Assessment of the sulfide corrosion fatigue strength for a multi-pass welded A106 Gr B steel pipe below the low SSCC limit

Abstract

In the area of heavy construction, welding processes are vital in the production and maintenance of pipelines and power plants. Welding processes happen to produce residual stresses and change the metal structure as a result of the large nonlinear thermal loading that is created by a moving heat source. The fusion welding process generates formidable welding residual stresses and metallurgical change, which increase the crack driving force and reduce the resistance to the brittle fracture as well as the environmental fracture. This is a serious problem with many alloys as well as the A106 Gr B steel pipe. This pipe that is used in petrochemical and heavy chemical plants either degrades due to corrosive environments, e.g., chlorides and sulfides, and/or become damaged during service due to the various corrosion damage mechanisms. Thus, in this study, after numerically and experimentally analyzing the welding residual stress of a multi-pass welded A106 Gr B steel pipe, the sulfide stress corrosion cracking (SSCC) characteristics were assessed in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution that was saturated with H2S gas at room temperature on the basis of NACE TM 0177-90. The specimens used are of two kinds: un-notched and notched. Then, the sulfide corrosion fatigue (SCF) strength for the un-notched specimen was assessed below the low SSCC limit that was previously obtained from the SSCC tests for the notched specimen. From the results, in terms of the SSCC and SCF, all the specimens failed at the heat-affected zone, where a high welding residual stress is distributed. It was found that the low SSCC limit of un-notched specimens (σSSCCun-notched) was 46% (230 MPa) of the ultimate tensile strength (σU=502 MPa) of a multi-pass welded A106 Gr B steel pipe, and the notched specimens (σSSCCnotched) had 40% (200 MPa) of the ultimate tensile strength. Thus, it was determined that σSSCCun-notched was 13% lower than σSSCCnotched. Further, the sulfide corrosion fatigue limit (σSCFun-notched) was 32% (160 MPa) of the ultimate tensile strength of welded specimens. This σSCF un-notched was 20% lower than σSSCCnotched.