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Use of Purgeless Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) of Small Bore SS 304L Pipes for Reduction of Oxidation Weld Defect in Nuclear Piping Applications: A Field Deployment Approach

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Abstract

In nuclear reprocessing piping applications, oxidation is one of the most prevalent weld defects experienced in welding of small bore AISI 304L pipes due to ineffective inert gas purging at root side of weld. This has been attributed to complexity of system design, access limitations and increased procedure costs and schedule in joints such as terminal joints, Hook-up joints and end closure joints. An attempt has been made to weld austenitic stainless steel 304L pipes of various sizes using GTAW filler wire with special flux coating which obviates the necessity of root pass purging, while maintaining acceptable weld quality. These fillers are typically used only for the root pass welding only. Welding procedure and personnel qualification with keyhole technique for assessing mechanical strength, soundness of weld is carried out on DN 100 Sch 40 (114.3 mm outer diameter and 6 mm wall thickness) SS 304L pipes with root pass using special filler wire and subsequent passes with conventional GTAW filler wire. Microstructural characterization, microhardness profiling, intergranular corrosion susceptibility and stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of welds are assessed and reported in comparison with conventional practices. Total leachable sulfur and chloride content measurement of slag is also reported. After satisfactory clearance of procedural requirements, 6 nos of DN 15 Schedule 40 (21.34 mm outer diameter and 2.77 mm wall thickness) pipes at actual site conditions are welded using this procedure for validation. It is observed that all the joints cleared 100% radiography without any oxidation. This attempt also resulted in tangible benefit of cost saving without offset the quality by having 100% savings in high purity (99.997%) argon gas.

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Acknowledgments

Authors hereby acknowledge constant support and encouragement given by Director, IGCAR and Director, RpG in carrying out this work. Authors thank DFRP colleagues for providing all necessary resources and QAD colleagues for assisting in fabrication and NDT of welds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India

    M. V. Kuppusamy & B. Venkatraman

  2. Safety, Quality and Resource Management Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, India

    M. V. Kuppusamy & B. Venkatraman

  3. Reprocessing Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, India

    M. Dhananjeyakumar & K. Palani

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  1. M. V. Kuppusamy
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  2. B. Venkatraman
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  3. M. Dhananjeyakumar
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Correspondence to M. V. Kuppusamy.

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Kuppusamy, M.V., Venkatraman, B., Dhananjeyakumar, M. et al. Use of Purgeless Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) of Small Bore SS 304L Pipes for Reduction of Oxidation Weld Defect in Nuclear Piping Applications: A Field Deployment Approach. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23, 1715–1731 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01723-7

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