Nuclear Engineering and Design 130 (1991) 467-475 467

North-Holland

Improvement in the reliability of shells for light water reactors

by manufacture from hollow ingots
P. B o c q u e t a, R. B l o n d c a u a, 1. Poitrault b, j . p . B a d e a u b and R. D u m o n t b
" Creusot-Loire Industrie, Centre de Recherche des Mat~riaur du Creusot, Le Creusot Cedex, France
t~ Creusot-Loire Industrie, Division Creusot-Marrel, Heavy Forge, Le Creusot Cedex, France

Received 26 February 1990; revised version 30 August 1990

The problems associated to the segregations located at the inner surface and subsurface of heavy shell forgings used in
nuclear light water reactors are presented. The effect of A segregation on cold or reheat cracking HAZ has conducted
fabricators to use severe welding procedures with high preheat temperature and refining HAZ grain size sequences. For
shells and rings, the hollow ingot as developed by CLI, with a good control of the location of the center line of segregation,
is an excellent answer to these problems. The use of core shell forgings issued from this type of hollow ingots, free of
segregation at the inner surface and subsurface area, contributes, by reducing the irradiation embrittlement effect, to
increase the safety factor relatively to the risk of failure of the reactor.

1. Introduction - ingot moulds design (height/diameter ratio) [6-7];

The evaluation of the integrity" of a component is
generally based on the conformity of different proper-
ties to some required values needed by the engineer-
ing. Other properties, associated with manufacturing
operations or in service behaviour, are not always
formally required but they contribute to the final relia-
bility of the component.
The example of forging shells for light water reac-
tors is proposed here to show, in this particular appli-
cation, how the choice of the manufacturing process
may be of prime importance for the component in-
tegrity by the reduction of the detrimental effects of
segregations.
So, this paper will present the problems associated
to the segregations in shell forgings manufactured from
conventional ingots and how they were solved or mini-
mized by the use of shell forgings manufactured from
hollow ingots.
2. Evolution of the quality of heavy forgings
- pouring techniques (hot topping, high vacuum pour-
ing) [8-10]
These evolutions added to a better knowledge of
solidification and segregation mechanisms, have per-
mitted to produce high quality ingots (wheighing upto
570 tons) and consequent ultra large size components
[11 18].
Despite the use of up-to-date techniques, the pres-
ence of A segregates and macrosegregation has not
been entirely eliminated, in particular for the steel
grades commonly used for the heavy components for
Light Water Reactors.
The shell forgings issued from conventional cylindri-
cal ingots, even when manufactured with the best steel-
making and pouring techniques, present, at their inner
surface and subsurface, some residual macrosegregated
areas and A segregates. The development of a new
ingot geometry, called hollow-ingot, has been under-
taken at Creusot-Loirc-lndustrie to eliminate all segre-
gations of this critical area.

In the last 15-20 years, the quality of heavy, forgings
has been continuously improved due to the evolutions
of :
- steelmaking practice (high vacuum steelmaking, vac-
uum carbon deoxidation, extra low impurities steel
grades ([1-5];
3. Problems associated to the segregation in shell forg-
ings manufactured from conventional ingots.
Quantitative aspects o f segregations at the inner surface
o f this type o f shell forging.
Due to the forging sequence including generally an
upsetting operation before the elimination of the axial

0 0 2 9 - 5 4 9 3 / 9 1 / $ 0 3 . 5 0 © 1991 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights r e s e r v e d

468 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability o( shells .[or light water reactor,s

part, some areas of the axial macrosegregation of the the pressure vessel (in particular welding) and also
ingot may remain at the inner surface of the shell, with during operation of the reactor.
A segregations, as shown in fig. I. Depending of re-
spective shcll and ingot weight and geometry, the maxi-
mum intensity of residual axial macrosegregation may
Influence o f the segregated areas on the weMability o f the
be evaluated as follows [19]:
material.
- positive macrosegregation 15% < ~ C / C < 25%,
In PWR pressure vessel, the inner surface of the
- negative macrosegregation - 5% > A C / C > - 15%.
shells is cladded with stainless steel by welding. This
The correlation between the intensity of C segrega-
stage of the manufacturing requires specially adapted
tion and other alloying elements in the axial part of
welding parameters due to the presence of positive
ingots has bccn evaluated by Delorme [20]. On the
macrosegregation areas and of A segregations located
basis of this work, a comparison between the chemistry
at the surface and upto about 10 mm depth under the
of these areas and the chemistry of nonsegregated 10
surface.
MND 5 French steel grade is given in table 1. The
The risk of cold cracking in the heat affected zone
intensity of C and alloying elements segregation in the
(HAZ) due to hydrogen migration from weld material
veins constituing the A segregations is higher. Numer-
during the thermal cycle associated to welding may bc
ous measurements by microprobe analyzer have been
evaluated by laboratory, tests, in particular the implant
performed and an average value of the segregation
test. It is known [21] that this test shows that pro and
peak is shown in table 1. Fortunatclly, these segregated
postheating temperature to avoid cold cracking is de-
veins present a low extension, typically:
pendent on material chemistry characterized by Equiv-
- 1-3 mm in the radial direction,
alent Carbon formulas, see fig. 2. The formula recom-
10-15 mm in the circonferencial direction, mended by the International Institute of welding is
- 100-250 mm in the axial direction.
So, due to their particular chemistry, segregated
areas offer singular behaviour during manufacturing of ECI[ w = C -t- ~-Mn -- ~ ( N i + Cut + ~(Cr + Mo + V).

Table 1
Chemistry. of different areas in a heaw shell in 16 MND5 steel grade (wt%)
Typical Major segregation A segregation
chemistry /~C/C = 15% A C / C = +25% at the peak

C 0.16 0.14 0.20 0.30

Si 0.2t} 0.19 0.21 0,34
Mn 1.35 1.31 1,42 1,85
Ni (}.72 0.70 0.76 0.91
Cr (}.20 0.19 0,21 0.29
Mo (}.50 0.47 0,55 1.00
V O O O
Cu 0.08 0.07 0.09 0.14
S 0.005 0.004 0.007
P 0.008 0.007 0 . 0 1 () 0.022

Cold cracking index

ECnw 0.58 0.54 0.65 0,96
Reheat cracking indexes
AG -0A5 - 0.26 0.03 1.55
AG I 1.45 1.14 2.03 4.55
Irradiation embrittlement
ARTNDT ( o C) 49 47 60 126
 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability of shells for light water reactors 469

i Positive major segregation area Test conditions : Welding heat input 15 kJ/cm
Prate thickness 20 mrn
Negative T °C Applied stress oy

7Z~I A segregat . . . . . .

Std : Standard chemisuy

• ;~: I i.:! ~ 300 M.S : Majo~ seg:egation litnit~ •
A S A Segregalion
,,. i

2O0

15 < AC/C max <25 %

1O0

AS

o .'t" t, T, t EC.w,%
.~ .5 .6 .7 .'8 .'9 I.o

- 5 > AC/C rain > - 1 5 % Fig. 2. Pre and postheating temperatures for welding low alloy
steels as determined by implant tests as a function of IIW
Equivalent Carbon.

240 ram
tions reported by Coudert [23] confirmed that all the
Fig. l, Location of segregated areas in a shell made from a
microcracks due to reheat cracking were located in A
conventional ingot.
segregations.

The corresponding values for non segregated material In service behaviour o f the shells: influence o f the segre-
and for segregated areas are given in table 1. As gated areas.
reported by Faure [22], this cracking phenomenon was It can be expected that mechanical properties of A
observed on forgings like nozzles and tubesheets. The segregations are quite different of those of nonsegre-
defects were located in both macrosegregated areas
and A segregations. To avoid this problem, some se- HvlON
vere welding conditions must be applied.
Another type of cracking was associated to the
presence of A segregations on the subsurface of forg-
ings during the cladding: the reheat cracking phe-
nomenon [23]. The sensitivity of steel to this type of
cracking may be estimated by Nakamura's [24] or mod-
ified Nakamura's parameters [25]:
AG = Cr + 3.3 Mo + 8.1 V - 2 and
175
AG]=AG+10C.

As shown in table 1, the nominal chemistry of 16

MND5 steel grade, with a AG of - 0 . 1 5 does not . _ . Distance..

I 2 3 4 5 rnm"
present reheat cracking susceptibility, but A segrega-
tion with a AG of about + 1.5 presents high sensitivity Fig. 3. Macrographic aspect of the cross section of a 270 mm
to this type of cracking. The metallographic examina- thick shell forging issued from a hollow ingot.
470 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability of shells for light water reactor~
gated material. However, their small size makes diffi-
cult to measure their properties with accuracy. Their
hardness, cvaluatcd with a continuous hardness tester
developpcd in Creusot-Loire Industrie Research Cen-
ter [26], was found slightly higher than that of non
segregated material, sec fig. 3. In fact, the tempering
A Segregation Area
Maerosegregation Area
External
Surface
Fig. 4.
and the post weld heat treatment contribute to reduce
considerably the hardncss of these A segregations.
The toughness properties, on the other hand, were
found to be dramatically influenced by the presence of
A segregations. The Charpy V dala reported by Mai-
dorn [18] for the steel 2 0 M n M o N i 5 . 5 have becn c~n-
! I
• !
Internal
Surface
 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability of shells .]br light water reactors 471

firmed by our own experience: a shift of about 70 ° C to irradiation. Different formulas have been proposed to
higher values may be observed on 68 J transition tem- evaluate the sensitivity of material to irradiation em-
perature compared with nonsegregated material. brittlemcnt. The high P content of A segregations may
A complementary aspect is the behaviour under be of major importance. The formula proposed by

A Segregation Area

Macrosegregation Area
External
Surface

.!'I////I//U/I//I/I./I/II////////I///I/f///L~/IA~I~/I~

Fig. 5. Macrographic aspect of the cross section of a 270 mm thick shell forging issued from a conventional ingot.
472 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability of shells for light water reactor~

Guionnet [27] applied to the chemistry of table 1 gives

an evaluation of the shift of RTND, r due to irradiation
embrittlement:

ARTND x ~ 36 + 310 Ni 2 × Cu + 368(Cu - 0.08)

+ 2328(P - o.o08).

This formula, applied to nominal chemistry gives a

~ R T N b T of -- 4 9 ° C , and applied to A segregations
peak chemistry it gives a ARTNDT of + 126°C. How-
ever, it is not proved that such properties may be
observed in experiments because the narrow area where
the peak chemistry is observed. The toughness of the
surface and subsurface area of shells submitted to
irradiation is of prime importance for the safety of
nuclear reactors. This area is submitted to the higher
stresses in the transient situation associated to rapid
cooling of the reactor. The irradiation embrittlement
effect is maximum at the inner surface of the core
shells because of maximum neutron fluency. Neutron
fluency decreases exponentially through the wall thick-
ness and it is reduced by 4 times at 10 mm under the
inner surface. The reduction or the elimination of
segregations (with lower toughness and more sensitive
to irradiation embrittlement) of this critical subsurface
area is a way to increase the safety margins of reactors
respectively to the risk of failure.
4. H o l l o w i n g o t d e v e l o p m e n t and characterization
To eliminate the major inconvenience due to the
location of A segregations on the inner skin of shells,
and in particular for core shells of PWR, Creusot-Loire
lndustrie has developped an hollow ingot. The pouring
and solidification technique used (patented in 1982)
has been presented in different papers [19,28,29] and
we give here after the main characteristics:
- maximum ingot weight = 190 tons,
- maximum shell size = ~5000 mm - weight: 120 tons,
The location of the end of solidification at the ingot
mid thickness makes the inner surface of the shell free
of any macro and A segregation. The qualification of
this type of ingot for the French 1400 M W P W R
pressure vessels was obtained by a big investigation
programme conduced on three forgings issued from
hollow ingots: a nozzle-shell, a core shell and nozzles.
Segregation aspects o f shells issued from hollow ingots:
The macrography realized on a through tickness
axial-radial plane is shown in fig. 4, and has to be
/ segregation
AC/C,% ~CIC,%
axis ingot (positive) (total)
a 1BO:} conventional 15.2 2 8 5
(154 t)
~- o[] 1B00: } hol,ow 1-8 6.2
°E -- ~1 o/ I/1 (,4Bt)
~013 0.15 [ 0.17 0.19
heat ana ysis carbon
CARBON CONTENT, wt-°/o
Fig. 6. Comparison of the amount of segregation in the bore
of shells from 150 tons conventional and hollow ingots.
compared to a similar one realized on a shell issued
from a conventional ingot (fig. 5). It is clearly shown in
fig. 4 that a band of about 30 mm under thc inner
surface of the shell issued from hollow ingot is free of
any segregation. The depth of this area may vary
relatively to the respective geometries of shell and
ingot, and to the quantity of material eliminated by
machining.
The curves on fig. 6 give the evolution of carbon
macrosegregation on the inner shell surface (bore). It
may be noted than , ~ C / C value of hollow ingot is very
low in comparison with that of conventional ingot. This
observation has been confirmed for different ingot
weights and steel grades. The sulfur prints made, after
machining, along several axial lines throughout the
bore height of about ten shells, confirmed that all
bores were free of A segregation. Figure 7 gives a
comparison of sulfur prints performed both on bore
and through thickness top areas for a shell issued from
hollow ingot and a shell manufactured from conven-
tional ingot.
So all investigations performed on shells manufac-
tured from hollow ingots by CLI confirm the interest of
this type of ingot for the elimination of segregations on
the bore. Programmes of investigation of stainless steel
cladding of the bore of such shells have been per-
 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability of shells for light water reactors 473

formed by Framatome and demonstratc the high inter- Industrial mechanical properties:
est of this type of forgings which is now used for all the The histograms presented in fig. 8 show the first
shells of the French PWR 1400 MW reactors [30-32]. test results obtained on core shells issued from hollow

SULFUR PRINTS ON TOP FACE

SULFUR PRINTS ON BORE SURFACE I

&

. . . ~ . i ~

'i :
-" "; " : " " •.ilk ~ ~

i
I
QUALIFICATION SHELL FROM
186M,T. HOLLOW INGOT
|
|
I
SHELL FROM 183 M.T.
CONVENTIONAL INGOT
I
Fig. 7. Comparison of .4 segregations on top and bore surface of nuclear shells forged from conventional and hollow ingots.
474 P. Bocquet et al. / Reliability of shells" for light water reactors

12- • HOLLOWINGOT
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