Residual Life Evaluation and Boiler Piping Repair OMMI (Vol.

2, Issue 1) April 2003

RESIDUAL LIFE EVALUATION AND REPAIR PROCEDURES FOR HIGH

TEMPERATURE BOILER PIPING

Isamu NONAKA
Materials Department, Research Laboratory,
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), Co., Ltd.

Dr Isamu Nonaka is a general manager in the materials department of

research laboratory at IHI Co., Ltd. He has around 26 years experience in
the fields of creep, high temperature fatigue and life assessment for FBR
materials and power boiler materials.
isamu_nonaka@ihi.co.jp

ABSTRACT
First, Japanese guidelines for the residual life assessment techniques of power boiler materials are
described which are applied to extend the intervals of periodic inspection in the aged power plants.
Secondly, damage morphologies which are important in the long-term operating components are
mentioned including creep-fatigue damage, type IV cracking and ligament cracking. Among these
damages, the evaluation of crack growth should be allowed for creep-fatigue damage and
ligament cracking, while it shouldnt be allowed for type IV cracking. Thirdly, the concepts of
in-house maintenance procedures including repair welding are introduced for high temperature
steam piping.

Key words: residual life, boiler, maintenance, repair weld, creep-fatigue, crack growth

1. INTRODUCTION
Some of the thermal power plants of Japanese utilities are in operation longer than their original
design life, and thus, certain degrees of degradation of some parts of the plants may be
progressing. The present economical requirements are that the plants shall be in operation as long
as possible, however, safe operation of the plants must be ensured completely. This is the basic
requirement for establishing an accurate technology for assessing the residual life of these plants.
Figure 1 shows the difference between the life evaluation at the design stage of a boiler plant and
the residual life assessment of the plant after being in operation. The life assessment at the design
stage is based on a design diagram which is obtained by multiplying the average life of materials
employed in the plant by safety factors. The remaining life assessment is to seek the time that the
materials reach their actual life in operation.
In Japan, the residual life assessment based on the guideline for extending intervals between the
periodic inspection was conducted from 1987 to 1995 until the recommendation was deregulated.
Then, the guideline for extending intervals between the periodic inspection was resumed in effect
in 1999. The residual life assessment technology issued on the new guideline is shown in Fig.2.
Here, the objective of the assessment is limited to creep damage to be induced in header and high
temperature piping. Although appreciable damage has been rarely observed at headers and high
temperature piping, the creep damage in these components is considered to represent the aging
degradation of the boiler plant. The present paper reviews mainly the remaining life assessment
technology for the creep damage and the repair procedures that is to be induced in header and high
temperature piping.
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Fig.1 Difference between design life evaluation and residual life evaluation

location damage mode

waterwall header
header or large scale pipe

superheater header
or
main steam pipe creep

reheater header
or
hot reheat pipe

Fig.2 Location and damage mode of residual life evaluation in Japanese guideline

Fig.3: Degradation mechanism and damage evaluation parameter for Cr-Mo steel
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2. STATE OF RESIDUAL LIFE EVALUATION TECHNOLOGY IN JAPAN

Since the time when the guideline was issued first in 1987 for extending intervals between the
periodic inspection, many efforts have been conducted actively among industries, academic
communities, and government organizations for clarifying mechanisms that were responsible for
material deterioration and for developing remaining life assessment technologies.
The degradation mechanism of aging of the major boiler steel containing chromium and
molybdenum has been clarified. Measured damage parameters of the chromium and molybdenum
steel based on the aging degradation mechanism with respect to creep damage is shown in Fig.3
[1]. The parameters include the microstructure of the alloy, and the mechanical damage with
respect to deformation in steel matrices and welded joints. The microstructure is found to vary
considerably in the first half of the damage, and it saturates gradually. The mechanical damage
becomes predominant in the second half of the damage as the deformation of the base metal and
the void formation in HAZ proceeds.
Various nondestructive inspection techniques have been developed for measuring damage in
materials due to aging during the development of the remaining life assessment technology.
Figure 4 shows the nondestructive inspection techniques that appear on the 1999 edition of the
guideline for extending intervals between the periodic inspection. These are selected during the
development. The surviving techniques are that in principle they can measure the damage
parameters in Fig.3 directly. Many of indirect measurement methods of the damage parameters
need to be validated with regard to the relations between the measured values and the damage
parameters. The main nondestructive inspection methods utilize the replication method to
estimate creep damage by measuring deformation in base metal and void area ratios in HAZ, and
converting these values to the damage based on calibration curves. Ultrasonic methods are
employed for measuring the damage under surface.

3. EXAMPLES OF PRECISION IMPROVEMENTS AND LABOR SAVING IN IHI

3.1 Precision Improvement by Creep Rate Measurements
The destructive test method specifies creep rupture tests to be conducted for the duration of about
several thousand hours to assess the remaining life. Thus, test temperatures and stresses are
changed for accelerating the tests. If the remaining life can be assessed based on creep rates that
are measured during the creep tests, no rupture test is required. Thus, no appreciable changes of
the creep temperature and stresses are needed in a given creep test time, and the precision of the
test will be improved simultaneously.
Figure 5 shows an example of this situation with the Omega procedure [2] for remaining life
assessment. The omega value and the strain rate in an actual operation condition are required for
obtaining the remaining life according to the method. The omega value depends on the test
temperature and stress, and these values have been stored in a database on certain alloys. The
strain rate under actual operating conditions is required to be extrapolated based on the values
obtained by acceleration tests. The remaining life is assessed with higher accuracy by the
assessment based on laboratory test data [3].
3.2 Labor Saving in Site Measurement System
The replication method can replicate relatively easily the fine microstructure of actual plant
materials. Thus, this method is the main stream among the applicable methods. However, this
method requires a scanning electron microscope to observe the microstructure including voids,
and thus, the replicas shall be brought to a laboratory from the site. Therefore, the time required
for calculating the residual life of the component is inevitably long, and thus, the direct response
of the assessment results to the site is impossible. The author and others have developed a creep
damage diagnosis system based on an laser microscope jointly with Chugoku Electric Power
Company [4] for the site assessment of the remaining life to be practical. Figure 6 shows the
system configuration in Fig.6(a), and the appearance in Fig.6(b). The time required for conducting
the residual life assessment by the system is reduced to 40% of the original time required.
Furthermore, another characteristic is that an automatic image recognition system is installed in
the system for distinguishing voids present in the inspected field. The automatic system has made
the recognition to be practical by an untrained inspector.
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Fig. 4 Nondestructive evaluation procedures of creep damage

Fig.5 Residual life evaluation based on the Omega method

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(a) system construction

(b) system appearance

Fig.6 Creep damage diagnosis system on site using laser microscope

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4. DAMAGE MORPHOLOGIES TO BE CONSIDERED IN FUTURE

4.1 Creep-Fatigue Damage at Stress Concentrated Parts of Header and Piping Welds
The header joints, piping joints, and Y-piece welded joints develop stress concentration at HAZ.
Stresses originated during start-ups of a plant are usually relieved during steady operations .
However, with increasing number of start-ups and shutdowns of the plant, the plant will be
subjected to larger stresses each time. The fatigue damage thus must be considered and cannot be
neglected, and the so-called creep fatigue damage becomes a problem. This is the possible reason
for the recent detection of coexisting voids as creep damage and micro cracks as fatigue damage
in these joints. Figure 7 shows an example of the damage in welded parts of a Y-piece of a main
steam piping [5] . The optical micrograph shown in Fig.7(a) indicates voids and micro cracks to
be present in HAZ. The scanning electron microscope image in Fig.7(b) shows micro cracks to be
initiated probably at the voids. Similarly, Fig.8 shows a damage example of a stub weld of piping
[5] . Voids are observed in the whole area of HAZ, as well as micro cracks of about 1 mm length to
be in HAZ near the weld metal.

4.2 Type IV Cracking in High Temperature Piping Welds

Type IV cracking is the damage occurring near the boundary between HAZ and the base metal as
shown in Fig.9. This is often observed in girth welds of high temperature piping made of
European-made Cr-Mo-V steel when they are subjected to system stresses. The damage is
difficult to detect because it tends to initiate under the surface, and the time for the damage to
reach the total fracture after being detected is short. The sensitivity of the joints to type IV
cracking depends on the alloys used, and alloys like Cr-Mo-V steel and 1.25Cr-0.5Mo steel are
said to be sensitive to the type IV damage. The Japanese-made 2.25Cr-1Mo steel that is one of the
main alloys for high temperature piping has been considered to be less sensitive to the type IV
cracking due to sufficient ductility. However, the alloy should not be considered to be free from
type IV cracking, but should be considered to have a longer time period before the damage
becomes appreciable.

The dynamic factor for inducing the type IV damage is the excessive level of the system stress.
The system stress may vary according to the structure that support the piping, and thus, no
simplified FEM analysis can predict the system stress level accurately. Figure 10 is an example of
the system stress calculated by elasto-plastic creep FEM analysis for hot reheat piping. The
element No.85 is the circumferential joint between the Y-piece and the piping, and the residual
stress in the element after stress relaxation is as high as 60 MPa.

4.3 Ligament Cracks in Headers

In Europe and USA relatively large cracks have been reported to exist at superheater outlet
headers although very limited reports exist in Japan. Figure 11 shows the illustration and a
photograph of an actual ligament crack in a superheater outlet header. The crack initiates radiantly
at the ligament area, and propagates to the outer surface of the piping after adjacent cracks to
coalesce each other. The interconnected cracks may propagate to the stub welds and may cause
steam to leak. The driving mechanism for the ligament cracking is the repeating excessive thermal
transient stresses that are caused by start-ups and shutdowns of the plant, namely, by thermal
fatigue. However, stress analyses being conducted on an actual plant that has experienced this
type of cracking fail to detect any stress that is induced to be large enough for explaining the crack
formation mechanism. These analyses indicate that the number of the start-ups and shutdowns of
the plant that experienced this type of cracking is not directly related to this type of damage.
Figure 12 shows an example of the stress analysis results in the superheater outlet header. The
figure shows that when the temperature gradient in the thickness direction at a plant start-up is
large, relatively large stress is induced there.
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Main steam pipe

Fig.7 Creep-fatigue damage at HAZ in Y-piece of main steam pipe

Fig.8 Creep- fatigue damage at HAZ in weld stub of piping

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Fig.9 Type IV cracking in high temperature piping

Fig.10 System stress calculated from FEM analysis in hot reheat piping
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Fig.11 Ligament cracking in superheater outlet header

Fig. 12 Stress due to the temperature gradient at a plant start-up

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5. MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR PROCEDURES FOR PIPING IN IHI

Figure 13 shows the flow diagram of life evaluation for high temperature piping in IHI. First, the
damage on the surface of component is measured as the creep void area ratio by replica and also
the damage under the surface is measured by ultrasonic noise method. The measured damage
values are compared with the threshold values and are divided into four cases. Furthermore the
cracks are detected by TOFD method and the crack growth rates are evaluated. As a result,
damage levels are classified into four levels i.e. Level I , II, III and IV and repair procedures which
correspond to each level are selected.
Figure 14 shows the principle in the repair procedures for high temperature piping in IHI. Most
concerned components are the seam weld in hot reheat straight pipe, the seam weld in hot reheat
elbow and the girth welds in main steam pipe and hot reheat pipe. If the residual thickness after
removal of defect is larger than the required value which is defined based on the design allowable
stress, only the removal of defect on the surface by grinding is performed in site. If the residual
thickness is less than the required design value, the repair welding after the removal of defect is
performed in site for the girth weld and in factory for the seam weld. Pre-heating and post-heating
are conducted in the repair welding both in site and in factory.

6. PLANT MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE FUTURE

6.1 Risk Ranking of Components and Inspection Intervals based on RBM
Thus, the components and facilities to be subjected to remaining life assessment, remaining life
assessment methods and the inspection intervals are conducted according to the experiences that
are accumulated in actual plant operations and at accidents. Attempts are made in the US
petrochemical industries to establish more quantitative and rational risk-based plant maintenance
procedures. The move has activated similar activities for developing advanced maintenance
standards in European and US thermal power plants. Figure 15 shows the definition of the risk and
the qualitative ranking matrix. The risk is defined as follows: Risk = (likelihood of fracture)
(safety severity). The risk is larger at the right hand corner in the figure. Each risk for a component
is calculated, and the risk ranking is attributed for planning and executing maintenance and
management plans. Figure 16 shows the method for deciding the maintenance interval based on
the risk. The shorter the maintenance interval is, the higher the inspection cost is. However, the
risk mentioned above decreases because the likelihood of fracture decreases. A suitable inspection
interval is found to be decided from the minimum expenditure of the inspection cost and risk cost.
The present method is applied to manage the total life of a plant. However, the remaining life
assessment decides finally the next inspection time of a component, and the remaining life
assessment technology still exists at the center of the maintenance and management of a plant.

6.2 Maintenance and Management based on Maintenance Standards

The ASME pressure vessel code includes the Section III on the design standards for nuclear
power plants, and the Section XI on the maintenance standards. The program to establish
Japanese maintenance standards for nuclear power facilities is in progress at present. However, no
maintenance standards exist for non-nuclear facilities including thermal power plants and
petrochemical facilities in the world. Thus, a program for establishing the maintenance standard is
in progress at US Petrochemical Society. The maintenance standard will be constituted with the
inspection standard, defect assessment standard, and repairing technology standard. The defect
assessment includes the assessment of propagation characteristics of defects, the crack
propagation assessment, and fracture limit assessment. Japanese thermal power plant facilities do
not permit any crack to propagate, although it may be permissible in the future as depending on
the crack morphology. Figure 17 shows the damage morphology that may have permissible crack
propagation, and that have no possibility in permissible crack propagation. The damage
permissible crack propagation may be the ligament cracking in header with definite crack path
under stabilized crack growth and the localized creep-fatigue damage at stress concentrated parts
e.g. pipe stub welds, header stub welds and Y-piece welds. However, the damage impermissible
crack propagation may be the type IV cracking in girth welds of high temperature piping under
system stress and the damage in the seam welds of hot reheat piping subjected to internal pressure
where the damage cant be detected easily and the fracture may be catastrophic as well.
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Fig.13 Flow diagram of life evaluation for high temperature piping in IHI

Component Defect size Repair procedure Location of repair

Seam weld in hot t r > td Removal of defect In site
reheat straight pipe t r < td Repair weld after removal of defect In factory
with preheating and postheating
Seam weld in hot t r > td Removal of defect In site
reheat elbow t r < td Repair weld after removal of defect In factory
with preheating and postheating
Girth weld in main t r > td Removal of defect
steam pipe and hot t r < td Repair weld after removal of defect In site
reheat pipe with preheating and postheating
Remark tr : residual thickness after removal of defect
td: required thickness in design

Fig.14 Principle of repair procedures for high temperature piping in IHI

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Fig. 15 Qualitative risk ranking matrix in RBM

Fig. 16. Maintenance interval based on RBM

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Fig. 17. Damages of permissible or impermissible crack propagation

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REFERENCES
[1] I. Nonaka et al; Recent Techniques of Residual Life Estimation for Fossil Power Boiler
Materilas, J. of High Pressure Technology Japan, Vol.34, No.3, 1996.
[2] M. Prager; Development of the MPC Omega Method for Life Assessment in the Creep Range,
J.of Pressure Vessel Technology, Vol.117, 1995.
[3] I. Nonaka et al; Evaluation of Creep Residual Life for Modified 9Cr-1Mo Steel Based on
Omega Method, J of the Society of Materials Science Japan, Vol.46, No.4, 1997.
[4] I. Nonaka et al; Development of Creep Damage Assessment System for Aged Thermal Power
Plant, Proc. of Baltica IV Conf., Vol.2, 1998
[5] I. Nonaka et al; Recent Techniques for Residual Life Assessment of Aged Fossil Power
Materials, IHI Journal, Vol.36, No.4, 1996