An Analytical Evaluation of the Full Structural Weld Overlay as a Stress Improving Mitigation Strategy to Prevent Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking in Pressurized Water Reactor Piping

Full Structural Weld Overlay (FSWOL) has been used successfully to mitigate intergranular stress corrosion cracking in boiling water reactor (BWR) welded stainless steel piping for many years. The FSWOL technique adds structural reinforcement, can add crack resistant material, and can create compressive residual stresses at the inside surface of the welded joint which reduces the possibility of further stress corrosion cracking. Recently, the FSWOL has been applied as a preemptive measure to prevent primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in pressurized water reactors (PWR) on susceptible welded pipes with dissimilar metal welds common to PWR primary cooling piping. This study uses finite element models to evaluate the likely residual and operating stress profiles remaining after FSWOL for typical dissimilar metal weld configurations, some of which are approved for leak-before-break (LBB) applications in pressurized water reactors. Circumferential cracks were modeled in the dissimilar metal weld area and forced to grow in order to evaluate their crack opening displacements and stress intensity factors vs. depth before and after weld overlay and before and after application of operating pressure and temperature.