Controlling Controlling Heat Heat Treatment Treatment of of Welded Welded P91 P91

Hardness testing proves to be a powerful tool for checking the condition of P91
BY PATRIC DE SMET AND HANS VAN WORTEL

Modified 9Cr-1Mo, commonly referred to as P91, is widely used in the power industry because of its superior properties at elevated temperatures. P91 get its favorable strength and toughness properties from its microstructure. The desired microstructure can only be obtained using material with a well-balanced chemical analysis and proper heat treatment. Heat treatment is an especially critical step during the manufacturing and fabrication of P91. P91 is a martensitic chromium-molybdenum steel, microalloyed with vanadium and niobium, and with a controlled nitrogen content. In the as-welded condition, P91s microstructure consists of fresh martensite. This untempered martensite is hard and brittle. The toughness is low and the material is prone to stress corrosion cracking. In addition, while the creep properties of fresh martensite are unknown, they can safely be assumed to be unfavorable. Therefore, tempering of the formed martensite in P91 after welding is necessary to obtain the required service properties. Proper heat treatment will result in tempered martensite with precipitated carbides (M23C6) and vanadium/ niobium-rich carbo-nitrides. The hardness of weld and base metal will be between 200 and 270 Vickers hardness number (VHN), and toughness will be sufficient, i.e., higher than 27 J (20 ft-lb) at 20C (68F).

interface, a fine-grained heat-affected zone (FGHAZ) can be distinguished. Figure 1 represents typical hardnesses along a postweld heat-treated weld metal, HAZ, and base metal of P91. Figure 1 shows that the highest hardness is found in the CGHAZ, and the lowest hardness in the FGHAZ. This FGHAZ is the area with the weakest creep properties and the location where the so-called Type IV cracking occurs (Ref. 1).

Effects of Variation in Heat Treatment Parameters during PWHT

TNO Industrial Technology and NEM performed many hardness tests on P91 in different heat treatment conditions. Figure 2 illustrates the effects of various heat treatments on weld metal (maximum) hardness. The hardness is presented as a function of the Larson Miller parameter (LMP), which is used to characterize the combination of heat treatment time and temperature. The LMP is valid for the temperature of stress relief heat treatment. Postweld heat treatment with an LMP between the two dotted vertical lines in Fig. 2 leads to good material properties. The window of required heat treatment is represented by 750C/2 h (i.e., LMP = 20.8) as the lower limit and 770C/10 h (LMP = 21.9) as the upper limit.

Hardness of P91
The heat from welding will affect the base metal. The heat-affected zone (HAZ) starts directly adjacent to the weld metal at the weld interface. A coarsegrained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) in the HAZ, and, farther away from the weld

Hardness Test as a Control of PWHT

From Fig. 2, it is clear that there is a direct relation between the Larson Miller parameter and weighted average weld metal hardness; most of the hardness values are expected to be below the average

trend line. Further, this figure shows that the base metal hardness does not vary much with LMP. Base metal hardness is found at a level somewhat above 200 VHN. Only at very high values for LMP can a drop in hardness below, but still close to 200 VHN, be found. This close relation between hardness and PWHT parameters (expressed as LMP), for the weld metal, is very helpful for checking the P91 condition after heat treatment. If a portable hardness test is used, some care should be taken. Often the base metal, weld metal, and HAZ are subjected to hardness testing. However, considering the probe dimension, it is not easy to test the narrow heat-affected zone. Even if one could get some results out of the HAZ, it is difficult to indicate if the values come from the FGHAZ or from the CGHAZ. A relatively low value can be acceptable if it comes from the FGHAZ, but unacceptable if it is found in the CGHAZ Fig. 1. A fair approach is to test only the weld and base metals. Both of these zones can be easily distinguished. Further, Brhl et al. (Ref. 1) found that the FGHAZ hardness is approximately 20 VHN lower than the base metal. Based on the collected data, this fixed difference in hardness between FGHAZ and base metal is confirmed. A relation between CGHAZ hardness and weld or base metal hardness is less pronounced, but it was found that the CGHAZ is roughly up to 20 VHN higher than the mean weld metal hardness. Figure 2 can be used as a guide for interpretation of the test results, keeping the accuracy of portable hardness testing in mind. When analyzing portable test reWORTEL

PATRIC DE SMET (pdsmet@nem.nl) is welding and materials engineer for NEM b.v., The Netherlands, and HANS (hans.vanwortel@tno.nl) is senior project manager at TNO Industrial Technology, The Netherlands. 42 JUNE 2006

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CGHAZ

Base Metal

FGHAZ

Fig. 1 Typical hardness across P91 weld metal, HAZ, and base metal in PWHT condition.

Fig. 2 Trend of hardness as function of Larson Miller parameter (LMP).

Fig. 3 Charpy-V impact toughness as function of Larson Miller parameter (LMP).

Fig.4 Effect of PWHT above lower critical temperature A1.

sults, keep in mind that the accuracy is lower than that of laboratory test results. The effect of inadequate handling of the test equipment, poor surface preparation at test location, or testing on a decarburized or heavily deformed surface layer can also lead to inaccurate results.

Toughness
In Europe, a Charpy-V impact toughness of 27 J (20 ft-lb) is generally considered as sufficiently ductile. Directive 97/23 of the European Parliament (Ref. 2), referred to as PED (pressure equipment directive) adopted this 27 J at 20C (or at lowest operating temperature) as a safe limit (Ref. 2). Some codes, however, require even higher values of 41 J (30 ft-lb) (Refs. 3, 5). Regarding toughness of a welded joint, the weld metal is considered most critical. Results of Charpy-V impact testing of

weld metal with varying LMP for weld metal of submerged arc welds (SAW) is illustrated by Fig. 3. For SAW, it was found that the toughness in the as-welded condition is around 7 J. Only after a PWHT above LMP of 20.8 can a toughness higher than 27 J be guaranteed. This is in line with the values of filler metal suppliers. Most of the suppliers of P91 filler metals give data for weld metal with a heat treatment around 760C (1400F)/2 h (LMP = 21). Finally, it is interesting to note that NEM and TNO found that in the PWHT condition weld metals with acceptable toughness showed hardnesses lower than 300 VHN.

ment at a too low LMP will result in a too high weld metal hardness, and can easily be found from hardness test results. Heat treatment beyond 770C/10 h (i.e., too high LMP) results in low hardness. As long as the heat treatment temperature is below the lower critical temperature A11, the hardness will stay around 200 VHN, even at a very long PWHT duration. Heat treatment above the lower critical temperature A1 will ruin the materials properties (Ref. 4). Heat treatment above A1 results in (partial) transformation of martensite into austenite. The formed austenite will be transformed into fresh, hard martensite at rather rapid cooling rates and into soft ferrite at slow cooling rates. Both situa1. A1 is the lower transformation temperature. On heating, ferrite is partly transformed into austenite (a a +g ).

Intercritical PWHT
In some unfortunate cases, components may be postweld heat-treated out of the required range. Postweld heat treat-

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tions are unwanted, but formation of ferrite is considered to be the worst situation because creep strength drops to that for grade P22. The lower critical temperature, A 1, is a function of nickel (Ni) and manganese (Mn) (Ref. 6). For P91 base metal, A1 is found at around 800830C. Weld metal contains higher percentage Ni and Mn and, therefore, has a lower A1. The lower critical transformation temperature can be estimated using the ORNL data-based relation A1 = 84842(Ni[%]+Mn[%]) [C]. For Ni+Mn of 1.5%, the A1 is found at around 785C (1445F), which is close to the upper limit of PWHT. Because of the poor properties of heat treatment in the intercritical area (above A1, below A3 [for A3 refer to footnote 2]), it is very important to prevent such a PWHT. Depending on heat treatment temperature and cooling rate, basically four extreme situations are possible. A. Heat treatment above weld and base metal A1, followed by rapid cooling B. Heat treatment above weld and base metal A1, followed by slow cooling C. Heat treatment above weld, but below base metal A1, followed by rapid cooling D. Heat treatment above weld, but below base metal A1, followed by slow cooling. Rapid cooling refers to a speed just high enough to prevent ferrite formation out of austenite. Figure 4 illustrates situation A, PWHT above weld and base metal A1, followed by rapid cooling. Because of formation of fresh martensite upon cooling, a higher hardness is found for the base and weld metals, as well. Figure 4 also illustrates situation B, i.e., PWHT above weld and base metal A1, but followed by slow cooling. Formed austenite is now transformed into soft ferrite, resulting in low hardness for weld and base metal. Experiments also showed that in the case where the weld metal is heat-treated above A1 but the base metal is below it (situation D), low hardness values are found in the range indicated in Fig. 4. Although no ferrite is formed in the base metal, the hardness drops due to a soft annealing effect, i.e., coarsening of carbides. Figure 5 represents situation C, i.e., for PWHT above weld metal but below base metal A1, followed by rapid cooling. The weld metal now contains some fresh martensite besides the tempered martensite. The base metal is softened due to 2. A3 is the upper transformation temperature. On heating, ferrite is transformed into austenite (a +g g ).

Fig. 5 Effect of PWHT above weld metal, but below base metal A1, followed by rapid cooling. coarsening of carbides. This situation may be somewhat difficult to detect by hardness testing, since the hardness values are comparable to the acceptable range for weld metal and just below the required base metal hardness. Knowing the initial base metal hardness before PWHT will help to distinguish this situation.
References

Final Materials Condition

Hardness is directly related to PWHT time and temperature characterized as LMP. This makes hardness testing a powerful tool for checking the materials condition. Testing only at the end of the line after final PWHT is a good practice. However, it is better to start with a hardness test on incoming material. This helps to interpret the results after PWHT. As has been shown, the base metal hardness is not expected to change during manufacturing. Further, it is clear that in order to obtain good service properties and toughness, the window for PWHT is relatively narrow. A good practice is to perform a furnace survey to ensure PWHT within the required temperature window. Finally, it is emphasized that not only heat treatment temperature, but both PWHT time and temperature (LMP) determine the effect of the PWHT cycle. Postweld heat treatment within the temperature range of 750 to 770C (1380 to 1420F) and an LMP of around 21 will lead to good high-temperature properties and toughness for a safe hydrostatic test and to put the installation into service. N

1. Brhl, F., et al. 1990. Behavior of the 9% chromium steel P91 and its weldments in short and long term tests. Proceedings of the ASME/IEEE Power Generation Conference. Boston, Mass. pp. 110. 2. Directive 97/23/EC of the European Parliament and of the council. May 29, 1997, p. 23. 3. VdTV 511-2, p. 2. 4. Henry, J. F. 2005. Growing experience with P91/T91 forcing essential code changes. Combined Cycle Journal, 1Q/2005. 5. Dutch Rules for Pressure Vessels, Sheet M0110, p. 7. 6. Newel, W. 2002. Guideline for welding P(T)91 materials, EPRI, June, p. 9.

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