Appendix D.

Repair Welding of Pressure Vessels with Temper

Bead Technique

Contents

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Page

D1.0

Introduction

D-2

D2.0

Scope

D-2

D3.0

General Requirements

D-3

D4.0

Repair Weld Procedure Qualification

D-3

D5.0

Repair Welding

D-5

D6.0

Nondestructive Examination of Repair Weld

D-7

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Appendix D

D1.0

Pressure Vessel Manual

Introduction
Repair welding of pressure vessels that received a postweld heat treatment (stress
relief) during original construction should normally be accompanied by a postweld
heat treatment (PWHT) after repair welding. However, postweld heat treatment is
much more difficult to accomplish when a pressure vessel is repaired at the operating plant site, compared to that performed for the original construction in a fabrication shop. Moreover, local postweld heat treatments can result in damage to the
vessel, due to uneven thermal expansion and consequent thermal stresses. Measures
to prevent this damage from occurring can add considerably to the time and cost of
repairs.
Both API 510, Pressure Vessel Inspection Code, and the National Board Inspection Code recognize that postweld heat treatment after repair welding can be either
impractical or undesirable. Both of these documents permit repair welding with a
temper-bead technique (also referred to as the half bead technique) in lieu of
postweld heat treatment, although the repair is limited to P-1 (carbon steels) and
P-3 (carbon Moly, Cr- Moly) materials. These codes, however, do not
prescribe sufficiently rigorous procedures for the qualification of temper bead
repair weld procedures, nor do they incorporate adequate controls for the application of the procedures and NDE to assure the integrity of the repairs. ASME Code,
Section XI, Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Plant Components, contains requirements for temper bead repair welding that are technically superior to those in
API 510 and the National Board Code. The requirements in Section XI can be
adapted for the repair of Section VIII pressure vessels and thereby enable repairs to
be made with a temper bead technique that will provide a high degree of assured
reliability in many process environments. This Appendix in fact explains how
Section XI can be adapted so that repairs can be made to Section VIII pressure
vessels by using a temper head technique.

D2.0

Scope
Repair welding with the temper bead technique is presently limited to P-1, carbon
steels and P-3, Mo and Cr- Mo alloy steels. Research is being conducted that
may enable the use of temper bead repair welding techniques with P-4 and 5, 1 or
1 Cr- Mo and 2 Cr-1 Mo low alloy steels.
It is recommended that weld procedure qualifications should be made for the above
P-1 and P-3 materials before the need arises for the application of the technique to
the actual repair of a vessel. Prequalification of the procedures in a programmed
manner would provide the confidence to repair-weld a pressure vessel without
postweld heat treatment, whenever there is urgent need to return equipment to
service without delay.
Temper bead repair welding techniques should be used for pressure vessels that
received a postweld heat treatment to prevent stress-corrosion cracking in the
process environment only if a hardness traverse is included in the weld procedure
qualification, and when an experienced pressure vessel engineer is consulted prior
to making the repair.

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Pressure Vessel Manual

Appendix D

The depth of the repair is not limited, provided that the weld procedure qualification meets all of the requirements of Section D4.0 below.

D3.0

General Requirements
1.

Only the shielded metal arc welding process (SMAW) using low hydrogen electrodes can be used. The maximum bead width must be four times the electrode
diameter.

2.

Covered electrodes used for the procedure qualification and repair welding
must be handled as follows:
Immediately upon removal of the electrodes from sealed containers they
must be transferred to a holding oven at a temperature between 225F and
350F. The electrodes must be retained in the oven until no more that
15 minutes before use.

b.

Electrodes exposed to the atmosphere for between 15 minutes and 2 hours

before use must be returned to the oven for at least 8 hours before they can
be reissued for use. Electrodes exposed to the atmosphere for more than
2 hours before use must be discarded.

c.

Welding materials must be controlled during repair in such a manner that

they are identified as acceptable material until consumed. Materials that
are not identified must be removed from the work area and discarded.

3.

Electrodes must be selected to give a tensile strength not less than the
minimum tensile strength of the base material, nor more than 10% greater than
the actual tensile strength of the base material, whenever possible.

4.

Preheat for repair welding must be 350 F minimum.

5.

Peening may be performed to minimize distortion and residual stress, provided

it is also used on the welds made to qualify the repair procedure. Limits on
impact application, force, and tool geometry must be defined.

6.

D4.0

a.

a.

Peening must not be used on the initial layer of the weld metal nor on the
final layer of weld metal.

b.

Peening must not be used if postweld heat treatment was required for the
process environment.

Post heating of the repair weld must be at 450F to 500F.

Repair Weld Procedure Qualification

The repair welding procedure and the welders performing the repair weld must be
qualified in accordance with ASME Code, Section IX, the requirements of ASME
Code, Section VIII (Division 1 or 2), and the following:

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Appendix D

D4.1

Pressure Vessel Manual

Repair Weld Procedure Qualification

1.

The test assembly materials for the welding procedure qualification must be of
the same specification type, grade, and class, including a postweld heat treatment that is at least equivalent to the time and temperature applied to the materials being repaired. The procedure and performance qualification test may be
combined, if so desired, provided Section IX requirements are met.

2.

The test assembly thickness must be at least five times the depth of repair,
except as specified in (5) below, but need not exceed the thickness of the material to be repaired, provided the required test samples can be removed.

3.

The test assembly must be large enough to permit removal of the required test
specimens. In order to simulate the restraint that the weld metal will experience
in the repair section of the component, the test assembly dimensions
surrounding the cavity must be the thickness of the component at the location
of the repair but not less than 6 inches.

4.

The cavity length of the test assembly must be the smaller of 18 inches or the
length of the cavity to be repaired, provided the required test specimens can be
removed.

5.

When the thickness of the base metal to be repaired is greater than 2 inches,
the depth of the cavity in the test assembly must be equal to the depth of the
cavity to be repaired or 1 inch, whichever is greater. When the thickness of
the base metal to be repaired is equal to or less than 2 inches, then the test
assembly must be at least 2-inches thick and the depth of the cavity in the
test assembly must be at least 1-inch deep.

6.

The root width and the included angle of the cavity in the test assembly must
be no greater than the minimum to be used in the repair.

7.

This test assembly may be used to qualify procedures for weld buildup of pressure retaining materials. In this case, the depth of the cavity must not be less
than the thickness of the weld buildup or 1 inch, whichever is greater.

8.

In all cases, the test assembly and cavity must be of sufficient size to permit
removal of the required test specimens.

9.

All welding material must conform to the requirements of ASME Code,

Sections VIII and IX.

10. CV-impact tests are required if they were required for the original construction,
and they must meet the same acceptance criteria for weld metal and heat
affected zone.
11. Welding procedure qualification tests must be performed in accordance with
ASME Code, Section IX and Section VIII, for groove welds. Test specimens
must be removed from the completed test assembly at the maximum practical
depth of repair.
12. Hardness traverses must be made when postweld heat treatment was required
for the process environment.

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Pressure Vessel Manual

D4.2

D5.0

Appendix D

a.

Hardness traverses must be made at the bottom, mid-depth, and near

surface of the repair weld cavity.

b.

The hardness traverses must span the weld metal, the heat affected zones,
and the base metals on both sides of the repair weld cavity.

c.

The maximum hardness permitted is RHN 22C.

Repair Welders Performance Qualification

1.

The welders must be qualified in accordance with ASME Code, Section IX and
Section VIII.

2.

If the repair weld is to be performed where physical obstructions impair the

welder's ability to perform, the welder must also demonstrate the ability to
deposit sound weld metal in the positions required, using the same parameters
and simulated physical obstructions as are involved in the repair.

3.

It is desirable to have the weld procedure and welder performance qualification

combined, and the same welder performing the weld procedure qualification
involved with the actual repair.

Repair Welding
Repair welding of the cavity or area being repaired must be in accordance with the
following:

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1.

The cavity or area to be repaired must be examined by the magnetic particle

method in accordance with ASME Code, Section V, and ASME Code,
Section VIII.

2.

The cavity or area to be repaired by welding and a bank around the cavity or
area must be preheated to 350F minimum. This minimum temperature must
be maintained for at least 30 minutes before welding is started, during all
welding, and until starting the post heat of 450F to 550F. The width of bank
to be preheated must be three times the thickness (3T) of the component to be
welded, but need not exceed a width of 10 inches. The component thickness
must be determined for the area to be welded prior to grinding the cavity. The
minimum interpass temperature must be 500F.

3.

Thermocouples and recording instruments must be used to monitor the preheat

and interpass requirements and the 450F to 550F post heat temperatures.

4.

The cavity must be buttered, using a 3/32-inch maximum diameter electrode,

as shown in Figure D-1, Step 1. Approximately one-half thickness of this
buttering layer must be removed by grinding before depositing the second
layer (see Figure D-1, Step 2). The second layer must be deposited with a
1/8-inch diameter electrode. Subsequent layers must be deposited with welding
electrodes no larger than 5/32-inch diameter. Bead deposition must be
performed in a manner shown in Figure D-1, Step 3. The completed weld must
have at least one layer of weld reinforcement deposited (temper-bead) and then

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Appendix D

Pressure Vessel Manual

this reinforcement must be removed by grinding, making the finished surface

of the repair substantially flush with the surface of the vessel surrounding the
repair. The technique described in this paragraph must be performed in the
procedure qualification test.
5.

At the completion of welding, the 3T band as defined in (2) above must be

maintained in the range of 450F to 550F for at least 2 hours.

Fig. D-1

Half-Bead Weld Repair and Weld Temper-Bead Reinforcement

Step 1: Butter cavity with one layer of weld
metal using a 3/32 in. diameter coated
electrode.

Step 2: Remove half of the first layer by grinding.

Step 3: The second layer shall be deposited with a

1/8 in. diameter electrode. Subsequent
layers shall be deposited with welding
electrodes no larger than 5/32 in.
maximum diameter. Bead deposition shall
be performed in a manner as shown.
The completed weld shall have at least
one layer of weld reinforcement deposited, and then this reinforcement shall be
removed by mechanical means, making
the finished surface of the repair substantially flush with the surface of the vessel
surrounding the repair. The technique
described in this paragraph shall be duplicated in the procedure qualification test.

March 1990

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Pressure Vessel Manual

D6.0

Appendix D

Nondestructive Examination of Repair Weld

The completed repair weld must be examined as follows:
1.

An ultrasonic examination must be made of the deposited repair weld metal

and the adjacent 3T band described in Section D5.0, paragraph 2, according to
the requirements of ASME Code, Section V, and ASME Code, Section VIII.
a.

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It must be demonstrated that the ultrasonic procedure used is capable of

detecting significant flaws at any depth from the surface to the bottom of
the repaired cavity, and for the geometry of the vessel component in the
vicinity of the repair. This can be accomplished with a segment of the test
assembly prepared for the weld procedure qualification (Section D4.1)
that is not used for test specimens, by drilling 1/16-inch diameter holes at
the bottom, mid-depth, and near surface of the weld repair.

2.

The surface of the repair weld and the adjacent 3T band described in
Section D5.0, paragraph 2, must be examined by the magnetic particle method,
according to the requirements of ASME Code, Section V, and ASME Code,
Section VIII.

3.

The ultrasonic and magnetic particle examinations should be repeated at the

next scheduled shutdown after the repairs are made.

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March 1990