Weldability and Joining of Materials

Job knowledge100:
Welding of Ferritic Cryogenic Steels
Ferritic cryogenic steels are nickel containing low alloy steels
designed to operate safely at temperatures substantially below 0C
and are characterised by good tensile properties and high impact
strength at low temperatures.
The nickel content ranges from around 1.5 to 9%, although there
are some fine grained carbon-manganese steels that may be
operated at temperatures as low as -50C. These grades of steel
are generally found in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries
where they are used for the handling and storage of liquefied
petroleum gases (LPG) at temperatures down to approximately -
100C and, in the case of the 9% nickel steel, down to -196C.
They are also found in the gas processing industry for the
production and handling of gases such as carbon dioxide and
oxygen as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Approximate minimum service temperatures and applications of
the cryogenic steels
Steel Type
Specification
(Plate)
Minimum service
temperature C
Typical storage/
processing application
Fine grained Al
killed C/Mn steel
EN10028-3
P460NL2
-50 Ammonia, propane (LPG)
1.5% Ni steel
EN10028-4
15NiMn6
-60
Ammonia, propane, carbon
disulphide
2.5% Ni steel ASTM A203 GrB -60
Ammonia, propane, carbon
disulphide
3.5% Ni steel
ASTM A203Gr E
EN10028-4
12Ni14
-101
Carbon dioxide, acetylene,
ethane
5% Ni steel
EN10028-4
X12Ni5
-130 Ethylene (LEG)
9% Ni steel
ASTM
A353/A553Tp1
EN10028-4
X8Ni9
-196
Methane (LNG), oxygen,
argon
Austenitic stainless
steel
ASTM 304L
EN10088-1
1.4305
-273 Nitrogen, hydrogen, helium


The choice of which steel to use for any particular application depends not only on
the temperature but also on such aspects as section thickness required by design
and the possibility of stress corrosion.
The applications of these steels require that the mechanical properties, in
particular the toughness, of welds and their associated heat affected zones match
or are very close to those of the parent metals. The fabrication of the cryogenic
steels into pipework and vessels therefore requires careful selection of welding
consumables and close control of welding parameters.
Manual metallic arc (SMAW) electrodes matching the composition and Charpy-V
impact strength of the fine grained carbon manganese steels at -50C can be
obtained, for example, AWS A5.5 E7018-1 electrodes, although the addition of a
small amount of nickel, up to 1%, will give added confidence in achieving the
required toughness. Matching C/Mn composition MAG (GMAW), flux cored (FCAW)
and submerged arc (SA) consumables will not give adequate toughness at -50C
and require nickel to provide the required as-welded toughness.
This is generally limited to a maximum of 1%Ni to comply with the NACE
International ISO15156-2/MR0175 requirement for use in sour service. For even
greater confidence that acceptable Charpy-V values can be achieved and to
provide an improved tolerance to procedural variations then 2.5% nickel
containing consumables may be used.
The 1.5%Ni and 2.5%Ni steels may be welded with 2.5% Ni consumables and
these will provide adequate toughness down to -60C in both the as-welded and
post weld heat treated (PWHT) condition. A word of caution, however; the tensile
strength of PWHT'd TIG and MAG weld metal may fall below the minimum
specified for the parent metal MAG weld metal deposited using a shield gas with a
high proportion (>20%) of CO
2
appears to be particularly sensitive.
Consumables are available for the MMA and SAW welding processes but not for
the TIG, MAG or FCAW processes.
For depositing TIG root passes in the 3.5 Ni alloys, a 2.5% Ni filler metal is
normally used. Although the 3.5% Ni consumables are capable of providing
adequate toughness at -101C they are very sensitive to variations in welding
parameters, heat input and welding position. This sensitivity results in a wide
variability of impact test results so for the more demanding applications
alternative, nickel based filler metals such as AWS ENiCrFe-2 or EniCrFe-3 are
often used enabling all of the conventional arc welding processes to be used.
The 5% Ni and 9% Ni alloys are conventionally welded using a nickel based filler
metal. 6.5% Ni MMA electrodes are available but these are not capable of
consistently providing adequate toughness much below -110C. Consumables for
welding the 9% Ni alloy have been developed; these typically contain 12% to
14% nickel. However, the cost of production is such that they do not compete
with the nickel based alternatives.
A problem with the nickel based consumables that were initially used to weld
these steels is that their tensile strength is substantially less than that of the
parent metal. Higher strength fillers of the AWS EniCrMo-3 (alloy 625) type are
now readily available and these enable all the arc welding processes to be used.
They also match parent metals with respect to toughness and ultimate tensile
strength although the 0.2% proof strength of TIG, MIG and SAW weld metals may
fall below that specified for the 9%Ni steel.
As with any steel where good toughness is required, heat input must be controlled.
It is recommended that interpass temperatures are limited to a maximum of
250C and ideally less than 150C for the 9%Ni alloy. Heat input from welding
should be limited to approximately 3.5kj/mm for SAW and 2.5kj/mm for MMA.

Preheat may be required for the carbon-manganese and up to 3.5% Ni alloys,
depending upon section thickness, joint type and restraint to reduce the risk of
hydrogen cold cracking. ASME B31.3, for example, recommends minimum
preheat temperatures of 79C for carbon steels greater than 25mm thick, 93C
for all thicknesses of the 1.5%, 2.5% and 3.5% nickel steels but only 10C for the
5% and 9% Ni alloys. The reason for this low preheat temperature is that these
high nickel content alloys contain a large amount of austenite that can tolerate
large amounts of hydrogen. This austenite therefore substantially reduces the risk
of cold cracking; in addition, they are conventionally welded with nickel based
alloys that reduce the risk even further.
Post weld heat treatment is not generally required for the 9%Ni steels; indeed, EN
13445-4 recommends that PWHT should be avoided. The ASME codes, however,
specify a PWHT of 552C to 585C for both 9%Ni and 5%Ni alloys when thickness
exceeds 51mm (2 inches). There are also differences in PWHT requirements in the
EN and the ASME specifications for the other types of low temperature steels
discussed in this article as tabulated below.
EN 13445-4 ASME B31.3
Steel type
Thickness
(mm)
Temperature
range (C)
Thickness
(mm)
Temperature
range (C)
FG C/Mn >35 550-600 >19 593-649
1.5%Ni >35 530-580 >19 593-635
2.5%Ni >35 530-580 >19 593-635
3.5%Ni >35 530-580 >19 593-635
5%Ni >35 530-580 51 552-585
9%Ni all none 51 552-585

Close control of the PWHT temperature is most important as nickel reduces the
lower transformation temperature.
Exceeding the specified temperatures, particularly of the 3.5%Ni and above alloys,
may cause the parent metal to transform, resulting in a substantial loss of tensile
strength.
One significant problem that is frequently encountered with the nickel steels is
that of residual magnetism causing arc blow. This is a particular problem with the
9%Ni steel which can become easily and very strongly magnetised, making it
impossible to weld with the arc welding processes. Extreme care needs to be
taken during handling, transportation and erection to minimise the effect. Use of
alternating current during welding can help overcome some of the difficulties but
it may be necessary to degauss the area surrounding the weld.

This article was written by Gene Mathers.
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