Dissimilar Metal Welds:

Inconel to Carbon Steel

Steven Knapp
sknap054@uottawa.ca
Graduate Student
Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Arnaud Weck
aweck@uottawa.ca
Outline
Introduction
Objectives
Results
Conclusion
Future Work
2
Importance to Industry
Dissimilar Metal Welds are used to connect to different
metals together
Used where an object (pipe) is subjected to multiple
environments in one application
Advantage
Each section of the pipe can be optimized for its specific
application
Disadvantage
Weld consists of a mixture of materials which have
unknown material properties when combined with
unevenly distributed heating
3
4
Heavy Water
Nuclear Reactor
120 mm
Right to Left: Inconel 600 Inconel 82
Carbon Steel Gr. 106 B
Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding (also
called GTAW)
Transporting Heavy Water at 310C
CANDU
Nuclear Reactor
CANDU:
CANada Deuterium Uranium
Fuel Rods
5
Background
Why this weld?
Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking (PWSCC) was
observed in an Inconel Nozzle welded to Stainless Steel
Researching areas in the reactor with similar
composition
Specific Weld Information:
High values of hoop residual stress 800 MPa peaking at
start/stop welding point (Neutron Diffraction)
Inconel-Weld fusion susceptible to PWSCC
6
Objectives
To determine the mechanical properties and fracture
mechanics of the Inconel 600 / Inconel 82 Filler/ Grade 106
B Carbon Steel Welded Pipe used in CANDU nuclear reactors
Specific Test Goals
To reveal the microstructure and grain size of each section
To observe the evolution of strain and the amount of strain
in each section
Extract Local Material properties for use in FEA modeling
Observe through thickness crack growth and failure
7
Inconel 600
Carbon Steel Grade 106B
Weld
Spatial Variations
Inconel 82 Weld Filler
Carbon Steel
Grade 106B
Inconel 600
Defining the Regions:
Outer (Diameter)
Middle
Inner (Diameter)
Weld Region:
Very Large Grains
7 Weld Sections
4 mm
8
Inconel HAZ-Inconel (big grains)
Weld (very large grains)
Weld Ctd. Carbon Steel HAZ (small grains) Carbon Steel (larger grains)
Before testing
9
After testing
Inconel HAZ-Inconel (big grains)
Weld (very large grains)
Weld Ctd. Carbon Steel HAZ (small grains) Carbon Steel (larger grains)10
Indentation of Inconel Weld
Hardness Tests with
varying spacing
Small Spacing
(Large amount of data
in small area)
Large Spacing
(Large area tested)
Hardness Tests
11
OD
MID
ID
Inconel hardness far from the weld
150
190
230
270
310
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
V
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Distance From Inner Diameter (m)
Inconel Through Thickness Hardness
Hardness Tests
+/- 6 HV
12
160
200
240
280
320
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
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Distance (m)
Weld
Inconel 600
13
Inconel hardness along weld 0.3mm from OD
160
180
200
220
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
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Distance (m)
Across Weld Hardness (3.3 mm from OD)
Weld
Inconel 600
HAZ
14
Inconel hardness along weld 3.3mm from OD
160
170
180
190
200
210
220
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000
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Distance (m)
Weld Carbon Steel
Inconel 600
HAZ
15
Inconel hardness along weld 3.3mm from OD
16
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
S
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Strain
OD - Sample 1B
ID - Sample 2A
MID - Sample 3A
Tensile test on 1 mm thick samples
Digital Image Correlation
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Carbon
Steel
Inconel
17
Mirror polish for video Speckle patter for DIC
Set-up for testing large samples
18
Testing (Movie) Until Failure - Polished surface
Carbon
Steel
Inconel
Carbon
Steel
Inconel
Carbon
Steel
Inconel
Outer Diameter Sample Inner Diameter Sample
Middle Sample
19
9.76mm
8.16mm
7.36mm
6.88mm
5.60mm
Weld width
20
Steel
Inconel
Weld
Digital Image Correlation
Early stages of deformation - Formation of a Lders Band in the C-steel
Eng. 413 MPa 421MPa 446MPa 457MPa 464MPa 477MPa
Stress
21
Sample deforms first in Inconel/Weld region
Deformation is spatially inhomogeneous
Deformation then localizes in C-Steel
Deformation more homogeneous
Eng. 413 MPa 536MPa 583MPa 524MPa
Stress
22
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
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Strain
Inconel - DIC
Weld - DIC
Carbon Steel - DIC
300
320
340
360
380
400
0 0.02 0.04
23
Stress strain curves extracted from DIC
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
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True Strain
Inconel - DIC
Inconel - Small Sample
Carbon Steel - DIC
Carbon Steel - Small Sample
Miniature Tensile Tests vs. DIC
24
3mm
Conclusions to Date
Microstructure:
Inconel Small Grains, Weld Big Grains
Hardness:
Inconel decreases from OD to ID residual stresses
Hardness varies across sample, through the weld
Large Tensile Tests:
ID fails first, Middle second, OD last
Trends: Amount of strain at failure directly related to weld width
DIC: Obtain local material properties (stress vs. strain curve)
Miniature Tensile Tests:
Confirms material properties seen in DIC
Expands stress vs. strain curve for Inconel
25
Future Work
EDS Compositional Changes
EDS results obtained
across the weld
Variations still to be
analyzed
Blue: Iron
Purple: Nickel
Green: Chromium
Future Work
Fracture
Crack Propagation in 4-Point Bending
Crack Growth Path
Crack Interactions
Deformation Field at Crack Tip with DIC
Model Deformation and Fracture using FEA