IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVATED TIG PROCESS FOR AUSTENITIC

STAINLESS STEEL WELDING IN NUCLEAR APPLICATION

Hardik C Shah1a, Amol Raut1b and Renu N Gupta1c

1
Larsen & Toubro Limited, Heavy Engineering IC, Powai Campus, Mumbai, India - 400 072
a
hardik.shah21@larsentoubro.com,bamol.raut @larsentoubro.com, crenun.gupta@larsentoubro.com

Key words: Austenitic Stainless Steel, Activated TIG Process, Volumetric Examination, Welded
grid plate

1.0 ABSTRACT

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding is one of the major welding processes used in industry for high
quality joints. Numerous developments have taken place in TIG welding technology over the years
for total heat input reduction and productivity improvement. Reduction of total cycle time can be
achieved by increasing penetration and / or depth-to-width ratio leading to reduction in number of
passes for completion of joint. This can be achieved by application of activating flux on the joint
prior to welding for carrying out welding in single pass. This variant of TIG process is called
activated TIG (A-TIG) process.

This paper describes the development and implementation of welding procedure for austenitic
stainless steel welding by A-TIG process for “Welded Grid Plate for Technology Development” for
future Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) under India’s nuclear power program. Welded Grid plate is first
kind of design instead of bolted construction to increase design life. Foremost challenges in
fabrication of this equipment were;

i) Orbital welding of 458 sleeves to top & bottom plate maintaining Ø 0.1mm perpendicularity
ii) Internal bore welding of 76 spikes maintaining Ø 0.2 mm perpendicularity
iii) All joints required volumetric examination (UT / RT)

Weld soundness, mechanical & corrosion properties of weld have been evaluated during procedure
qualification meeting code and customer specification requirements. Special purpose welding heads
were designed & developed in-house for sleeve and spike welding. Customer expressed their
satisfaction with 100% first time right volumetric examination results & dimensional accuracy
achieved. Use of A-TIG process increased productivity to more than two times than the
conventional TIG process.

This is the first time that A-TIG welding process is implemented successfully in production though
worldwide many research papers have been published. The development of this technology ushers a
new dawn in India’s FBR program. It has developed confidence in team at HE to use this process
for other critical products. Presently A-TIG process is being used for orbital welding of austenitic
stainless steel components for Gasifier project.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Present design of Grid Plate for Prototype FBR is of bolted construction. Indira Gandhi Centre of
Atomic Research (IGCAR) has designed first time welded construction of Grid plate to enhance
service life from 40 years to 60 years. This design reduced number of components hence reduced
overall weight and improved heat transfer efficiency.
The 6.1 meter diameter welded grid plate is located at the core of FBR and supports all core
subassemblies and the inner vessel. It supplies liquid sodium to high number of fuel assemblies
where nuclear heat is generated, operating at temperature of 550 deg C [1,2].

Fig.1 Virtual model of grid plate

1.IV Shell 2. Top plate 3.Sleeve 4.Spike 5.Nozzles 6.Bottom plate 7. GP Shell 8. CSS Shell

This is first time ever that such a technology has been developed. It was considered very difficult to
manufacture due to the tolerances and complexity involved. A challenging assignment indeed, it led
the team to evaluate & implement non-conventional welding process (A-TIG) to achieve stringent
manufacturing tolerances on verticality, concentricity, positional accuracy and distortion.

The development of this technology ushers a new dawn in India’s FBR program and affirms L&T’s
commitment to India’s nuclear power needs.

3.0 SELECTION OF WELDING PROCESS

Fabrication of Welded Grid plate involved welding of 458 sleeves and 76 spikes.

3.1 Sleeve Joint

Sleeves were required to weld at both ends of two parallel plates i.e. top plate and bottom plate,
spaced at distance of 685 mm. The weld joint configuration was of butt type with 3 mm weld
thickness [Fig. 2]. Subsequent to welding, the perpendicularity of the sleeve with respect to bottom
plate was required to be within Ø 0.1 mm. Positional tolerance on co-ordinates of sleeve axis was
±0.2mm. Line contact of all the sleeves shall lie within two parallel planes (which are parallel to
bottom surface of bottom plate) separated by 1 mm.

The criticality of the sleeve joint was further enhanced by presence of hard-face zone near the weld
joint which is known to crack at higher temperature. Stringent requirement on hardness of hard-face
zone after welding necessitated use of process with low heat distribution around the seam. Also
presence of slots with sharp edges increased the propensity to crack due to uneven heat distribution.
All sleeve weld joints were required fluorescent dye penetrant & ultrasonic examination as per
ASME Sec III Sub-section NB.

3.2 Spike Joint

Spikes were required to be welded with top plate. Joint location was at the depth of 280 mm from
the access point and the distance between adjacent spikes being 15 mm demanded inner bore
welding technique. The weld joint configuration was of square butt type with 5 mm weld thickness
[Fig. 3]. Subsequent to welding, the perpendicularity of the spike with respect to top plate was
required to be within Ø 0.2 mm.

All spike joints were required dye penatrant & radiographic examination as per ASME Sec III Sub-
section NB.

Top
Plate Spike

Weld
Weld
Sleeve joint
joint

Bottom
plate
Top
Plate

Fig.2 Sleeve to top and bottom plate Fig.3 Spike to top plate joint

3.3 Welding Process Evaluation

To meet close dimensional tolerances & volumetric examination requirement with geometrical
restrictions of weld joints, welding processes like Electron Beam Welding (EBW), Laser Beam
Welding (LBW), Plasma Arc Welding (PAW) and Activated Tungsten Inert Gas Welding (A-TIG)
were evaluated.

EBW and LBW processes were explored at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Raja
Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) respectively. However the complexity of the
processes (in terms of the equipment, operating parameters and process stabilization) & the
abhorrent cost involved (capital, installation, training of personnel) in its implementation led us to
explore other options. PAW & A-TIG processes were explored as an alternative. After extensive
trials procedure was established for both PAW and A-TIG processes. Based on sustainability and
simplicity of the process, it was decided to weld all sleeve to plate and spike to plate joints with
A-TIG process. This process produces clean single pass full penetration joint at restricted heat
input. The use of A-TIG eliminates the need for edge preparation and increases productivity due to
the reduction in the number of weld passes required to make the weld.

A-TIG is based on the constriction of arc and reversal of Marangoni flow due to application of
fluxes. There is however no consensus on the mechanism leading to penetration profiles seen in A-
TIG welding [3, 4, 5].

4.0 ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

4.1 Sleeve welding

Single sleeve which is prepared by boring through SA 479

Type 304 L bar needs to be welded with the face of top
plate and bottom plate. A special purpose machine capable
of self-centering was designed to carry out welding in flat
position [Fig. 4]. This joint was considered as tube to
tubesheet joint and procedure was qualified as per ASME
Sec III, NB-4350 with some additional tests: shear load
test, micro hardness of hard faced surface after welding,
hard facing thickness, ferrite determination. Ten sleeves
each of top and bottom joint configurations were welded
during procedure qualification including two sleeves with
hard facing at top side.

Geometrical constraints and sleeve design calls for global

purging during complete course of welding. For global
purging 9.3 meter3 volume was filled with nitrogen gas to Fig.4 Sleeve to top plate welding in
facilitate purging during sleeve to plate welding by progress
maintaining positive pressure and 0.01% oxygen level,
same was demonstrated on identical mock up [Fig. 5]. A
detailed plan was chalked out for weld joint sequencing to
minimize distortion and meet the stringent post weld
dimensional requirements.

All 458 sleeve to plate joints were to undergo fluorescent

liquid penetrant examination & ultrasonic examination
with acceptance as per ASME Sec III NB. For ultrasonic
examination a fingertip twin crystal probe (Φ5 mm) was
used. Additionally all sleeve joints were required to meet
geometrical dimensions as specified earlier.
Fig. 5 Global purging arrangement
in production
4.2 Spike welding

Spike is prepared by boring through SA 479 type

304 L bar, which requires to be welded with top
plate at the depth of 280 mm from the access point.
Welding procedure was established and qualified as
per ASME sec III NB requirement with additional
tests: metallographic examination, ferrite
determination, and intergranular corrosion test. The
welding was carried out in horizontal position by
using customized welding torch [Fig.6, 7, 8]. A
detailed plan was chalked out for weld joint
sequencing to minimize distortion and meet
stringent post weld dimensional requirements.
Fig. 6 Customized welding torch
for inner bore welding

Fig. 8 Magnified view of spike to

top plate joint

Fig. 7 Spike to top plate production joint

– welded by inner bore welding

All 76 spike to top plate joints were to undergo radiographic examination as per ASME Sec III NB.
Due to space constraints the panoramic radiography technique was used with source at the centre. A
special fixture was designed to accommodate radiography source and film.

5.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Sleeve to plate joints

5.1.1 Procedure Qualification & Production Test Coupon Results

Visual Examination
Visual examination was performed for all joints and found satisfactory. The slag formed was
removed by wire brushing. No undercut, surface porosity or under-flush was observed
Non-Destructive Examination
All joints cleared Fluorescent Liquid Penetrant Examination & Ultrasonic Examination with first
time right quality.

Metallographic examination
Ten joints were sliced into four sections, followed by polishing and etching. Each surface was
examined under optical microscope at 20X & 200X. [Fig.9, 10].Observations are as follows:
 No micro cracks were observed
 Complete fusion with sleeve and top plate has been observed.

Weld zone
Parent material

Weld – HAZ interface

Fig.9 Macrograph of sleeve joint Fig.10 Micrograph of sleeve joint

Ferrite Determination
Ferrite % was measured as per ASTM A 799M and was found to be in the range of 6 – 9.

Shear strength test

Two joint were tested for shear strength. Observations are as follows:
 Shear strength achieved was in range of 540 – 570 MPa
 Fracture location was in the weld

Metallographic examination of hard-faced surface Hard-faced region

Hard faced region was sectioned and metallographic
examination was performed. Observations are as follows:
[Fig. 11]
 No micro cracks were observed in hard faced Interface
surface, heat affected zone and parent material.
 No change in thickness of hardfacing

Micro hardness examination on hard-faced surface Parent material

Micro hardness was measured on hard faced surface and
found satisfactory [~ 50 – 55 HRC].
Fig. 11 Micrograph of hard-faced zone
5.1.2 Production Welding Results

Visual Examination
Visual examination was performed for all joints and found satisfactory.

Non-Destructive Examination
All 458 joints cleared Fluorescent Liquid Penetrant Examination & Ultrasonic Examination in the
first attempt setting a benchmark in quality.
5.1.3 Post Weld Dimension Results

Geometrical dimensions of all sleeve to plate welding have been measured and the results are as
follows:
 Verticality of sleeves within 0.1 mm
 Concentricity within 0.1 mm
 Positional accuracy within 0.2 mm.
 Point of contact of all sleeve within 2 mm

5.2 Spike to plate joint

5.2.1 Procedure Qualification & Production Test Coupon Results

Visual Examination
Visual examination was performed for all joints and found satisfactory. The slag formed was
removed by power wire brushing by specially designed fixture. No undercut, surface porosity or
under-flush was observed.

Non-Destructive Examination
All joints cleared Liquid Penetrant Examination (only OD side) & Radiographic Examination with
first time right quality.

Metallographic examination
Spike to plate joint was sectioned for metallographic examination followed by polishing and
etching. Observations are as follows:
 No micro cracks were observed.
 Complete fusion with spike and top plate wall has been observed.

Transverse Tensile Test

 Spike to plate weld joint was tested to find mechanical properties. Test results are mentioned
in Table – 5.1

Table – 5.1 Mechanical Test Results

UTS [Mpa] 0.2 %Proof Stress [Mpa] Elongation [%] Fracture location

620 -640 250 – 280 45 – 55 In weld

Bend test
 Face-bend and root bend test was performed on weld joint as per ASME Sec IX and found
satisfactory

Inter granular corrosion test

 Inter granular corrosion test has been performed on Weld joint as per ASTM E 262, practice
E and found satisfactory

Ferrite Determination
 Ferrite % was measured as per ASTM A 799M and was found to be in the range of 6 – 9.
5.2.2 Production Welding Results

Visual Examination
Visual examination was performed for all joints and found satisfactory.

Non-Destructive Examination
All 76 joints cleared Liquid Penetrant Examination (OD side) & Radiographic Examination in the
first attempt setting a benchmark in quality.

5.2.3 Post Weld Dimension Results

The perpendicularity of the spike after welding was measured with respect to top plate and found
within Ø 0.2 mm.

6.0 CONCLUSION

1. This is the first time that A-TIG welding process is implemented successfully in production
though worldwide many research papers have been published.
2. Advanced manufacturing technology was developed & executed successfully for first of its
kind IGCAR designed “Welded Grid Plate”. The development of this technology ushers a new
dawn in India’s FBR program.
3. Use of A-TIG process increased productivity to more than two times than the conventional TIG
process. All joints were welded with 100% first time right volumetric examination results &
meeting stringent dimensional requirements.
4. Use of advance welding technique has led to implementation of simple but effective process as
compared to the earlier planned EBW and LBW processes which were complex and expensive.
5. Established welding procedure has been evaluated & implemented for other critical equipment
also.
7.0 REFERENCES

[1] K Velusamy, P Chellapandi,S C ChetalandBaldev Raj, Overview of Pool Hydraulic Design of

Indian Prototype Fastbreeder Reactor, SadhanaVol. 35, Part 2, April 2010, pp. 97–128.

[2] Design of Innovative Weld Grid Plate for Fast Breeder Reactor Technology, Indira Gandhi
Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603 102

[3] W Lucas &D.Howse, - Activating Flux Increasing the Performance and Productivity of the TIG
and Plasma Process - Welding and Metal Fabrication Journal.1996

[4] Kuang-Hung Tseng, Chih-Yu Hsu- Performance of Activated TIG Process in Austenitic
Stainless Steel Welds, Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 503–512

[5] T. Sandor& Janos Dobranszky, The experience of activated tungsten inert gas (ATIG) welding
applied on 1.4301 type stainless steel plates.