Brittle Fracture of Stainless Steel Dissimilar Metal Welds in the Upper Shelf of the Brittle-to-Ductile Transition Range (original) (raw)

Volume 6: Materials and Fabrication, 2020

Abstract

Stainless steel dissimilar metal welds (SS DMW) are widely used within the French nuclear power plants where they connect the main components (pressure vessel, pressurizer, steam generator) made of low alloy ferritic steel to the primary circuit pipes made of austenitic stainless steel. Because of their heterogeneous microstructure and mechanical properties, these junctions are critical components for the structure integrity and their fracture resistance has to be demonstrated for all the nominal or accidental operating conditions. This work aims at building a model to evaluate the risk of brittle fracture of the SS DMW in the upper shelf of the brittle-to ductile transition range. The observation of the microstructures around the fusion line revealed a martensitic layer and a fully austenitic zone, which undergo an important carbides precipitation during the post-weld heat treatment and form a narrow hard layer of carburized martensite and austenite. Fracture toughness tests were t...

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