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Industrial services circular no 2019-11 dated 28.11.19

Issue no. 100

Subject : Nickel steels and Nickel alloys

Gentlemen ,

This is the hundredth technical circular and we have taken this subject to give you more
awareness of these materials.

You can see from the title we have split the subject in to two
A) Nickel steel
B) Nickel alloys

 Materials having the presence of Nickel are not new to us.

 We are all familiar with austenitic stainless steel where we have Nickel percentages
varying from 8% in 304 to 20% in 310 .
 We will not be dealing with that now as we have dealt about this earlier.

 Now coming to other materials involving Nickel , we will proceed first with
LAS where Nickel is the active constituent .

A) Nickel Steels (Low alloy steel)

 There is nothing like separate identity as Nickel steel , they all come under
LAS category .
 These steels come under Ferrous material and referred to in ASME Sec IIA.
 These steels are intended to be used in equipment that operates in cryogenic
temperature (Temperature below minus 60 °C).
 Steel in general lose their toughness as the temperature is lowered
and some times register sharp fall over a narrow temperature zone called transition
range

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 We have some factors which lowers the transition temperature such as

Minimum carbon , de oxidation , fine grain size , normalising or Q&T and
and alloying with Nickel

 The presence of Nickel varies from 1% to 9% .

 As the presence of Nickel increases ,the material can be used in lower and lower
cryogenic temperatures

We have three popular grades 2.5%, 3.5% Nickel and 9% Nickel steel

 First we will take up 2.5% Nickel

 This steel has an operating temperature of (-60)°C
 ASME Spec SA203

 Though meant for cryogenic temperature material specification leaves the

impact test temperature at the discretion of end user .
 The electrode suitable for this material is E8016-C1 or E8018-C1
 This electrode contains 2 to 2.5% Ni and the impact test temperature as per
ASME Sec IIC is (-60)°C .
 A service temperature of fabricated equipment using 2.5% Nickel material and
welded with E8016-C1 or E8018-C1 is limited by this .
 It can be more but not less

 This material used for equipment meant for transportation of liquid butane and
propane.

 All equipment require PWHT .

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 Now we will take up 3.5% Nickel

 This steel has an operating temperature of (-101)°C
 ASME Spec SA203

 This steel is used in fabrication of cryogenic columns such as liquid ethylene .

 The filler metal for this is E8016-C2 or E8018-C2 which has a impact test
temperature (-75)°C

 While welding of LTCS up to 3.5 % Nickel steel a pre heat of about 100-125 °C is
applied . Pre heat is generally increased to 150 °C when the carbon content is
above 20 % or the joint is under constrain .

 Though the base material can with stand an impact test temperature of (-101)°C,
the weld metal cannot .
 Hence for equipment operating below (-75)°C, this material is welded with E309

 Ethylene column which has lower temperature than this is welded with E309 and
Inconel .
 No Indian manufacturer has fabricated equipment using 3.5% Ni and they are all
imported from abroad as part of supply package from the project licensor .

 9% Nickel Steel
 We have two specifications for this SA353 and SA553 .

 They are both similar except that heat treatment condition is different

This plate is double normalised and tempered and there is elaborate heat treatment
procedures are given by the code
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 This plate is quenched and tempered as can be seen from above there is elaborate
heat treatment procedures are given by the code

 Physical properties both SA353 and SA553 are different due the effect of different
heat treatment

 We have three types under this specification

 Our reference material is Type 1 as can be seen from above .

 9% Nickel is impact tested at (-196)°C .

 It is used in the construction LNG tanks (Liquified Natural Gas , Methane)

 No pre heat is applied unless the thickness is above 50 mm .

 9% Ni steel are welded by SMAW and SAW process using appropriate electrodes /
filler wires .

 Popular grades are

• SMAW –E Ni Cr Mo-6 and E Ni Cr Mo-3

• SAW - Er NiCr Mo-3

• Weld metals give both strength and toughness properties in par base metal

 Typical welding issues faced in 9% Ni steel welding

 9%Ni steel can easily become very strongly magnetised, making it impossible to
weld with the arc welding processes.

 Arc blow occurs in DC arc welding when the arc stream does not follow the shortest
path between the electrode and the workpiece and is deflected forward or
backward from the direction of travel or, less frequently, to one side .
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To understand the phenomenon it is helpful to

visualize a magnetic field

The concentric flux fields will

remain circular when they can stay
in one medium expansive until they diminish
But if the medium changes (such as from steel
plate to air), the circular lines of force are
distorted and tend to concentrate in the steel
where they encounter less resistance..

 At a boundary between the edges of a steel plate and air, there is a squeezing of

the magnetic flux lines, causing deformation in the circular lines of force.

 This squeezing can result in a heavy concentration of flux behind or ahead of a

welding arc. The arc then tends to move in the direction that would relieve the
squeezing and restore the magnetic field balance.

 It veers away from the side of magnetic flux concentration.

 This veering is observed as arc blow.

 Arc blow can cause or contribute to defects such as undercut, inconsistent

penetration, crooked beads, beads of irregular width, porosity, wavy beads and
excessive spatter.

 Use of alternating current during welding can help overcome some of the
difficulties .
 The rapid reversal of the current induces eddy currents in the base metal, and the
fields set up by the eddy currents greatly reduce the strength of the magnetic fields
that cause arc blow.
 Holding as short an arc as possible to help the arc force counteract the arc blow
 Magnetic fields above 20 Gauss can create problem .
 Requirement related to post weld joint treatment.

 Other LTCS materials like SA 516 and SA 537 and SA 203 (Ni steel ) may require
PWHT as called for by design codes .

 However 9% Ni steel is not necessary for thicknesses below 51 mm .

 ASME B31.3 Table 331.1.1 recommends a PWHT temperature between

552-585 ° C.
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 EN 13445-4 Table 10.1-1 recommends avoiding of PWHT of 9% Ni steel .

B) Now we will proceed to Nickel Alloys

 Nickel Alloys are non ferrous steel and appear in ASME Sec II B

 Nickel has FCC structure at all temperature up to its melting point .

 Since it has good corrosion resistance Nickel is used in food processing plants ,
caustic handling equipment, chemical containers and other similar application .

 Nickel is alloyed with other metals to improve mechanical properties and to make it
resistance to corrosion and oxidation at room and high temperatures .

We have five major groups

1)Nickel+ Copper Monel 400

2) Nickel + Chromium +2.5% Fe Inconel 600, Inconel 601 and Inconel 625

3) Nickel+Iron+Chromium Incoloy 800 and Incoloy 825

4)Nickel+ Molydenum Hastelloy B, Hastelloy N and Hastelloy W

5) Nickel+ Chromium +Molydenum Hastelloy C

Below is the comprehensive list of the popular Nickel alloys

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Welding of Nickel Alloys

 An important point to be borne in mind during welding of Ni and its alloys is that
they are extremely susceptible to embrittlement by S, P and low melting alloys like
lead .These elements are likely to be present in oil , grease , paint , marking inks
and crayons .

 Joint surfaces and the adjoining base metal must therefore be thoroughly cleaned
by vapour degreasing or swabbing with solvent such as acetone .

 Foreign matter embedded in the base metal must be removed by grinding ,

abrasive blasting and swabbing with 10% HCL solution followed by thorough water
wash .

 Oxides must be removed from the joint surfaces by brushing .

 Sulphur and Phosphorus form low melting eutectics with nickel , which segregate at
grain boundaries during weld metal solidification causing hot cracks .

 Nickel and its alloys are weldable by common arc welding processes .Pre heat is
not required while inter pass temperatures during multi pass welding is not allowed
to exceed 100°C
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Conclusion

We have taken this subject for the reasons that , 9%Nickel steel , Inconal , Incoloy and
Hastelloy C are used in the indian fabrication industry .

Some of us have exposure to these materials and some of us are not

This technical circular 100 is a comprehensive information about these materials for the
benefit of all .

Raghunathan Balaji.
Head –Technical.