Origin of spurious ultrasonic echoes in stainless steel piping with weld overlay

Conference · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:6372744

Kupperman, D S

The initiation and growth of intergranular stress-corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of stainless steel reactor piping welds has been a subject of concern to electric utilities for over ten years. This type of crack can be detected with ultrasonic shear waves during normal maintenance periods with a reliability of up to 80%. Often after an inspection indicating cracks, a utility has been allowed to administer a temporary fix to a pipe which is suspected of being cracked. This fix is a weld metal overlay. The repaired pipes often have to be inspected after the overlay has been put on the pipe. The overlay with a complex, elastically anisotropic microstructure, considerably reduces the reliability of the ultrasonic inspection. This paper addresses the problems arising because of the overlay.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6372744
• Report Number(s): CONF-860856-13; ON: DE87007009
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220200* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Components & Accessories
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
360105 -- Metals & Alloys-- Corrosion & Erosion
42 ENGINEERING
420200 -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
ACOUSTIC TESTING
ALLOYS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CORROSION
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
CRACK PROPAGATION
CRACKS
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
HATCH-2 REACTOR
HEAT AFFECTED ZONE
INSPECTION
INTERGRANULAR CORROSION
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
JOINTS
MATERIALS
MATERIALS TESTING
NOISE
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PIPES
POWER PLANTS
POWER REACTORS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
SHEAR
SOUND WAVES
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
STRESS CORROSION
TESTING
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
ULTRASONIC TESTING
ULTRASONIC WAVES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
WELDED JOINTS
ZONES