HOT CELL PULSED LASER WELDING OF NEUTRON IRRADIATED TYPE 304 STAINLESS STEEL WITH A MAXIMUM DAMAGE DOSE OF 28 DPA

摘要

Radiation-induced degradation of reactor pressure vessels and internals is a concern to the aging nuclear fleet and welding solutions will be required if repair of these irradiated components is deemed necessary. However, the weldability of highly irradiated austenitic materials is significantly diminished due to the presence of irradiation induced helium in the material matrix. Helium-induced weld cracking is a complex phenomenon that is related to the concentration of helium, the heat input from the welding process, and stresses generated during cooling of the weld. During conventional high heat input welding methods such as gas tungsten arc welding, helium bubbles can coalesce and grow on base metal grain boundaries within the heat-affected zone which subsequently causes intergranular cracking. The objective of this work was to obtain weldability data by characterizing welds made on highly activated, neutron irradiated Type 304 stainless steel containing both radiation-induced helium and microstructural damage such as void swelling. All irradiated materials welding was performed inside a Westinghouse hot cell utilizing a pulsed Nd.YAG laser with welds made on three rectangular samples of highly activated Type 304 stainless steel. The rectangular samples were cut and milled in-cell from sections previously obtained from two neutron reflector hex blocks. The hex blocks are U.S. Department of Energy owned material and were irradiated for approximately 13 years in the EBR-II sodium cooled fast reactor from 1982 until 1995. The three samples selected for welding have nominal damage doses of approximately 0.4. 11, and 28 dpa with corresponding estimated helium contents of 0.2, 3 and 8 appm helium, respectively. A number of different weld parameter sets were utilized and included variations of travel speed, wire feed speed and tens-to-work distances. The parameter sets allowed for a range of effective weld heat input levels to be compared. Single pass and multiple pass as well as wire fed and autogenous welds were made. This paper presents the results from post-weld evaluations performed on the three welded irradiated samples, focusing on the reduced tendency for cracks to form adjacent to the weld as a function of weld parameters, lens-to-work distance and helium content.