientations subjected to a cool-down transient were determined from an extended set of finite element analyses. Specifically, comparisons were made between results from applying CRS experimental data to ABAQUS two-dimensional, inner-surface flaw models and those generated by the FAVOR SFT model. It is demonstrated that the FAVOR-recommended SFT value of 488 °F produces conservatively high values of SIF relative to the use of CRS profiles in the ABAQUS models. For the vessel and flaw geometry and transient under study, the circumferential flaw (360° continuous) required a decrease of SFT down to 390 °F to match the CRS SIF histories. For the infinite axial flaw model, a decrease down to 300 °F matched the CRS SIF histories. Future plans are described to develop more general conclusions regarding the FAVOR model.

Residual Stresses in Clad Nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels: Prediction, Measurement and Reconstruction

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Serasli ◽  
Harry Coules ◽  
David Smith
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stress ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Finite Element Simulations ◽  
Reactor Pressure Vessel ◽  
Mapping Technique ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steels ◽  
Reactor Pressure

Most residual stress measurement methods are limited in terms of their stress and spatial resolution, number of stress tensor components measured and measurement uncertainty. In contrast, finite element simulations of welding processes provide full field distributions of residual stresses, with results dependent on the quality of the input conditions. Measurements and predictions are often not the same, and the true residual stress state is difficult to determine. In this paper both measurements and predictions of residual stresses, created in clad nuclear reactor pressure vessel steels, are made. The measurements are then used as input to a residual stress mapping technique provided within a finite element analysis. The technique is applied iteratively to converge to a balanced solution which is not necessarily unique. However, the technique aids the identification of locations for additional measurements. This is illustrated in the paper. The outcomes from the additional measurements permit more realistic and reliable estimates of the true residual state to be made. The outcomes are compared with the finite element simulations of the welding process and used to determine whether there is a need for additional input to the simulations.

Post Autofrettage Thermal Treatment and Its Effect on Re-Yielding of High Strength Pressure Vessel Steels

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Troiano ◽  
J. H. Underwood ◽  
A. P. Parker ◽  
C. Mossey
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Treatment ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Plastic Strain ◽  
Residual Stresses ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Lower Amount ◽  
Isotropic Hardening ◽  
Maximum Pressure ◽  
Compressive Residual Stresses

The autofrettage process of a thick walled pressure vessel involves applying tensile plastic strain at the bore of the vessel which reverses during unloading and results in favorable compressive residual stresses at the bore and prolongs the fatigue life of the component. In thick walled pressure vessels this process can be accomplished with either a hydraulic or mechanical overloading process. The Bauschinger effect, which is observed in many of the materials used in thick walled pressure vessels, is a phenomenon which results in lower compressive residual stresses than those predicted with classic ideal isotropic hardening. The phenomenon is a strong function of the amount of prior tensile plastic strain. A novel idea which involves a multiple autofrettage process has been proposed by the present authors. This process requires a low temperature post autofrettage thermal treatment which effectively returns the material to its original yield conditions without affecting its residual stress state. Details of this low temperature thermal treatment are proprietary. A subsequent second autofrettage process generates a significantly lower amount of plastic strain during the tensile re-loading and results in higher compressive residual stresses. This paper reports the details of exploratory tests involving tensile and compressive loading of a test coupon, followed by a low temperature post plastic straining thermal treatment, and subsequent re-loading in tension and compression. Finally results of a full scale Safe Maximum Pressure (SMP) test of pressure vessels are presented; these tests indicate a significant increase (11%) in SMP.

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