PROCESS FOR FORMING A STAINLESS STEEL WELDMENT RESISTANT TO STRESS CORROSION CRACKING

摘要

A process or method for forming a stainless steel weldment comprises steps including rolling a plate to form a cylindrical shell with an open butt joint or seam, welding the butt seam to close the seam, hard rolling the weld seam region including the adjacent heat affected zones in the base material, and peening the weld seam region. The weld seam region is peened in multiple successive and wider passes to progressively produce wider peening strips or regions along the weld lines. The weld may be a full penetration double-V type groove weld with double weld bevels. The welding process may include first forming the exterior weld bevel following by forming the interior weld bevel. The foregoing fabrication process converts residual tensile stress fields on the exterior of the shell weldment to compressive stress fields less susceptible to the adverse effects of stress corrosion cracking.