YAG laser welding of neutron irradiated stainless steels

Type 304L stainless steel plates of 8 mm thickness irradiated in a boiling water reactor (BWR) to 1.2 x 025 n/m2 (E > 1.0 MeV) containing 9 appm helium from transmutation have been successfully welded using a high power Nd-YAG laser under conditions of both continuous wave (CW) and pulse modes. Unirradiated type 316L stainless steel plate was lap welded to the irradiated type 304L stainless steel plate under heat inputs ranging from 240 to 540 J/cm. Bead on plate welding was carried out under the same welding conditions as lap welding. Tensile tests of lap welded joints were conducted at room temperature. All joints fractured not in the irradiated materials but in the unirradiated materials and showed good mechanical properties. Based on these results it does not appear that helium affects the mechanical properties of joints. Small grain boundary cracks were observed in HAZ of the weld made by the CW YAG laser with heat inputs of 480 and 540 J/cm and crack length decreased with decreasing heat input. (orig.)