Furnace Heat Treatment

Furnace Heat Treatment. To assure that heat treatments attain the results intended (i.e., correct heating and cooling rates, desired holding temperature in all parts, etc.), it is very important that all controlling and recording instruments be calibrated on a regular basis. The furnace should be inspected and a temperature survey made to assure that all locations within it are capable of attaining and maintaining specific temperatures within some reasonable tolerance. This is particularly important if the zone temperatures are used as the basis for acceptance of the heat treatment. If there is any concern, it might be advisable to attach thermocouples directly to the parts being heat-treated. When piping subassemblies are placed in the furnace, they should be supported to permit exposure of the underside to the radiant and convection heating surface. Supports should be located so as to avoid sagging. Care should be taken to avoid any flame impingement directly on surfaces being heat-treated. The ends of assemblies being heat-treated should be closed but not sealed to minimize oxidation of the inside surfaces. Occasions may arise where special surface finishes on the pipe inside surface or on flow meter sections could be adversely affected by oxidation caused by heat treatment. In such cases the inside of the assembly can be purged with an inert gas to minimize oxidation.

Assemblies should be so placed as to assure the uniform application of heat. Heating and cooling rates must be selected to assure heating through the full thickness and to minimize distortion caused by uneven heating. The faster the rate of heating or cooling, the more probability of distortion. Assemblies with massive flanges, fittings, or other unusual configurations should be treated more carefully than those with butt welds only. Many of the codes have specified heating and cooling rates which are considered reasonable. Local Heat Treatment. When an assembly is too large for a furnace to accommodate, it may be fabricated in sections which are individually furnace heat-treated and later joined by welding. The final butt welds may then be locally heat-treated
in the same fashion as field welds. The most common practice is the use of induction or resistance heating. When preheating is an essential part of the welding operation, the induction or resistance equipment can be used for preheating, maintaining preheat during welding, and, finally, stress relieving.

A proper stress-relieving operation will assure that the weld and HAZ through the full thickness will attain the required temperature for the required time. The B31.1 Code requires that the heated band be at least 3 times the thickness of the thickest part being joined. With induction or resistance heating the heating elements themselves often have greater coverage. Depending on the massiveness of the joint being heated, one or more pieces of heating equipment may be needed. Controlling and recording thermocouples are located on or adjacent to the weld. Usually locally heat-treated shop welds are in the 5G position (pipe horizontal, weld vertical). For small pipe sizes, a single thermocouple located at the 12 o’clock position may suffice, but for larger diameters and heavier walls at least two and preferably four, located at 90° intervals, should be employed to assure uniformity of heating. Judicious use of insulating material should be employed to minimize heat loss. When joining parts of differing masses, concentrate more heating effort on the more massive part.

If it is necessary to locally stress-relieve a branch connection, not only the branch weld itself but the entire circumference of the header for a distance of at least 2 times the header thickness on either side of the branch should be heated. Heating of the weld alone, while resulting in a satisfactory stress relief, could distort the header significantly. Heating and cooling during local stress relief of pipe to pipe joints can be more rapid than for furnace applications since there is less chance of distortion unless, of course, the heating is not applied uniformly. Ends of the assembly should be closed but not sealed to reduce heat loss on the inside surface due to air flow. The main concern is assurance that the inside surface of the weld attains the required temperature for the required time. Local stress relieving with torches or gas ring burners can be effectively employed but must be limited to situations where controlled heating and cooling rates are not a factor.

I think thats' all what Piping & Fabrication can distribute to all of you and thanks!

Nonferrous Material & Heat Treatment Methods

Still I try to focus with this Piping & Fabrication blog, even I post this blog rarely, but I think that would be enough to gave some information about Piping System.

Nonferrous Materials. Bending and forming of nonferrous materials may result in undesirable work-hardening. Some nickel alloys may be subject to carbide precipitation when hot bent or formed. Materials that can be hardened by precipitation require other considerations. Depending on the final use, it may be desirable to perform some type of postbending or forming heat treatment. Because of the great many new materials being developed and used, it is suggested that the user contact the material manufacturers or material associations for their recommendations on the specific material and service.

Heat Treatment Methods. Shop heat treatments are most often carried out in specifically designed heat treatment furnaces, but local stress relieving of welds may also involve induction, resistance, or torch heating. Above critical heat treatments, such as annealing, normalizing, and normalizing and tempering for ferritic steel and carbide solution heat treatment for austenitic stainless steels, are performed in large heat-treatment furnaces. These same furnaces are also used for stress-relieving heat treatments of ferritic steels. Such furnaces are generally fired with natural gas, propane, or low-sulfur oil. Depending on their design, they may attain temperatures up to 2300°F (1260°C) which covers the entire spectrum of temperatures commonly encountered in piping applications. Heating and cooling rates and holding temperatures are automatically controlled. Larger furnaces may have two or more zones, each independently controlled. Records of furnace zone temperatures and material temperatures are obtained using recording potentiometers.

When assemblies are too large or furnaces are not available, local stress relieving of individual welds may be accomplished in the shop using electrical induction, electrical resistance, or gas torch heating. Induction equipment involves alternating current frequencies of the order of 60 to 400 Hz. Induction generates heat within the wall of the pipe. This has the advantage of amore uniform temperature through the thickness with greater uniformity at the lower frequencies. The heat treatment cycle is controlled automatically with thermocouples attached directly on or adjacent to the weld. The weld and

thermocouple are covered with insulating material. The induction field is generated in copper cables or solid or water-cooled copper coils external to the insulation.

Resistance heating involves the use of direct current in suitable lengths of nichrome heating wire. Various configurations and sizes of prefabricated heating elements consisting of heating wires separated by ceramic beads are available commercially. Depending on the size, wall thickness, and desired heating temperature, multiple heating units and combinations of elements may be needed. The weld and heating elements are covered with insulating blankets to retain the heat. Since heating is from one side, a somewhat wider heating band on the outside may be needed to assure that the inside of the pipe attains the required temperature. Thermocouples attached directly to the weld or adjacent to it are used to control heating, holding, and cooling temperatures. Torch heating can often be used for stress relieving, but where controlled heating and cooling rates are mandated, it may be less than satisfactory. Single torches may be used for pipe up to about NPS 3 (DN 80), but ring burners are needed for larger sizes. Exothermic heating has been used in the field and is discussed in the section ‘‘Installation.’’

Austenitic Stainless Steels

Austenitic Stainless Steels. Today Piping & Fabrication will talk about and this is the rest of post. Austenitic stainless steels do not undergo phase changes like the ferritic steels. They remain austenitic at all temperatures and so heat treatments usually do not apply. When austenitic stainless steels are to be used in corrosive services, cold working and heating for bending may significantly lower their corrosion resistance. Cold working may result in residual stresses, and heating operations can result in sensitization. Both factors contribute to intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC). When austenitic stainless steels are heated in the range of about 800 to 1600°F (430 to 870°C), carbon in excess of about 0.02 percent will come out of solution and diffuse to the grain boundaries where it will combine with adjacent chromium to form chromium carbide (Cr23C6). This phenomenon is called sensitization. These grain boundaries are then preferentially attacked by corrosive media. The heat treatment often applied to cold-worked and sensitized stainless steels to restore corrosion resistance is a carbide solution heat treatment. In this procedure, the material is heated to a temperature above the sensitization range, usually about (1950 to 2100°F (1065 to 1150°C), and held there sufficiently long to permit the carbides to dissolve and the carbon to go back into solid solution. The material is then removed from the furnace and rapidly cooled through the sensitization range, preferably by quenching in water. The rapid cooling does not give the carbon sufficient time to come out of solution, and corrosion resistance is restored to the sensitized area.

Heat treatment cycles

Obviously carbide solution heat treatment is limited by the furnace size and quenching facilities. It is most freqently applied to bends but is also useful in reducing sensitization and residual stresses in welds.

HEAT TREATMENT

Now after all the busy time I had pass, so I'll try to post this Piping & Fabrication with the topic Heat Treatment.

Purpose. Heat treatment during piping fabrication is performed for a variety of reasons (i.e., to soften material for working, to relieve fabrication stresses, to restore metallurgical and physical properties, etc.). During fabrication, ferritic steels undergo phase changes during heating and cooling, while the austenitic stainless steels and nonferrous piping materials do not; consequently differing criteria must be applied.

Ferritic Steels. Ferritic steels undergo a phase change on heating and cooling during fabrication operations because their principal component (iron) is allotropic; that is, it undergoes a change in crystalline structure with temperature. At room temperature iron favors a body-centered cubic (BCC) structure called alpha iron, but on heating to 1670°F (910°C) it changes to a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure called gamma iron and subsequently at 2534°F (1390°C) it reverts to a BCC called delta iron. The addition of carbon to the iron to form steel and additions of other elements such as chromium, manganese, molybdenum, and nickel to form alloys modify the temperatures at which transformation occurs and the manner in which the crystalline structure forms into grains.

As an example, a melt of 0.30 percent carbon steel will first begin to solidify as delta iron and a liquid, then at about 2680°F (1479°C) to an interstitial solid solution of carbon in gamma iron called austenite.At about 1500°F (815°C) this will transform into a mixture of austenite and ferrite, which at 1333°F (721°C) becomes ferrite and pearlite. Ferrite is alpha iron which contains small amounts of carbon (up to a maximum of about 0.02 percent) in solid solution. The excess carbon not in solid solution with the ferrite forms as iron carbide (Fe3C) or cementite. The cementite forms as thin plates alternating with ferrite. This structure is known as pearlite. The temperatures at which the transformations occur are called critical temperatures or transformation temperatures. The lower critical temperature, usually designated A1, is that point on heating where the BCC ferrite and pearlite phase begins to transform to FCC austenitic structure, and the upper critical temperature, A3, is the temperature at which the transformation is complete. Between these two points the structure is a mix of ferrite-pearlite and austenite. These temperatures are of importance in postbending and postwelding heat treatments as well as qualification of welding procedures.

The critical temperatures are a function of chemical composition and as such will vary with alloy. As an example, for 9Cr-1Mo-V, the lower critical is located between 1525 and 1560°F (830 and 850°C), and the upper critical is between 1650 and 1725°F (900 and 940°C). Some approximate methods of calculating critical temperature are found in Welding Metallurgy34 and The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel.

Critical temperatures are affected by heating and cooling rates. An increase in heating rate will serve to increase the transformation temperatures, while an increase in cooling rate will tend to depress them. The more rapid the rate of heating or cooling, the greater the variation from the critical temperature at equilibrium conditions. Most sources will indicate the lower and upper critical temperatures on heating as Ac1 and Ac3, respectively, and the upper and lower on cooling as the Ar3 and Ar1, respectively. In the case of our 0.30 percent carbon steel, cooling from the austenite phase through the critical range at a rate of 50°F/h (28°C/h) or less will result in the soft, ductile ferrite-pearlite structure. On the other hand, extremely rapid cooling from the austenite phase down to temperatures 600°F (316°C) or lower can result in an extremely hard structure called martensite. This is because the austenite FCC crystals did not have time to transform to BCC ferrite and cementite.

Heat treatments which are applied to ferritic steels are related to the critical temperatures and depending on which is applied will have differing results. These are annealing, normalizing, normalizing and tempering, and stress relieving.  Annealing is used to reduce hardness, improve machinability, or produce a more uniform microstructure. It involves heating to a temperature above the upper critical or to a point within the critical range, holding for a period of time to assure temperature uniformity, then following with a slow furnace-controlled cooling through the critical range. Normalizing is used to refine and homogenize the grain structure and to provide more uniform mechanical properties and higher resistance to impact loadings. It involves heating to a temperature above the upper critical temperature, holding for a time to permit complete transformation to austenite, and cooling in still air from the austenitizing temperature. A normalized structure may be pearlitic, bainitic, or even martensitic depending on the cooling rate. If there is a concern for excessive hardness and attendant low ductility, a tempering treatment may follow the normalizing treatment. Tempering involves heating to a temperature below the lower critical and slowly cooling to room temperature, much like a stress relief. The degree of tempering depends on the tempering temperature selected. The higher the tempering temperature, the greater the degree of softening.

A stress-relieving heat treatment is primarily intended to reduce residual stresses resulting from bending and welding. It involves heating to a temperature below the lower critical; holding for a predetermined time, depending on thickness and material, to permit the residual stresses to creep out; and then slowly cooling to room temperature.

Brazing and Soldering

Everything that Piping & Fabrication try to explain is only for the information to all of us, and hope that will help us to have more knowledge about piping system. and now we will talk about Brazing and Soldering.

Brazing. For services involving the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code or the B31 Code for Pressure Piping, brazing procedures and brazers must be qualified in accordance with ASME Section IX similar to welding procedures and welders. See the section ‘‘Procedure and Personnel Qualification.’’ There are a great many types of brazing processes. In establishing a brazing procedure, consideration must be given to the ability of the filler metal to produce suitable physical properties, its melting point and wettability, possible base metal and filler metal interactions, loss of base metal properties, increased sensitization to corrosion, increased hardness in the base metal due to brazing temperature, and the need for postbrazing heat treatments.

Since most piping materials can be welded, the use of brazing for joining is rather limited. It is most often used for joining coppers and for combinations of metals which cannot be welded. Brazing is a process wherein the base metals do not melt, the filler metal has a liquidus above 840°F (450°C), and the filler metal wets the base metal and is drawn into the joint by capillary action. Although butt or scarf joints can be used, a lapped joint with an overlap of 3 times the thickness of the thinner member gives the best joint efficiency and ease of fabrication. It should be noted that typical copper or brass fittings have a depth of socket based on the strength of tin-lead solders. When brazing is used, only a small percentage of that depth is needed. Required clearance between the faying surfaces usually vary from 0.001 to 0.010 in (0.025 to 0.25 mm) depending on the filler and flux combination used during the operation. The flux melts upon application of heat and is displaced by the molten filler metal. Flux residue should be removed after the operation is complete. Silver, copper-phosphorus, and copper-zinc filler metals are most often used for copper brazing.

Torch brazing is commonly used for fabrication and installation of copper piping systems. For torch brazing, the type of fuel gas selected is a function of the melting temperature required to melt the filler metal. For piping joints NPS 2 (DN 50) and larger, use of a second torch to preheat may be desirable. In brazing metals with differing coefficients of expansion, it is preferable that the metal with the higher expansion coefficient form the socket and the metal of the lower expansion coefficient form the pipe or tube. Clearance between the parts at room temperature must be adjusted so there will be a suitable clearance at brazing temperature. On cooling, the greater contraction of the socket will put the joint in a compressive stress state.

Soldering. Unlike welding and brazing, ASME Section IX has no requirements for qualification of soldering procedures or personnel. Soldering is much like brazing in that the base metals are not melted, the faying surfaces are wetted by the filler, and the filler is drawn into the joint by capillary action. However, the melting point of the filler metal is lower than 840°F (450°C) usually between 450 and 500°F (230 and 260°C). Since the strength of soldering filler metals is considerably less than that of brazing fillers, a longer overlap is required to develop a joint equal to base metal strength. A clearance of about 0.003 in is preferred for optimum strength. A good soldered joint depends again on the cleanliness of the faying surfaces. Fluxes are used to assist in the wetting action by removing tarnish films and to prevent oxidation. Rosin fluxes and organic fluxes are used for most materials. Inorganic fluxes may be required for certain other materials that can be soldered, while in some cases precoating of the material with a surface that can be soldered may be required. Most piping applications use tin-lead solders. These range in composition from 5 percent tin, 95 percent lead to 70 percent tin, 30 percent lead, with 50 percent tin, 50 percent lead the most common. Tin-antimony and tinsilver solders are also frequently used. For soldering aluminum, tin-zinc and zincaluminum are used.

Clad, Metal-Coated, and Lined Pipe

Clad, Metal-Coated, and Lined Pipe.
With the continuous of post from Piping & Fabrication, Clad, Metal-Coated and Lined Pipe will explain here. There are instances when it is economically desirable to construct a piping system from relatively inexpensive material but with an interior surface having corrosion- or erosion-resistant properties. Clad pipe may be made by seam welding of clad plate, by weld metal overlay of the inside surface, or by centrifugal casting of a pipe with two metal layers. Lined pipe is made by welding a linear, sometimes as strips, to the inside surface of the pipe. Metal-coated pipe is made by dipping, metal spraying, or plating the entire pipe.

Before choosing construction which requires welding of clad, lined, or metalcoated pipe, such factors as filler metal compatibility, filler metal strength relative to the base metal strength, dilution of base metal into the finished weld, and need for postfabrication heat treatment must be considered. Because it is not possible to cover the great many combinations of base metals and cladding, lining, or metal coatings, some examples of the more common applications will be given. For corrosion services, a carbon steel base material, clad or lined with austenitic stainless steel, is often used. The cladding is usually about 3⁄32 to 5⁄32 in thick. Where the inside of the weld is accessible, the preferred method is to weld the base metal from the outside with carbon steel filler metal, back-gouge the root from the inside, and weld the root from the inside with two or more passes of austenitic filler metal to minimize dilution from the base metal.  Where the inside surface is not accessible, a backing strip of the same composition as the cladding, fillet welded to the cladding on the upstream side may be used.
The root weld between the two clad surfaces and the austenitic backing strip is then made with austenitic filler metal. The root weld can also be made with the GTAW process using austenitic filler or preplaced inserts. The carbon steel should be removed for a sufficient distance back to preclude dilution into the root weld. In most instances, the balance of the weld is usually made with austenitic filler metal since it is not good practice to deposit carbon steel or low-alloy steel directly against the stainless steel deposit. See Fig. A6.22b. In some cases, nickel-base alloys are used for cladding where high-temperature corrosion is involved. The joints may be treated much like the austenitic cladding, except that appropriate nickel-base filler metals are used.

Some services require the use of carbon steel pipe nickel plated on the inside surface. Since the plating is relatively thin, different approaches are needed. First, as much fabrication as possible should be done prior to plating. For joints to be welded after plating, the ends to be prepared for welding should be buttered with nickel filler metal and machined to the required contour prior to plating. The root weld is made using the GTAW process with nickel filler metal.

Examples of welding clad

Some occasions require the use of aluminized pipe. Steel pipe is prefabricated and coated with aluminum by immersion in a bath of molten aluminum or by metal spray. Where the inside of the weld will not be accessible for metal spray, one method of joining is to counterbore the ends and use a solid machined backing ring which is fit and welded into one side of the joint prior to coating. After coating, the weld is made using an appropriate base metal process and filler, taking care not to blister the aluminum coating on the underside of the backing ring.

Galvanized steel pipe is often used for external corrosion applications. Since welding of galvanized pipe releases toxic vapors and since the welded area most often cannot be regalvanized, welding of galvanized pipe is not recommended. It is preferable that the assemblies be fabricated with provisions for mechanical joining in the field and then galvanized.

For services involving erosion, carbon steel pipe is often lined with cement or some type of abrasion-resistant material which cannot be welded. In this case the joints are butted together to minimize the gap between the adjacent linings. The weld is then made between the two carbon steel weld bevels, recognizing that full penetration through the carbon steel joint may not be achieved and that additional thickness may be necessary for strength. The gap between the adjacent linings is usually not a problem if only erosion is present.

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.

Base Metals and Filler Metals

There is a lot of thing that we have to know on the piping system, and Piping & Fabrication try to share the knowledge of the piping. Hope that will be useful to all of us, and let's continue with this post.

Base Metal. Base metal is one of the essential variables for welding qualification. Because there are so many base metals to be welded, ASME Section IX has established a system of P Numbers and Group Numbers. Each base metal is assigned to a specific P Number depending on characteristics such as composition, weldability, and mechanical properties. Each P Number is further subdivided into Group Numbers depending on fracture toughness properties. See Table A6.3. When a procedure is qualified with a base metal within a particular P Number, it is also qualified for all other base metals within that P Number. When fracture toughness is a requirement, qualification is limited to base metals within the same P Number and Group Number. For example: A 106 Gr. B pipe is P No. 1 Gr. No. 1, while an A 105 flange is P No. 1 Gr. No. 2. Since both are P No. 1, qualification on either qualifies both when fracture toughness is not a factor. However, should fracture toughness become a requirement, a separate qualification would be required for each to itself and to each other.

Filler Metals. Electrodes, bare wire, wire-flux combinations, and consumable inserts which form a part of the finished weld are classed as filler materials. Most are covered by AWS and ASME specifications. See ASME Section II Part C.29 When the filler material is part of the electric circuit, it is designated as an electrode. If it is fed externally and melted by the heat of the arc, it is designated as a rod. Coated electrodes for SMAW come in straight lengths. Bare rods for GTAW come in straight lengths or spools. Electrode wire for GMAW and SAW are in spools or coils, while composite electrodes for FCAW are in spools. Each specification incorporates a system of identification so that the filler materials manufactured by different suppliers which have equivalent characteristics are identified by the same number.

For qualification purposes, they are classified in ASME Section IX with F Numbers and A Numbers. Changes in filler metal from one F Number or A Number to another require requalification. One of the problems associated with coated electrodes for SMAW is the introduction of hydrogen into the arc atmosphere and finished weld, resulting in hydrogen induced cracking. To minimize this problem, low-hydrogen-type coatings are used, but these can absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Once a sealed can of electrodes is opened, the electrodes should be stored in an oven at about 250 to 350°F (120 to 175°C) or other temperature recommended by the manufacturer. Once removed from the oven, low-hydrogen electrodes should be maintained at 175°F (80°C) minimum until consumed. Baking to remove moisture is recommended for electrodes which have been out of the oven for several hours. Refer to the manufacturers’ recommendations.

A problem associated with welding of fully austenitic stainless steel is microfissuring. To combat this problem the chemical composition of the filler material is adjusted to produce a weld deposit with small amounts of ferrite. ASME III requires that filler materials used in welding austenitic stainless steels contain a minimum of 5 percent ferrite. Ferrite, however, can be a problem at cryogenic and high temperatures. For cryogenic services the weld metal may not possess the fracture toughness capabilities of the base metal, and the ferrite content should be kept as low as possible. Alternatively, fully austenitic fillers may be required, but these are more crack-sensitive. For very high temperatures ferrite in the weld may convert to a brittle phase called sigma. For this reason applications over about 800°F (427°C) usually require a minimum of 3 percent ferrite for weldability but not exceeding 7 percent to minimize sigma formation.

Welding Processes: SAW, GTAW, GMAW and FCAW

Now we can continue with Welding Processes, and in this post Piping & Fabrication will explain the Welding Method starting from SAW, GTAW, GMAW and FCAW.

Currently the most commonly used welding processes for fabrication of piping are SMAW, submerged arc welding (SAW), GTAW, GMAW, and flux core arc welding (FCAW). Some special applications may involve plasma arc welding (PAW) or electron beam welding (EBW), but their application to piping is still rare. However, any welding process which can be qualified under the requirements of ASME Section IX is acceptable. Detailed descriptions of these various processes and their variations may be found in the Welding Handbook.

This section will limit discussion to their application to piping. For shop work, the best efficiency in all welding processes is attained when the pipe axis is horizontal and the piece is rotated so that welding is always done in the flat position. This is referred to as the 1G position. Other positions are 2G (pipe vertical and fixed, weld horizontal); 5G (pipe horizontal and fixed, weld a combination of flat, vertical, and overhead); and 6G (pipe inclined at 45° and fixed). See ASME Section IX.

Shielded Metal Arc Welding. SMAW has been the mainstay for pipe welding for many years, but it is rapidly being displaced by newer, more efficient processes. It is a process where an arc is manually struck between the work and a flux-coated electrode which is consumed in the weld. The core wire serves as the filler material, and the flux coating disintegrates to provide shielding gases for the molten metal, scavengers, and deoxidizers for the weld puddle and a slag blanket to protect the molten metal until it is sufficiently cool to prevent oxidation. It can be used in all positions, for upward or downward progression, and for root pass welding depending on the flux composition. Each weld pass is about 1⁄8 in thick, and before subsequent passes are made the slag must be removed and the surface prepared by removing irregularities which could entrap slag during subsequent passes.

Submerged Arc Welding. Unlike SMAW, SAW is an automatic or semiautomatic process. For circumferential welds in pipe the welding head is fixed for flat welding and the work is rotated under the head (1G position). It is used most efficiently in groove butt welds in heavy wall materials with pipe sizes NPS 6 (DN 150) and larger. The arc is created between the work and a bare solid wire or composite electrode which is consumed during the operation. The electrode comes in coils. Shielding is accomplished by a blanket of granular, fusible material called a flux which covers the arc and molten metal by forming a slag blanket to prevent oxidation of the molten metal until it has sufficiently cooled. Particular wire-flux combinations are required to assure that the deposited weld has the needed chemical and physical properties. This process has the greatest deposition rate and accordingly is the preferred process wherever possible. Because of the high heat input, care must be taken to assure that the interpass temperature is controlled to minimize sensitization in austenitic stainless steels or loss of notch toughness in ferritic steels. High heat input can also result in excessive penetration, so this process cannot be used effectively for root pass welding unless the root is deposited against a backing
ring or sufficient backing is provided by two or more weld passes made by the shielded metal arc or a gas-shielded arc process.

Gas Shielded Arc Welding. The term gas-shielded arc welding applies to those welding processes where the arc and molten metal are shielded from oxidation by some type of inert gas rather than by a flux.

1. Gas tungsten arc welding: GTAW is a form of gas-shielded arc welding where the arc is generated between the work and a tungsten electrode which is not consumed. The filler metal must be added from an external source, usually as bare filler rod or preplaced consumable insert. The filler metal is melted by the heat of the arc, and shielding gases are usually argon or helium. Alloying elements are always in the filler material. GTAW is considered to be the most desirable process for making root welds of highest quality. Techniques using added filler metal or preplaced filler metal as inserts are equally effective in manual and automatic applications.

Automatic versions can be used in all positions provided sufficient clearance is available for the equipment. Automatic versions also require tighter fit-up requirements since the equipment is set to specific parameters and will not recognize variations outside of these limits, such as a welder would do in manual applications. In automatic GTAW, the welding head orbits the weld joint on a guide track placed on the pipe adjacent to the joint to be welded. The welding head contains motors and drive wheels needed to move the head around the track, a torch to create the arc, and a spool of filler wire. Welding current, voltage, travel speed, wire feed rate, and oscillation are controlled from an external source. These parameters may be varied by the operator as the welding head traverses the weld. Oscillation and arc energy can be adjusted to permit greater dwell time and heat input into the side walls. Automatic GTAW welds are usually deposited as a series of stringer beads to minimize the effects of high interpass temperature.

2. Gas metal arc welding: GMAW is a type of gas-shielded welding generally used in the manual mode but adaptable to automation. The filler wire is the electrode and is furnished in coils or spools of solid wire. Is is fed automatically into the joint, melted in the arc, and deposited in the weld groove. Alloying elements arc in the wire, and shielding gas may be argon, helium, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or combinations thereof, depending on the application. Depending on the equipment and the heat input settings, filler metal can be transferred across the arc is several modes. In short-circuiting transfer, the electrode actually touches the work where it short-circuits, melts, and restarts the arc. This process has low heat input and accordingly low penetrating power. It can often result in lack of fusion. Because of the low heat input, however, it can be effectively used for open-butt root pass welding. In spray transfer, the heat input parameters are sufficiently high to transfer the molten electrode across the arc as small droplets. Argon or argon-rich gases are used for shielding, resulting in a very stable spatterfree arc. Because of the high arc energy, it is normally used in the flat (1G) position. For all-position welding, a procedure which superimposes high amplitude pulses of current on a low-level steady-state current at regular intervals is often used. This results in a discrete transfer of metal with lower heat input needed for all-position welding.

3. Flux core arc welding: FCAW is a variation of GMAW where a composite electrode is substituted for the solid wire. The electrode is a tubular wire containing a flux material. Depending on the application, the arc may be self-shielding, or shielding gases may be used. Because of its high deposition rate this process is rapidly being developed for shop and field welding of piping.

Welding, Welding Procedure, Personnel Qualification

In the past post, I already mention about welding, but now Piping & Fabrication will gave to you the detail of welding process and procedure or qualification, and hope that would be useful to all of us.

Welding. Welding constitutes the bulk of the work involved in fabrication of modern piping systems, so it is essential for all involved to have a good working knowledge of this subject.

Procedure and Personnel Qualifications. All of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Codes and most of the ASME B31 Pressure Piping Codes reference ASME Section IX for the requirements for qualifying welding procedures and welding personnel. The ASME B31.4,23 B31.8,24 and B31.1125 Codes also permit qualification to API- 1104,26 published by the American Petroleum Institute. ASME B31.527 permits qualification to AWS D10.9.28 The purpose of procedure qualification is to assure that the particular combination of welding process, base metal, filler material, shielding fluxes or gases, electrical characteristics, and subsequent heat treatment is capable of producing a joint with the required chemical and physical characteristics.

The purpose of personnel qualification is to assure that the welder or welding machine operator is capable of performing the operation in accordance with a qualified procedure in the required position.

Procedure Qualification. ASME Section IX requires the preparation of a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS), which lists the various parameters to be used during welding. When each WPS is qualified, the parameters used in the qualification are recorded in a Procedure Qualification Record (PQR). For each type of welding process, ASME Section IX has established a series of variables. These are base metal, filler metal, position, preheat, post weld heat treatment, shielding gases, joint configuration, electrical characteristics, and technique. Base metal must not only be considered from a chemical and physical properties point of view, but in piping, the diameter and thickness of the test coupon limits the qualification to certain sizes. Differing fluxes, use of solid or gaseous backing, and single- or multipass techniques are some of the other variables which must be considered. Careful study of Section IX, AWS D10.9, or of API 1104 as may be applicable is in order.

The variables for welding are classed as essential, supplementary essential, and nonessential. The manner in which the variables are classed can vary depending. on the welding process. That is, what may be classed as an essential variable for one may be a nonessential variable for one another. For a given process, each combination of essential variables must be qualified separately. A change in any one of them requires a new qualification. When welds must meet certain fracture toughness requirements, the supplementary essential variables become essential and the procedure must be requalified for the particular combination of essential and supplementary essential variables. Nonessential variables do not require requalification but should be referenced in the WPS.

Personnel Qualification. The fabricator and/or installer must qualify each welder or welding operator for the welding processes to be used during production welding. The performance qualification must be in accordance with a qualified WPS. Each performance qualification is also governed by a series of essential variables which are a function of the welding process for which the welder is being qualified. The welder or welding operator may be qualified by mechanical tests or in some cases by radiographic examination of the test coupon. The record of each performance qualification is kept on a Welder/Welding Operator Performance Qualification (WPQ). Under ASME Section IX rules, a qualified welder who has not welded in a specific process within a specified period of time must be requalified for that process. API 1104 and AWS D10.9 have similar requalification provisions.

Other Forming Operations and Layout, Assembly, and Preparation for Welding

Still continuing from the last post of Piping & Fabrication, but now we will enter the other topics and here we go.

Other Forming Operations. Some additional forming operations which can be performed in a pipe shop are extrusion, swaging, and lapping. Extrusions involve forming outlets in pipe by pulling or pushing a hemispherical or conical die from the inside of the pipe through an opening in the wall. The work may be done hot or cold depending on the characteristics of the material. Ferritic steels, austenitic steels, and nickel alloys are usually formed hot; aluminum and copper are usually formed cold. In order to assure that the outlet will have sufficient reinforcement, it is necessary to increase the wall thickness of the header as a function of the outlet size desired. An increase of 30 percent may be needed for large outlet-toheader ratios.

Swaging involves the size reduction of pipe ends by forging, pressing, or rolling operations. The operation is usually used to produce reductions of one to two pipe sizes. Ferritic steels, austenitic steels, and nickel alloys are usually formed hot. Aluminum and copper are formed cold. In lapped joints, a loose flange is slipped over the end of the pipe which is then heated to forging temperature, upset, and flared at right angles to the pipe axis. After heat treatment and cooling, the lapped section is machined on the face to attain a good gasket surface and on the back for good contact with the flange. The finished thickness of the lapped flange should be equal to or exceed the thickness of the pipe.

Layout, Assembly, and Preparation for Welding. In fabrication shops, piping subassemblies are often assembled on layout tables. Aprojection of the subassembly is laid out on the table in chalk. This establishes the baseline for locating the components and terminal dimensions of the subassembly, and the components are assembled relative to the layout. Prior to fit-up, it is essential that all weld surfaces be properly cleaned of rust, scale, grease, paint, and other foreign substances which might contaminate the weld. If moisture is present, the weld joint should be preheated. For alloy steels the heat-affected zone (HAZ) which results from thermal cutting should be removed by grinding or machining.

Depending on the configuration of the subassembly and root opening required by the welding procedure, some allowance may be required for weld shrinkage in the longitudinal direction. Actual shrinkage is difficult to predict and can vary considerably because of the many variables involved. For most open butt and backing ring joints, one-half the root opening is a reasonable allowance. For joints with other root configurations it may be as little as 1⁄₁₆ in (2.0 mm) for the lighter walls, increasing to as much as ⁵⁄₃₂ in (8 mm) for walls 4 to 5 in (100 to 127 mm) thick. Each weld joint should be carefully aligned within required tolerances using alignment fixtures, spacers, or jigs if necessary. Poor alignment may result in a poor weld. Once alignment is attained, the joint is usually tack-welded to maintain the alignment. The process used for tacking is usually that being used for the root-pass weld. Numbers and size of tacks should be kept to a minimum, but if the subassembly is to be moved elsewhere for weld out, their size must be sufficiently large so as not to crack during the moving operation. Temporary lugs or spacer bars may also be used for this purpose provided they are of a compatible material, the temporary welds are removed, and the surface examined after removal to assure sound metal.

Tack welds made by the shielded metal are welding (SMAW) or gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes at the root of a weld should be removed or ground smooth since they can become a source of lack of fusion. For gas tungsten arc (GTAW) root welds, tacks usually fuse the adjacent lands to each other or to the insert, and filler metal is often not used. Tack welds are then fused into the weld during the root pass without further preparation. After tacking, the recommended practice is to complete the root pass and one or more weld out passes before starting to complete the weld by other processes to avoid burning through the relatively thin root.

Nonferrous Pipe and Tubes

I think this must be some kind of trouble from the internet provider for last few days, but believe me, that wont make me give up to post this Piping & Fabrication blog. now let continue with :

Induction Bender

Nonferrous pipe and tubes: Although most of the equipment used to bend ferrous materials is also used for bending nonferrous materials, the details of bending do differ from those for ferrous materials and also vary between the several nonferrous materials themselves. Accordingly, it is wise to obtain specific procedural information from the materials’ producers or from other reliable sources such as the latest edition of The Metals Handbook.20 Certain nonferrous materials can be hot bent.

Aluminum and aluminum alloys can be bent cold using the same types of bending equipment used for ferrous materials. Alloys in the annealed condition are easiest to bend, but care is required in selecting tooling because of the low tensile strength and high ductility of these materials. Alloys with higher tempers and heat-treatable alloys require larger bending radii for satisfactory results. It is seldom necessary to heat aluminum for bending: however, non-heat-treated materials can be heated to 375°F (190°C) with minimal loss of properties, Heat-treated alloys require specific time-temperature control. More detailed information is available from the manufacturers of aluminum products.

Copper and copper alloy pipe and tube can be readily bent to relatively small radii. Although copper can be bent hot, the vast majority is done cold. For draw bending an internal mandrel is required and for other methods internal support is recommended. For very tight radii a snug-fitting forming block and shoe which practically surround the pipe at the point of bending are needed to preclude buckling. Hot bending of copper and copper alloys particularly in larger diameters and walls is common. Pipes are usually sand-filled, and contoured bending dies are recommended. See Table A6.1. More information can be obtained from the Copper Development Association.

Nickel and nickel-alloy pipe can be cold bent with the same type of bending equipment used for ferrous materials. Use of material in the annealed condition is preferred. For bends with radii 6 diameters and less, filler material or internal mandrels are required. Draw bending with internal mandrels is the preferred method for close-radius bending. Galling can become a problem, and chromium-plated or hard bronze-alloy mandrels should be used. Nickel and nickel alloys can be hot bent using the same practices as for ferrous steels. Sand filling is appropriate. Care should be taken to assure that the sand and heating fuel are low in sulfur and that any marking paints or crayons or lubricants have been removed. These materials can be bent over a wide temperature range. The best bending is usually between 1850 and 2100°F (1010 to 1149°C). Other nickel alloys may exhibit carbide precipitation and should not be worked in the sensitization range. Postbending heat treatment may be required. For more information contact nickel product manufacturers such as Huntington Alloys.

Titanium can be bent using draw bending equipment. However, those parts of the equipment which will wipe against the inner and outer surfaces of the pipe should be of aluminum bronze to minimize galling. For better formability, the pipe, the pressure die, and the mandrel should be heated to a temperature between 350 and 400°F (177 and 204°C). Unalloyed titanium can be hot worked in the temperature range of 1000 to 1400°F (538 to 760°C). Titanium alloy grade 12 requires a temperature range of 1400 to 1450°F (760 to 788°C). Heat treatment of titanium is recommended after forming. This is usually a furnace treatment at 1000 to 1100°F (538 to 593°C) for a minimum of 1/2 h for the unalloyed grades and 1 h for the alloy (grade 12). Prolonged exposure to temperatures in excess of 1100°F (593°C) will result in heavy scaling and require some type of descaling treatment.

Continuing of Bending Methods

Hot bending: In those cases where suitable cold bending equipment is unavailable, hot bending may be employed. For hot bending of ferrous materials the pipe to be bent is usually heated to temperatures in the range of 1750 to 2050°F (954 to 1121°C). For austenitic materials these temperatures may introduce sensitization, and for ferritic materials they will exceed the critical temperature where metallurgical phase changes occur. See the section ‘‘Heat Treatment’’ for a discussion of these subjects.

FIGURE A6.9 Tooling for a draw bend application

The traditional method of hot bending is performed on a bending table. Depending on the diameter-to-thickness ratio, the pipe to be bent may be packed with sand to provide more rigidity and thus reduce the tendency for buckling. A rule of thumb is to sand fill if the diameter-to-thickness ratio is 10 to 1 or greater for 5-diameter bends. However, when the diameter-to-thickness ratio approaches 30 to 1, sand begins to lose its effectiveness, and buckles will appear. As the diameter of the pipe increases, the probability of buckling will increase since the sand fill will not expand in proportion to the pipe, leaving a void between the pipe and packing. It becomes pronounced around NPS 24 (DN 600).
After the pipe has been packed with sand, it is placed in a specially designed bending furnace. The furnace is usually gas fired through ports along its length, placed to direct the flames around the pipe and avoid direct flame impingement. The furnace is controlled by thermocouples or pyrometers to assure that the required bending temperature is attained but not exceeded. Depending on the length of arc to be bent, it may be necessary to make the bend in more than one heat. After the segment to be bent has attained the required temperature throughout its thickness, the pipe is placed on the bending table. One end is restrained by holding pins and the other is pulled around by block and tackle powered by a winch. As bending progresses, the arc is checked against a bending template. Repositioning of the holding pins may be necessary. See Fig. A6.12. For ferritic steels, it is recommended that the bending be completed above the upper critical temperature of the metal, usually about 1600 to 1725°F (870 to 940°C).

FIGURE A6.10 Cold bending ranges

FIGURE A6.11 Operating essentials

There are certain limits as to the combination of diameters, thicknesses, and bending radii which can be accommodated by the hot table bend method. PFI Standard ES-24 contains a chart of suggested limits for bend radius versus diameter to wall thickness ratios.
To fulfill the need for a bending process beyond the capabilities of hot table bending, the M. W. Kellogg Co. developed the increment bending process, which was further refined by Pullman Power Products Corp. In this process, one end of the pipe is fixed in an anchor box while a clamp connected to a hydraulic piston is attached to the other. A gas torch ring burner assembly is positioned at one end of the arc to be bent. The burner assembly is sized to heat a length of arc (increment) about 1 to 2 times the pipe wall thickness. The increment length is selected to be less than the buckling wave length of the pipe. The increment is then heated to bending temperature. Optical pyrometers are used to control the heating to assure that proper temperature is attained but not exceeded. At bending temperature the hydraulic piston pulls the clamped end a fixed amount to bend the heated increment.
The increment is then water cooled, the torch ring moved to the next increment, and the process is repeated. As many as 350 increments may be required for a typical NPS 24 x 3/8-in (DN 600 x 9.5 mm), 90°, 5-diameter bend.
The process can produce bends in sizes from NPS 8 to 48 (DN 200 to 1200) with bending radii of 3 pipe diameters and larger in ferrous and nickel-alloy materials. Because the heat is applied from one side only, thicknesses are limited to 2 in (50 mm) and less. In more recent years a more sophisticated piece of bending equipment has entered the pipe-bending field, notably the Induction Bender. In this process the increment to be bent is heated by an induction coil, and the bending operation is continuous. The pipe to be bent is inserted in the machine, and the start of the arc is positioned under the induction coil. The portion of the pipe upstream of the coil is clamped to a rotating arm fixed to the required bend radius. The downstream portion of the pipe is pushed hydraulically through the coil, where it attains bending temperature. Since it is clamped to the rotating arm, a bending moment is imposed on the pipe and it bends as it moves through the coil. As soon as it has been bent, the heated section is cooled to restore its prior rigidity. The permissible rate of cooling is a function of material composition. Low-carbon steels and some low Cr molys may be water quenched. It is recommended that the 9Cr-1Mo-V material be cooled in still air.
The Induction Bender is manufactured in several sizes depending on the expected combinations of pipe size and bending radius. These range from NPS 31⁄₂ to 64 (DN 80 to 1600) and from 8 to 400 in (DN 200 to 10,000 mm) in radius. Since induction is used as the heating method, wall thicknesses as heavy as 4 in (100 mm) can be bent.