Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Failure of tube used in high pressure steam generator due

to incrustation deposits
S.S.M. Tavares a,⇑, C. Scandian b, M.C.S. de Macêdo b, J.M. Pardal a, F.J. da Silva b
a
Universidade Federal Fluminense, Escola de Engenharia, Rua Passo da Pátria, 156, CEP 24210-240 Niterói, RJ, Brazil
b
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Av Fernando Ferrari, 514, CEP 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this work a failure analysis was conducted to investigate the premature failure of ASTM
Available online 16 November 2012 106-Gr.B seamless tube used in steam generators. The failure occurred after 3 years of
operation, due to a macroscopic crack with approximately 50 mm in the longitudinal direc-
Keywords: tion. Incrustration deposits found in the region of failure were identified as sodium alumi-
Steam generator tube num silicates (albite and nepheline). Micro-hardness profile showed a sharp increase of
Incrustation deposits hardness near the crack, which was associated to microstructural changes observed by
Creep
optical microscopy. Local over-heating of the tube has occurred due to the incrustation
ASTM A-106 steel
deposits. As a consequence, creep damage was produced and caused the crack of the tube.
Temperatures in the austenitic field were achieved, since martensitic, bainitic and Wid-
mansttäten ferrite structures were observed near the crack. In the crack tip, at the moment
of leaking, the austenite underwent rapid cooling from the high temperature, producing
hard microstructures in the crack neighborhood. Correct water treatment is recommended
to avoid future failures in this type of tube.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

ASTM A-106 [1] is the specification standard for seamless tubes made of low carbon steel killed with Si. These tubes are
extensively used in many industries, operating with safety in temperatures lower than 400 °C. Higher service temperatures
are not recommended to this class of steel because the risk of creep and excessive oxidation (scaling).
During operation of boilers the water treatment plays an important role to the materials integrity. Chemical additions to
control the pH and oxygen level are made to obtain magnetite (Fe3O4) as corrosion product. This provides an effective pro-
tection by passivation [2].
In this work a failure of an ASTM A-106 Grade B super heater tube from high pressure steam boiler was investigated. The
failure and leaking was due to the 50 mm longitudinal crack show in Fig. 1. The tube has 125 mm of diameter and 8.6 mm
thickness, and its dimensions did not change after failure, except near the crack.

2. Experimental

Fig. 2 shows the internal side of the cracked tube. Thick incrustations deposits are observed in the internal wall near the
crack. These deposits were collected for chemical analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX or EDS) in the
scanning electron microscope (SEM).

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 21 2629 5584; fax: +55 21 2629 5368.
E-mail address: [email protected] (S.S.M. Tavares).

1350-6307/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2012.10.026
26 S.S.M. Tavares et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32

Fig. 1. Crack of super heater tube (external side).

Fig. 2. Internal side of the tube failed.

Fig. 3. Detail of the crack (external side) and specimen cut for analysis.

The steel composition was checked by combustion (C and S) and spark analysis (other elements). A specimen from the
crack region was cut for analysis, as shown in Fig. 3. Special care was taken to keep the parts cold during cutting. The micro-
structure of different parts of the cross section were investigated by light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), and micro-hardness with 100 gf. A Vickers hardness profile near the main crack was obtained with
10 kgf load.
X-ray diffraction (XRD) of incrustation deposits was performed in a Bruker D8 Advanced diffractometer operating with Cu
Ka radiation. The cusp was properly milled for this analysis.

3. Results and discussion

The chemical composition of the steel was 0.21%C–0.23%Si–0.47%Mn–0.01%P–0.01%S–0.03Al–0.02%Cu–0.04%Ni–0.03%Cr

(%wt.). This composition is typical of ASTM A-106 Grade B, except for the higher Si content.
Fig. 4 shows the specimen cut as shown in Fig. 3. Incrustation or cusp deposits present in the internal side were removed
for analysis and the specimen was prepared by polishing and etching with nital 2%.
Four regions of Fig. 4 were selected for analysis. Region 1 has the typical ferrite–pearlite microstructure of the ASTM A-
106 Gr.B steel, as shown in Fig. 5. The pearlite volume fraction measured by quantitative metallography using 20 fields was
0.24 ± 0.03, and the hardness was 166 ± 4 HV10.
In region 2, the microstructure starts to change. As shown in Fig. 6, cementite of pearlite has undergone spheroidization.
In region 3, micro-cracks were observed in the internal wall (Fig. 7a). Micro-hardness measured at this region was
174 HV0.1. The ferrite–pearlite microstructure in this region is quite different from that of region 1 (Fig. 5). The pearlite
 S.S.M. Tavares et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32 27

Fig. 4. Specimen analyzed containing the principal crack (region 4).

Fig. 5. Microstructure of region 1 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6. Microstructure of region 2 of Fig. 4.

volume fraction at this region was 0.33 + 0.04, which suggests that this portion of material has been austenitized and cooled
with such a rate that promoted formation of an amount of pearlite higher than that of the original tube.
Region 4 corresponds to the main crack. An area reduction of about 23% was measured in the crack surface. In the internal
side several secondary cracks and traces of the cusp deposit were observed (Fig. 8).
The incrustation deposits were analyzed by EDS revealing important peaks of Al, Si and Na, as shown in Fig. 9. This first
analysis suggested that the cusp was a sodium aluminum silicate. X-ray diffraction analysis of fragments of the deposit con-
firmed the presence of two sodium aluminum silicates, albite (Na(AlSi3O6), triclinic) and nepheline (Na6.8(Al6.3Si9.7O32), hex-
agonal), as shown in Fig. 10.
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Fig. 7. Images from region 3 of Fig. 4: (a) micro-cracks and micro-hardness indentation (174 HV); (b) microstructure with ferrite and 33% of pearlite.

Fig. 8. Secondary cracks and traces of incrustation observed in region 4 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9. EDS spectra of incrustation deposits.

Fig. 11a shows the micro-hardness indentation near the secondary crack shown in Fig. 8a. Fig. 11b shows the martensitic
microstructure found in this region, which is in accordance to the high micro-hardness measured (average 460 HV0.1).
Fig. 12a–d shows the martensitic structure, pores and intergranular cracks of the same region.
Micro-pores and intergranular cracks are observed by LOM and SEM, suggesting creep damage. Fig. 13 shows the pores
and interconnecting cracks without etching.
The hardness of region 4, close to the principal crack, varied through the thickness. Moving toward the external wall the
hardness was reduced as shown in Fig. 14. At the external wall, where the average hardness measured was 260 HV, the
microstructure was composed by bainite, ferrite and martensite (Fig. 15a-b). Creep damage is also evident from these
images. Over-heating due to analcite deposits has promoted the austenitization in a large region of the specimen, as well
 S.S.M. Tavares et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32 29

Fig. 10. X-ray diffraction pattern of the incrustation.

Fig. 11. (a) Micro-hardness indentation and (b) martenstic microstructure near the secondary crack shown in Fig. 8(a).

the failure by creep in region 4. At the moment of cracking the water leaking caused the severe cooling in region 4. The inter-
nal side of this region, close to the main crack, has undergone an almost complete martensitic transformation. In the region
close to the external wall the cooling rate was probably lower, causing the formation of bainite, ferrite and some martensite.
Austenitization was also achieved in regions like region 3 of Fig. 4, with small cracks nucleated in the internal side (Fig. 7a),
but they were not hardened because high pressure water leaking has not occurred. Fig. 16 shows the crack profile obtained at
middle thickness, indicating that the hardness increase occurred in a region of about 3 mm.

4. Discussion

Due to their low thermal conductivity, cusp or incrustation deposits on the surface of boilers usually cause problems like
increase of fuel consumption, formation of areas susceptible to corrosion when porous deposits are formed, and rupture by
creep due to intense over-heating [2]. The work of Chattoraj et al. [3] shows an example of corrosion degradation and local
over-heating due to the formation of porous oxide layers. The authors found elements such as Cu, P, Fe, Si, Mg and Cu by EDS
analysis, and deposits of Ca2P2O, Ca5(PO4)2SiO2, Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 by XRD.
As explained by Jones [4], the feature common to all water tubes is that they are meant to operate under conditions of
highest possible heat transfer. Heat is supplied to the outer surfaces by flue gases and removed from the inner surfaces
by the water circulating around the boiler. Deposits of hard-water scale, and even layers of corrosion product can provide
effective thermal barriers. For instance, in the work of Frasca [5] it is estimated that a deposit of a sodium aluminum silicate
(analcite or analcime) with 0.015 mm of thickness makes the metal temperature increase by about 100 °C. In the present
investigation, incrustation deposits of 1.0 mm of thickness were observed in some regions near the principal crack of the
tube.
Si, Al and Na were detected by EDS analysis. In accordance, two sodium aluminum silicates were identified by XRD.
Baoyou et al. [6] found deposits containing Al, Si and Ca in another failure analysis of boiler tube. The origin of these elements
30 S.S.M. Tavares et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32

Fig. 12. Microstructure of the region 4 near the internal wall.

Fig. 13. Micro-pores and cracks observed without etching.

in the incrustation deposits is the presence of their cations (Al3+, Na+ and Si4+) in the un-treated or un-correctly treated
water. Once the conditions for precipitation are achieved the cusp is formed in the internal surface of the tube.
The sodium aluminum silicates incrustation may be avoided by the correct treatment of water processed in the boiler.
The general recommendations in this field are the reduction of O2 content by chemical additions and mechanical de-aeration,
the use of de-mineralized water (remove cations), and pH control [5].
According to Dhua [7], stress rupture mechanism in boiler tubes can be categorized as ‘‘short-term over-heating’’ and
‘‘high-temperature creep’’. In short-term overheating failures, often termed as ‘thin-lip’’ failure, deformation occurs in the
form of metal elongation and considerable reduction in tube-wall thickness is observed. It is often characterized by
‘knife-edged’ fracture surfaces. Wall thinning and local bulging occurs prior to the actual failure, due to the softening of
the material at elevated temperature. In high-temperature creep, premature failures occur when the temperature and stres-
ses exceed the designed values. The mechanisms responsible for damage and failure are those of creep, i.e., diffusion, climb,
 S.S.M. Tavares et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32 31

Fig. 14. Hardness measured near the crack edge (region 4 of Fig. 4).

Fig. 15. Microstructure of the region 4 near the external wall.

Fig. 16. Hardness profile near the crack.

grain boundary diffusion, pores and grain boundary sliding. Externally, in both cases, the fracture surface has a ‘fish-mouth’
appearance.
Although the fracture analyzed shows features typical of short-term over-heating, such as the area reduction of 23%, mi-
cro-pores observed near the principal crack suggest that creep damage has occurred.
32 S.S.M. Tavares et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 35 (2013) 25–32

Investigations of over-heating of boiler tubes are often correlated to microstructural changes of the steel [3,4,6–8]. Chat-
toraj et al. [3] and Baoyou et al. [6] observed spheroidization, dissociation of the pearlite lamellae, and decarburization in the
heat affected areas. Dhua [7] estimated that the steel was heated in the Ac1–Ac3 interval, and also observed decarburization,
spheroidization and grafitization of pearlite.
In this work, the microstructures observed and the increase of hardness observed in the crack edge region indicates that
the material has been heated to temperatures above Ac3. Similar results were found by Jones [4] in a 0.13%C carbon steel
tube.

5. Conclusions

The failure of the ASTM A-106 Grade B steam generator tube was due to over-heating caused by sodium aluminum sil-
icates incrustation (cusp) in the internal wall.
Temperatures in the austenitic field were achieved. Soon after failure the water leaking provoked fast cooling and mar-
tensitic transformation in the region of the through thickness crack.
Micro-pores and intergranular cracks observed near the fracture surface indicate creep damage.
The main recommendation to prevent this type of failure is to avoid incrustation by the correct treatment of the water
used in the boiler.

Acknowledgment

Authors acknowledge Professor Jackson A.L.C. Resende from the fruitfull collaboration and the use of the LDRX-UFF facil-
ities (X-ray diffractometer).

References

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1997;4:279–86.
[4] Jones DRH. Creep failures of overheated boiler, superheater and reformer tubes. Eng Fail Anal 2004;11:873–93.
[5] Frasca M. Boiler system efficiency improves with effective water treatment. Energy Matters 1999(May):2–3.
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