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Regulatory Guide: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Regulatory Guide: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
April 1978
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGULATORY GUIDE
OFFICE OF STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT
Comments should be sent to the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regu.
USNRC REGULATORY GUIDES latory Commission. Washington. D.C. 20555. Attention Docketing and Service
Regulatory Guides are issued to describe and make available to the public methods Branch.
acceptable to the NRC staff of implementing specific parts of the Commission's
regulations. to delineate techniques used by the staff in evaluating specific problems The guides are issued in the following ten broad divisions
or postulated accidents, or to provide guidance to applicants. Regulatory Guides 6. Products
1. Power Reactors
are not substitutes for regulations. and compliance with them is not required. 7. Transportation
2. Research and Test Reactors
Methods and solutions different from those set out in the guides will be accept. 3. Fuelsand Materials Facilities 8. Occupational Health
able if they provide a basis for the findings requisite to the issuance or continuance 4. Environmental and Siting 9 Antitrust Review
of a permit or license by the Commitsion. 5. Materials and Plant Protection 10. General
Comments and suggestions for improvements in these guides are encouraged at all Requests for single copies of issued guides (which may be reproducedI or for place
ment on an automatic distribution list for single copies of future guides in specific
times, and guides will be revised, as appropriate, to accommodate comments and
to reflect new information or experience. This guide was revised as a result of divisions should be made in writing to the US. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Washington. D.C. 20555, Attention Director. Division of Document Control.
substantive comments received from the public and additional staff review.
by itself to ensure controlled delta ferrite in produc Chromium and Chromium-Nickel Steel Covered
tion welds. The recommendations of this guide are Welding Electrodes,"* which describes a procedure
intended to supplement the ASME Code requirements for pad preparation and ferrite measurement. The
to ensure control of delta ferrite in welds in austenitic NRC staff considers this procedure acceptable for use
stainless steel core support structures and Class 1 and with covered electrodes.
2 components. 3. Instrumentation
The recommendations for testing of production The weld pad should be examined for ferrite con
welds in Revision 1 of this guide have been replaced tent by a magnetic measuring instrument which has
by recommendations for process control by testing of been calibrated against a Magnegage in accordance
weld test pads. These changes will considerably re with American Welding Society Specification AWS
duce the testing effort needed to control delta ferrite A4.2-74, "Procedures for Calibrating Magnetic In
in welds. struments to Measure the Delta Ferrite Content of
The staff recommends that ferrite content in the Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal."'** The Mag
weld filler metal as depicted by a ferrite number (FN) negage should have been previously calibrated in ac
be between 5 and 20. This lower limit provides suffi cordance with AWS A4.2-74 using primary standards
cient ferrite to avoid microfissuring in welds, as defined therein.
whereas the upper limit provides a ferrite content 4. Acceptability of Test Results
adequate to offset dilution. Weld pad test results showing an average Ferrite
Number from 5 to 20 indicate that the filler metal is
C. REGULATORY POSITION acceptable for production welding of Class 1 and 2
1. Verification of Delta Ferrite Content of Filler austenitic stainless steel components and core support
Materials structures.
Prior to production usage, the delta ferrite content The upper limit of 20 may be waived for (a) welds
of test weld deposits from each lot and each heat of that do not receive postweld stress relief heat treat
weld filler metal procured for the welding of austeni ment or welds for which such postweld stress relief
tic stainless steel core support structures and Class 1 treatment is conducted at temperatures less than
and 2 components should be verified for each process 900'F, (b) welds that are given a solution annealing
to be used in production. heat treatment, and (c) welds that employ consuma
ble inserts.
It is not necessary to make delta ferrite determina
5. Quality Assurance
tions for SFA-5.4 type 16-8-2 weld metal or for filler
The applicable provisions of 10 CFR Part 50, Ap
metal used for weld metal cladding. Delta ferrite de
terminations for consumable inserts, electrodes, rod pendix B, should be used in verifying compliance
or wire filler metal used with the gas tungsten arc with requirements for delta ferrite as described
herein.
welding process, and deposits made with the plasma
arc welding process may be predicted from their
chemical composition using an applicable constitu D. IMPLEMENTATION
tional diagram to demonstrate compliance. Delta fer
rite verification should be made for all other proc The purpose of this section is to provide informa
esses by tests using magnetic measuring devices on tion to applicants regarding the NRC staff's plans for
undiluted weld deposits. For submerged arc welding using this regulatory guide.
processes, the verification tests for each wire and Except in those cases in which the applicant pro
flux combination may be made on a production weld poses an acceptable alternative method for complying
or simulated production weld. All other delta ferrite with specified portions of the Commission's regula
weld filler verification tests should be made on weld tions, the method described herein will be used in the
pads that contain undiluted layers of weld metal. evaluation of submittals in connection with construc
tion permit applications docketed after October 1,
2. Ferrite Measurement
1978.
Appendix A to this guide contains extracts from a
If an applicant wishes to use this regulatory guide
future edition of the American Welding Society's in developing submittals for applications docketed on
AWS A5.4, "Specification for Corrosion-Resisting or before October 1, 1978, the pertinent portions of
* This specification has been recommended by the Subcommit the application will be evaluated on the basis of this
tee on Welding of Stainless Steels of the High Alloys Committee guide.
of the Welding Research Council and has been approved by the
American Welding Society (AWS). It is expected to be pub **Copies may be obtained from the American Welding Society,
lished as AWS A5.4-78. 2501 N.W. 7th Street, Miami, Florida 33125.
1.31-2
APPENDIX A
The following is mainly extracted from a future A4.10.3 The welding current used for the size of
edition of the American Welding Society's (AWS) the electrode being tested may be as specified in Fig
"Specification for Corrosion-Resisting Chromium ure 4 and the arc length shall be as short as practica
and Chromium-Nickel Steel Covered Welding Elec ble. The weld bead layers may be deposited with a
trodes," which the AWS plans to publish as AWS weave, if 'necessary, to fill the space between the
A5.4-78.* This material describes a procedure for copper bars. The arc shall not be allowed to impinge
weld pad preparation and ferrite measurement of cov on the copper bars. The welding direction for each
ered electrode** deposits. pass shall be alternated and the weld stops and starts
shall be located at the ends of the weld buildup. Each
EXTRACT: pass shall be cleaned prior to depositing the next
A4. 10 When it is desired to measure ferrite con weld bead. The maximum interpass temperature shall
tent, the following procedure is recommended: be 95'C (200°F).** Between passes, the weld pad
A4.10.1 Weld pads as detailed in Figure 4 are may be cooled by quenching in water not sooner than
prepared as prescribed in paragraphs A4.10.2 20 seconds after the completion of each pass. The
through A4.10.4. last pass shall be air-cooled to below 430'C (800'F)
A4.10.2 The weld pad shall be built up between prior to quenching in water.
two copper bars laid parallel on the base plate by de A4.10.4 The completed weld pad shall be draw
positing single weld bead layers, one on top of the filed, machined, or surface ground to provide suffi
other, to a minimum height of 13 mm (1/2in.). The cient finished surface to make the required ferrite
spacing between the copper bars for the size of the readings. Draw filing or its equivalent filing method
electrode being tested shall be as specified in Figure shall be performed with a 360 mm (14 in.)** mill
4. An optional welding fixture is shown in Figure 5. bastard file held on both sides of the weld with the
If carbon steel is used as the base plate, the weld pad long axis of the file perpendicular to the long axis of
shall be built up to a minimum height of 16 mm (5 the weld. The file should preferably not have been
in.). previously used on ferritic material and should be
* When published, copies of AWS A5.4-78 may be purchased free from loosely adhering materials if previously
from the American Welding Society, 2501 N.W. 7th Street, used. Draw filing shall be accomplished by smooth
Miami, Florida 33125. forward and backward strokes along the length of the
** Note: The U.S. customary units in this specification are weld while applying a firm downward pressure.
given as equivalent values to the SI units. The standard sizes
and dimensions used in the two systems are not identical and for
Crossfiling shall not be permitted. The finished
this reason conversion from a standard size of dimension in one machined, ground, or filed surface shall be smooth
system will not always coincide with the standard size of dimen with all traces of weld ripple removed and shall be
sion in the other. Suitable conversions encompassing standard continuous in the length where measurements are to
sizes of both can be made if appropriate tolerances are applied in be taken. The width of the prepared surface shall not
each case. The SI values (including tolerances) given here for
filler metal diameter, length, and package size were selected to be less than 3 mm (1/8in.).**
fit the product sizes which presently are U.S. standards. Toler A4.10.5 A total of six ferrite readings shall be
ances are used in some cases in this specification but not in taken on the prepared surface along the longitudinal
others. In those cases where no tolerances are given, the values axis of the weld pad with an instrument calibrated in
are those that would be obtained if the measurements were taken
in SI units. In this specification, a covered electrode is defined accordance with the procedures specified in AWS
as follows: Covered Electrode-A composite filler-metal elec A4.2, "Standard Procedures for Calibrating Magnetic
trode consisting of a core of a bare electrode or metal cored Instruments to Measure the Delta Ferrite Content of
electrode to which a covering sufficient to provide a slag layer Austenitic Stainless Steel Weld Metal" (latest edition).
on the weld metal has been applied. The covering may contain A4.10.6 The six readings 'obtained shall be aver
materials providing such functions as shielding from the atmos
phere, deoxidation, and arc stabilization and can serve as a aged to a single value for conversion to Ferrite
source of metallic additions to the weld. Number.
1.31-3
- LL
Ferrite shall
be measured in
this area
free of arc
-H starts and
craters 1
Copper bar I
I
I
1465 min .
1 40 -25 min o I
U.S. EQUIVALENTS*
mm in.
1.6 1/16
2.0 5/64
2.4 3/32
3.2 1/8
4.0 5/32
4.8 3/16
Electrode Welding In drawing above 6.4 1/4
diameter current (approx. mm) 6 0.25
(mm) (amperes) W L 8 0.3
9.5 3/8
1.6 35-45 6 30 10 0.4
2.0 45-55 6 30 13 0.5
2.4 65-75 8 40 15 0.6
3.2 90-100 10 40 18 0.7
4.0 120-140 13 40 25 1
4.8 165-185 15 40 30 1-1/4
240-260 18 40 40 1-1/2
65 2-1/2
75 3
1.31-4
Copper bars 85 long of
cross section as shown
in A-A' below.
A
I
Type 1
COPPER
16 BAR
U.S. EQUIVALENTS*
MM in.
T Cross Section A-A'
4.0 5/32
This design allows increased visibility,
4.8 3/16 making it easier to hold a short arc
length.
9.5 3/8
16 5/8
25 1 COPPEIR COPPER
BAR BAR
70 2-3/4 25 square
85 3-3/8
Type 2
*See Editor's Note on Page 1.31-3.
For 4.8 & larger welding electrodes and
for any pads on carbon steel base plate
1.31-5