Technical Basis for Flaw Acceptance Criteria for Cast Austenitic Stainless Steel Piping

Abstract

According to the current ASME Code Section XI, IWB-3640 and Appendix C flaw evaluation procedure, cast austenitic stainless steel (CASS) piping with ferrite content less than 20% is treated as wrought stainless steel. For CASS piping with ferrite content equal or greater than 20%, there is currently no flaw evaluation procedure in the ASME Code. In this paper, the technical basis for a proposed flaw acceptance criteria for CASS piping is presented. The procedure utilizes the current rules in ASME Code Section XI, IWB 3640/Appendix C and the existing elastic-plastic correction factors (i.e., Z-factors) for other materials in the Code. The appropriate Z-factor to use for the CASS piping is determined based on the ferrite content (using Hull’s equivalent factor). Experimentally measured fully saturated fracture toughness and tensile data of the three most common grades of CASS material in the US (CF3, CF8 and CF8M) were used to determine the flaw acceptance criteria in the proposed method. The proposed method is conservative since it utilizes the fully saturated condition of CASS materials. In addition, it is simple and consistent with current regulatory guidance on aging management of CASS piping.