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Title: Dissimilar-welded failure analysis and development: Volume 6, Weld condition and remaining life assessment manual: Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7128164

Step-by-step guidelines contained in a new engineering manual explain how to evaluate dissimilar metal weld loadings, assess the current state of damage, and predict remaining weld life. Suggested plant and operational modifications will help utility personnel identify root causes and avoid additional failures in a given boiler. Failure of dissimilar metal welds (DMWs) between the austenitic and ferritic steel tubing used in superheaters and reheaters constitutes a major cause of forced outages in fossil boilers. EPRI has undertaken a study of DMWs, reported in volumes 1-6 of this nine-volume series, to provide utilities with a systematic approach for identifying root causes, remedying identified problems, and estimating remaining DMW useful life. This manual follows the three-phase approach outlined in the EPRI guidelines for life extension (report CS-4778). The investigators subjected the samples to detailed metallurgical examination and established correlations among operating conditions, system stresses, and the extent of observed DMW cracking. These correlations were quantified in the PODIS computer code (prediction of damage in service code; EPRI report CS-4252, volume 7). The investigators documented this information in a manual explaining how to carry out life assessment of DMWs. These guidelines describe an analytic procedure that computes the current level of DMW damage based on operating temperature, the number and nature of cycles, and system stresses. They explain a procedure for supplementary destructive examinations to verify the analytic predictions. 10 refs., 20 figs., 2 tabs.

Research Organization:
Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); Materials Properties Council, Inc., New York (USA)
OSTI ID:
7128164
Report Number(s):
EPRI-CS-5252-Vol.6; ON: TI88016218
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English