Determination of welding parameters for execution of weld overlayer on PWR nuclear reactor nozzles

In the PWR reactors, nickel based dissimilar welds have been presented susceptibilities the stress corrosion (S C). For the mitigation the problem a deposition of weld layers on the external surface of the nozzle is an alternative, viewing to provoke the compression of the region subjected to S C. This paper presents a preliminary study on the determination of welding parameters to obtain these welding overlayers. Welding depositions were performed on a test piece welded with nickel 182 alloy, simulating the conditions of a nozzle used in a PWR nuclear power plant. The welding process was the GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding), and a nickel 52 alloy as addition material. The overlayers were performed on the base metals, carbon steel an stainless steel, changing the welding parameters and verifying the the time of each weld filet. After that, the samples were micro structurally characterized. The macro structures and the microstructures obtained through optical microscopy and Vickers microhardness are presented. The preliminary results make evident the good weld quality. However, a small weld parameters influence used in the base material microstructure (carbon steel and stainless steel). The obtained results in this study will be used as reference in the construction of a mock up which will simulate all the conditions of a pressurizer nozzle of PWR reactor