Nickel and Nickel Alloys

Honestly, this week is very busy and very hard week for me, but some how I have to spend some times to post this Piping & Fabrication blog, and now we comes to Nickel and Nickel Alloys. Nickel and its alloys can be welded by SMAW, GTAW, and GMAW. SAW is limited to certain compositions. Welding is similar to austenitic stainless steels except that the molten metal is more sluggish and does not wet as well. Larger groove angles may be required. Preheat is not required, but welding at temperatures below 60°F (16°C) in the presence of moisture is not recommended. A low interpass temperature is suggested. For GTAW welding shielding gas is normally argon, but helium or an argon-helium mix may be used. The inside surface of GTAW root welds should be shielded with an inert gas. GMAW in the spray, pulsed, globular, or short-circuiting modes may be used with argon or argon-helium mixtures as shielding. Postweld heat treatment is not usually required. Many nickel and nickel alloys may be used down to -325°F (-199°C).

Titanium. Titanium and its alloys are normally welded using the GTAW and GMAW processes. It is vital that the HAZ and molten metal be protected from the atmosphere by a blanket of inert gas during welding. Most welding is done in a protective chamber purged with an inert gas or by using trailing shields. Precleaning is extremely important. Use of degreasers, stainless steel wire brushes, or chemical solutions may be required. Preheating or postweld heat treatment are not normally required. 

Dissimilar Metals. Until now we have discussed welding where both items being joined are essentially the same material and are joined with a filler metal of similar chemistry and physical properties. Occasions arise where metals of different chemical composition and physical properties must be joined. In joining dissimilar metals, normal welding techniques may be employed if the two base metals have melting temperatures within about 200°F (95°C) of each other. Otherwise different joining techniques are required. In designing a welding procedure for dissimilar metals, a great many factors must be considered. Service conditions such as temperature, corrosion, and the degree of thermal cycling may apply. The effects of dilution of the two base metals by the filler and each other must be evaluated to assure a sound weld with suitable chemical, physical, metallurgical, and corrosion-resistant properties. Similarly, preheat and postweld heat treatment requirements for one base metal may not be suitable for the other. It is usually necessary to qualify a separate welding procedure for the particular combination of base metals and filler material. ASME Section IX should be consulted for specifics. As a general rule, when welding within a family such as ferritic to ferritic, austenitic to austenitic, or nickel alloy to nickel alloy, the filler metal may be of the same nominal composition as either of the base metals or of an intermediate composition. The filler metal normally used to weld the lower alloy is most often preferred.

The previous advice may not always hold true. It has been noted that when welding P 22 (21⁄4Cr-1Mo) to P 91 (9Cr-1Mo-V) using 21⁄4Cr filler metal at high temperatures, carbon migration from the 21⁄4Cr weld metal to the 9Cr base metal can produce a carbon-denuded zone at the interface, resulting in a weakened area. One recommendation is to ‘‘butter’’ the 9Cr side with a 5Cr filler metal, heat-treat the buttered segment, and complete the weld with 21⁄4Cr. Bear in mind that the 5Cr filler may not have high-temperature properties similar to the 21⁄4Cr, and design the weldment accordingly. In welding dissimilar materials, selection of preheating and postweld heat treatment requires a great deal of care. What is desirable for one metal may be detrimental to another. Some compromise may be required. Establishing a welding procedure for welding ferritic to austenitic steels requires careful consideration of the service conditions. For moderate service temperatures (below 800°F or 427°C), where the thickness of the ferritic side does not require postweld heat treatment, austenitic stainless steel electrodes are often the choice. Some prefer electrodes such as type 309 or 310 because of their higher chrome content. Because of the thickness involved, the ferritic member may require some type of postweld heat treatment. In this case the preferred method is to butter the ferritic weld surface with a nickel-chrome-iron (NiCrFe) filler metal such as ERNiCrMo-3 (see ASME Section II Part C SFA-5.14) and postweld heat-treat the buttered section as required for the ferritic composition. The buttered section is then prepared for welding, set up with the austenitic side, and the weld between the butter and austenitic base metal is completed with NiCrFe filler metal without subsequent postweld heat treatment. For high-temperature service (above 800°F or 427°C) the buttering procedure just described is also recommended. There is a difference in coefficients of expansion between the ferritic and austenitic metals. This difference will result in expansion stresses above the yield point at the weld juncture while at operating temperature.

At higher temperatures there is also greater probability of diffusion of carbon from the ferritic side to the austenitic side. The NiCrFe ‘‘butter’’ minimizes the carbon diffusion problem and has an expansion coefficient which is intermediate between the two base metals, thus reducing but not eliminating the thermal stress at the interface. Where a transition from ferritic to austenitic steels is required in high temperature applications involving cyclic services, a transition piece of a highnickel alloy such as UNS N06600 with two welds is often used to reduce thermal fatigue damage. In welding nonferrous metals to ferrous or other nonferrous metals, a filler metal with a melting point comparable to the lower melting point base metal is usually recommended.

Nickel and nickel alloys are invariably welded to ferrous metals with nickelalloy filler metals. Sulfur embrittlement can be a problem with nickel to ferritic welds, just as it is in nickel-to-nickel welds. Copper-nickel and nickel-copper alloys should not be joined with filler materials containing iron or chromium since hot cracking may result. Copper and copper alloys can be welded to carbon steel with silicon bronze or aluminum bronze electrodes, but the preferred method is to butter the carbon steel side with nickel and weld the copper to the nickel butter with nickel filler. This will preclude hot cracking of the copper because of iron dilution. The copper side may require preheat. Copper can easily be welded to nickel, copper-nickel, or nickelcopper filler metal. When welding nickel alloys which contain iron or chromium to copper, the nickel alloy should be buttered with nickel. Aluminum and titanium generally cannot be welded to ferrous or other nonferrous metal using currently available welding procedures, and special joining procedures must be employed.

Welding of Nonferrous Metals

After talking about Welding of Ferrouse Metals, now Piping & Fabrication will talk about Welding of Nonferrous Metals.

Aluminum. Aluminum and aluminum alloys have high thermal conductivity, high coefficients of thermal expansion, and high fluidity in the molten state. The predominant welding methods used for joining them are GMAW and GTAW, both manually and in automatic modes. Joint designs are much like those used for ferritic metals, except that the included angles are usually 60 to 75°, increasing to 90 or 110° for welding overhead. The root pass may be welded against a permanent aluminum backing strip or removable stainless-steel backup or with an open butt or consumable insert. Joint cleanliness is very important, so oil, grease, and dirt must be removed. For heavy oxide, wire brushing or chemical cleaning may be required. Preheating is normally not needed but may be required when the mass of the parts is large enough to conduct the heat of welding away from the joint faster than it can be supplied by the arc. Depending on the welding process used, as the weld thickness increases from about 1⁄4 to 1 in (19 to 25 mm), a preheat of 200 to 600°F (95 to 316°C) may be required. Since the properties and tempers of certain alloys may be affected, care should be exercised when preheat is applied.

Shielding gases are usually helium or argon. For critical applications and heavier sections a mixture of 75 percent helium, 25 percent argon is recommended. Heat treatment after welding is not required. It is important to remember that the annealing effect of the heat of welding can reduce the strength level of cold-worked and heat-treatable alloys. In this case the allowable stress value for the material in the annealed condition should be used for design. An exception to this can be made in the case of heat-treatable materials when the finished weldment is subjected to the same heat treatment which produced the original temper and both the base metal and weld joint are similarly affected.

Aluminum and aluminum alloys are suitable for service temperatures down to -452°F (-269°C). See B31.3 for information on this subject. Copper and Copper Alloys. Although copper and copper alloys can be welded by other processes, GTAW welding is commonly applicable for all-position welding of most copper and copper alloys. GMAW with pulsed current can also be used for some alloys. Shielding gases may be argon, helium, or mixtures thereof. Argon is preferred for walls to 1⁄8 in (3 mm), but a 75 percent helium, 25 percent argon mixture is most often used for heavier walls and weld positions other than flat (1G). Like aluminum, the coppers have high thermal conductivity and high coefficient of thermal expansion. Accordingly, preheating is recommended to compensate for heat loss at the joint due to the metal mass and to reduce distortion. Welding current should not be used to compensate for heat loss. The degree of preheat is a function of alloy, welding process, and metal mass. More heat input is needed for the pure coppers, with decreasing amounts needed as the alloy content increases. Preheat should increase with wall thickness, from about 200°F (95°C) for 1⁄4-in (6 mm) wall increasing to 750°F (400°C) minimum for walls 5/8 in (16 mm) and over. Surface cleanliness is very important, and some alloys require a chemical cleaning to remove oxides. Copper-nickel alloys are susceptible to hot cracking if sulfur is present.

The heat of welding will soften the HAZ of cold-worked material, and it will be weaker than the base metal. When precipitation-hardenable alloys are used, it is recommended that welding be done on base metal in the annealed condition and the entire weldment be given the precipitation-hardening heat treatment. For detailed information refer to the Welding Handbook,16 the Metals Handbook,20 or contact the Copper Development Association. Many coppers are suitable for services down to -325°F (-199°C), See ASME B31.3

Welding of Ferrous Piping Materials

Welding of Ferrous Piping Materials is the topics that Piping & Fabrication will explore and please enjoy it.

Carbon Steels. Carbon steels are classed as P-No.1 by ASME Section IX. The vast majority of carbon steel pipe is used for services below 775°F (413°C). Joints are most often V bevels with commercial backing rings or open butt roots and are welded out with SMAW, SAW, GMAW, and FCAW. For services which require high quality, GTAW root welds with SMAW, SAW, and FCAW weld-outs are most prevalent. Most carbon steel filler metal is produced to weld 60,000- and 70,000-psi material. More often than not fabricators use the 70,000-psi filler for all carbon steel welding. For SMAW the most popular electrode is E-7018, although for open-butt root pass welding using SMAW, E-6010 is still the choice.

FCAW welding is rapidly replacing SMAW because it can deposit at a much higher rate. Preheating and postweld heat treating are required depending on the carbon content and wall thickness. For typical preheat and postweld heat treatment requirements. When working to a specific code, be sure to use the requirements found in that code.

Carbon Molybdenum Steels. Carbon molybdenum steels are classed as P-No 3. Currently this material has very little use because of unfavorable experience with graphitization at temperatures over 800°F (427°C).

Chromium Molybdenum Steels. The chromium molybdenum steels are primarily used for service temperatures from 800 to 1050°F (427 to 565°C). They range from 1⁄₂ Cr-1⁄₂ Mo to 9 CR-1 Mo-V and are classed by ASME Section IX as P-No. 3, P-No. 4, and P-No. 5 A and 5 B. The preponderance of usage is in the 11⁄4 Cr-1⁄2 Mo-Si and 21⁄ Cr-1 Mo grades. Welding usually consists of GTAW root welds with filler metal added or preplaced inserts. The balance of the weld is made by SAW for welds which can be performed in the 1G position and SMAW for fixed position welds. FCAW is rapidly overtaking SMAW for these materials also.

The 9Cr-1Mo-V material is a relatively recent addition to the list of chromium molybdenum steels for use in high-temperature service. Its great advantage over other chrome moly steels is its high-temperature strength. It has allowable stresses comparable with those of austenitic stainless steels. This results in a lesser wall thickness and consequently less weight to support and considerably less volume of filler material. A tighter line configuration can be anticipated because the lesser section modulous will result in smaller reactions at the terminals due to expansion loadings. This material also has an advantage over austenitic stainless steels in that its coefficient of thermal expansion is less than that of the stainlesses, again resulting in lower end reactions for the same configuration. On the down side, 9Cr-1Mo-V is typically amartensitic structure at room temperature and requires great care in bending, welding, and postbending and welding heat treatment.

For hot bending, a temperature of 1740 to 1920°F (950 to 1050°C) is preferred. Bending in the temperature range of 1560 to 1740°F (850 to 950°C) should be avoided. After hot bending, a normalize at 1900 to 1990°F (1040 to 1090°C) is required to put carbides back into solution. The normalize is followed by a tempering heat treatment between 1350 and 1440_F (730 and 780_C). Both are followed by cooling in still air.

Welding is extremely critical. The latest ASME Section II Part C, lists 9Cr-1Mo- V filler materials. SFA 5.5 lists E9018-B9 for SMAW electrodes, and SFA 5.28 lists ER90S-B9 for rods and electrodes for gas-shielded welding. Storage and handling of electrodes is very critical (see Filler Metals). Preheat and interpass temperatures and postwelding cooling should be scrupulously observed (see Preheat and Interpass Temperature). Postwelding stress relief is a necessity. The current ASME B31.1 Code requires a range of 1300 to 1400°F (700 to 760°C), but some literature indicates that a range of 1360 to 1440°F (740 to 780°C) may be more desirable for reasonable hardness and good ductility. The time at temperature should be 1 h per in of thickness, and heating and cooling rates above 800°F (427°C) should be limited to 100°F (55°C) per h.

Martensitic and Ferritic Stainless Steels. The martensitic and ferritic grades of stainless steels are not often encountered in piping systems. They are a group of steels with chromium contents ranging from 11.5 to 30 percent. Martensitic stainless steels are those which are capable of transformation to martensite under most cooling conditions and therefore can be hardened. Ferritic stainless steels on the
other hand contain sufficient chromium and other ferrite formers such as aluminium, niobium, molybdenum, and titanium so that they cannot be hardened by heat treatment. ASME Section IX classes martensitic stainless steels as P-No.6 and ferritic stainless steels as P-No.7. The user should consult the Welding Handbook16 for suggested welding processes and the applicable code for specific preheating and postweld heat-treatment requirements.

Austenitic Stainless Steels. Austenitic stainless steels are classed as P No. 8. Piping systems of austenitic stainless steels represent a fairly significant proportion of a fabricator’s and/or installer’s work, since they appear in nuclear power plants, chemical plants, paper mills, food processing facilities, and other applications where cleanliness and corrosion resistance are mandatory and even in fossil power plants where their high-temperature properties are needed. Most root welding is done by the GTAW process, and the inside of the root is protected by purging with argon, helium, or nitrogen to prevent formation of hard chromic oxides. GTAW is used for weld-out in lighter walls, and combinations of GTAW, SMAW, and SAW are used for heavier sections. Filler metal must contain some ferrite to preclude microfissuring as described in the section ‘‘Filler Metals.’’ To minimize the precipitation of carbides (sensitization) during welding, interpass temperatures are usually limited to 300 to 350°F (150 to 175°C). Heat treatment after welding is not mandatory. For corrosion services, heating during fabrication could be detrimental since it would serve to enhance sensitization. The effects of sensitization can be mitigated by a carbide solution heat treatment as described in the section ‘‘Heat Treatment.’’ Low-carbon grades of stainless steels welded with L grade electrodes are also used in services where sensitization can be a problem.

Low-Temperature Steels. The term low-temperature steel is applied to a variety of steels which exhibit good notch toughness properties at temperatures down to cryogenic levels. The B31.1 and B31.3 Codes permit the use of most steel down to -20°F (-29°C). Below this, certain grades of carbon and nickel steel with good toughness and austenitic stainless steels are needed. Welding procedures and welding filler metals must be tested to assure suitability for the intended service. B31.3 gives details of such requirements. Root pass welding using GTAW, with SMAW and SAW weldout, is commonly used. Some FCAW is used in the carbon steels and low-nickel steels. A preheat of 200°F (95°C) is suggested by B31.3 for low-nickel steels followed by a postweld heat treatment consisting of a stress relieve at 1100 to 1175°F (600 to 630°C) when the wall exceeds 3⁄₄ in (19 mm). For 9 percent nickel steel a preheat of 50°F (10°C) and a stress relieve at 1025 to 1085°F (552 to 585°C) followed by cooling at a rate greater than 300°F/h (167°C/h) down to 600°F (316°C) is required. Certain nonferrous materials are also suitable for low-temperature service.

Welding Type, Root Pass Welding, Backing Rings

Still with Piping & Fabrication and once again we still discuss about welding type and system, and all those welding type will always very important for us, and we hope all of this will be useful to all us.

Root Pass Weldings. The integrity of any weld rests primarily with the quality of the root pass. In double-welded joints the root pass serves as a backing for passes welded from the first side. Before welding begins from the opposite side, the root area is usually removed to sound metal. In most cases, however, pipe welds must be made from one side only, and the inside surface of the root weld is not accessible for conditioning.

Backing Rings. The earliest solution to root pass welding was the use of a backing ring using the SMAW process. This usually assured good penetration and is still used for many applications. However, commercial rings used with nominal pipe dimensions may result in unwanted flow restriction, crevices for entrapment of corrosion products, and notch conditions which could result in cracking during service. Prior to the introduction of GTAW root welding, piping systems which required the highest possible quality were welded using counterboring of the pipe to close tolerances and machined backing rings. This reduced problems significantly, but the crack potential still remained. See PFI ES-132

Open Butt Root Welds. In petrochemical services backing rings often could not be used, and the practice of open butt welding with shielded metal arc electrodes was and still is used. Welders require considerably more skill. Welding is most often performed with E-XX10 electrodes, which are more controllable than the lowhydrogen types but are also more prone to porosity.

GTAW Root Welds. The introduction of GTAW represented a breakthrough in root pass welding. Because of the greater expense involved, its application is usually limited to applications requiring high-quality root welds. The weld end bevels are carefully prepared by machining and counterboring where necessary to meet the close tolerances required. The joint involves butted or open lands, and the weld is made with filler metal added or with a preplaced consumable insert. The latter have a decided advantage in that they eliminate a good deal of the variability introduced by hand feeding of filler wire. Consumable inserts come in a variety of shapes, each requiring somewhat differing fit-up tolerances. See PFI ES-21. Some types can be used for root pass welding in lighter wall materials (1⁄2 in and less) without the need for counterboring. Depending on the service, the inside surface of the molten weld puddle is often shielded from oxidation by an inert gas inside the pipe contained between dams. A small, controlled, positive pressure on the backing gas can aid in better controlling the shape of the root inside diameter.

Typical shop purging arrangement

When the root pass is made by the GTAW process, the resulting finished weld is relatively thin. In depositing the second and third passes, the first pass may be remelted. As it resolidifies, it shrinks radially, resulting in a small concave depression on the inside of the weld. This condition is usually considered acceptable provided the resulting thickness through the finished weld is equal to or greater than the required minimum wall, and the concavity blends smoothly into the adjacent base metal.

GMAW Root Welds. Many fabricators and/or installers take advantage of the low penetrating power of GMAW in the short-circuiting mode to use it for openbutt root pass welding where the quality level of GTAW root pass welding is not required. The balance of the weld is made by other processes. Care must be taken to assure that unmelted wire does not penetrate the joint and remain.

Unequal Wall Thickness

Let's see, Unequal wall thickness, I think this is one of the important thing that we have to understand in the Piping System, and Piping & Fabrication will explain it.

In most piping systems there are components such as valves, castings, heavier header sections, and equipment nozzles which are welded to the pipe. In such instances the heavier sections are machined to match the lighter pipe wall and the excess thickness tapered both internally and externally to form a transition zone. Limits imposed by the various codes for this transition zone are fairly uniform. The external surface of the heavier component is tapered at an angle of 30° maximum for a minimum length equal to 11⁄2 times the pipe minimum wall thickness and then at 45° for a minimum of 1⁄2 times the pipe minimum wall.

Slip-on and socket welding flange welds

Internally, either a straight bore followed by a 30° slope or a taper bore at a maximum slope of 1 to 3 for a minimum distance of 2 times the pipe minimum wall are required. The surface of the weld can also be tapered to accommodate differing thickness. This taper should not exceed 30°, although some codes limit the taper to 1 to 4. It may be necessary to deposit weld metal to assure that these limits are not violated.

Fillet Welds. Circumferential fillet welds are used in piping systems to join slipon flanges and socket welding fittings and flanges to pipe. In welding slip-on flanges to pipe, the pipe is inserted into the flange and welded with two fillet welds, one between the outside surface of the pipe and the hub of the flange and the other between the inside surface of the flange and the thickness of the pipe.  Alignment is relatively simple since the pipe fits inside the flange. The B31.1 Code requires that the fillet between the hub and the pipe have a minimum weld leg of 1.09 times the pipe nominal wall or the thickness of the hub, whichever is smaller. The weld leg of the front weld must be equal to the pipe nominal wall or 1⁄4 in, whichever is smaller. The gap between the outside diameter of the pipe and flange inside diameter may increase with size, so the size of the fillet leg should be adjusted to compensate for this situation. Fillet welds are also used for circumferential welding of pipe to socket fittings.

Socket weld fittings and flanges are available in sizes up to NPS 4 (DN 100) but are most frequently used in sizes NPS 2 (DN 50) and smaller. Alignment is not a problem since the pipe fits into the fitting socket. Some codes require that the fillet have uniform leg sizes equal to 1.09 times the pipe nominal wall or be equal to the socket wall, whichever is smaller. In making up socket joints it is recommended that the pipe not be bottomed in the socket before welding. B31.1 and ASME Section III suggest a 1⁄16-in (2.0 mm) gap. In high-temperature service especially, the pipe inside the socket will expand to a greater degree than the socket itself, and the differential expansion may result in unwanted shear stress in the fillet and possible cracking during operation.

Intersection-Type Weld Joints. Intersection-type weld joints occur when the longitudinal axes of the two components meet at some angle. Such is the case where nozzle, lateral, and wye intersections are fabricated by welding. Weld joints in these cases may be butt, fillet, or a combination thereof. Nozzles are made either by seton or set-through construction. In set-on construction, the opening in the header pipe is made equal to the inside diameter of the branch pipe. The branch pipe is contoured to the outside diameter of the header and beveled so that the weld is made between the outside surface of the header and through the thickness of the branch. The through thickness weld is covered by a fillet weld to blend it into the header pipe surface. In set-through construction an opening is cut in the header pipe equal to the outside diameter of the branch pipe and beveled. The branch pipe is contoured to match the inside diameter of the header. See Fig. A6.19. The weld is between the outside surface of the branch and through the thickness of the header and is covered with a fillet weld to blend it into the outside surface of the branch. Either type of construction is acceptable; the usual practice is to use seton since the volume of required weld metal is less. However, when the header is is preferred.

Small nozzles are frequently made with socket welding or threaded couplings set on the header. In these cases it is difficult to assure complete root penetration, and specially designed couplings which permit drilling through the bore to remove the root of the weld are often used.  Welded-nozzle construction cannot be used at the full rating of the pipe involved, and suitability for particular pressure temperatures must be verified by component design methods found in Part B of this book. In all cases there must be a through thickness weld of the branch to the header. Where reinforcing pads are used, they should also be joined to the header by a weld through their thickness. See Fig. A6.19 for typical details. In designing headers with multiple outlet nozzles, sufficient clearance is needed between adjacent nozzles to provide accessibility for welding. Nozzles with reinforcing pads or flanges need greater clearance. PFI ES-731 gives suggested minimum spacings.

Weld Joint Design

It's too many thing that we have too learn about Weld Joint Design, but Piping & Fabrication will step by step explain about it.

Butt Welds. A butt joint is defined as one in which the members being joined are in the same plane. The circumferential butt joint is the most universally used method of joining pipe to itself, fittings, flanges, valves, and other equipment. The type of end preparation may vary depending on the particular preferences of the individual, but in general the bevel shape is governed by a compromise between a root sufficiently wide to assure a full-penetration weld but not so wide as to require a great deal of filler metal.

Typical weld and bevel

In the shop, the inside surface of large-diameter pipe joints is often accessible. In this case the joint is most often double-welded (welded from both sides), and a double V bevel is used. For heavier walls, machined double U bevels can be used. However, the vast majority of piping butt welds must be made from one side only. For this situation the most frequently specified shapes are the V bevel, compound bevel, and U bevel, all of which can have varying angles, lands, and tolerances. Recent advances in SAW narrow-gap welding as applied to piping butt welds have cut the volume of filler metal significantly in pipe walls that are 2 in (51 mm) and thicker. The 30 or 371⁄2 (60 or 75° included angle) V bevel is most often performed integrally with the cutting operation by machine, oxyfuel gas, or arc cutting. Other bevel shapes such as the compound V, U, J bevels, or combinations thereof require machining in lathes or boring mills.

1. Alignment: Alignment for butt welding can often be a frustrating task since it is influenced by the material; pipe diameter, wall thickness, out-of-roundness tolerances; welding process needs; and design requirements.

When a joint can be double welded, the effects of misalignment are minimized since both inner and outer weld surfaces can be blended into the base metal, and any remaining offsets can be faired out. ASME Section III gives a table of allowable offsets due to misalignment in double-welded joints. All resulting offsets must be faired to a 3:1 taper over the finished weld. For single-welded joints alignment can be more difficult, since the inside surface is not accessible. The degree of misalignment is influenced by many factors and depending on the type of service application may or may not be significant. The various codes impose limits on inside-diameter misalignment. This is to assure that the stress intensification resulting from the misalignment is kept within a reasonable value. The B31.1 Code requires that the misalignment between ends to be joined not exceed 1⁄16 in (2.0 mm), unless the design specifically permits greater amounts. The B31.4 and B31.8 Codes do not require special treatment unless the difference in the nominal walls of the adjoining ends exceeds 3⁄32 in (2.5 mm).

ASME Section III on the other hand requires that the inside diameters of the adjoining sections match within 1⁄₁₆ in (2.0 mm) to assure good alignment. Counterboring is usually required to attain this degree of alignment. The welding process and NDEs to be employed also bear on misalignment limits. Some welding processes can tolerate fairly large misalignments while others, notably gas tungsten arc root pass welding with and without consumable inserts require closer tolerances. Radiographic or ultrasonic examinations of misaligned areas may show unacceptable indications if the degree of misalignment is too great.

A review of the tolerances permitted in the manufacture of various types of pipe, fittings, and forgings immediately reveals that in many situations the probable inside diameter and wall thickness variations will produce unacceptable misalignment situations. Out-of-roundness in lighter wall materials can add to the problem. When most of the pipe comes from the same rolling and the fittings from the same manufacturing lot, variations in tolerances are minimal and the pipe and fittings can be assembled for most common applications without a great deal of adjustment. Out-of-round problems in lighter walls are handled with internal or external round-up devices.

To assure that all components will be capable of alignment in the field, it is common practice for the designer to specify that the inside diameters of all matching components be machine counterbored to some specified dimension. This practice is also desirable for shop welding of heavier wall piping subassemblies. PFI ES-21 contains a set of uniform dimensions for counterboring of seamless hot-rolled pipe ordered to A106 or A335 by NPS and schedule number.

Preheat and Interpass Temperature

Preheat and Interpass Temperature, that's the topics that Piping & Fabrication will discuss today. Ferritic materials undergo metallurgical phase changes when cooling from welding to ambient temperature. Mild steels which contain no more than 0.20 percent carbon and 1 percent manganese can be welded without preheat when the thickness is 1 in (25 mm) or less. However, as the chemical composition changes by increases of carbon, manganese, and silicon or the addition of chromium and certain other alloying elements, preheating becomes increasingly important since the higher carbon and chrome molybdenum steels can develop more crack-sensitive martensitic, matensitic-bainitic, and other mixed phase structures when cooled rapidly from welding temperatures.

There is also a potential for hydrogen from SMAW electrode coatings or from moisture on the base metal surface to be dissolved in the weld. Also as the weld cools, stresses caused by shrinkage are imposed on the parts and distortion can result; and as thickness increases, thermal shock from the heat of welding can induce cracking more readily.

Preheating prior to welding is a solution to most of these problems. Preheating slows the cooling rate of the weld joint and results in a more ductile metallurigical structure in the weld metal and HAZ. It permits dissolved hydrogen to diffuse more readily and helps to reduce shrinkage, distortion, and possible cracking caused by the resultant residual stresses. It raises the temperature of the material sufficiently high to be above the brittle fracture transition zone for most materials.

The codes vary regarding preheat requirements. Some have mandatory require ments while others give suggested levels. For example, for carbon steel welding, the B31.1 Code requires preheating to a temperature of 175_F (80°C) when the carbon content exceeds 0.30 percent and the thickness of the joint exceeds 1 in. B31.3 recommends preheating to 175°F (80°C) when the base metal specified strength exceeds 71 ksi or the wall thickness is equal to or greater than 1 in (25 mm). ASME III Section suggests a preheat of 200_F (95_C) when the maximum carbon content is 0.30 percent or less and the wall thickness exceeds 11/2  in for P No. 1 Gr. No. 1, or 1 in (25 mm) for P No. 1 Gr. No. 2. It also suggests a 250°F (120°C) preheat for materials with carbon in excess of 0.30 percent and wall thicknesses exceeding 1 in (25 mm). The ASME B31.4 and B31.8 Codes require preheat based on carbon equivalents. When the carbon content (by ladle analysis) exceeds 0.32 percent, or the carbon equivalent (C + 1/4 Mn) exceeds 0.65 percent, preheating is required. The reader is advised to consult the specific codes for preheating requirements. See Table A6.4 for some typical preheat requirements. It should be noted that for the 9Cr-1Mo-V (P No. 5B Gr. 2) material some manufacturers suggest a preheat of 350_F (177_C) for GTAW and 400 to 450°F (204 to 232°C) for other types of welding regardless of thickness.

While it is preferred that preheat be maintained during welding and into the postweld heat treatment cycle without cooling, this may not always be practical. The B31.1 Code permits slow cooling of the weld to room temperature provided the completed weld deposit is a minimum of 3/s in (9.5 mm) or 25 percent of the final thickness, whichever is less. For P No. 5B and P No. 6 materials some type of intermediate stress relief is required. For the 9Cr-1Mo-V material it is recommended that the finished weld be heated to 500°F (260°C), held at that temperature for 2 hours, and allowed to cool slowly in still air by wrapping it with insulating material.

Too much heat during welding can also be a problem. Where notch toughness is a requirement, prolonged exposure to temperatures exceeding 600°F (316°C) can temper the base metal. Controlling the interpass temperature is required to minimize this problem. Interpass temperature control means allowing the temperature of the joint to cool below some specified level before the next pass is deposited.

Because of its martensitic structure, a maximum interpass temperature of 600°F (316°C) should be observed when welding 9Cr-1Mo-V material. In welding of austenitic stainless steels, sensitization of the base metal HAZ will result from the heat and welding. Here the solution is to weld with as low a heat input as possible at the highest possible speed to minimize the precipitation of carbides (sensitization). A maximum interpass temperature of 300 to 350°F (149 to 177°C) is usually employed.