Tensile and Fracture Toughness Properties Variation in Inconel 82/182 Dissimilar Metal Welds

Transactions of the Korean Nuclear Society Spring Meeting
Jeju, Korea, May 10-11, 2007
Tensile and Fracture Toughness Properties Variation in Inconel 82/182 Dissimilar Metal Welds
Jounghoon Lee,a* Changheui Jang,a Jong Sung Kim,b and Tae Eun Jinb
a. Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
373-1, Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Rep. of Korea
*Tel.: +82-42-869-3864, Fax.: +82-42-869-3810, E-mail: jhlee05@kaist.ac.kr
b. Korea Power Engineering Company
360-9 Mabuk-ri, Guseong-eup, Youngin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 449-713, Rep. of Korea
1. Introduction
Dissimilar metal welds between ferritic steel and
austenitic steel tubing and piping are commonly
employed in nuclear power plants. Such transition joints
are necessary because of the corrosion resistance of
stainless steel, while ferritic steels are commercially
more attractive [1]. The concern and interest in the
integrity of dissimilar welds have been raised because of
the incident in V.C. Summer plant [2]. It has been
thought that the repair welding during the construction
caused significant residual stress on the inner surface of
the weld. For the integrity analysis of the dissimilar
welds, it is essential to have enough materials property
database. In this paper, the spatial variations of the
mechanical properties of dissimilar metal weld were
investigated.
2. Test materials and welding
Base materials used to construct dissimilar metal
welds are SA508 Gr.3 low alloy steel and TP316
stainless steel which are the types of material used for
constructing nuclear pressure vessels and pipes in Korea.
These metals are provided as forged and heat treated,
and prepared as 40 mm thick plate before welding
procedure. Using inconel electrode 182 and filler metal
82, dissimilar metal welds are fabricated. These
procedures were followed by manual which is used for
the nozzle to pipe welding in OPR1000. The schematics
of welding procedure are shown in Figure 1.
82/182 weld region, and TP316 stainless steel region

along the welding direction. The specimens were tested
at strain rate of 5x10-4/sec. Test temperature was room
temperature and 320C, and temperature variation of
test was less than 1C. These specimens are made and
tested by ASTM E8M-01.
Figure 2. Locations for round bar tensile specimen.

2.2 Fracture toughness test
Fracture tests were performed on precracked compact
tension (CT) specimens that had a width (W) of 38.1
mm and thickness (B) of 12.7 mm. All specimens had
20 percent side grooves. Inconel weld specimens were
tested in the transverse orientation, with the notch
normal to the welding direction as shown in Figure 3.
Specimens were tested in room temperature and 320C
using direct current potential drop (DCPD) system that
was operated in displacement control. Loading rate for
the test was 0.2 mm/min. Fracture toughness was
followed by ASTM E1737-96 and E1820-05a.
Figure 3. The orientation and position of the specimens.
4. Results and Discussion

Figure 1. Schematics of the dissimilar metal weld of
single V-grooved design.
3. Test method
3.1 Tensile test
Round bar tensile specimens were machined from the
welded plates [3]. As shown in Figure 2, specimens
were taken from SA508 low alloy steel region, inconel
4.1 Tensile Properties

The tensile properties of test materials in air room
temperatures and 320C are summarized in Figure 4.
Test results show a little different property depending
on the test position. In the case of the room temperature,
SA508 Gr.3 base metals show higher yield strength than
inconel 82/182 weld and TP316 base metals. However
UTS values are similar in both of base metals and
Transactions of the Korean Nuclear Society Spring Meeting

Jeju, Korea, May 10-11, 2007
inconel weld metal. Within the weld, a quite large

tensile property variation is present, such that the yield
strength and UTS are larger at the bottom of the weld
than at the top of the weld. In the case of the 320C,
SA508 Gr.3 had the highest value of UTS, and inconel
82/182 has higher values of UTS than those of TP316.
As a whole, the yield strength was decreased as the
temperature was increased at the all materials. The
ultimate tensile strength of SA508 was not changed as
the temperature was increased. However, in the case of
inconel 82/182 and TP316, the ultimate tensile strength
was decreased as the temperature was increased.
(a)
(b)
Figure 4. Tensile properties variation across the
dissimilar metal welds (a) room temp. (b) 320C
4.2 Fracture Toughness
The fracture toughness test results of the inconel
welds are shown in Figure 5. In the case of the room
temperature, for the specimens taken at the same
location, the J-R curves are similar. The J-R curves of
the specimens taken at the top of weld are much greater
than those at the bottom of weld. However, in the case
of the 320C, the J-R curves are not depending on the
location. Because of large number of welding pass and
repeated heat cycles during the welding process, the
mechanical properties can not be uniform within the
weld. Through the fracture surface observation, the
relation between the fracture toughness and fracture
modes can be demonstrated. So the SEM observation is
being observed.
Figure 6. The dominant fracture mechanisms are

different depending on the location within the weld. In
the bottom of the weld (Fig. 6(a)), primary microvoid
coalescences are dominantly observed. In the middle of
the weld (Fig. 6(b)), shear-stretch features are observed
and primary dimples are also partially observed. In the
top of the weld (Fig. 6(c,d)), shear-stretch features are
dominantly observed, and the size of shear-stretch
region are larger than the size in the middle part [4].
Figure 6. Fracture surface morphology for Inconel

82/182 welds
In the case of 320C, the specimens are being
prepared for SEM observation.
5. Conclusion
The dissimilar welds joining the low alloy steel and
stainless steel were fabricated and the spatial variations
in mechanical properties were investigated.
1. Inconel 82/182 weld showed a quite large tensile
property variation. The YS and UTS values are larger at
the bottom of the weld than at the top of the weld. And
these strengths were decreased as the temperature was
increased.
2. At room temperature, fracture toughness at the top
of weld is much higher than at the bottom of weld.
3. Fracture toughness of room temperature was
depending on the ductile fracture modes. The ductile
fracture behavior in inconel 82/182 welds involves a
combination of microvoid coalescence, void-sheet, and
shear-stretch formation.
REFERENCES
(a)
(b)
Figure 5. Fracture toughness variation across the inconel
82/182 welds (a) room temp. (b) 320C
4.3 Fracture Surface Observation
From the fracture surface observation of the compact
tension specimens in the case of the room temperature,
ductile fracture modes are observed. Representative
fracture-surface morphologies of welds are shown in
[1] M. Sireesha, V. Shankar, Shaju K. Albert, S. Sundaresan,

Microstructural features of dissimilar welds between 316LN
austenite steel and alloy 800, Materials science and
Engineering A292, 2000, P74-82.
[2] Crack in Weld Area if Reactor Coolant System Hot Leg
Piping at V.C. Summer, USNRC, IN00-17, October 18 2000.
[3] C. H. Jang, J. H. Lee, S. Y. Jung, J. S. Kim, and T. E. Jin,
Tensile Property Evaluation of Dissimilar Metal Welds
Containing Alloy 82/182 Fusion Weld using Miniature
Specimen., KNS, spring 2006.
[4] W. J. Mills, C. M. Brown, Fracture toughness of alloy
600 and an EN82H weld in Air and Water, Metallurgical and
Materials Transactions A Vol.32A, May, 2001, P1161-1174

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Transactions of the Korean Nuclear Society Spring Meeting

Jeju, Korea, May 10-11, 2007

82/182 weld region, and TP316 stainless steel region

Figure 2. Locations for round bar tensile specimen.

Figure 3. The orientation and position of the specimens.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1 Tensile Properties

Transactions of the Korean Nuclear Society Spring Meeting

inconel weld metal. Within the weld, a quite large

Figure 6. The dominant fracture mechanisms are

Figure 6. Fracture surface morphology for Inconel

[1] M. Sireesha, V. Shankar, Shaju K. Albert, S. Sundaresan,

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