Pressure, Temperature and Dwell Time Effects on Fatigue Life in 304 Stainless Steel Using a R5-based Mechanistic Fatigue Model

AbstractThis paper aims to evaluate the effects of pressure, temperature, pipe wall thickness and dwell time on fatigue life in 304 stainless steel. For a given dwell time and temperature-internal pressure combination, fatigue life is calculated using the mechanistic fatigue model (MFM) presented. In addition, the influence of pipe wall thickness is also examined. The MFM uses Tresca strain range for initiation and Rankine strain range to account for crack growth rate up to a crack limiting length. The results showed that fatigue life was generally lower for a given load combination in the thinner pipe considered given its smaller surface area compared to the thicker pipe. This led to higher plastic strains and consequently, faster crack growth rates. Also, dwell time influences fatigue life with longer dwell times found to be more damaging. However, the influence of dwell time is tightly coupled with pipe wall thickness as it determines the nature of the thermal gradients developed

A method for reconstruction of residual stress fields from measurements made in an incompatible region

AbstractA method is introduced by which the complete state of residual stress in an elastic body may be inferred from a limited set of experimental measurements. Two techniques for carrying out this reconstruction using finite element analysis are compared and it is shown that for exact reconstruction of the stress field via this method, the stress field must be measured over all eigenstrain-containing regions of the object. The effects of error and incompleteness in the measured part of the stress field on the subsequent analysis are investigated in a series of numerical experiments using synthetic measurement data based on the NeT TG1 round-robin weld specimen. It is hence shown that accurate residual stress field reconstruction is possible using measurement data of a quality achievable using current experimental techniques

Applying electron backscattering diffraction to macroscopic residual stress characterisation in a dissimilar weld

AbstractDissimilar metal welds are complicated in nature because of the complex microstructure characteristics in the weld fusion zone. It is often necessary to know the phase distribution in a dissimilar metal weld especially at the interface such as fusion zone and heat affected zone to be able to predict the behaviour of the joint and its fitness for service. In this paper, a dissimilar metal weld made between ferritic/martensitic modified 9Cr-1Mo steel (P91) and austenitic AISI 316LN stainless steel using autogenous electron beam (EB) welding was analysed. The weld fusion zone has a local segregation of bcc and fcc phases. The EBSD technique was applied to determine the volume fractions of each of these phases in the weld fusion zone. This information was incorporated into the analysis of neutron diffraction data from the weld zone, and the macro-scale residual stresses were calculated from phase-specific stresses arising from the welding process. The results indicate that the overall macroscopic residual stress distribution in the weld centre is predominantly compressive in nature driven by the solid-state phase transformation of the weld pool during rapid cooling, with tensile peaks pushed adjacent to the heat affected zone (HAZ)/Parent boundaries on both sides of the fusion zone

Study on the Effect of Post Weld Heat Treatment Parameters on the Relaxation of Welding Residual Stresses in Electron Beam Welded P91 Steel Plates

AbstractResidual stresses are created by localised heating effects that occur during the welding process. Post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is the most convenient method for stress relief of welds. But PWHT cannot completely eliminate the residual stresses. So, it is essential to determine the influence of PWHT parameters like holding temperature and time on the stress relaxation for optimising the process. The selected material is modified 9Cr-1Mo (Grade 91) steel in the form of plates welded together using a high intensity electron beam. To facilitate the study, a numerical thermo-elastic-plastic model has been developed to simulate the welding of the plates. As P91 steels undergo phase transformations, the corresponding volumetric change and transformation plasticity are taken into consideration during the analysis and welding residual stresses are predicted. PWHT is implemented using Norton creep law and the residual stresses after relaxation are determined. The developed model and the predictions are validated using neutron diffraction measurements on as welded and post weld heat treated plates. A good agreement has been achieved between the measurements and predictions. The validated model has been used to study the effect of variation of heat treatment parameters like holding temperature and time on the relaxation of welding stresses

Residual stress measurement round robin on an electron beam welded joint between austenitic stainless steel 316L(N) and ferritic steel P91

This paper is a research output of DMW-Creep project which is part of a national UK programme through the RCUK Energy programme and India's Department of Atomic Energy. The research is focussed on understanding the characteristics of welded joints between austenitic stainless steel and ferritic steel that are widely used in many nuclear power generating plants and petrochemical industries as well as conventional coal and gas-fired power systems. The members of the DMW-Creep project have under- taken parallel round robin activities measuring the residual stresses generated by a dissimilar metal weld (DMW) between AISI 316L(N) austenitic stainless steel and P91 ferritic-martensitic steel. Electron beam (EB) welding was employed to produce a single bead weld on a plate specimen and an additional smoothing pass (known cosmetic pass) was then introduced using a defocused beam. The welding re- sidual stresses have been measured by five experimental methods including (I) neutron diffraction (ND), (II) X-Ray diffraction (XRD), (III) contour method (CM), (IV) incremental deep hole drilling (iDHD) and (V) incremental centre hole drilling (iCHD). The round robin measurements of weld residual stresses are compared in order to characterise surface and sub-surface residual stresses comprehensively

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Residual stress and microstructural variations in thick aluminium alloy forgings

The most critical stage in the heat treatment of high strength aluminium alloys is the rapid cooling necessary to form a supersaturated solid solution. During cold water quenching of thick sections, the thermal gradients are sufficient to cause inhomogeneous plastic deformation which in turn leads to the development of large residual stresses. Two 215 mm thick rectilinear forgings made from 7075 and 7010 were heat treated, and the through thickness residual stresses measured by neutron diffraction and deep hole drilling. The distribution of residual stresses was found to be similar for both alloys varying from highly triaxial and tensile in the core to a state of biaxial compression in the surface. The 7010 forging exhibited significantly larger tensile stresses in the core. 7075 is a much more quench sensitive alloy when compared to 7010. This results in loss of supersaturation by second phase precipitation during quenching in the core of the 7075 forgin

Interaction of Residual Stresses With Applied Stresses in a Dissimilar Metal Electron Beam Welded Specimen

Dissimilar metal welds are often used in nuclear reactors to connect the ferritic components to the austenitic stainless steel pipes. One of the pressing concerns of such design is the presence of cracks at the interface. The situation is further complicated by the differences in the yield strength at the interface compared to the base materials, the existence of residual stresses in high magnitude and the loading conditions of the crack in service. Residual stresses when combined with the service loads may affect the susceptibility to failure. Therefore studying the interaction between the applied and residual stresses in a component is crucial to understand the fracture behaviour and the accurate failure assessment of cracks. The objective of the following research is to assess the fracture behaviour of the crack located at the interface of a dissimilar metal weld between the ferritic P91 steel to an austenitic AISI 316LN steel made from electron beam (EB) welding, using a 3D elastic-plastic finite element analysis under the presence of residual stresses. A numerical model was developed to simulate the fracture behaviour of cracked body under applied load in the presence of residual stresses from the welding process and predict the J-integral around the crack tip. The numerical model was developed in stages to simulate the welding process, extraction of C(T) blank specimen and finally the behaviour of the cracked body under residual stresses and service loads. The model was validated at various stages using neutron diffraction measurements on the welded plate, after the C(T) specimen extraction but prior to the introduction of the crack and the residual stresses around the crack tip after the introduction of crack.</jats:p