Study on Residual-Stress Redistributions During the Process of Manufacture of a Vessel Penetration Set-On Joint

The stress-redistribution phenomenon in a vessel penetration set-on joint due to post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) was studied using finite element (FE) analyses and mocked-up experiments. The mocked-up consisted of a nickel-based alloy (NCF600) tube welded onto an alloy-82 cladded, low-alloy steel plate (SQV2A) using an alloy-182 butt weld. The angle of the tube to the plate surface was 45 degrees, simulating a side hill, a control rod drive (CRD), and a stub-tube nozzle attachment used in boiling-water reactor (BWR) plants. PWHT at a temperature of 625 °C was conducted after welding and then the inner surface of the tube was machined. Three-dimensional FE modeling was performed to simulate the cladding, the butt weld, the PWHT, and the inner-surface machining of the tube. Thermal elasto-plastic and thermal elasto-plastic creep analyses were conducted to simulate the process of residual-stress build up and its redistribution by PWHT. To validate the FE analysis, the residual stresses in the mocked-up specimen were experimentally measured using the deep-hole-drilling (DHD) and sectioning methods. The analytical and experimental results revealed that residual-stress redistributions in the mocked-up specimen were different in circumferential positions. High-residual stresses in the low-alloy steel plate were particularly mitigated during the PWHT. The stress relief in the low-alloy steel plate primarily controlled the global stress balance between the cladding, the weld metal, and the stub tube.