Mechanical property variation within Inconel 82/182 dissimilar metal weld between low alloy steel and 316 stainless steel

Abstract

In several locations of pressurized water reactors, dissimilar metal welds using Inconel welding wires are used to join the low alloy steel components to stainless-steel pipes. Because of the existence of different materials and chemistry variation within welds, mechanical properties, such as tensile and fracture properties, are expected to show spatial variation. For design and integrity assessment of the dissimilar welds, these variations should be evaluated.
In this study, dissimilar metal welds composed of low alloy steel, Inconel 82/182 weld, and stainless steel were prepared by gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding techniques. Microstructures were observed using optical and electron microscopes. Typical dendrite structures were observed in Inconel 82/182 welds.
Tensile tests using standard and mini-sized specimens and micro-hardness tests were conducted to measure the variation in strength along the thickness of the weld as well as across the weld. In addition, fracture toughness specimens were taken at the bottom, middle, and top of the welds and tested to evaluate the spatial variation along the thickness. It was found that while the strength is about 50–70MPa greater at the bottom of the weld than at the top of the weld, fracture toughness values at the top of the weld are about 70% greater than those at the bottom of the weld.