HIGH PERFORMANCE ALLOYS

Technical Information
The Back Purging and Welding Requirements
for
Fabrication of HASTELLOY alloy Pipe Systems
BACKGROUND
Periodically, fabricators are required to install piping systems where access to the
inside of the pipe is not possible. In such situations, either open-butt pipe welding
techniques or welding techniques using a consumable insert are employed. Because
consumable inserts are not readily available for the HASTELLOY alloy products, openbutt welding using the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process is normally employed
in making such root-pass welds.
When these one-sided welding techniques are used, it is necessary to protect the root
side of the weld joint from oxidation during welding with an inert shielding gas (usually
welding grade argon). The shielding technique, which protects the inside of the pipe,
is called "back purging".

Figure 1: Example of root weld made with poor back purging technique.
Lack of proper shielding produces a condition which is often referred to as "sugar"
of the root pass. An example of such a root-pass weld, made on an 8" diameter
HASTELLOY C-22 alloy pipe, is shown in Figure 1. An unacceptable root pass is
characterized by a black, crusty appearance of the weld metal on the inside (root)
of the pipe and an irregular root cross-section.
H-2065A

When this condition occurs, the molten weld metal does not flow out and "wet" the
base material. This condition makes welding difficult and the passing of a radiographic examination nearly impossible. Common welding defects which form as a
result of this condition include incomplete penetration, lack-of-fusion, root-pass
cracking and root-pass suck back. It has been reported, by several Haynes International customers, that the nickel-base (HASTELLOY) alloys are more difficult to
weld, using this one-sided technique, than are the stainless or carbon steels.
Laboratory work was conducted to determine back purging and welding techniques
which will produce acceptable open-butt root-pass welds in alloys such as
HASTELLOY C-22 alloy pipe. The following sections document the results of that
laboratory work.

BACK-PURGING TECHNIQUES
Two common methods are used to back purge a pipe root-pass weld zone. Purging
the entire volume of a long pipe run is often suggested. Tables have been publ i s h e d c o n c e r n i n g p u r g e t i m e s f o r v a r i o u s p i p e d i a m e t e r s a n d l e n g t h s o f p i p e r u n . (1)
Local purging of the immediate volume around the weld zone is an alternative
method of back purging and is generally the preferred technique. Various methods
of forming the closure dams are reported in the literature. They include water
soluble dams, inflatable bladder dams, collapsible disc dams and thermally disposa b l e d a m s . (1,2,3) T h e r e a r e m a n y c o m p a n i e s w h i c h m a n u f a c t u r e e q u i p m e n t a n d
products to accomplish such a local purge. A partial list of suppliers of backpurging equipment is presented at the end of this report.
Back purging is accomplished in two steps. First, the dams must be installed and
the weld zone volume purged with argon to acceptable levels. Secondly, purging
must continue and accompany the actual welding operations.
In the work reported in this document, *only water-soluble dams were used. As a
way to ensure that the purge gas entered the enclosed weld zone with a minimum
o f g a s - f l o w t u r b u l e n c e , t h u s a l l o w i n g t h e s h o r t e s t p u r g e t i m e , (5) a d i f f u s i n g d e v i c e
was manufactured and secured at the bottom of one of the purge dams. The local
weld zone was purged at about 40 cubic feet per hour (CFH) of gas-flow rate.
Such flow rates allowed purging of an 8" diameter pipe section to about 5000-ppm
oxygen content in less than 5 minutes. Regardless of the length of time of purging
after the initial 5 minutes, it was not possible to consistently obtain oxygen contents below the 5000-ppm oxygen level. The 5000-ppm oxygen level was, however,
determined to be acceptable for welding the nickel-base alloys.
T h e w e l d i n g l i t e r a t u r e (1,3,4) r e c o m m e n d s t h a t t h e b a c k p u r g e f l o w r a t e s b e l o w
("barely detectable at the gas exit port") and makes no reference to the welding
torch flow rates at all. In this work, it was determined that the selection of shielding gas flow rates for both the back purge and the welding torch are critical in the
making of sound root-pass welds.
Specifically, it was determined that a ratio of approximately 4 to 1, between the
back purge flow rate and the welding torch flow rate, is necessary to make a sound
root-pass weld. The flow rates which are now recommended for welding

*Patent pending

HASTELLOY alloy pipe are 40 CFH for the back purge and 10 CFH for the welding
torch. Figure 2 is included to show the criticality of those relative flow rates on
actual root-pass welds.

Unacceptable root weld

Flow rates: Back purge - 10 CFH, welding torch 30 CFH

Acceptable root weld

Flow rates: Back purge - 40 CFH, welding torch 10 CFH

Figure 2:

Actual root pass welding results.

It should be noted that the weld zone volume was purged to the 5000-ppm oxygen
level prior to the start of welding. The "acceptable" root-pass weld was made first.
Then the flow rates were reversed and the "unacceptable" root-pass weld was
made. This is an indication that the purity of the back purge gas was acceptable
at the start of the "unacceptable" weld and that the difference in weld quality is a
result of the flow rates only.
The selection of the flow rate (10 CFH) for the torch shielding gas is somewhat low
based upon standard recommendations for welding the HASTELLOY nickel-base
a l l o y s . (6) T h i s l o w w e l d i n g t o r c h f l o w r a t e d o e s n o t , h o w e v e r , a f f e c t t h e t o r c h s i d e
shielding as indicated by bright, shiny beads which are present using either shielding technique.

WELDING TECHNIQUES
The purging and welding of a piping joint generally involves six operations.
Those operations include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Preparation of pipe ends.

Installation of purge dams.
Fit-up of pipe sections.
Purge pipe weld zone .
Tack weld pipe sections.
Closure welding.

1. Preparation of
ing operation.
Figure 3. It is
machined onto

the pipe ends is considered a very important step in this weldA diagram of a typical weld preparation detail is shown in
recommended that a weld angle of about 35 degrees be
the pipe ends.

Further, it is recommended that both the ID and OD be cleaned to bright,

shiny metal for a distance of about 1" from the weld preparation edge and
that a land be machined or ground per the dimensions shown in Figure 3.
After all machining and grinding operations are completed, thorough cleaning
and degreasing of the entire area is required.
It should be recognized that the pipe will have some ovality which can make
for a mismatch in the ID during fit-up and welding (see Figure 3), it may be
necessary to counter-bore the ID of the pipe sections in order to obtain an
acceptable match around the inside diameter of the pipe.
2. Any of the purging systems discussed above, except thermally disposable
dams, are considered acceptable for HASTELLOY alloy pipe systems. As a way
to insure that the purge gas enters the enclosed weld zone with a minimum of
gas flow turbulence, a gas diffusing device is recommended. Figure 4 shows
one possible design, for use with large diameter pipes, which can be fabricated in the field. Modifications to such a general design will certainly be
required to meet other specific job requirements. The purge dams must be
installed deep enough in the pipe section so that the heat of welding will not
cause damage to the dams.
3. Fit-up of the pipe sections requires care so as to establish proper root-gap
tolerance between the two pipe sections. It is generally recommended that
the root gap be at least 1/32" larger than the diameter of welding filler wire
to be used. This will allow for manipulation of the filler wire even when some
shrinkage occurs during tack welding and closure welding.
4. Purging of the weld zone is done at about 40 CFH. The weld joint should be
sealed around the circumference of the pipe except for a small opening at
the top position of the pipe. The intention is to have the shielding gas enter
at the bottom of the weld zone and exit at the top. If pipe welding is being
performed in the vertical (2G) position, the gas should enter at the bottom
purge dam and exit through a small hole in the top purge dam. Normally,
flow rates and times are selected so that a minimum of 5 to 6 shielding gas
v o l u m e c h a n g e s t a k e p l a c e p r i o r t o w e l d i n g . (1)

5. Tack welding is necessary to ensure that the two pipe sections do not move
during subsequent closure welding. The tack welds must be large enough and
placed often enough around the joint circumference so that the root gap remains open and wider than the welding filler wire diameter. Generally, the
weld joint is kept sealed except in the area were welding is being conducted.
It is recommended that the tack welds be ground to a feather edge. This will
help ensure that the closure welds will tie into the tack welds and not leave
small defects which might be detected during radiographic examination.
The shielding gas flow rates used during tack welding, and during subsequent
closure welding, should be about 40 CFH for the back purge and about 10
CFH for the welding torch. Other welding parameters are documented in
Table 1.
Torch position and filler wire position are critical to the success of root-pass
welding. A diagram showing the positions of the GTAW torch body and weldi n g f i l l e r w i r e r e l a t i v e t o t h e p i p e a r e s h o w n i n F i g u r e 5 . (1)
Torch and filler wire manipulation consist of torch movement from sidewall to
sidewall which forms a "keyhole". Two drops of filler material are melted into
each sidewall with each back and forth motion of the welding torch. The
filler metal is generally positioned in the root-gap opening. If the root gap
"closes-up", not allowing the filler wire to be placed in the root-gap opening,
the amount of weld reinforcement at the root will be limited.
6. The closure welding is performed much like the tack welding. Again, the joint
is kept sealed except in the area were welding is being performed. During
the last portion of the closure weld, the gas purge flow rate may have to be
lowered so that the dams will not be damaged due to purge gas pressure
increase. It is generally recommended that back purge gas be maintained
for the first two fill pass welds. This will help ensure that the root pass is not
heavily oxidized during these subsequent weld passes.
The selection of welding process for the fill passes is left up to the discretion
of the field welding engineer.

REFERENCES
1. "Recommended Practices for Root Pass Welding of Pipe Without Backing",
ANSI/AWS D10.11-87, published by the American Welding Society, Miami, FL
33135.
2. "Purging Practice for Nuclear Pipe Welding", Eric Holby, Welding Engineer,
January, 1973.
3. "Power-plant pipe must be leak-free", Eric R. Holby, Welding Design &
Fabrication, March 1986.
4. "Recommended Practices for Welding Austenitic Chromium-Nickel Stainless
Steel Piping and Tubing", AWS D10.4-79, published by the American Welding
Society, Miami, FL 33135.
5. ASM Handbook Volume 6, Welding and Brazing, 9th Edition, page 199,
published by ASM International, Metals Park, OH 44073
6. Fabrication of HASTELLOY Corrosion-Resistant Alloys, H-2010C, page 11,
published by Haynes International, Inc., Kokomo, IN 46902

PARTIAL LIST OF SUPPLIERS

1. Dissolvo Products, Gilbreth International Corporation, 3300 State Road,
PO Box 779, Bensalem, PA 19020
2. Emerson Hallenbeck Cone Purge Unit Company, 2934 Shoreland Avenue,
Toledo, OH 43611
3. Sloan Purge Products, Inc., 3112 Antonino Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93308
4. Safety Main Stopper Co., Inc., PO Box 170287, Times Plaza Station,
NY 11217

HASTELLOY is a registered trademark of Haynes International, Inc

Brooklyn,

TABLE 1
SUGGESTED WELDING PARAMETERS
for
Root-Pass Open-Butt
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) of Pipe

Joint design: 70 degree included angle per Figure 3

Base material: Various HASTELLOY alloys
Base material thickness: up to 1/2"
Filler material: Various HASTELLOY alloy filler materials
Filler material diameter: 3/32" (1/8" diameter can be used with
modification to the root gap dimension)
Preheat temperature:
Interpass temperature:

Room temperature
200F maximum

Shielding gas:

100% welding grade argon

Flow rate 10 CFH

Backing gas:

100% welding grade argon

Flow rate 40 CFH

Electrical characteristics: DCSP (electrode -)

Amperage: 50 - 125 amps
Voltage: 11 - 12 volts
Travel speed: 2 - 4 inch per minute
Welding technique: Torch and filler wire positioning per Figure 5
Feather grind all starts and stops (both tack welds and
closure welds)
Cleaning:

Stainless steel wire brush

Figure 3:

Suggested Weld Angle Preparation and Fit-up.

Figure 4:

Example of Diffuser Device Capable of Being

Manufactured in the Field.

Figure 5:

Suggested Welding Torch and Filler Wire Placement.

10

STANDARD PRODUCTS
By Brand or Alloy Designation:
HASTELLOY

Family of Corrosion-Resistant Alloys

B-2, B-3 , C-4, C-22, C-276, C-2000, D-205, G-3, G-30, G-50 , and N

HASTELLOY Family of Heat-Resistant Alloys

S, W, and X

HAYNES

Family of Heat-Resistant Alloys

25, R-41, 75, HR-120, HR-160, 188, 214, 230, 230-W, 242, 263, 556, 617, 625, 65SQ, 718,
X-750, MULTIMET, and Waspaloy

Corrosion-Wear Resistant Alloy

Wear-Resistant Alloy

ULTIMET

6B

HAYNES Titanium Alloy Tubular

Ti-3Al-2.5V
(All trademarks are owned by Haynes International, Inc.)

Standard Forms:
Bar, Billet, Plate, Sheet, Strip, Coils, Seamless or Welded Pipe & Tubing, Pipe Fittings, Flanges,
Fittings, Welding Wire, and Coated Electrodes

Properties Data:
The data and information in this publication are based
on work conducted principally by Haynes International, Inc.
and occasionally supplemented by information from the open
literature, and are believed to be reliable. However, Haynes
does not make any warranty or assume any legal liability or
responsibility for its accuracy, completeness, or usefulness,
nor does Haynes represent that its use would not infringe

upon private rights. Any suggestions as to uses and applications for specific alloys are opinions only and Haynes
International, Inc. makes no warranty of results to be obtained
in any particular situation. For specific concentrations of
elements present in a particular product and a discussion of
the potential health affects thereof, refer to the Material Safety
Data Sheet supplied by Haynes International, Inc.

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