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THE EFFECT OF STRESS RELIEF PARAMETERS ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PRESSURE VESSEL STEELS AND WELDMENTS* D. A. Canonico and W. J. Stelzman Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

Gentlemen, it is an honor to have been invited to participate in your Symposium. Before I start my formal lecture, I would like to introduce myself My background is in metal joining (both

and the company for which I work.

brazing and welding) and mechanical properties (in particular toughness) of materials for pressure vessels and piping. I work at the Oak Ridge National

Laboratory, an organization that is operated for the Energy Research and Development Administration of the United States Government by the Union Carbide Corporation. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory employs approximately 5000 people I work in the Matals and Ceramics Division;

in various research and support divisions.

a group of approximately 300 people, half of whom have at least one degree frojn an accredited university. Our division is divided into three research sections.

I am the group leader of the Pressure Vessel Technology Laboratory in the Materials Engineering Section. The responsibility of my group lies in the We

characterization of materials for pressure vessel and piping applications.

have been involved in the investigation of low alloy high strength steels for light water nuclear pressure vessels since 1966. We are part of a program at

*Research sponsored by Energy Research and Development Administration under contract with Union Carbide Corporation. y NOTICE
Dlr . |v- . ,

PORTIONS QP THIS REPORT AM. .IHgnTgT.t; l t has bean reproduced from the best available copy to permit the broadest possible availability.

Oak Ridge ational Laboratory that is laiown as the Heavy Section Steel Technology program. If anyone is specifically interested in that program,

I will be glad to discuss it during our free time. The lecture that I will present now was undertaken as part of the Investigations that we have conducted on the Heavy Section Steel Technology program. The HSST program was instrumental in characterizing the properties This steel is one of the two

of 300 mm (12 in.) thick SA 533 Grade B Class 1 steel.

steels from which light water reactor pressure vessels are fabricated in the United States. The pressurized water reactor utilizes plate thicknesses The pressure vessel manufacturer

approaching 300 mm (12 in.) in their fabrication.

buys the plate in accordance with the specification in Section II Part A of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. More than likely he imposes restrictions on the plate steel supplier

that are beyond those of the Code, but the Code does represent the minimum quality allowed. The vessel fabricator, in most instances, will hot

form the plate to the shape desired and then heat treat it by austenitizing [heating the plate to about 871C (1600F)] for about 4 to 6 hours and then quenching it in water. This treatment is followed by tempering

[heating the plate to a subcritical temperature, usually about 677C (1250F)J for about one hour per inch of thickness. Following fabrication the Code

that all heavy section welds of ferritic materials be given a post weld heat treatment. This requirement for nuclear pressure vessels 1 is given in paragraph NBA620 of Section III Division 1. My first slide is an view showing the various components of a nuclear pressure vessel. Each component is completely heat treated prior to fabrication. The final 2 product is shown in my next slide which is a photograph of the pressure vessel for the Oyster Creek power plant. You can get a feeling for its size by noting This picture was taken

the men standing near the top of the pressure vessel.

while the vessel was being hydrostatically tested by the fabricator, Combustion Engineering, at their Chattanooga, Tennessee plant. Section III

of the ASME Code requires that all vessels be hydrostatically tested prior to their being placed in service. The test must be conducted at a temperature

not lower than 34C (60F) above the reference nil ductility transition temperature as determined by both the drop weight test and Charpy V-notch energy and lateral expansion requirements. in NB6200. The hydrostatic test is discussed

The fracture toughness requirements are discussed in NB2300. A

discussion of the method for determining reference temperature NDT is provided in NB2330. The hydrostatic test is a final examination that protects both the buyer and the public. There have been classic examples of pressure vessels that have (These failed vessels were not built to the rigid requirements The Thompson vessel that failed in 3 My next slide is a photograph of that

failed during testing.

of Section III Division 1 of the ASME Code.) England in 1965 is a classic example. vessel after it had failed.

The failure was due to a faulty post weld heat The failure originated The crack whicl. was

treatment, the topic of my discussion this morning.

it

from a flaw similar to the one seen in the next slide.

identified as a stress relief crack would not have been dangerous if it had not been presented in a metallurgical structure that had poor toughness. a result of an incorrect heat treatment. The toughness was

5 The next slide nicely demonstrates the This

damage that can be done to a structure by an incorrect heat treatment.

slide shows the results of Charpy tests on material taken froni the failed vessel. The lower curve is the Charpy toughness of the tested vessel. Note that the ~>0C (212F). :

maximum toughness that the steel absorbed was 28 j (20 ft-lbs) at

is
Compare that value to the greater than 80 j (60 ft-lbs) at the sa:.e temperature when the steel is correctly heated to the required tempering temperature. These j j ;

last three slides set the stage for my discussion of the effect of post weld

heat treatment time and temperature on the toughness of pressure vessel steels and welds. The aain seams in the vessel that I showed you in slide 2 are fabricated by one of three joining processes: welding and electi'oslag welding. submerged arc welding, shielded oetal arc

The process* most frequently used in the United 6 States is the submerged arc process. The next slide contains a photograph of three macro sections from welds that *ere made by the three processes previously mentioned. The shielded metal arc weld, in the upper left hand corner and the

submerged arc weld, upper right hand corner, are made by multipass technique, over two hundred passes are employed for each weld. these two welds are 300 mm thick. an electroslag weld. The base metals joined in

The weld in the bottom area of the slide is

This weld is completely heat treated, austenitized, quenched

and tempered, after welding and hence the weld fusion line, heat affected zone and weld metal are difficult to differentiate. After fabrication, the ASKE Code requires chat the vessel be given a post weld heat treatment of 2 hours plus 15 minutes for each inch of thickness over 2 inches. This requirement is given in Table NB4622.1-1 of the Code.

However, during fabrication the manufacturer usually will give the various components an intermediate stress relief. Consequently, upon completion of the To

fabrication a vessel may have had over 25 hours of post weld heat treatment.

assure that the steel studied in the USA/HSST program was being given a representative heat treatment, our 300 mm plate was given a 40 hour treatment at 621*C. The

effect of this treatment on the Charpy V-notch toughness of the plate at the 1/4 thickness location is provided in the next slide. for specimen removal is described in NB2222.2. slide. The location and orientation

Three curves are shown in this

The upper curve represents specimens whose main axis is in the major

rolling (longitudinal) direction and the fracture path is perpendicular to the major rolling direction. values. This specimen orientation provides the maximum toughness

The middle curve is for specimens whose axes are perpendicular to the

major rolling (transverse) direction and the fracture path is in the rolling direction.

5 Thl quite often, for place materials, is referral to as the weak direction. The lever curve is for specimens whose euin axis is perpendicular to the place surface and the fracture path is In the rolling direct, ton. This is often referred to as the short transverse (through-the-thlcknesa) direction. It I* interesting to note chat specimen orientation has very little effect on Che transition temperature of this very chick plate. Plate thicknesses of these magnitudes often have less than a 3:1 reduction from ingot to finished plate. The transition in the Charpy test is that tetapcrutucc regime where the energy absorbed increases rapidly with only small increases in temperatures. The *ajor influence of specimen orientation is seen in the maximum toughness values achieved. The longitudinal specimen was able to absorb nearly SOS move energy than the short transverse specimen at the sane temperature. Compare the values at 66*C (150*F). the upper value is nearly 160 j (115 ft-lbs) whereas the lower is near 110 j (77 ft-lbs). 3 Ttte next slide shows the Charpy V-notch toughness of the submerged arc and electroslag welds shown in a previous slide. The transition temperature oi the submersed arc weld i considerably lower than that shown in the previous slide for the base aetal. The maximum (usually referred to as upper shelf energy) value Xs about the saae as that exhibited by specimens with longitudinal orientations. The electroslag weld has somewhat lower toughness but it too is completely acceptable. Currently, the electroslag technique is not employed in the United States for manufacturing nuclear pressure vessels. It was used for a nunber of vessels, however, in the late 1960's. There has recently been an increased interest in the United States in the effect of post weld heat treatment on the toughness of pressure vessel steels. Section III of the ASME Code has requirements that c&tablish the holding temperature range for the post weld heat, treatment of welds. This table, NB4622.1-1, is the one that I previously referred to during my discussion of post weld heat treatment holding time. The holding range for SA 533 Grade B Class l t a steel that is categorized as P-number 3 in Tat QW-420 of Section IX

of the ASME Code, ie given us 593-677*C (11QO-12SO*F). The Code does provide alternative holding temperatures and times la Table KB4622.4(c)-l, however, this table is designed for post weld heat treatments at lower temperatures. The Code only provides minimum holding tines, There are no maximum times provided. I an aware of past weld heat treatment times in excess of 120 hours

on vessels built in accordance with the rules of Section VIII of the Code. Therefore, the possibility of excessively long hold tines does exist. Our study which is still ongoing is concerned with the effect of long hold tine on the Charpy V-notch toughness of SA 533 Grade B Class 1 steel and submerged arc welds in the same material. We began with Charpy V-notch blanks from the saae plates of steel that I discussed on the previous slides. The Charpy blanks were canned in a vacuua and heated at various temperatures and for times up to 160 hours. These treatments were in addition to the original 40-hour post veld heat treatment at 621*C (1150*F) that was given to the original plate. The specimens were all from the 1/4 thickness location. The effect of post weld heat treatment time on toughness was evaluated at 621 and 670"C (1150 and 1240*F). Both of these temperatures are within the holding range

allowed in Section III of the Code. The holding times at these temperatures were 9 40, 80 and 160 hours. The results of that: study are shown in the next slide. It is evident that at the lower temperature, 621*C (1150*F), time had only a minor effect on both the transition temperature and the upper shelf temperature. If a Charpy

V-notch energy of 45 j is u s M as the energy level at which the shift in transition temperature is measured, then the effect of the 40, 80 and 160 hours of additional post weld heat treatment time was to increase Che NOT by 14, 24 and 28*C (25, 25 and 50*F), respectively, at 621 # C. Post weld heat treatments at 670C (1240*F), however, had a considerably more drastic effect. Only 40 hours at 670*C resulted in a 33*0 (60F) shift in the 45 j temperature and a decrease in

the upper shelf energy from 160 j (120 ft-lbs) to 125 j (95 ft-lbs). Increasing the time at 671C to 80 hours and 160 hours resulted in a shift in the 45 j temperature of 55 and 97C (100 and 175F), respectively. Even more important is the fact that the upper shelf energy dropped to below 80 j (60 ft-lbs). 10 The effect of temperature is even more clearly shown in the next slide. For this series of tests the post weld heat treatment time was held constant at 80 hours. The temperatures investigated were 621*C (1150F), 637C (1180F), Increasing the temperature resulted in an

654#C (1210F) and 671C (1240F).

increase in the 45 j temperature of 14, 20, 36 and 58C (25, 35, 65 and 105F), respectively, for the 621, 638, 654 and 671C post weld heat treatment. In summary, the ASME Code, in particular Section III Division 1, imposes a post weld heat treatment requirement on pressure vessels fabricated from low alloy high strength steels. The Code permits a holding temperature range, Long

the high side of which could result in poorer toughness properties.

times in excess of 100 hours and/or high temperatures, 649C (1200F) can result in an increase in the NDT and a decrease in the upper shelf energy.

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A preexisting welding crack in a hard spot (380 400 HV1) of the forging HAZ Area about 1 in removed from fracture face A1 (Fig 14) x9

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Slide 6. Photographs of macrosections of thick section weldments in pressure vessel steels. The left sample is an electroslag weld joining two 6-in. thick sections of A508 Class 2 forging. The center and right samples are submerged arc and shielded metal arc welds, respectively. These later two weldments join 300 mm (12 in.) thick A533 Grade B Class 1 plate.

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FRACTURE TEMPERATURE (F) -100 0 100 200

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RELIEF TIKE ON CHARPY-V IMPACT PROPERTIES or KSST

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IfftCT Of STRESS RELIEF TEMPERATURE ON CHARPY-V IMPACT PROPERTIES OF HSST PLATE 02 (ASTM A 533, gr.B.ci.l)