Mahendra D.

Rana
Senior Development Associate,
Materials Engineering Laboratory,
Praxair, Inc.,
Tonawanda, NY 14151
e-mail: mahendra_rana@praxair.com

W. D. Doty
President,
Doty and Associate, Inc.,
Pittsburgh, PA 15227

Sumio Yukawa
Consultant,
Boulder, CO 80301

Robert Zawierucha
Manager,
Materials Engineering Laboratory,
Praxair, Inc.,
Tonawanda, NY 14151

Fracture Toughness Requirements

for ASME Section VIII Vessels for
Temperatures Colder Than 77K
Earlier research work conducted at MIT and NIST indicated that CVN specimens with an
initial temperature at or near 4K (452F) actually fracture at temperatures significantly
above 4K due to adiabatic heating. As a result of this work, ASTM E-23 test method on
CVN testing was revised to incorporate a restriction that CVN tests are valid only at 77K
(320F) and warmer. ASME requested PVRC to assess the above CVN issue and provide an appropriate recommendation for the Code change or for a further Code change,
if needed for vessels with MDMT colder than 77K. PVRC formed a Task Group under the
Committee on Failure Modes. The TG undertook a program which included a review of
the existing data and an experimental program to develop new K Ic J data at 4K and 77K
and CVN data at 77K. In the experimental program, a total of four 1-in-thick weldments
were prepared from SA 240, Type 304 stainless steel plate using the SMAW process and
E316L-15 electrodes. The electrodes purchased permitted the preparation of the weldments with four progressively higher levels of ferrite. The PVRC data and existing data
were utilized in developing the recommendations to ASME. The recommendations are:
use CVN tests (with 316L S.S. weld filler metal with FN5) at 77K with increased
acceptance criterion of 21 mils lateral expansion; for welds not meeting the foregoing
requirements, use ASTM E1820 J Ic tests at MDMT and the acceptance criterion for
K Ic J has been set at 120 ksiin. This paper presents the test data, analysis and technical
basis for the PVRC recommendations to ASME. DOI: 10.1115/1.1376125

Introduction
Earlier research work conducted by Tobler et al. 1 and Hwang
et al. 2 indicated that CVN specimens with an initial temperature at or near 4K 452F actually fracture significantly above
4K due to adiabatic heating. Adiabatic process assumes no loss of
heat energy from the test specimen to the surrounding environment. This causes a rise in the specimen temperature. Figure 1
shows an example from Tobler et al. 1 on predicted temperature
rise in austenitic stainless CVN tests. As a result of this work,
ASTM E-23 test method on CVN testing was revised to incorporate a restriction that CVN tests are valid only at 77K 320F
and warmer.
ASME Section VIII Division 1 and Division 2 pressure vessels
fracture resistance is controlled by CVN tests. To address the
toughness requirement for temperatures colder than 77K, ASME
requested PVRC to assess the above CVN issue and provide appropriate recommendations for the Code change or for a further
Code change, if needed for vessels with MDMT colder than 77K.
PVRC formed a Task Group under the Committee on Failure
Modes. The authors of this paper were the Task Group members.
The TG undertook a program which included a review of the
existing data and an experimental program to obtain new K Ic (J)
data at 4K and 77K, and CVN data at 77K. In the experimental
program, a total of four one-inch-thick weldments were prepared
from SA 240, Type 304 stainless steel plate using the SMAW
process and E316L-15 electrodes. The electrodes were purchased
so as to permit the preparation of the weldments with four progressively higher levels of ferrite.
The PVRC data as well as the existing data given in Mazandarany et al. 3 and in Read et al. 4, were utilized in developing
Contributed by the Pressure Vessels and Piping Division and presented at the
Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference Joint w/ICPVT, Boston, Massachusetts,
August 15, 1999, of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS.
Manuscript received by the PVP Division, August 29, 2000; revised manuscript
received November 13, 2000. Editor: S.Y. Zamrik.

332 Vol. 123, AUGUST 2001

the recommendations on fracture toughness required for temperatures colder than 77K. This paper presents the test data, analysis
and technical basis for the toughness requirements.

Test Plan
The objective of this program was to measure tensile, K Ic (J),
CVN LE properties at 77K temperature and tensile and K Ic (J)
properties at 4K temperature on four weldments to be prepared
from an SA240, Type 304 stainless steel plate. Test weldments
were prepared using a SMAW process with E316L-15 weld filler
metal having four different FN values to vary the fracture
toughness of each weldment. These data have been utilized in

Fig. 1 Predicted temperature rise during a charpy test as a

function of initial temperature for austenitic stainless steel reproduced from Tobler et al.

Copyright 2001 by ASME

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base material was metallographically examined to insure freedom

from unsoundness, segregation and non-uniform microstructure.
Each weld was 48 in. long. The weld direction was parallel to the
rolling direction of the plate see Fig. 2.
The weldments were prepared in accordance with the requirements of ANSI/AWS B2.1-8-023-94 Standard Welding Procedure
Specification WPS for shielded metal-arc welding of austenitic
stainless steel M-8/P-8/S-8, Group 1, 1/8 through 1 1/2 in. thick,
in the as-welded condition. The welder was qualified to the
ASME Section IX Code.
The following supplementary requirements to the foregoing
standard WPS were also met:
Filler metal: 5/32-in-dia E316L-15.
Joint design: Joint 10 with a45 deg, bzero, f 1/16 in.
max., S 1 and S 2 , Ras shown in Joint 10 Fig. 1 of WPS
Position: Flat only, including buttering of nonbeveled face of
joint
Preheat: RT 6880F
Interpass temp.: 350F max.
Electrical characteristics: DCRP; amperage the same for all
passes
Technique:

Fig. 2 Test specimen layout

developing two correlations: one is between K Ic (J)/YS at 4K and

CVN LE at 77K and the other is between K Ic (J)/YS at 77K and
CVN LE at 77K.
Preparation of Weldments. A total of four weldments designated as W1 , W2 , W3 , and W4 were prepared from a SA240,
Type 304 stainless steel plate. Prior to welding of the plates, the

Butter nonbeveled face of joint flat position with three weld

bead layers before subsequent fit-up and completion of weld joint
Alternate welding between sides of joint
Stringer bead only
No peening
Grinding only for interpass cleaning and for back gouging
Multiple pass
Stagger starts and stops
PT examine root after backgrinding; the results met the
ASME, VIII, Div. 1, Appendix 8 acceptance standard
RT examine completed weld; the results met the ASME,
VIII, Div. 1, UW51 acceptance standard
Two side bend tests from each weldment
Tables 1 and 2 show the chemistry of the test plate and weld
electrodes. Table 3 shows the measured ferrite number of each of
the test weldment. The ferrite numbers were measured on specimens removed from the weld.

Table 1 Chemical composition of base plate percent by weight

Table 2 Chemical composition of test electrodes percent by weight

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Table 3 Measured FN values of tested weldments

Test Methods and Results. Testing was conducted on specimens prepared from all four weldments. Figure 2 schematically
shows the location and orientation of the test specimens. The test
methods and results are presented in the following.
Tension Tests. Specimen design was in accordance with Fig.
8 of ASTM E8-95a, with 1-in. gage length and 1/4 in. diameter.
Testing was conducted per ASTM E8 test method at RT, 77K, and
4K.
Table 4 shows the average tensile properties of the base metal
plate and four welds at 4K, 77K, and 295K temperatures.
CVN Tests. Testing was conducted in accordance with ASTM
E23-94b test method on standard 10mm10mm55mm CVN
specimens at 77K. The CVN specimens were machined from material 1/16 in. below the plate surface as shown in Fig. 2. For HAZ
specimens, the centerline of the specimen notch was located 1 mm

0.040 in. away from the weld interface. For weld metal specimens, the centerline of the notch was located in the weld.
Table 5 shows the CVN data on base metal and HAZ and weld
metal of each weldment. These data measured at 77K, will be
employed in the development of the correlation with 77K and 4K
K Ic /YS data.
KIc(J) Tests. Testing was conducted on nominally one inch
thick CT specimens in accordance with ASTM E813-89 test
method at 77 and 4K. The centerline of the specimens notch in
the HAZ and WM was located as described in the CVN Tests
section.
Table 6 shows the results of the fracture tests. With the exception of six specimens shown in Table 6, all specimens resulted in
valid J Ic values per ASTM E813-89 requirements. The values of
E average of two data given in Table 6 were measured during
tension tests. The J-R constants C 1 and C 2 are also given in Table
6 for reference purposes.
As expected, the K Ic (J) values are lower for 4K temperature
compared to those at 77K for each weldment. The degradation in
the fracture toughness of the HAZ is minimum compared to the
base metal toughness at both 4K and 77K temperatures.
The summary of tensile, fracture, FN and CVN data of all four
weldments are given in Table 7. Table 8 shows a comparison of
fracture and CVN data with those obtained by other investigators.
The Tables 7 and 8 data have been utilized in developing various
correlations which are discussed in the forthcoming

Table 4 Tensile properties of weldments

Table 5 CVN properties of weldments at 77K

334 Vol. 123, AUGUST 2001

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Table 6 Fracture toughness properties of weldments

K Ic J /YS77K0.047 LE77K0.92 with r 2 0.63

Fracture Toughness Correlations

The correlations between K Ic (J)/YS ratio at 77 and 4K as a
function of CVN LE at 77K were established by least square
fittings of various data. Equations 1 and 2 were established
using all data given in Table 8.

(1)

K Ic J /YS4K0.0127 LE77K0.796 with r 2 0.13 (2)

Equations 3 and 4 were established using the Read et al. 4

data given in Table 8.

Table 7 Summary of test results

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology

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Table 8 Comparison of fracture and CVN data

K Ic J /YS77K0.094 LE77K0.465 with r 2 0.97 (3)

K Ic J /YS4K0.076 LE77K0.261 with r 2 0.88

(4)

As can be seen from Eq. 1 the correlation is marginal with

r 2 0.63, while Eq. 2 correlation is unacceptably poor with r 2
0.13. Thus, it was decided by the Task Group that Eqs. 1 and
2 are not appropriate to establish the toughness requirements.
Equations 3 and 4 established from Read et al. 4 data provided an acceptable correlation with r 2 equal to or greater than
0.88. These equations were used in establishing the fracture
toughness requirements.

Fracture Toughness Requirements

An acceptable correlation between 4K K Ic /YS and 77K CVN
LE could not be developed using the test data of this program as
well as literature data. However, the Read et al. 4 data resulted

Fig. 3 Comparison of fracture and CVN data

336 Vol. 123, AUGUST 2001

in a reasonably accurate correlation; Eqs. 3 and 4. These equations were used to establish the 77K CVN to satisfy the 4K fracture toughness requirement as explained below.
Paragraph UHA 51 of ASME Section VIII, Div. 1 Code specifies the minimum CVN LE equal to 15 mils for 77K. For a given
material, if (K Ic /YS) ratio at 4K and 77K are equal, then it can be
assumed that the material has equal fracture resistance in terms of
critical-crack-size and crack tip constraint at the corresponding
temperature. With this assumption, as shown in Fig. 3, the
K Ic /YS ratio at 77K is 1.88 from Eq. 4 for LE equal to 15 mils
at 77K. From Eq. 3, the corresponding LE is 21 mils for K Ic /YS
ratio of 1.88 at 4K. Thus, from this analysis, the Task Group
recommended that for 4K qualification, the material must meet 21
mils minimum LE requirement at 77K.

PVRC Recommendations
From the data and analysis presented in the above sections, it
was concluded that the 77K CVN tests are not considered a reliable predictor of the fracture toughness at temperatures colder
than 77K. However, CVN is a practical, inexpensive test and there
are no reported inservice failures of cryogenic vessels built using
CVN tests. Therefore, PVRC recommended that 77K CVN test
can be used to qualify the material for MDMT colder than 77K
provided the following conditions are met:
a The minimum LE value has been specified to be 21 mils.
The basis for 21 mils LE is that the correlation presented above
Figure 3 indicate that this criterion will provide (K Ic (J)/YS
ratio at 4K equal to that of the presently required for 15 mils LE
at 77K.
b Weld Filler Metal. The weld filler metal has been restricted
to Type 316L stainless steel. This restriction has been imposed
because the data on only Type 316L weld filler were evaluated.
c Ferrite Number. The value of FN has been set at less than
or equal to five. The basis for this restriction is that the proposed
LE requirement 21 mils may not be met on consistent basis with
FN values higher than five.
d K Ic (J) Requirement. For welds not meeting the requirements of a, b, and c, it has been recommended that the material should be tested at MDMT using ASTM E1820 J Ic test
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method. A set of two specimens should be tested in the TL orientation. The minimum value of K Ic (J) should be 120 ksiin. This
acceptance value of 120 ksi in is the same value as that specified
in ASME Section VIII, Div. 1 Code Case 2127.

Discussion
The test data indicate that the correlation between the fracture
toughness and CVN LE at 77K is reasonably accurate for one type
of material evaluated in this program. At the same time, the correlation between fracture toughness at 4K and CVN LE at 77K is
not accurate for a large data base. One data set by Read et al. 4
resulted in a reasonably accurate correlation for 4K toughness.
These results indicate that 77K CVN can only be used with severe
restrictions to qualify the materials fracture resistance suitability
at 4K. This philosophy was adopted in developing the above described recommendations.

Conclusions
1 The test data indicate that the correlation between the fracture toughness and CVN LE 77K is reasonably accurate for 316L
stainless steel welds. The correlation between 4K fracture toughness and 77K CVN LE is not accurate.
2 Recommendations have been provided to revise the ASME
Section VIII, Div. 1 and Div. 2 Codes on CVN LE requirement
for MDMT colder than 77K with additional restrictions.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the
Task Group of Committe on Failure Modes of PVRC. The authors
would also like to thank the following companies for sponsoring
the test program: Praxair, Inc., Air Liquide, BOC, MVE and Taylor Wharton. The authors are also thankful to NIST, Boulder
Colorado for conducting the CVN tests without any charge.

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology

Thanks to Materials Research and Engineering Laboratories for

conducting the fracture tests. Finally thanks to Ms. Cheryl
Slaiman for preparing the manuscript of this paper.

Nomenclature
BM
CVN
CT
FN
J Ic

K Ic (J)
HAZ
LE
MDMT
E

SMAW
UTS
WM
YS

base metal
Charpy-V-notch
compact tension
ferrite no.
fracture toughness value obtained using ASTM
E1820 test method
fracture toughness converted from J Ic
J Ic E
K Ic (J)
1 2
heat-affected-zone
lateral expansion measured on CVN specimen
minimum design metal temperature
modulus of elasticity
Poissons ratio
shielded-metal-arc weld process
ultimate tensile strength
weld metal
0.2 percent offset yield strength

References
1 Tobler, R. L. et al., 1991, Charpy Impact Tests Near Absolute Zero, J.
Test. Eval., 19, No. 1, pp. 3440.
2 Hwang, I. S. et al., 1992, Charpy Absorbed Energy and J Ic as Measures of
Cryogenic Fracture Toughness, J. Test. Eval., 20, No. 4, pp. 248258.
3 Mazandarany, F. N. et al., 1980, A Nitrogen-Strengthened Austenitic Stainless Steel for Cryogenic Magnet Structures, Advance Cryo. Eng. Materials,
Col. 26, Plenun Press, NY.
4 Read, D. T., et al., 1980, Metallurgical Factors Affecting the Toughness of
316L SMA Weldments at Cryogenic Temperatures, Welding Research
Supplement, pp. 104S113S.

AUGUST 2001, Vol. 123 337

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