Survey of Welding Processes for Field Fabrication of 2 1/4 Cr-1 Mo Steel Pressure Vessels

摘要

Any evaluation of fabrication methods for massive pressure vessels must consider several welding processes with potential for heavy-section applications. These include submerged-arc and shielded metal-arc, narrow-joint modifications of inert-gas metal-arc and inert-gas tungsten-arc processes, electroslag, and electron beam. The advantage and disadvantages of each are discussed. Electroslag welding can be dropped from consideration for joining of 2 1/4 Cr-1 Mo steel because welds made with this method do not provide the required mechanical properties in the welded and stress relieved condition. The extension of electron-beam welding to sections as thick as 4 or 8 inches (100 or 200 mm) is too recent a development to permit full evaluation. The manual shielded metal-arc and submerged-arc welding processes have both been employed, often together, for field fabrication of large vessels. They have the historical advantage of successful application but present other disadvantages that make them otherwise less attractive. The manual shielded metal-arc process can be used for all-position welding. It is however, a slow and expensive technique for joining heavy sections, requires large amounts of skilled labor that is in critically short supply, and introduces a high incidence of weld repairs. Automatic submerged-arc welding has been employed in many critical applications and for welding in the flat position is free of most of the criticism that can be leveled at the shielded metal-arc process. Specialized techniques have been developed for horizontal and vertical position welding but, used in this manner, the applications are limited and the cost advantage of the process is lost. (ERA citation 05:031462)