Manufacture of Advanced 2.25Cr-1Mo-V Pressure Vessel Steel for High Pressure and High Temperature Hydrogen Service

Author(s):  
T. Hasegawa ◽  
A. Narita ◽  
H. Iga ◽  
S. Inoue

At this moment, the materials which are applied for high pressure and high temperature services are selected from conventional 2.25Cr-1Mo, 3Cr-1Mo-V and 2.25Cr-1Mo-V steels. Especially, the application of 2.25Cr-1Mo-V steel is increased extremely rather than the other steels in order to take the advantage of higher strength and better resistance to hydrogen damages such as hydrogen attack, hydrogen assisted crack growth and also hydrogen induced disbonding. In order to achieve these properties, the vanadium element is added intentionally into base material and welding consumables. Due to the addition of vanadium, the engineer have recognized that there is some possibility of cracking in the weldment due to the higher hardness and insufficient manufacturing practices caused by lack of knowledge for preheating, intermediate/final postweld heat treatment and other factors. The manufacturers have to establish the proper technologies to avoid this problem during fabrication stage while the pressure vessels are to be fabricated in their shop and/or fields. In this paper, the manufacturing technologies of 2.25Cr-1Mo-V steel pressure vessel through actual fabrication is presented herewith.

Author(s):  
Sam Oliver ◽  
Chris Simpson ◽  
Andrew James ◽  
Christina Reinhard ◽  
David Collins ◽  
...  

Nuclear reactor pressure vessels must be able to withstand thermal shock due to emergency cooling during a loss of coolant accident. Demonstrating structural integrity during thermal shock is difficult due to the complex interaction between thermal stress, residual stress, and stress caused by internal pressure. Finite element and analytic approaches exist to calculate the combined stress, but validation is limited. This study describes an experiment which aims to measure stress in a slice of clad reactor pressure vessel during thermal shock using time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction. A test rig was designed to subject specimens to thermal shock, whilst simultaneously enabling synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements of strain. The specimens were extracted from a block of SA508 Grade 4N reactor pressure vessel steel clad with Alloy 82 nickel-base alloy. Surface cracks were machined in the cladding. Electric heaters heat the specimens to 350°C and then the surface of the cladding is quenched in a bath of cold water, representing thermal shock. Six specimens were subjected to thermal shock on beamline I12 at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron X-ray facility. Time-resolved strain was measured during thermal shock at a single point close to the crack tip at a sample rate of 30 Hz. Hence, stress intensity factor vs time was calculated assuming K-controlled near-tip stress fields. This work describes the experimental method and presents some key results from a preliminary analysis of the data.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Chauvy ◽  
Lionel Coudreuse ◽  
Patrick Toussaint

During fabrication of Pressure Vessels, steels undergo several heat treatments that aim to confer the required properties on the entire equipment, including welds and base metal. Indeed, the production heat treatment of the base material, which leads to achieve the target properties, is most of the time followed by post weld heat treatment (PWHT). The aim of such treatments is to insure a good behavior of the welded zones in terms of residual stresses and obviously properties such as toughness. Generally, many simulated PWHT (up to 4 or more) are required for the testing of the base material, which can affect its properties and even lead to unacceptable results. In some cases for fabrication purposes an intermediate Stress relieving treatment can be required. Special attention is paid on C-Mn steels (e.g., SA/A516 from ASME BPV Code) with the effect of thickness and Ceq (International Institute of Welding Carbon equivalent formula: see page 3) requirements on the final compromise between properties and heat treatments. In particular, toughness and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) are the critical parameters that will limit the acceptance of too high PWHT. Although micro-alloying is a mean to increase the resistance to PWHT, this leads to difficulties in softening the heat affected zones. This solution is therefore not the best one considering the whole equipment optimization. Finally, the manufacturing process can play a major role when specifications are stringent. Quenching and tempering (Q&T) can indeed provide better flexibility in terms of PWHT and improved toughness for given Ceq and thickness. The case of Cr-Mo(-V) steels, which are widely used in the energy industry, is also addressed. Indeed, PWHT requirements for increasing the toughness in the weld metal can lead to decrease the base metal properties below the specification limits. For example, the case of SA/A387gr11 is very typical of metallurgical changes that can occur during these high PWHT leading to a degradation of toughness in the base metal. Another focus is made on the Vanadium Cr-Mo grade SA/A542D that must withstand very high PWHT (705 °C and even 710 °C) because of welds toughness issues. Optimization has therefore to be done to increase the resistance to softening and to guarantee acceptable microstructure, especially in the case of thick wall vessels. Some ways for improvement are proposed on the basis of the equivalent Larson–Miller parameter (LMP) tempering parameter concept. The basic philosophy is to fulfil the need for discussion between companies involved in pressure vessels fabrication so that the best compromise can be found to ensure the best and safest behavior of the equipment as a whole. In particular, the tempering operation can sometimes be done at lower temperature than PWHT in order to offer the best properties to the final vessel.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Pickering ◽  
H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia

It is important that the material used to produce high-integrity pressure vessels has homogeneous properties which are reproducible and within specification. Most heavy pressure vessels comprise large forgings derived from ingots, and are consequently affected by the chemical segregation that occurs during ingot casting. Of particular concern are the compositional variations that arise from macrosegregation, such as the channels of enriched material commonly referred to as A-segregates. By causing corresponding variations in microstructure, the segregation may be detrimental to mechanical properties. It also cannot be removed by any practically feasible heat treatments because of the large scale on which it forms. Here we describe an investigation on the consequences of macrosegregation on the development of microstructure in a pressure-vessel steel, SA508 Grade 3. It is demonstrated that the kinetics of transformation are sensitive to the segregation, resulting in a dramatic spatial variations in microstructure. It is likely therefore that some of the scatter in mechanical properties as observed for such pressure vessels can be attributed to macroscopic casting-induced chemical segregation.


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