Relaxation cracking in austenitic welded joints: an underestimated problem
article
In both power generation and chemical process industries austenitic materials, including 800H, 321H and 316H, are often used at temperatures between 500 and 700 degrees Celsius. The critical pressure containment components typically contain circumferential and longitudinal welded joints of varying thickness, resulting in high residual stresses after welding. As such materials are rarely postweld heat-treated, these high residual stresses (up to yield strength of the parent material) can only be relieved by time-dependent inelastic deformation. This phenomenon, characterised by a continuously decreasing strain rate, is called relaxation and is in fact a creep mechanism.
TNO Identifier
435556
Source
Stainless Steel Europe(June), pp. 47-49.
Collation
3 p.
Pages
47-49
Files
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