Professional Documents
Culture Documents
May 2003
BACKGROUND
Chloride stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of austenitic stainless steels and duplex stainless
steels (DSS) is known to cause rapid failure of these materials. This environmentally assisted
cracking leads to failure of the material at a stress less than the UTS and in conditions where
corrosion alone would not lead to cracking. The presence of residual stresses at welds
increases the likelihood of SCC occurring at such locations when the equipment is subject to
the necessary environmental conditions of temperature, chloride concentration and oxygen
availability. Operating temperatures may be as high as 130C for duplex stainless steels, or
possibly higher for superduplex stainless steels and there have been instances of recent
failures of such equipment. Austenitic stainless steels are susceptible to SCC at lower
temperatures, e.g. 55C. Industrial practice is to use barrier coating systems to mitigate
against attack, but these have led to concern about susceptibility to damage and thus use of
thermally sprayed aluminium is being considered (Ref 1).
However, within overall corrosion management systems and schemes, it is still necessary to
inspect equipment to demonstrate that the potential damage mode has not occurred. Presently,
no reliable standard NDE method exists which is recognised as suitable for inspection whilst
the plant is in-service and thus it is proposed to assess a range of techniques and to optimise
the procedures for the most promising on uninsulated pipework
To provide industry with the means to manage the risk of failure due to SCC, inspection is
required which will have a high probability of detection of surface cracking whilst the plant is
operational (i.e. hot pipework). Due to the rapid propagation of such cracks, the inspection
method will need to be able to detect cracks of relatively narrow width (e.g. 50-100m).
These data will allow appropriate additional measures such as detailed inspection and
remediation to be undertaken.
For the purposes of detecting flaws in structures, many non-destructive test methods are
available and in most cases the optimum method can be chosen from a range of techniques.
However, chloride stress corrosion cracking in austenitic and duplex stainless steels is
difficult to assess because the crack morphology comprises very fine, branching cracks with
very small gaps, which do not produce a response from most NDT systems.
There is a need for an improved method(s) which can be applied whilst the plant/facility is
operational at temperature, allowing more frequent inspection if determined as appropriate by
Risk-Based Inspection without leading to expensive downtime nor compromising safety for
personnel, plant and environment. This project will assess a number of techniques for
application to operational plant and equipment.
BENEFITS
Avoidance of failure due to SCC thus
reducing risk of injury to personnel,
downtime for operation and impact on
the environment due to hydrocarbon or
chemicals release.
Increased confidence in the operational
condition of plant where likelihood of
chloride SCC exists, and thus
increased safety.
Inspection during plant operation,
avoiding need for shut-down and lost
production.
OBJECTIVES
To assess relative performance of
established, recently developed and
novel inspection methods to detect
chloride- induced SCC.
To assess the best techniques and
procedures for further development of
in-situ detection of external SCC on
hot pipe.
APPROACH
It is proposed that the methods listed
below will be evaluated and initial work
will be carried out to optimise procedures
for selected techniques(s). Finally the
selected technique(s) will be tested on hot
pipe samples as SCC is induced.
Ultrasonic Camera
Some early work from the ultrasonic
camera has shown a capability to detect
diffracted signals from an edge on a
surface. The project would investigate
whether these signals are present from
cracked surfaces. TWI has the equipment
for this and work in developing the
acoustic camera is progressing. Since this
device is water coupled, there will be a
limitation on temperature. It will however
have the capability of investigating large
areas rapidly.
ACPD
The ACPD method is normally used for
sizing a known surface crack, and is
theoretically limited to straight (nonbranching) cracks. However, in stainless
steel, the frequencies used are suitable to
give some sub-surface analysis. To carry
this out, automatic scanning of the whole
area is proposed. Temperature is not a
major limitation but probes may need
some modification. TWI has two different
types of ACPD equipment that can be
evaluated for this application. An adaptor
for a scanner may be needed to apply the
technique.
Acoustic Emission
Acoustic Emission works by detecting the
incremental growth in cracks. It is
therefore a monitoring method, and special
arrangements need to be made to monitor
the specimens during the period of crack
growth. Crack growth in weld and plate
may exhibit different acoustic emission
properties and these may need separate
evaluation. Recent study has shown that
growing SCC may be detected by this
method.
Thermal/Optical Methods
The presence of SCC should affect the
thermal properties of the surface. Methods
of surface temperature measurement are
now extremely sensitive. The method will
need to be developed, in particular an
appropriate heat source will need to be