Characterisation of girth pipe weld for primary heat transport system of pressurised heavy water reactors

The weld and heat affected zone (HAZ) associated with the girth weld are most vulnerable regions of the piping system. The different regions of the weld joint such as the weld metal, HAZ and base metal lead to heterogeneous mechanical and metallurgical properties of the joints. Due to their different metallurgical and mechanical properties, the amounts of damage produced in these regions are different when the component is subjected to service condition. Thus, it is imperative to know the characteristics of these regions of a pipe weld in order to identify the weakest zone for safe designing of high energy piping components. In view of this necessity the present study has been planned to carry out complete characterisation of the weld joint of SA 333 Gr.6 steel pipe, in terms of its metallurgical, mechanical and fracture properties. The mechanical and fracture mechanics properties of the base metal, weld deposit and HAZ have been compared and correlated with reference to their microstructures. Weld joints of SA 333 Gr.6 steel pipe have been prepared by using GTAW root pass and SMAW filling of V-grove as per recommended welding procedure specifications (WPS) conforming to ASME Sec IX commonly used to fabricate nuclear piping system components. The emphasis of the study is to characterise base, weld and HAZ of the pipe weld in terms of chemical, metallurgical, mechanical and fracture mechanics properties. The fracture toughness behaviour of the welds and HAZ has been characterised by J-integral parameters. The fatigue crack growth rate has been characterised by Paris Law. Stretched zone width (SZW) has been measured under SEM to evaluate initiation fracture toughness. The estimated initiation fracture toughness based on SZW and blunting line given by EGF recommendation have been compared. The fracture mechanics properties of base, weld and HAZ has been determined and compared. The fracture mechanics properties of the weld and HAZ have been correlated to their microstructures. (author)