Materials processing issues for non-destructive laser gas sampling (NDLGS)

Abstract

The Non-Destructive Laser Gas Sampling (NDLGS) process essentially involves three steps: (1) laser drilling through the top of a crimped tube made of 304L stainles steel (Hammar and Svennson Cr{sub eq}/Ni{sub eq} = 1.55, produced in 1985); (2) gas sampling; and (3) laser re-welding of the crimp. All three steps are performed in a sealed chamber with a fused silica window under controlled vacuum conditions. Quality requirements for successful processing call for a hermetic re-weld with no cracks or other defects in the fusion zone or HAZ. It has been well established that austenitic stainless steels ({gamma}-SS), such as 304L, can suffer from solidification cracking if their Cr{sub eq}/Ni{sub eq} is below a critical value that causes solidification to occur as austenite (fcc structure) and their combined impurity level (%P+%S) is above {approx}0.02%. Conversely, for Cr{sub eq}/Ni{sub eq} values above the critical level, solidification occurs as ferrite (bcc structure), and cracking propensity is greatly reduced at all combined impurity levels. The consensus of results from studies of several researchers starting in the late 1970's indicates that the critical Cr{sub eq}/Ni{sub eq} value is {approx}1.5 for arc welds. However, more recent studies by the author and others show that the critical Cr{sub eq}/Ni{sub eq} value increases to {approx}1 .6 for weld processes with very rapid thermal cycles, such as the pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam welding (LBW) process used here. Initial attempts at NDLGS using pulsed LBW resulted in considerable solidification cracking, consistent with the results of work discussed above. After a brief introduction to the welding metallurgy of {gamma}-SS, this presentation will review the results of a study aimed at developing a production-ready process that eliminates cracking. The solution to the cracking issue, developed at LANL, involved locally augmenting the Cr content by applying either Cr or a Cr-rich stainless steel (ER 312) to the top of the crimp using the electro-spark deposition (ESD) process followed by laser mixing, drilling and rewelding. Results of a study of the ESD parameters on deposition rate and efficiency will be discussed along with mass balance calculations for determining the desired Cr content to eliminate cracking. The study also required purchase of new pulsed Nd:YAG laser welders. Evaluation of the performance of the new lasers, including beam profiling results, will also be presented. Development of a mixing, drilling and re-welding process at atmospheric pressure with inert gas shielding demonstrated the efficacy of the Cr-augmentation approach. However, extending the process to vacuum conditions proved more challenging owing to loss of laser transmission through the window from spatter and condensation of metal vapors. Solutions developed to circumvent hese issues will be reviewed. Weld microstructures found with various Cr levels will be presented and discussed.