Abstract
Helium was uniformly implanted into type 316 stainless steel and Sandvik HT-9 (12Cr-1 MoVW) to levels of 0.18 to 256 and 0.3 to 1 a.p.p.m., respectively, using the “tritium trick” technique. Autogenous bead-on-plate, full penetration, welds were then produced under fully constrained conditions using the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. The control and hydrogen-charged plates of both alloys were sound and free of any weld defects. For the 316 stainless steel, catastrophic intergranular fracture occurred in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of welds with helium levels ≥2.5 a.p.p.m. In addition to the HAZ cracking, brittle fracture along the centreline of the fusion zone was also observed for the welds containing greater than 100 a.p.p.m. He. For HT-9, intergranular cracking occurred in the HAZ along prior-austenite grain boundaries of welds containing 1 a.p.p.m. He. Electron microscopy observations showed that the cracking in the HAZ originated from the growth and coalescence of grain-boundary helium bubbles and that the fusion-zone cracking resulted from the growth of helium bubbles at dendrite boundaries. The bubble growth kinetics in the HAZ is dominated by stress-induced diffusion of vacancies into bubbles. Results of this study indicate that the use of conventional GTAW techniques to repair irradiation-degraded materials containing even small amounts of helium may be difficult.
Access this article
We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.
Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H. S. Rosenbaum, “Treatise on Materials Science and Technology”, Vol. 7 (Academic Press, New York, 1975).
J. O. Stiegler and L. K. Mansur, Ann. Rev. Mater. Sci. 9 (1979) 405.
R. S. Barnes, Nature 206 (1965) 1307.
D. R. Harries, J. Nucl. Mater. 82 (1979) 635.
M. M. Hall Jr, A. G. Hins, J. R. Summers and D. E. Walker, “Weldment: Physical Metallurgy and Failure Phenomena, Proceedings of the Fifth Bolton Landing Conference” (General Electric Co, Schenectady, New York, 1978) p. 365.
S. D. Atkin, ADIP Semiannual Progress Report (September 1981) p. 110.
W. R. Kanne, C. L. Angerman and B. J. Eberhard, DP-147,0 (E.I. du Pont de Nemours, Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, SC, 1987).
B. A. Chin, R. J. Neuhold and J. L. Straalsund, Nucl. Technol. 57 (1982) 426.
Annual Books and ASTM Standards, “Standard Guide for Simulation of Helium Effects in Irradiated Materials”, Vol. 12.02, E492-83 (American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA) pp. 808–11.
B. M. Oliver, J. G. Bradley and H. Iv. Farrar, Geochim Cosmochim. Acta 48 (1984) 1625.
H. T. Lin, PhD dissertation, Auburn University (1989).
D. W. James and G. M. Leak, Phil. Mag. 12 (1965) 491.
D. Hull and D. Rimmer, ibid. 4 (1959) 673.
M. V. Speight and J. E. Harries, Metal Sci. J. 1 (1967) 83.
J. Weertman, Scripta Metall. 7 (1973) 4129.
M. V. Speight and W. Beere, Metal Sci. J. 9 (1975) 190.
R. Raj and M. F. Ashby, Acta Metall. 23 (1975) 653.
H. Trinkaus, Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem. 82 (1978) 249.
H. Riedel, “Fracture at High Temperature” (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1987).
R. L. Rickett, W. F. White, C. S. Walton and J. C. Butler, Trans. ASM 44 (1952) 138.
K. Masubuchi, “Analysis of Welded Structures” (Pergamon Press, New York, 1980) p. 189.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lin, H.T., Chin, B.A. Helium-induced weld cracking in austenitic and martensitic steels. J Mater Sci 26, 2063–2070 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00549168
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00549168