Repair welding of fusion reactor components

Technical Report · Sat May 15 00:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6582650· OSTI ID:6582650

Chin, B A

Experiments have shown that irradiated Type 316 stainless steel is susceptible to heat-affected-zone (HAZ) cracking upon cooling when welded using the gas tungsten arc (GTA) process under lateral constraint. The cracking has been hypothesized to be caused by stress-assisted helium bubble growth and rupture at grain boundaries. This study utilized an experimental welding setup which enabled different compressive stresses to be applied to the plates during welding. Autogenous GTA welds were produced in Type 316 stainless steel doped with 256 appm helium. The application of a compressive stress, 55 MPa, during welding suppressed the previously observed catastrophic cracking. Detailed examinations conducted after welding showed a dramatic change in helium bubble morphology. Grain boundary bubble growth along directions parallel to the weld was suppressed. Results suggest that stress-modified welding techniques may be used to suppress or eliminate helium-induced cracking during joining of irradiated materials.

• Research Organization: Auburn Univ., AL (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG05-91ER54134
• OSTI ID: 6582650
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/54134-2; ON: DE93015073
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Ma
STAINLESS STEEL-316
GAS TUNGSTEN-ARC WELDING
BUBBLE GROWTH
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HEAT AFFECTED ZONE
HELIUM EMBRITTLEMENT
ALLOYS
ARC WELDING
AUSTENITIC STEELS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CHROMIUM-NICKEL STEELS
CHROMIUM-NICKEL-MOLYBDENUM STEELS
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
EMBRITTLEMENT
FABRICATION
GAS METAL-ARC WELDING
HEAT RESIS
HIGH ALLOY STEELS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
JOINING
MICROSTRUCTURE
MOLYBDENUM ALLOYS
NICKEL ALLOYS
STAINLESS STEELS
STEEL-CR17NI12MO3
STEELS
WELDING
ZONES
360106* - Metals & Alloys- Radiation Effects
700480 - Fusion Technology- Component Development
Materials Studies- (1992-)