High pressure tubing and associated tubing couplers are critical components required for the operational control of subsea oil and gas production equipment. Tubing couplers used in subsea oil and gas developments are commonly made from Nitronic 50 HS® (N50HS) due to its high strength, corrosion resistance, and resistance to galling. Nitronic couplers are typically welded to several dissimilar metals including super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) control tubing using SDSS filler metals such as AWS A5.9 ER2594.
Recent evaluations have found that sigma (σ) phase forms in N50HS weldments and its effect is not broadly understood by industry. During N50HS solidification, Scheil solidification conditions establish compositional gradients in the unmixed zone located along the fusion line adjacent to the N50HS base metal. This solidification-induced segregation promotes compositions that are susceptible to interdendritic intermetallic compound formation when they are reheated by subsequent weld passes such as in multipass welding or at weld start-stop locations.
Decreasing heat input is a common approach to reduce or eliminate the formation of intermetallic compounds in SDSS. Although decreasing heat input can reduce the amount of energy available to drive the solid state transformation from ferrite to σ, it does not change the solidification mode (AF) or solidification conditions from Scheil to para-equilibrium within the range of cooling rates possible with arc welding processes. As such, the compositional gradients that promote intermetallic compound formation along the N50HS fusion line can only be minimized through heat input control and cannot be eliminated in arc welds regardless of the heat input used.
The effects of σ on toughness and corrosion resistance of Nitronic weldments were evaluated. N50HS solidified samples with up to 2 volume percent σ were found to have CVN of >40J at −40°C, and no evidence of pitting at 25°C in the ASTM G48 test.
