A failure was reported in sea fire water lines, with CuNi 90/10 material in one of our projects.

CuNi 90/10 material is normally

resistant to sea water service up to 100 °C and maximum velocity of 2.5 to 3.5 m/s (based on ISO 21457). The cracks were
located base metals adjacent to weld metals, between pipes and full couplings. They were all located in the coupling side, no
crack was seen in the pipe side. 
CuNi 90/10 piping materials are covered by EEMUA 144, 145 and 146 standards. Also they are covered by ASTM standards such
as B466 and B467.
Chemical composition of the pipes and fittings Material test certificates (MTCs) were evaluated against EEMUA standard and
they were both compatible and their chemical composition was in accordance with EEMUA 144, 145 and 146. They are specified
in below table:

A sample of pipe and coupling was sent to the lab for chemical and mechanical analysis. The results was compatible with the
certificate for the pipe but the chemical composition was considerably different for the couplings. Apparently fake certificates
was provided for the couplings. The results are specified in below table:

As can be seen in above table, amount of Pb, Fe and Zn are outside the limitations, specified by the standard. Among which Iron
(Fe) affects the mechanical strength and lowering the Fe content would decrease the erosion resistance of copper nickel material
(as specified in EEMUA 144, 145 and 146). On the other hand, although Zinc (Zn) may have negative effect on welding of
Copper-Nickel material but such minor deviation on its weight percent cannot cause a serious problem. But lead (Pb) with such
deviation in chemical composition, may have a negative effect on the Copper-Nickel materials. As specified in ASTM B 466,
“When the product is for subsequent welding applications, , lead shall be 0.02 % max.”. therefore lead values above 0.02% is
detrimental to the welding. By reviewing the lab test result it is clear that the lead content is 0.05 % (2.5 times the allowed value
by ASTM and 5 times the allowed value by EEMUA).
Such failure can be attributed to hot cracking (solidification cracking). On the other hand although they are somehow
conceptually different but it can also be attributed to a form of Liquid metal embrittlement (LME). Based on API 571, LME
occurs in very specific combination of metals in contact with low melting point metals. So, LME normally occurs when sensitive
materials are externally in contact with low melting point materials (such coating). On the other hand based on ASM handbook
volume 11 “Alloys that contain a discrete low-melting-point phase rather than an external molten material have evinced LME
failures”
Metals that have been shown to cause liquid metal embrittlement are summarized in below table based on ASM handbook
Volume 11. 

as can be seen in above table, lead can causes embrittlement of copper alloys. Lead with its low melting point (327.5 °C) would
be solidifies at the latest stages of solidification, since the the melting point of CuNi 90/10 is approximately 1100-1200°C.
Therefore Lead would be segregated in the grain boundaries which make it prone to cracking by of applying stresses to the
piping system (the stress can be either applied or residual).
Therefore the presence of lead (more than the allowed limitation) can be the cause of the failures observed in the CuNi 90/10
coupling materials. In such cases metallography and EDS analysis of the crack surface would help considerably to determine the
failure mechanism.