Preliminary Stress Corrosion Cracking Modeling Study of a Dissimilar Material Weld of Alloy (Inconel) 182 with Stainless Steel 316 in Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor

Dissimilar welds (DW) are normally used in many components junctions in structural project of PWR (Pressurized Water Reactors) in Nuclear Plants. One had been departed of a DW of a nozzle located at a Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) of a PWR reactor, that joins the structural vessel material with an A316 stainless steel safe end. This weld is basically done with Inconel/Alloy 182 with a weld buttering of Inconel/Alloy 82. It had been prepared some axial cylindrical specimens retired from the Alloy 182/A316 weld end to be tested in the slow strain rate test machine located at CDTN laboratory. Based in these stress corrosion susceptibility results, it was done a preliminary semi-empiric modeling application to study the failure initiation time evolution of these specimens. The used model is composed by a deterministic part, and a probabilistic part according to the Weibull distribution. It had been constructed a specific Microsoft Excel worksheet to do the model application of input data. The obtained results had been discussed according with literature and also the model application limits

Variables search technique applied to gas separation

This paper describes an experimental design technique, known as variables search, developed to expose the critical variables and screen out the irrelevant ones. It is easy to learn and use and clearly dissociates the main and interactions effects from each other. An example of air separation process by pressure swing adsorption was used to demonstrate how the variables search technique works. The phases of identification of the critical variables is shown, step by step,.327329Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Modeling of Tests of Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking of Alloy 182 of Pressurized Water Reactor According to EPRI and USNRC Recommendations

One of the main degradation mechanisms which cause risks to safety and reliability of pressurized water nuclear reactors is the primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in nickel alloys, such as Alloy 600 (75Ni-15Cr-9Fe), and its weld metal Alloy 182 (67 Ni-15Cr-8Fe). It can appear at several reactor nozzles dissimilarly welded with Alloys 182/82 between steel ASTM A-508 G3 and stainless steel AISI316L, among others. The hydrogen which is dissolved to primary water to prevent radiolysis, can also have influence on the stress corrosion cracking behavior. In this article one departs from a study of Lima based in experimental data obtained from CDTN-Brazilian Nuclear Technology Development Center, in slow strain rate test (SSRT). It was prepared and used for tests a weld in laboratory, similar to dissimilar weld in pressurizer relief nozzles, operating at Brazilian NPP Angra 1. It was simulated for tests, primary water at 325oC and 12.5 MPa containing levels of dissolved hydrogen: 2, 10, 25, and 50 cm3 STP H2/kgH2O. The objective of this article is to propose an adequate modeling based on these experimental results, for PWSCC crack growth rate according to the levels of dissolved hydrogen, based on EPRI-MRP-263 NP. Furthermore, it has been estimated the stress intensity factor applied for these tests: according with these, some another models described on EPRI-MRP-115, and an USNRC Technical Report, have been tested. According to this study, CDTN tests are adequate for modeling comparisons within EPRI and USNRC models

Caracterização microestrutural de soldas dissimilares dos aços ASTM A-508 e AISI 316L Characterization of dissimilar metal weld between low alloy steel ASTM A-508 and 316L stainless steel

As soldas dissimilares (dissimilar metal welds - DMWs) são utilizadas em diversos segmentos da indústria. No caso específico de usinas nucleares, tais soldas são necessárias para conectar tubulações de aço inoxidável com componentes fabricados em aços baixa liga. Os materiais de adição mais utilizados neste tipo de solda são as ligas de níquel 82 e 182. Este trabalho consistiu na soldagem de uma junta dissimilar de aço baixa liga ASTM A-508 G3 e aço inoxidável austenítico AISI 316L utilizando as ligas de níquel 82 e 182 como metais de adição. A soldagem foi realizada manualmente empregando os processos de soldagem ao arco SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) e GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding). Os corpos de prova foram caracterizados microestruturalmente utilizando-se microscópio óptico e microscópio eletrônico de varredura com microanálise por dispersão de energia de raios X (EDS) e ensaios de microdureza Vickers. Observou-se uma microestrutura constituída de dendritas de austenita com a presença de precipitados com formas e dimensões definidas pelo aporte térmico e pela direção de soldagem. Não houve variação significativa da dureza ao longo da junta soldada, demonstrando a adequação dos parâmetros de soldagem utilizados.<br>The dissimilar metal welds (DMWs) are used in several areas of the industries. In the nuclear power plant, this weld using nickel alloy welding wires is used to connect stainless steel pipes to low alloy steel components on the reactor pressured vessels. The filler materials commonly used in this type of weld are nickel alloys 82 and 182.. In this study, dissimilar metal welds composed of low alloy steel ASTM A-508 G3, nickel alloys 82 e 182 as weld metals, and austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L were prepared by manual shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) and gas tungsten arc welding techniques (GTAW). Samples were microstructural characterized by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy using energy dispersive X ray microanalysis (EDS). It was noticed that there was a microstructure consisting of austenite dendrites with the presence of precipitates with shapes and dimensions set by the thermal contribution and direction of welding. There was no significant variation of hardness along the weld joint, demonstrating the suitability of the welding parameters used