Creep-rupture behavior of alloy 740H weldment with alloy 263 filler metal

P. F. Tortorelli; M. L. Santella; Y. Wang; R. Gollihue; T. G. Lach; X. Chen

doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2026.105884

Creep-rupture behavior of alloy 740H weldment with alloy 263 filler metal

P. F. Tortorelli
, M. L. Santella
, Y. Wang
, R. Gollihue
, T. G. Lach
, X. Chen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The creep-rupture behavior of weldments of alloy 740H fabricated using shielded metal arc welding with a commercially available filler metal based on alloy 263 and a post-weld heat treatment of 800 °C/4 h was studied at 650, 750, and 850 °C. Stress levels were chosen to reach extended rupture lifetimes (up to over 71,000 h) relevant for long-term applications and pressure vessels and piping code qualifications. All ruptures occurred within the weld zones of the cross-weld specimens except for one case at 850 °C for which the ruptured region covered both the weld and heat-affected zone. The effect of the welding process on creep lifetime was quantitatively evaluated using weld strength reduction factors (WSRFs) which represented, for a given rupture time and temperature, the ratio of the applied creep-rupture stress of the weldment to that of alloy 740H base metal. These factors were 0.78-0.88, 0.82-0.89, and 0.64-0.75 at 650, 750 and 850 °C, respectively. Accordingly, with two exceptions at 850 °C with lower applied stresses, the creep failures were attributed to the lower strength of the weld zone relative to the alloy 740H base metal. Importantly, the failure location and WSRF depended on the microconstituents, microstructure, and stabilities of the weld and base metals at the creep temperatures, rather than welding-induced chemical inhomogeneities or defects. The weld strength reduction of these weldments was very similar to the expected ratio of creep-rupture strength of alloy 263 to that of alloy 740H.

Original language	English
Article number	105884
Journal	International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping
Volume	222
Issue number	P3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpvp.2026.105884
State	Published - Aug 2026

Funding

This project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, under contract DE-AC05–00OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) managed by UT Battelle, LLC. We are grateful to J. Hissam from National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Edgar Lara-Curzio from ORNL for the programmatic. Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan).This project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, under contract DE-AC05–00OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) managed by UT Battelle, LLC. We are grateful to J. Hissam from National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Edgar Lara-Curzio from ORNL for the programmatic.support. We also would like to thank Jeremy Moser from ORNL for performing creep testing in this project. Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan ).

Keywords

Alloy 263 filler metal
Alloy 740H
Creep rupture
Shielded metal arc welding
Weld strength reduction factor

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10.1016/j.ijpvp.2026.105884

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@article{b36ed890a5b64eecb7e85fdd46980a8b,

title = "Creep-rupture behavior of alloy 740H weldment with alloy 263 filler metal",

abstract = "The creep-rupture behavior of weldments of alloy 740H fabricated using shielded metal arc welding with a commercially available filler metal based on alloy 263 and a post-weld heat treatment of 800 °C/4 h was studied at 650, 750, and 850 °C. Stress levels were chosen to reach extended rupture lifetimes (up to over 71,000 h) relevant for long-term applications and pressure vessels and piping code qualifications. All ruptures occurred within the weld zones of the cross-weld specimens except for one case at 850 °C for which the ruptured region covered both the weld and heat-affected zone. The effect of the welding process on creep lifetime was quantitatively evaluated using weld strength reduction factors (WSRFs) which represented, for a given rupture time and temperature, the ratio of the applied creep-rupture stress of the weldment to that of alloy 740H base metal. These factors were 0.78-0.88, 0.82-0.89, and 0.64-0.75 at 650, 750 and 850 °C, respectively. Accordingly, with two exceptions at 850 °C with lower applied stresses, the creep failures were attributed to the lower strength of the weld zone relative to the alloy 740H base metal. Importantly, the failure location and WSRF depended on the microconstituents, microstructure, and stabilities of the weld and base metals at the creep temperatures, rather than welding-induced chemical inhomogeneities or defects. The weld strength reduction of these weldments was very similar to the expected ratio of creep-rupture strength of alloy 263 to that of alloy 740H.",

keywords = "Alloy 263 filler metal, Alloy 740H, Creep rupture, Shielded metal arc welding, Weld strength reduction factor",

author = "Tortorelli, \{P. F.\} and Santella, \{M. L.\} and Y. Wang and R. Gollihue and Lach, \{T. G.\} and X. Chen",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",

year = "2026",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.ijpvp.2026.105884",

language = "English",

volume = "222",

journal = "International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Creep-rupture behavior of alloy 740H weldment with alloy 263 filler metal

AU - Tortorelli, P. F.

AU - Santella, M. L.

AU - Wang, Y.

AU - Gollihue, R.

AU - Lach, T. G.

AU - Chen, X.

PY - 2026/8

Y1 - 2026/8

N2 - The creep-rupture behavior of weldments of alloy 740H fabricated using shielded metal arc welding with a commercially available filler metal based on alloy 263 and a post-weld heat treatment of 800 °C/4 h was studied at 650, 750, and 850 °C. Stress levels were chosen to reach extended rupture lifetimes (up to over 71,000 h) relevant for long-term applications and pressure vessels and piping code qualifications. All ruptures occurred within the weld zones of the cross-weld specimens except for one case at 850 °C for which the ruptured region covered both the weld and heat-affected zone. The effect of the welding process on creep lifetime was quantitatively evaluated using weld strength reduction factors (WSRFs) which represented, for a given rupture time and temperature, the ratio of the applied creep-rupture stress of the weldment to that of alloy 740H base metal. These factors were 0.78-0.88, 0.82-0.89, and 0.64-0.75 at 650, 750 and 850 °C, respectively. Accordingly, with two exceptions at 850 °C with lower applied stresses, the creep failures were attributed to the lower strength of the weld zone relative to the alloy 740H base metal. Importantly, the failure location and WSRF depended on the microconstituents, microstructure, and stabilities of the weld and base metals at the creep temperatures, rather than welding-induced chemical inhomogeneities or defects. The weld strength reduction of these weldments was very similar to the expected ratio of creep-rupture strength of alloy 263 to that of alloy 740H.

AB - The creep-rupture behavior of weldments of alloy 740H fabricated using shielded metal arc welding with a commercially available filler metal based on alloy 263 and a post-weld heat treatment of 800 °C/4 h was studied at 650, 750, and 850 °C. Stress levels were chosen to reach extended rupture lifetimes (up to over 71,000 h) relevant for long-term applications and pressure vessels and piping code qualifications. All ruptures occurred within the weld zones of the cross-weld specimens except for one case at 850 °C for which the ruptured region covered both the weld and heat-affected zone. The effect of the welding process on creep lifetime was quantitatively evaluated using weld strength reduction factors (WSRFs) which represented, for a given rupture time and temperature, the ratio of the applied creep-rupture stress of the weldment to that of alloy 740H base metal. These factors were 0.78-0.88, 0.82-0.89, and 0.64-0.75 at 650, 750 and 850 °C, respectively. Accordingly, with two exceptions at 850 °C with lower applied stresses, the creep failures were attributed to the lower strength of the weld zone relative to the alloy 740H base metal. Importantly, the failure location and WSRF depended on the microconstituents, microstructure, and stabilities of the weld and base metals at the creep temperatures, rather than welding-induced chemical inhomogeneities or defects. The weld strength reduction of these weldments was very similar to the expected ratio of creep-rupture strength of alloy 263 to that of alloy 740H.

KW - Alloy 263 filler metal

KW - Alloy 740H

KW - Creep rupture

KW - Shielded metal arc welding

KW - Weld strength reduction factor

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105039669573

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpvp.2026.105884

DO - 10.1016/j.ijpvp.2026.105884

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105039669573

SN - 0308-0161

VL - 222

JO - International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping

JF - International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping

IS - P3

M1 - 105884

ER -

Creep-rupture behavior of alloy 740H weldment with alloy 263 filler metal

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