• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.491-500
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• 2012

The dissimilar metal joints welded between Ni-based alloy, Alloy 690 and low alloy steel, A533 Gr. B with Alloy 152 filler metal were characterized by using optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, secondary ion mass spectrometry and 3-dimensional atom probe tomography. It was found that in the weld root region, the weld was divided into several regions including unmixed zone in Ni-base alloy, fusion boundary, and heat-affected zone in the low alloy steel. The result of nanostructural and nanochemical analyses in this study showed the non-homogeneous distribution of elements with higher Fe but lower Mn, Ni and Cr in A533 Gr. B compared with Alloy 152, and the precipitation of carbides near the fusion boundary.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.628-634
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• 2011

SA508 Gr.4N Ni-Cr-Mo low alloy steel, in which Ni and Cr contents are higher than in commercial SA508 Gr.3 Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steels, may be a candidate reactor pressure vessel (RPV) material with higher strength and toughness from its tempered martensitic microstructure. The inner surface of the RPV is weld-cladded with stainless steels to prevent corrosion. The goal of this study is to evaluate the microstructural properties of the clad interface between Ni-Cr-Mo low alloy steel and stainless weldment, and the effects of post weld heat treatment (PWHT) on the properties. The properties of the clad interface were compared with those of commercial Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel. Multi-layer welding of model alloys with ER308L and ER309L stainless steel by the SAW method was performed, and then PWHT was conducted at $610^{\circ}C$ for 30 h. The microstructural changes of the clad interface were analyzed using OM, SEM and TEM, and micro-Vickers hardness tests were performed. Before PWHT, the heat affected zone (HAZ) showed higher hardness than base and weld metals due to formation of martensite after welding in both steels. In addition, the hardness of the HAZ in Ni-Cr-Mo low alloy steel was higher than that in Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel due to a comparatively high martensite fraction. The hardness of the HAZ decreased after PWHT in both steels, but the dark region was formed near the fusion line in which the hardness was locally high. In the case of Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel, formation of fine Cr-carbides in the weld region near the fusion line by diffusion of C from the base metal resulted in locally high hardness in the dark region. However, the precipitates of the region in the Ni-Cr-Mo low alloy steel were similar to that in the base metal, and the hardness in the region was not greatly different from that in the base metal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1924-1934
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• 2023

In this study, the probabilistic fatigue life model for Ni-base alloys was developed based on the Weibull distribution using statistical analysis of fatigue data reported in NUREG/CR-6909 and the new fatigue data of Alloy 52M/152 and 82/182. The developed Weibull model can consider right-censored data (i.e., non-failed data) and quantify the improved safety (or reliability) based on the level of failure probability. The overall margin in the current fatigue design limit model (ASME design curve + NUREG/CR-6909 F_en model) is similar to that of the Weibull model with a cumulative failure probability of approximately 2.5%. The margin in the current fatigue design limit model demonstrated inconsistencies for the Ni-base alloy weld data, whereas the Weibull model showed a consistent margin. Therefore, the Weibull model can systematically mitigate the excessive safety margin.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.961-970
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• 2012

Often, probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) approaches have been adopted to quantify the failure probabilities of Ni-base alloy components, especially due to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC), in a primary piping system of pressurized water reactors. In this paper, the key features of an advanced PFM code, PINEP-PWSCC (Probabilistic INtegrity Evaluation for nuclear Piping-PWSCC) for such purpose, are described. In developing the code, we adopted most recent research results and advanced models in calculation modules such as PWSCC crack initiation and growth models, a performance-based probability of detection (POD) model for Ni-base alloy welds, and so on. To verify the code, the failure probabilities for various Alloy 182 welds locations were evaluated and compared with field experience and other PFM codes. Finally, the effects of pre-existing crack, weld repair, and POD models on failure probability were evaluated to demonstrate the applicability of PINEP-PWSCC.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.1-5
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• 2017

Many microelectronic devices are miniaturizing the capacitance density and the size of the capacitor. Along with this miniaturization of electronic circuits, tantalum (Ta) capacitors have been on the market due to its large demands worldwide and advantages such as high volumetric efficiency, low temperature coefficient of capacitance, high stability and reliability. During a tantalum capacitor manufacturing process, arc welding has been used to weld base frame and sub frame. This arc welding may have limitations since the downsizing of the weldment depends on the size of welding electrode and the contact time may prevent from improving productivity. Therefore, to solve these problems, this study applies laser spot welding to weld nickel (Ni) and Au-Sn-Ni alloy using CW IR fiber laser with lap joint geometry. All laser parameters are fixed and the only control variable is laser irradiance time. Four different shapes, such as no melting upper workpiece, asymmetric spherical-shaped weldment, symmetric weldment, and, excessive weldment, are observed. This shape may be due to different temperature distribution and flow pattern during the laser spot cutting.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.139-146
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• 2009

The heat-affected zone (HAZ) of SA508 Gr.4N Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel, which has higher Ni and Cr contents than SA508 Gr.3 Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel, was investigated on the microstructure and mechanical properties. The HAZ was categorized into seven characteristic zones (CGCG, FGCG, ICCG, SCCG, FGFG, ICIC and SCSC-HAZ) according to the peak temperature from the thermal cycle experienced during multi-pass welding. Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT) was conducted in the temperature range of $550{\sim}610^{\circ}C$ for 30 hours to evaluate the effect of PWHT conditions on the microstructure and mechanical properties. Before PWHT, CGHAZ and FGFGHAZ showed high yield strength (YS) ranging from 1000 to 1250 MPa, while YS of SCSCHAZ decreased from 607 MPa (observed for base metal) to 501 MPa. The Charpy impact energies of sub-HAZs fell below 100J at $-29^{\circ}C$, except in the SCSCHAZ. By applying PWHT to sub-HAZ specimens, YS decreased as the PWHT temperature increased. In the case of CGHAZs and FGFGHAZ heat-treated at $610^{\circ}C$, YS dropped drastically to the range of 654~686 MPa. From the Charpy impact test, the upper-shelf energy (USE) increased to approximately 250J and Index temperature ($T_{68J}$) decreased below $-50^{\circ}C$. Specifically, in FGFG, ICIC and SCSC-HAZ, $T_{68J}$ was below -110, which was lower than the case of base metal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.673-682
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• 2012

Three dimensional atom probe tomography (3D APT) is applied to characterize the dissimilar metal joint which was welded between the Ni-based alloy, Alloy 690 and the low alloy steel, A533 Gr. B, with Alloy 152 filler metal. While there is some difficulty in preparing the specimen for the analysis, the 3D APT has a truly quantitative analytical capability to characterize nanometer scale particles in metallic materials, thus its application to the microstructural analysis in multi-component metallic materials provides critical information on the mechanism of nanoscale microstructural evolution. In this study, the procedure for 3D APT specimen preparation was established, and those for dissimilar metal weld interface were prepared near the fusion boundary by a focused ion beam. The result of the analysis in this study showed the precipitation of chromium carbides near the fusion boundary between A533 Gr. B and Alloy 152.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.410-414
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• 2011

This study was carried out to evaluate the microstructures and mechanical properties of a friction stir welded Ni based alloy. Inconel 600 (single phase type) alloy was selected as an experimental material. For this material, friction stir welding (FSW) was performed at a constant tool rotation speed of 400 rpm and a welding speed of 150~200 mm/min by a FSW machine, and argon shielding gas was utilized to prevent surface oxidation of the weld material. At all conditions, sound friction stir welds without any weld defects were obtained. The electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) method was used to analyze the grain boundary character distributions (GBCDs) of the welds. As a result, dynamic recrystallization was observed at all conditions. In addition, grain refinement was achieved in the stir zone, gradually accelerating from 19 ${\mu}m$ in average grain size of the base material to 5.5 ${\mu}m$ (150 mm/min) and 4.1 ${\mu}m$ (200 mm/min) in the stir zone with increasing welding speed. Grain refinement also led to enhancement of the mechanical properties: the 200 mm/min friction stir welded zone showed 25% higher microhardness and 15% higher tensile strength relative to the base material.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.589-596
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• 2020

Many components in the assembly section of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor are made of good corrosionresistant 316 LN Stainless Steel material. To avoid self-welding of the components with the coolant sodium at elevated temperature, hardfacing is inevitable. Ni-based colmonoy-5 is used for hardfacing due to its lower dose rate by Plasma Transferred Arc process due to its low dilution. Since Ni-Cr-B-Si alloy becomes very fluidic while depositing, the major height of the weld overlay rests inside the groove. Hardfacing is also done over the plain surface where grooving is not possible. Therefore, grooved and ungrooved hardfaced specimens were prepared at different travel speeds. Fe content at every 100 ㎛ of the weld overlay was studied by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and also the micro hardness was determined at those locations. A correlation between iron dilution from the base metal and the micro hardness was established. Therefore, if the Fe content of the weld overlay is known, the hardness at that location can be obtained using the correlation and vice-versa. A new correlation between micro hardness and dilution coefficient is obtained at different locations. A comparative study between those specimens is carried out to recommend the optimum travel speed for lower dilution.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.46-55
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• 1997

This study has evaluated the liquation cracking behavior in the heat affected zone of several Ni base superalloys (Incoloy 825, Inconel 718 and Inconel 600). 304 and 310S austenitic stainless steels were also included for comparison. In addition, the mechanism of liquation cracking in the HAZ was postulated based on the extensive microstructural examinations with SEM, EDAX and TEM. The liquation cracking resistance of Ni base alloys was found to be far inferior to that of austenitic stainless steels. The liquation cracking of Incoloy 825 and Inconel 718 was believed to be closely related with the Laves-austenite(Ti rich in 825 and Nb rich in 718) and MC-austenitic eutectic phases formed along the grain boundaries by constitutional liquation and incipient melting under rapid welding thermal contraction. Further, liquation cracking resistance of the HAZ was dependent not only upon the type and amount of low melting phases but also on the grain size.