Study on prediction method of crack propagation in absorber weld by experiment and simulation

Abstract

As an important equipment for purifying crude oil and natural gas in energy industry, absorber is subjected to harsh working environment of high stress and severe corrosion. Especially, weld is the weak region of the absorber, which faces significant risk of crack propagation due to residual stress caused by the welding process, working pressure and temperature. Meanwhile, crack propagation in absorbers with high pressure, high temperature and toxic media can often cause disastrous consequences. Therefore, to solve this problem, a systematic method considering welding, heat treatment and working process is presented in this paper to predict crack propagation completely in the weld. In the case, based on actual conditions, a finite element model (FEM) of welding process considering transient heat transfer and heat radiation for residual stress field analysis is established to obtain the far-field stress for cracks. Then, the detailed analysis of stress field and stress intensity factor (KI) under the obtained far-field stress at the crack tip is carried out through the method of integrating the strain energy density (SED) in the crack tip region. Finally, experiments of fracture toughness (KIC) of undamaged weld specimens and post-corrosion weld samples are carried out to compare with KI obtained by FEM and evaluate the safety of existing cracks. The method presented in this paper is a complete system that can provide a universal technological basis for crack propagation prediction and safety assessment of pressure vessel.