International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 765771

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Creep crack growth in welds: a damage mechanics approach to predicting

initiation and growth of circumferential cracks
T.H. Hyde*, W. Sun, A.A. Becker
School of Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing Engineering and Management, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

Abstract
The results of damage mechanics nite element analyses have been used to estimate the initiation and growth of type IV cracks in a series
of internally pressurised circumferential pipe welds, in main steam pipelines made of 1/2CrMoV steel. The material properties used, for the
various zones of new, service-aged and repaired welds, were produced from creep test data at 6408C. Damage distributions and accumulation
with time within the HAZ are presented, from which the crack initiation times and positions for these welds, under a closed-end condition,
and with additional axial (system) loading, were identied. By investigating the propagation of damage through the wall thickness, the
remaining lives of the various weld types were estimated. The method provides a means for predicting the initiation and growth of type IV
cracks in these CrMoV weldments, and for estimating the length of time a weld can safely be left in service, after damage, or type IV
cracking, is identied during inspection. q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Creep; Damage; CrMoV welds; Type IV cracking

1. Introduction
Three material regions, i.e. parent material (PM), weld
metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ), generally exist
in a weld. Within each of these material regions, further
subdivision of the material regions may exist; for example,
the HAZ in a weld in a 1/2Cr1/2Mo1/4V parent material
will generally have coarse and ne grain regions and the socalled type IV zone, which exists near the interface between
the parent material and HAZ [1].
Welded components in conventional and nuclear power
plants and chemical plants often operate at elevated
temperatures which are high enough for creep deformation
to occur. Under these conditions, the rate of accumulation of
damage, due to creep, may be signicantly higher in the
vicinity of a weld than it is elsewhere. Service experience
suggests that the life of many components, and consequently the life and economic viability of the plant as a
whole, may be governed by the behaviour of welds. In
practice, the majority of problems associated with high
temperature components in conventional power plants are
caused by, or associated with, cracking in welds. The effects
of system loading on the failure behaviour may be signicant. For instance, within the low temperature HAZ region
of a CrMoV weld in a main steam pipeline, type IV cracking
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 1115-951-3830; fax: 1115-951-3800.
E-mail address: thomas.hyde@nottingham.ac.uk (T.H. Hyde).

may occur, which is directly inuenced by the local structural properties and stress state [2].
A further complication arises when damage is found in
the region of a weld in a power plant. A repair may be made
by grinding away the material containing the damage and
then lling the excavated region with a new weld. This
process can create a weld with an increased number of
material regions, i.e. aged parent, aged weld and aged
HAZ materials, new weld metal, new HAZs in aged parent,
aged HAZ and aged weld materials [3].
Creep continuum damage constitutive equations can be
used in conjunction with nite element programs to determine the growth of damage zones in welds, provided the
material constants are known for each material zone [4,5].
Recent research has resulted in techniques with the potential
to obtain the material constants required. For parent and
weld material, these constants can be determined directly
from the uniaxial creep curves obtained for different stress
levels at a xed temperature and the corresponding multiaxial creep rupture test data from notched specimens. For
the HAZ material, some of the properties can be obtained
from the results of impression creep tests, while the other
properties can be determined by creep damage modelling
corresponding to data obtained from creep rupture tests of
waisted and notched cross-weld specimens [6].
This paper describes how continuum damage modelling
of welds and repaired welds under creep conditions can be
used to predict the initiation time for and subsequent growth

0308-0161/02/$ - see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0308-016 1(01)00088-6

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T.H. Hyde et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 765771

rate of type IV cracks in CrMoV weldments. The methods

can be used to assist with estimating the length of time a
weld can safely be left in service, after damage, or type IV
cracking, is identied during inspection.
2. Weld geometry, material properties and FE damage
analyses
2.1. Geometry
The chosen pipe dimensions are typical of ferritic 1/2Cr1/
2Mo1/4V main steam pipe-lines in UK power plants, with
an outer diameter, D, of 355.6 mm and a wall thickness, T,
of 63.5 mm. A typical V-shape circumferencial pipe weld
preparation is shown in Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams of the
congurations and material zones of the aged and repaired
welds are shown in Fig. 2. The dimensions of the new and
aged welds were assumed to be the same. The width of the
weld metal at the outer surface, w, for the new and aged
welds is 46 mm, while the width of the new weld metal for
the fully and partially repaired welds is 80 mm. For all of the
weld cases, the weld interface angle, u , is 158 and the width
of the HAZ, h, is 4 mm. The depth of the new weld metal, b,
in the partial repair case, has a value of b T=2 2 h: More
detailed description of these weld models has been reported
previously [3].
2.2. Creep properties
Damage mechanics constitutive equations of the type [7]


s eq n Sij m
3
1_ cij A
t
1a
2
1 2 v s eq
and

v_

M s rx
tm
1 1 f1 2 vf

1b

where

s r as 1 1 1 2 as eq

1c

can represent all stages of creep, including tertiary creep and

Fig. 2. Schematic diagrams of a service-aged, a fully and a partially

repaired weld, (a) service-aged weld with damage; (b) fully repaired
weld; (c) partially repaired weld.

nal failure times and strains. s eq and s 1 are the equivalent

and maximum principal stresses, respectively, v is the
damage variable which varies from 0 (no initial damage)
to 1 (failure) and A, m, n, M, f and x are material constants.
a is a material constant 0 , a , 1 which describes the
tri-axial stress state behaviour of the material.
The material properties used in the FE analyses were
obtained from the results of creep tests performed at
6408C, in the stress range of 4070 MPa, on the different
constituents of the new, service-aged and repaired 1/2Cr1/
2Mo1/4V: 2 1/4Cr1Mo pipe welds. Details of the experimental work and the procedures used to generate the
material properties have been reported elsewhere [6,8].
The creep data for these materials, at 6408C, have been
assessed and were found to be suitable for use in creep
modelling [6,8]. The material constants in Eqs. (1a)(1c)
obtained for the various materials are given in Table 1. It
was found that in the practical stress range, all HAZ
materials are weaker than the parent materials and all
weld metals are stronger than the parent materials with
respect to the minimum strain rate and rupture strength, in
each weld situation. In all cases, it was assumed that the
materials have a Young's modulus of 150 10 3 MPa and a
Poisson's ratio of 0.3.
It should be noted that since the creep deformation and
rupture data for the HAZ materials, obtained from creep
tests, are closely related to the behaviour of the type IV
region in the HAZ [6,8], then all of the properties for the
three HAZs given in Table 1 have been assumed to be
representative of the type IV properties, instead of the
average HAZ properties.
2.3. FE damage analyses

Fig. 1. Dimensions (mm) and loading of a typical circumferential CrMoV

pipe weld.

Eqs. (1a)(1c) were used in FE elastic-creep analyses

to obtain the damage distributions within the welds. A

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767

Table 1
Material constants for the CrMoV weldment materials at 6408C [8] (s in MPa and t in hour)

A
n
m
M
f
x
a
a

New PM

New WM

New HAZ

Aged PM

Aged WM

Aged HAZ

HAZ-a a

3:2801
10 218
7.2694
0
4:8225 10212
4.75
4.599
0.3327

6:4590 10217

1:0436 10215

6:5991 0216

9:7181 10215

1.7083 10 215

1:0845 10215

6.4297
0
5:7943 10211
4.1209
4.0152
0.4168

6.1081
0
9:66 10210
4.3
3.420
0.49

6.1081
0
5:9981 10214
4.5
5.767
0.3

5.2082
0
8:1202 10213
4.1
4.8496
0.2639

6.1081
0
2:50 1029
4.3
3.2
0.49

6.1081
0
1:90 1028
4.3
2.65
0.49

HAZ generated in the aged parent material by repair welding.

relatively coarse FE mesh was used for the damage analyses

of the new or aged weld, as shown in Fig. 3. Similar mesh
densities were used for the repaired weld models. It should
be noted that, in general, more rened meshes would
produce more accurate results. However, the FE analyses
will be much more time consuming and previous experience
indicates that the improvement would be relatively small for
this type of analyses.
Continuum damage failure modelling was performed for
each weld case, using a purpose written FE-Damage code
[9]. Damage calculations were continued until the failure
damage, i.e. v ! 1; was achieved through a signicant part
of the wall thickness. Following this, the expected remaining creep time, before complete failure occurs, will be very
small, compared to the total creep time.
The circumferential pipe welds were subjected to an
internal pressure, pi, and a mean tensile axial stress, s ax,
Fig. 1. For all weld cases, FE damage calculations were
performed with p i 16:55 MPa; under a closed-end condition (s ax =s mh 0:306; where s mh is the mean diameter
hoop stress). Additional calculations were also performed,
with higher axial load, i.e. s ax =s mh . 0:306; to assess the
effect of system loading. The chosen axial loading, i.e.
s ax =s mh 1; is the highest allowed by the relevant design
codes (e.g. Ref. [10]).
3. Results
Predictions of failure lives and the effects of geometric

Fig. 3. FE mesh (part) used for the damage calculations of the new and aged
welds.

details, material properties and loading conditions on the

failure lives for the various weld and weld repair situations,
obtained from steady-state analyses and damage modelling,
have been reported elsewhere [11,12]. The results presented
in this paper relate to the initiation and growth of type IV
cracks, as predicted by the growth of the failure damage
v ! 1 zones.
3.1. Damage distributions within the heat-affected zone
The results obtained from damage analyses indicate that
for all welds, the damage levels in the parent and weld
materials were signicantly lower than those in the HAZ,
at all times. Material failure (dened by v 0:99) rst
occurred near the outer surface of the pipe in the HAZ
and the failure area expanded and grew inwards into the
HAZ with increasing creep time. Fig. 4(a) shows an
example of damage variations in the fully repaired weld,
in and along the HAZ, close to the type IV region, at
different times, under a closed-end condition s ax =s mh
0:306; the origin for Fig. 4(a) is at the outer surface and
the distance is normalised with respect to the total distance
along the interface between the HAZ and parent material. It
can be seen that for the maximum creep time for which
results were obtained, a signicant part of the wall thickness
of the pipe has reached the failure damage level. It is
assumed that the remaining time for the full section failure
to occur is likely to be relatively small and therefore, the
failure lives are assumed to be reasonably accurately
obtained. Similar patterns of damage distributions were
observed for the new and aged welds. Fig. 4(b) shows the
damage variations of the partially repaired weld, along the
HAZ (HAZ-a, generated by repair welding, see Fig. 2(c)),
near the type IV region, starting from the outer surface and
across the un-repaired aged parent material section. It can be
seen that high damage accumulation occurred mainly in the
HAZ-a, due to the fact that HAZ-a is relatively weaker. The
corresponding damage variations, with s ax =s mh 1;
obtained for the fully and partially repaired welds, are
presented in Fig. 5(a) and (b), respectively. It can be seen
that the behaviour is similar to that obtained with s ax =s mh
0:306: Previous investigations of the effects of end loading

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T.H. Hyde et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 765771

Fig. 4. Damage variations in and along the HAZ, starting from outer
surface, near the type IV region, at different times, obtained for the fully
and partially repaired welds, with s ax =s mh 0:306 pi 16:55 MPa,
(a) fully repaired weld; (b) partially repaired weld.

Fig. 5. Damage variations in and along the HAZ, starting from outer
surface, near the type IV region, at different times, obtained for the fully
and partially repaired welds, with s ax =s mh 1 pi 16:55 MPa; (a) fully
repaired weld; (b) partially repaired.

have indicated that as the axial loading is increased, there is

a higher probability of type IV cracking occurring [12].

conditions, for the CrMoV welds investigated, the type IV

cracks will start to initiate after about 90% of the total lives
have been used up. Different results were obtained for
s ax =s mh 1: The ratio of the remaining time to the total
creep life is about 20% for the fully repaired weld and is
about 10% for the partially repaired weld.

3.2. Initiation time and remaining life

3.3. Failure damage propagation through wall thickness

Using the results shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the failure life, tf,
and the remaining life after `crack' initiation, tf 2 to ; can be
obtained, for the various welds cases, where to is the time for
failure damage, i.e. v 0:99; being reached at the rst
point in the HAZ. The failure life, tf, is dened as the
time when the failure damage in the HAZ has reached
about half of the wall thickness, i.e. a=T < 0:5: The results
of the failure life, initiation time, and the remaining time,
obtained for the CrMoV welds, are shown in Table 2. It can
be seen that under the closed-end conditions, the ratios of
the remaining times to the total creep lives (failure lives),
for the new, aged and repaired welds, are in a similar range,
i.e. about 710%. This indicates that under the closed-end

As indicated previously, since the measured HAZ

properties of the CrMoV welds are representative of the
type IV structures, it is reasonable to assume that type IV
cracking can be represented by the growth of the failure
damage along the HAZ near the parent material of the
welds. The normalised length of the failure damage zone,
a=T; see Fig. 2(a), with time, obtained for the new, aged,
fully repaired and partially repaired welds, under the closedend condition, are presented in Fig. 6(a). The corresponding
variations of a=T with time, for s ax =s mh 1:0; obtained for
the fully and partially repaired welds, are presented in
Fig. 6(b), in which the corresponding results obtained for
s ax =s mh 0:306 (closed-end condition) are also shown for

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769

Table 2
Failure life, tf, initiation time, to, and the remaining life, tf 2 to ; of the CrMoV welds, for s ax =s mh 0:306 (closed-end) and s ax =s mh 1

s ax =s mh

th

Welds
New

Aged

Fully

Partially

0.306 (Closed-end)

tf
to
tf 2 to =tf (%)

21,018
19,000
9.60

15,640
14,500
7.28

10,803
10,000
7.43

9892
9150
7.50

1.0

tf
to
tf 2 to =tf (%)

3751
3000
20.02

3307
3000
9.28

comparison. Similar variations were obtained for all weld

cases. The results given in Fig. 6 clearly show the relative
initiation times for the different welds and the trends of the
failure damage growth along the HAZ.
The crack growth rates of the CrMoV welds can be characterised by the growth of the failure damage with time.
Variations of Da=Dt; versus t 2 to =tf 2 to ; where t . to ;
are presented in Fig. 7(a) and (b), for the new, aged and
repaired welds, under closed-end conditions and for
s ax =s mh 1; respectively. It can be seen from Fig. 7(a)
that, under closed-end condition, similar values and trends

Fig. 6. (a) Variations of a=T with creep time, obtained for the new, aged,
fully and partially repaired welds, with s ax =s mh 0:306 pi 16:55 MPa;
(b) Variations of a=T with creep time, obtained for the fully and partially
repaired welds, with s ax =s mh 0:306 and 1 pi 16:55 MPa:

for the variations of Da=Dt; with t 2 to =tf 2 to ; were

obtained for the new and aged welds. In the case of the
fully repaired weld, the values of Da=Dt increase signicantly when t 2 to =tf 2 to ! 1; while for the partially
repaired weld, the values of Da=Dt are low when t 2
to =tf 2 to is small, then reach a maximum before reducing
when t 2 to =tf 2 to ! 1: This is mainly because the
weaker HAZ material only exists for half of the wall thickness and the crack is arrested for a time when it reaches the
relatively stronger un-repaired parent material. Similar
results for the variations of Da=Dt; with t 2 to =tf 2 to ;
were obtained for the fully and partially repaired welds,
for s ax =s mh 1; see Fig. 7(b).

Fig. 7. (a) Failure damage growth rate with t 2 to =tf 2 to ; t . to ;

obtained for the new, aged, fully and partially repaired welds, with
s ax =s mh 0:306 pi 16:55 MPa; (b) Failure damage growth rate with
t 2 to =tf 2 to ; t . to ; obtained for the fully and partially repaired
welds, with s ax =s mh 1 pi 16:55 MPa:

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T.H. Hyde et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 765771

Fig. 8. Normalised stress intensity factor, KI s mh a1=2 ; versus a=T; for the
CrMoV plain pipe, with pi 16:55 MPa (closed-end condition).

4. Discussion and conclusion remarks

The results of the damage mechanics FE modelling have
been used to assess the high temperature fracture behaviour
of a series of circumferential pipe welds, in main steam
pipelines, made from 1/2CrMoV steel. The material properties, in the various zones of the new, service-aged and
repaired welds, were produced from test data obtained at
6408C. Material failure was dened as the attainment of a
failure damage value of v 0:99; and the failure of the
welds was assumed to occur when failure damage was
achieved through a signicant part of the wall thickness,
i.e. a=T $ 0:5 in this work. In practice, failure could occur
before the failure damage zone reaches the inside surface if
the stress intensity factor, KI, reaches the fracture toughness,
KIC, for the material. Knowing the fracture toughness, Fig.
8, which shows the variation of KI with a=T; can be used to
determine the length of the crack at failure. The KI values
presented in Fig. 8 were obtained by the J integral values
under the plane strain assumption. The corresponding J
integral values were obtained from the linear-elastic FE
analysis for the plain pipe with a circumferential crack.
Since the measured HAZ properties of the CrMoV welds
are representative of the type IV structures, type IV cracking
can be represented by the growth of the failure damage zone
along the HAZ near the parent material of the welds. For the
particular material data and weld geometries used, the
results obtained showed that in all cases, failure occurs in
the HAZ. The failure damage initiates near the outer surface
of the pipe welds in the HAZ and grows into the HAZ with
increasing creep time. The ratios of the remaining times to
the total creep lives (failure lives), for new and service-aged,
fully and partially repaired welds, are all similar, i.e. in a
range of 710%, under closed-end conditions. This indicates that, for the CrMoV welds investigated, type IV cracks
will initiate after about 90% of the total lives have been used
up. However, different results were obtained for the high
axial load situation, i.e. for s ax =s mh 1: The ratio of the
remaining time to the total creep life is about 20% for the

fully repaired weld and is about 10% for the partially

repaired weld. Under the closed-end condition, similar
values and trends of the failure damage growth rate were
obtained for the new and aged welds, which increase
continuously with time. In the cases of the fully repaired
weld, the failure damage growth rates increase signicantly
when the creep time is approaching the failure time,
whereas for the partially repaired weld, the failure damage
growth rate reaches a maximum. This is because the weaker
HAZ material only exists for half of the wall thickness and
the crack is arrested when the length of the failure damage
zone, or the tip of a type IV crack, approaches the relatively
stronger un-repaired parent material.
In the work reported here, type IV cracking has been
modelled in a relatively simple way, i.e. in the FE models,
only one HAZ was included. Ideally, if the material
constants in the damage constitutive equations can be
accurately determined for each individual material zone
within the HAZ (e.g. the coarse grained, ne grained and
intercritical HAZs), more accurate failure behaviour could
be modelled, using a continuum damage analysis method.
Attempts to model HAZs in more detail have been made by
other workers (e.g. Refs. [1315]. The main purpose of this
paper is to show how creep cracking behaviour within welds
can be obtained from the results of continuum damage FE
analyses, without the need to model the details of cracks
themselves.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge National Power,
Nuclear Electric, PowerGen and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, UK, for their nancial
support of the work.

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