Scholarlink

<p>This study systematically investigates a leaked austenitic stainless steel pipe weldment to find the root cause of the failure. Dye penetrant test (DPT), stereo microscopy, optical metallography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and Vickers hardness test were used during this investigation. DPT identified the cracks in weldments, which resulted in the leakage. Stereo microscopy confirmed that the cracks originated from the weld and propagated to the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and base metal. Optical metallography of the cross-section sample extracted from the cracked region revealed several intergranular cracks in the weld and HAZ regions. It is also observed that the HAZ cracks are filled with an unidentified phase, which was further confirmed as a copper-rich phase, indicating copper contamination cracking (CCC) caused by liquid metal embrittlement. The contamination is suspected to have originated from the accidental use of a copper filler during welding. Microhardness testing showed a significant drop in hardness from the base metal (162 HV1) to the affected weld zone (136 HV1), correlating with mechanical weakening due to copper-induced embrittlement. These findings highlight the critical role of quality and process controls in welding operations.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Failure Analysis of Austenitic Stainless Steel Weldments: The Role of Copper Contamination and Crack Propagation Mechanisms

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月22日

查看全文
  • Shiva Bejugama,
  • Sidhareddy Manigandan,
  • Vemoori Raju,
  • Obulapathi Eggidi

摘要

This study systematically investigates a leaked austenitic stainless steel pipe weldment to find the root cause of the failure. Dye penetrant test (DPT), stereo microscopy, optical metallography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and Vickers hardness test were used during this investigation. DPT identified the cracks in weldments, which resulted in the leakage. Stereo microscopy confirmed that the cracks originated from the weld and propagated to the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and base metal. Optical metallography of the cross-section sample extracted from the cracked region revealed several intergranular cracks in the weld and HAZ regions. It is also observed that the HAZ cracks are filled with an unidentified phase, which was further confirmed as a copper-rich phase, indicating copper contamination cracking (CCC) caused by liquid metal embrittlement. The contamination is suspected to have originated from the accidental use of a copper filler during welding. Microhardness testing showed a significant drop in hardness from the base metal (162 HV1) to the affected weld zone (136 HV1), correlating with mechanical weakening due to copper-induced embrittlement. These findings highlight the critical role of quality and process controls in welding operations.