Qualification of Brazing Procedure For Furnace Bra
Qualification of Brazing Procedure For Furnace Bra
Qualification of Brazing Procedure For Furnace Bra
1070
Article
Qualification of brazing procedure for furnace brazing
of austenitic steel according to requirements of the ASME BPVC,
section IX
Grzegorz Rogalski1,*, Michał Landowski1, Aleksandra Świerczyńska1, Jerzy Łabanowski1, Jacek Tomków1
1 Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland
Michał Landowski, Ph.D.; [email protected];
Aleksandra Świerczyńska, Ph.D.; [email protected];
Prof. Jerzy Łabanowski; [email protected];
Jacek Tomków, Ph.D.; [email protected];
*Correspondence: Grzegorz Rogalski, Ph.D., D.Sc.; [email protected]
Received: 30.04.2019; Accepted: 29.07.2019
Abstract: The article presents the procedure for qualifying brazing technology in a vacuum furnace
on the example of stainless steel elements joined with copper filler material from the F-No group. 105,
in accordance with the ASME Sec. IX, part QB (ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Qualification
Standard for Welding, Brazing and Fusing; Procedures; Welders; Brazers; and Welding, Brazing and
Fusing Operators). The essential variables of the furnace brazing process are discussed in relation to the
requirements of the protocol of qualified PQR (Procedure Qualification Record) and BPS (Brazing
Procedure Specification) in accordance with the ASME Sec. IX. The requirements for joints by the
calculation code ASME Sec. VIII div.1 (Rules of Construction of Pressure Vessels), related to the working
temperature of the designed device have also been taken into account. The paper presents examples of
brazed joints made and their properties (strength, fill level of the clearance) obtained on the basis of the
carried out tests. Attention was paid to the technological aspects during the performance of brazed joints
using vacuum furnaces.
Introduction
One of the welding processes that is widely used in many sectors and industrial branches is brazing,
which is a process that allows joining metals using various types of heat source and brazing filler metal,
whose melting point is lower than the melting point of the basic material [1÷3]. As is well known, brazing is
one of the oldest methods of welding apart from mechanical joining. Initially, it was used to combine
materials based on silver and gold, and then with the development of metallurgy to produce other
construction materials, e.g. unalloyed and alloy steels, stainless steels, nickel and its alloys, titanium and its
alloys, and even aluminium. In the initial stage, brazing filler metal were used, which were characterized
by a low melting point. They were lead, tin, gold-copper and silver-copper alloys. Subsequently, filler metal
was modified by adding copper hydrates and organic resins that reduce. This allowed minimizing
oxidation and improving the appearance of the connection. Along with the development of brazing
technology and construction materials, brazing filler metal in terms of chemical composition and form
(rods, foils, pastes, powders) also underwent dynamic development. This made it possible to obtain brazed
joints with high strength parameters and operational properties (e.g. corrosion resistance). In addition to
the properties of the materials to be joined and brazing filler metal, physicochemical phenomena and the
associated mechanisms of joint formation play an important role. The following physicochemical factors
affecting the formation of brazed joints can be distinguished: wettability, flowability, fluidity, diffusion and
mutual solubility of filler components and base material, filler metal crystallization [4,5]. All these elements
have a significant impact on the mechanisms of creating brazed joints with the required properties. This
confirms the complexity of the brazing process and ranks it in a group of special processes. For this reason,
it is described by many basic variables that must be included at the stage of brazing technology
qualification and are presented in relevant regulations and subject standards [6,7].
Fig. 1. Exemplary heating and cooling cycle for furnace brazing [13]
In addition to the main parameters of brazing in the technological cycle, it is necessary to take into
account additional processes, which also play an important role. They are related to the geometry of the
elements to be joined (type of brazed joint), preparation of elements for brazing (surface cleaning,
machining), assembly of elements (preservation of the brazing gap of the appropriate value), application of
additional coatings (e.g. increasing wettability), method of brazing in depending on the type of production
and its form (paste, tape, rod insert, etc.). All of these factors must be properly correlated with brazing
parameters. This allows connections to be made that have the required quality in terms of strength and
performance [14]. In addition, it should be noted that due to the even and controlled heating and cooling of
the joined elements, deformations occurring during the brazing process are minimized, which is an
Fig. 2. Examples of brazed plate heat exchangers from SECESPOL Sp. z o.o. [15]
Brazed heat exchangers are made of various construction materials, including nickel and its alloys. However,
the most common material group is high-alloy stainless austenitic steels. The amount of literature on welding
steel from this material group is very large. Research is conducted focused on various aspects, including:
the effect of supersaturation temperature on the properties of welded joints [16,17], surfacing technology [18],
tests related to determining the corrosion resistance of welded joints [19] and others. In the case of vacuum
brazing, reports are less numerous, which results from the high degree of complexity of this process and
the know-how of the companies that use this process.
Brazing, like welding and gluing, is included in the group of special processes. In accordance with
applicable standards (e.g. ISO 9001, EN ISO 3834, EN 1090 and others), these processes must be constantly
monitored and supervised at every stage of application. One of the many ways that allows these
requirements to be met is the testing of the welding technology (the so-called qualification) to be used and
the certification of the personnel using the joining process. For this reason, many subject standards and
international and national regulations have been created that regulate these issues. This approach and
behavior allows us to prove that the welding technology used, taking into account the so-called principal
variables, guarantees the achievement of welded or brazed joints that meet specific or assumed acceptance
criteria. These criteria are given in standards, regulations and technical specifications and relate, among
others, to strength properties, metallographic structures, corrosion resistance and others. This allows for the
unification of requirements in the area of applied processes and clearly defines the criteria that must be met.
This, in turn, gives the opportunity to use such technology developed for the production of equipment sold to
various markets in which these requirements apply. European and international standards regarding the
qualification of brazing technology and examination of brazers for this process are as follows: PN-EN 13134:
2004 ‒ Brazing. Procedure approval; PN-EN ISO 13585:2012 ‒ Brazing. Qualification test of brazers and
brazing operators. At the same time, other standards are associated with these standards, among others,
regarding additional materials for brazing according to PN-EN ISO 17672:2010 (Brazing. Filler Metals) and
performing destructive tests according to PN-EN 12797:2002/A1:2005 (Brazing. Destructive testing of
brazed joints) and non-destructive joints according to PN-EN 12799:2003/A1:2005 (Brazing. Non-
destructive examination of brazed joints). These standards apply to various products including pressure
equipment manufactured for the European and international market. Recognition of brazing technology and
certification of personnel performing this type of joints according to the cited standards have been widely
described in the available literature [6,7].
Own research
The purpose of the work is to present guidelines related to the qualification process of vacuum
brazing technology in accordance with the requirements of ASME BPVC, Sec. IX on the example of high-
alloy austenitic stainless steel vacuum brazed joints.
Fig. 3. Construction of a plate heat exchanger, where: 1 – nozzle, 2 – heating plates of variable geometry (profiled),
3 – flow channel system, 4 – brazed joints [15]
Chemical composition of 316L steel, %wt. in accordance with the certificate 3.1
C Si Mn Ni Cr Mo N S P
0.02 0.36 1.25 10.01 16.64 2.02 0.031 0.0038 0.029
Cu Bi Pb
99.99443 0.00004 0.00003
The brazing temperature was 1120 °C, the vacuum pressure 1.4 mbar, the gas filling the furnace is
nitrogen at 0.4 bar pressure. The process was carried out in stages by heating with stops to brazing
temperature (90 min), enduring at the set temperature (180 min) and stage cooling (170 min).
QB-406.1 ‒
QB-406 Brazing Flux, gas, or atmosphere
QB-406.2 ‒
‒
QB-408.2
QB-408 Joint design ‒
QB-408.4
QB-409.1 ‒
QB-409 Postbraze Heat Treatment QB-409.2 ‒
QB-409.3 ‒
QB-410.1
QB-410 Technique ‒
QB-410.2
Fig. 4. Types of brazed joints: a) lap, b) butt, c) scarf, d) rabbet, e) workmanship coupons
In the case under consideration, the process will be qualified for lap joints. Guidelines regarding
the scope of qualifications for the thickness of joined elements, type of tests, number of samples and
additional guidelines are presented in Sec. IX, paragraph QB-451.3 (Table III).
Table III. Range of thickness of materials qualified by test and type and number of tests acc. to ASME Sec. IX, QB-
451.3 for lap joints
Thickness T of Test Qualified thickness range Type and number of tests, specimens
Coupon as Brazed for brazed elements made required
[mm] of sheet or pipe [mm] [Note 1]
Tensile test Peel test
T Min. T Max.
[Note 2] [Note 3] and [Note 4]
Less than 3 mm 0.5 T 2T 2 2
From 3 to 10 mm 1.5 2T 2 2
Over 10 mm 5 2T 2 2
Notes:
(1) When materials of a representative geometry and thickness are not available to prepare butt or lap joint test coupons,
workmanship coupons may be prepared and examined per QB-451.5 to establish the range of thickness of base metal
qualified. When this is done, the properties of the joint shall be validated using butt or lap joint test coupons of any thickness.
(2) For specimen dimensions, see Figure QB-462.1(c). For pipe specimens not greater than NPS 3 (DN 75), full section testing
may be substituted; see Figure QB-462.1(e).
(3) For peel specimens, see Figure QB-462.3 for specimen dimensions, and Figure QB-463.1(d) for specimen removal.
(4) Sectioning tests may be substituted for peel tests. For section specimens, see Figure QB-462.4 for specimen dimensions, and
Figure QB-463.1(c) for specimen removal.
For qualified brazing technology, the requirements of table IV should be taken into account. In the case
of the brazing with the designation BCu-3 and the working temperature (230 °C), it results (column 2
in Table IV) that outside the scope of tests, which is a consequence of the data from Table III (ASME Sec. IX,
QB-451.3) additional tests specified in paragraph UB-12 Sec. VIII div.1 should be performed. This is a tensile
test of brazed joints at design temperature (T) and elevated and calculated according to dependencies 1.05T.
Bearing in mind the presented guidelines, the scope of tests for this vacuum brazing technology is as follows:
1. Visual tests in accordance with the requirements of ASME Sec. V, Article 9 (Visual Examination);
2. Tensile tests according to QB-150:
a) two samples stretched at room temperature;
b) one sample stretched at design temperature, 230 °C;
c) one sample stretched at 1.05T, 242 °C;
3. Sectioning tests that will replace the peel test (Note 4 in Table III) in accordance with the requirements
of QB-180.
Similarly to the EN ISO standards, the ASME regulations also provide a certain degree of recognition
for individual essential variables. According to table III (QB-451.3), the scope of approval for thickness is
T = 0.2÷0.8 mm, for the lap L > 5.0 mm (QB-408.2), for clearance c ≤ 0.12 mm (QB -408.4).
Test results
Visual testing
Visual testing (VT) is mandatory and must be used for all devices that comply with ASME regulations.
All brazed joints made as part of brazing technology qualification are subject to visual examination.
Requirements Art.1, Sec. V "General requirements" refer to VT Visual Tests in accordance with Art. 9, Sec. V
for the requirements of Sec. VIII Div 1. As part of the tests, the surface quality was verified. There was no
discoloration, inclusions of other material or excess filler metal on the surface. No cracks were found in the
base material or brazing joint, pores or other brazing incompatibilities, which meets the requirements of
UB-44 Sec. VIII div.1. After a positive assessment of the test joints made, they were passed on to subsequent
tests.
The obtained test results entitle to state that the brazing parameters used and additional technological
procedures (positioning of elements, clearance, downforce of elements and others) allowed to obtain joints
meeting the assumed acceptance criteria. Thus, in the examined scope they meet the requirements of
the provisions of ASME Sec. IX and Sec. VIII div.1.
Sectioning tests
Sectioning tests are defined in Sec. IX at point QB-180. QB-181 sets out the requirements for sample
preparation for testing. The dimensions of the samples and the place of their collection from the test joints
are presented in QB-462.4. Each sample should be properly prepared by grinding and polishing, and then
examined at a magnification of at least x4. As the acceptance criterion, it was assumed that the sum of the
lengths of the unconnected areas (separately for each side of the sample) must not exceed 20% of the length
of the joint’s overlap. Tests should be performed for each side of the brazed joint. For the test joints made,
the preparation process consisted of the mounting of samples, gradual grinding to 2000 paper gradation,
and then polishing on diamond paste. Samples were not digested due to different physicochemical
properties of the brazed filler metal and the base material. The tests were performed on an OLYMPUS BX52
metallographic microscope. Photographs of metallographic specimens are shown in figure 5.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 5. Macroscopic photographs of brazed joints
Fig. 6. An example of BPS made in accordance with ASME Sec. IX for the case under consideration
Author Contributions: methodology G.R. and J.Ł.; investigation G.R, M.L. and A.Ś.; writing—original draft
preparation G.R, J.T, A.Ś and M.L.; writing—review and editing G.R. and A.Ś.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank SECESPOL Sp. z o.o. for the manufacturing of test joints, which
were used to conduct the tests.
Resources
[1] Li Y., Zhang X., Parfitt D., Jones S., Chen B., Characterisation of microstructure, defect and high-cycle-fatigue
behaviour in a stainless steel joint processed by brazing. Materials Characterization, 2019, Vol. 151, 542-552.
[CrossRef]
[2] Tomków J., Haras J., Types of surface impurities versus the quality of brazed joints. Biuletyn Instytutu
Spawalnictwa w Gliwicach, 2018, Vol. 62(4), 53-58. [CrossRef]
[3] Heo H., Kim G., Kim D.Y., Moon C., Kim K.C., Jung K., Kang, C.Y., Microstructure and mechanical properties of
Ni foam/stainless steel joint brazed using Ni-based alloy. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 2019, Vol. 740-741,
63-70. [CrossRef]
[4] Wang N., Wang D.P., Yang Z.W., Wang Y., Liu X.G., Zirconia ceramic and Nb joints brazed with Mo-particle-
reinforced Ag-Cu-Ti composite fillers: interfacial microstructure and formation mechanism. Ceramics
International, 2017, Vol. 43(13), 9636-9643. [CrossRef]
[5] Zhu W., Zhang H., Guo C., Liu Y., Ran X., Wetting and brazing characteristic of high nitrogen austenitic
stainless steel and 316L austenitic stainless steel by Ag–Cu filler. Vacuum, 2019, 166, 97-106. [CrossRef]
[6] Piwowarczyk T., Mirski Z., Winiowski A., Drzeniek H., Dokumentowanie procesu lutowania oraz
egzaminowanie lutowaczy i operatorów lutowania twardego wg PN-EN ISO 13585:2012. Welding Technology
Review, 2013, Vol. 85(9), 55-63. [CrossRef]
[7] Mirski Z., Pabian J., Modern trends in production of brazed heat exchangers for automotive industry. Welding
Technology Review, 2017, Vol. 89(8), 5-12. [CrossRef]
[8] Xia Y., Dong H., Hao X., Li P., Li S., Vacuum brazing of Ti6Al4V alloy to 316L stainless steel using a Ti-Cu-
based amorphous filler metal. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2019, 269, 35-44. [CrossRef]
[9] Shi J.M., Zhang L.X., Liu H., Sun Z., Feng J.C., Vacuum brazing of SiBCN ceramic and TC4 alloy using TiB2
reinforced AgTi composite filler. Vacuum, 2018, Vol. 156, 108-114. [CrossRef]
[10] Chen Z.B., Bian H., Hu S.P., Song X.G., Niu C.N., Duan X.K., Cao J., Feng, J.C., Surface modification on wetting
and vacuum brazing behavior of graphite using AgCu filler metal. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2018,
Vol. 348, 104-110. [CrossRef]
© 2019 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the
terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).