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Title: Toughness of austenitic stainless steel pipe welds: Topical report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7038196

The objectives of the program were to characterize the toughness of austenitic base and weld metals, and to evaluate the application of elastic-plastic fracture mechanics testing methodologies, developed for ferritic steels, to very ductile austenitic steels. Submerged arc, shielded metal arc, and tungsten-inert gas weldments in the as-deposited condition were tested to determine fracture behavior, tensile properties, and Charpy toughness. Comparisons were made of test results using EPRI fracture handbook solutions to evaluate the reliability of the analysis methodology. Results show that weld metal is less tough than base metal, and that recommended ASTM toughness testing procedures were inappropriate for ductile stainless steels. The study gave direction to a revision for flaw evaluation of flux weldments in IWB-3640 of Section XI of the ASME Code.

Research Organization:
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
OSTI ID:
7038196
Report Number(s):
EPRI-NP-4768; ON: TI87920136
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English