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304719

Failure Analysis of Welded Steam Boiler Flange

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Welding and non-destructive testing.

Abstract

Steam boiler flange, made of steel ASTM A105 welded to spool pipe, experienced a failure near the welding area after six years of service. The operator company has reported that a sudden increase in operating pressure and temperature exceeded the normal operation conditions. As a result, the failed flange and welded spool pipe segments were received for further investigation using root cause analysis to determine the reason for the failure. The failed parts were visually inspected (VT) and tested for subsurface defects with a fluorescent wet magnetic particle test (MT). Chemical analysis, microstructure observations, and hardness tests are conducted for the failed flange and pipe. It is noticed that there were no abnormalities or indications of creep or overheating were found in the microstructure and hardness values. Upon examining the macro & microstructure of the connecting weld joint, several welding defects, such as non-metallic inclusions, few porosities, and lack of fusion between welded passes, were noticed. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observations showed that fine striations as beach marks on the fractured surface provided strong evidence of fatigue failure. The identified crack originated from welding defects and progressed through the flange material due to fluctuating radial stresses due to the cyclic changes in working pressure during service. To prevent similar failures, it is recommended to apply proper welding procedure specifications (WPS) by qualified welders, conduct regular inspections and maintenance of the steam boiler, and keep working conditions stable.

DOI

10.21608/ijmti.2023.204369.1083

Keywords

boiler failure, flange, welding imperfections, fatigue mechanism, un-qualified welders

Authors

First Name

Hamed

Last Name

Abdel-Aleem

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Welding Technology and NDT Dept., Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institutes, P.O. Box 87, Helwan 11722, Egypt

Email

hamedaa@gmail.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0003-4088-726X

First Name

Saad

Last Name

Khodir

MiddleName

Ahmed

Affiliation

Welding Technology and NDT Dept., Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institutes, P.O. Box 87, Helwan 11722, Egypt The University of Bisha, Faculty of Engineering, Mechanical engineering department, 255, Al Nakhil, Bisha 67714, Saudi Arabia

Email

skhodir@ub.edu.sa

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Newishy

MiddleName

Salah

Affiliation

Welding Technology and NDT Dept., Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institutes, P.O. Box 87, Helwan 11722, Egypt

Email

newishymohamed@gmail.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

Volume

3

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

41951

Issue Date

2023-06-01

Receive Date

2023-05-06

Publish Date

2023-06-01

Page Start

30

Page End

36

Online ISSN

2682-4299

Link

https://ijmti.journals.ekb.eg/article_304719.html

Detail API

https://ijmti.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=304719

Order

5

Type

Special issue

Type Code

2,428

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

International Journal of Materials Technology and Innovation

Publication Link

https://ijmti.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Failure Analysis of Welded Steam Boiler Flange

Details

Type

Article

Created At

25 Dec 2024