CASE

N-7-1
CASES OF ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE

Approval Date: December 13, 1982

See Numeric Index for expiration

and any reaffirmation dates.

Case N-7-1
High Yield Strength Steel
Section III, Division 1, Class 1

(4) High tensile strength steels having specified minimum ultimate tensile strength in the range 80,000 psi
to 130,000 psi may be evaluated for cyclic operation
by the methods of NB-3222.4 using the design fatigue
curves of Fig. I-9.1.
(5) The requirements of NB-2300 shall be met. (See
Note 1.)
(6) Forming Shell Sections and Heads
(a) The selected thickness of material shall be
such that the forming processes will not reduce the
thickness of the material at any point below the minimum value required by the rules.
(b) Pieces that are formed (after quenching and
tempering) at a temperature lower than 25F below the
final tempering temperature shall be heat treated after
forming (at 1075F minimum, but not higher than 25F
below the final tempering temperature for a minimum
time of one hour per inch of thickness) when the extreme
fiber strain from forming exceeds 3% as determined by
the following formula:

Inquiry: Is it permissible in the construction of

welded, Class 1 vessels conforming to the requirements of Section III, Division 1, of the Code to use
quenched and tempered steel plates and forgings conforming to the specifications and the additional requirements listed below?
(1) Specification for Ni-Cr-Mo Alloy Steel Plates,
Quenched and Tempered for Pressure Vessels, ASTM
A 543-72a, Type B, Class 1.
(2) Quenched and Tempered Vacuum Treated Carbon
and Alloy Steel Forgings for Pressure Vessels, SA508, Class 4.
(3) Chemical requirements of the specifications shall
be verified by check analysis.
May such quenching and tempering heat treatments
be applied to these materials either as individual parts
of a vessel prior to assembly by welding, or to partially
fabricated components after welding?

Percent strain p

Reply: It is the opinion of the Committee that the

materials and procedures specified in the Inquiry may
be used in the construction of Class 1 welded vessels
under the rules of Section III, Division 1, of the
Code provided the following additional requirements
are met.
(1) The maximum design metal temperature shall
not exceed 650F.
(2) The minimum thickness of shells, heads, and other
pressure retaining parts shall be 14 in. The maximum
thickness shall be limited only by the ability to develop
the specified mechanical properties.
(3) The design properties and stress intensity values
shall be:

Temperature

Yield
Strength
ksi

Design
Stress
Intensity Sm
ksi

Room
200F
300F
400F
500F
600F
650F

85.0
80.0
77.5
75.8
74.5
73.2
72.3

35.0
35.0
35.0
34.6
34.4
33.9
33.5

75 t
Rf

11 R 2
Rf

tp plate thickness
Rfp final radius
Rop original radius (equals infinity for flat plate)
Note 1: For materials which have specified minimum yield strength
at room temperature greater than 50 ksi, but not greater than 85
ksi, Fig. G-2110-1 in Appendix G may be used provided fracture
mechanics data (similar to the KID data referenced in Welding
Research Council Bulletin No. 175) are obtained on at least three
heats of the material, on a sufficient number of specimens to cover
the temperature range of interest, including the weld metal and heat
affected zone, and provided the data are equal to or above the curve
of Fig. G-2110-1. These data shall be included in the Design
Specification. When these materials of higher yield strength (specified
minimum yield strength greater than 50 ksi but not exceeding 85
ksi) are to be used in conditions where radiation may affect the
materials properties, the effect of radiation on the KIR curve shall
be determined for the material prior to its use in manufacture. This
information shall be included in the Design Specification.

(c) Pieces formed at temperatures within 25F

higher than the original tempering temperature shall be
requenched and tempered in accordance with paras. (7)
and (8) either before or after welding into the vessel.
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CASE (continued)

N-7-1
CASES OF ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE

(7) Heat Treatment

(a) Heating Furnace. Furnaces for heating for
quenching and tempering shall be provided with suitable
equipment for the automatic recording of temperatures.
The temperature of the vessel or vessel part during
the holding period for tempering shall be recorded and
shall be controlled within plus or minus 25F.
(b) Quenching of flat plates and individual parts
shall be done as required by the applicable material
specifications.
(c) Formed plates for shell sections and heads
may be quenched by sprays or immersion.
(d) Partially fabricated welded vessel parts may
be quenched by sprays or immersion.
(e) The design and operation of spray equipment
and the size of tanks and provision for forced circulation
shall be such as to produce a severity of quench in
the quenched item sufficient to meet, in representative
test specimens after tempering, the requirements of the
materials specifications.
(f) After quenching, the material or vessel part
shall be tempered in accordance with the material
specification.
(g) The final postweld heat treatment shall be at
a minimum temperature of 1075F and a maximum
temperature limited only by the ability to meet the
specified mechanical properties. Minimum holding time
at the final postweld heat treating temperature shall be
one hour per inch of weld thickness, one hour minimum.
(8) Heat Treatment Certification Tests
(a) Tests shall be made to verify that the quenching
and tempering heat treatments, and subsequent thermal
treatments, performed by the fabricator have produced
the required properties.
(b) One or more test coupons representative of
the material and of the welding, except cladding, in
each vessel part where the weld is subjected to quenching, shall be quenched and tempered with the vessel
or vessel part. They shall be of proportions necessary
to be representative of the section. The position and
method of attachment of the sample coupons shall be
selected with the objective of obtaining conditions which
will most nearly represent the entire item, taking into
consideration its particular size and shape. After the
tempering operations and after removal from the vessel
part, the coupon shall be subjected to the same scheduled
thermal treatment(s), if any, to which the vessel or
vessel part will be later subjected. The holding time
at temperature of the test coupon shall be a minimum
of 80%, or may exceed that scheduled for the vessel
or vessel part, and the cooling rate shall be no faster.

(c) Number of tests. One tensile test and one

impact test (one set of specimens) shall be made on
material from coupons representing each lot of material
in each vessel or vessel part heat treated. A lot is
defined as material from the same melt quenched simultaneously and whose thicknesses are within plus or
minus 20% or 12 in. of nominal thickness, whichever
is smaller.
(1) Coupons taken at locations as defined in
NB-2200 representing the base material shall meet the
minimum tensile and impact requirements given herein.
(2) Coupons containing weld metal shall be
tested across the weld and shall meet the tensile requirements of the material specifications; in addition the
minimum impact requirements shall be met by samples
with notches in the weld metal and heat affected base
metal. The form and dimension of the tension test
specimen shall conform to the requirements of QW150 of Section IX. Yield strength and elongation are
not a requirement of this test. Impact testing shall be
in accordance with the requirements of para. 4.
(9) Welding, in addition to conforming to all requirements of Section III of the Code, shall conform to the
following:
(a) Welding procedure qualification and welder
and welding operator qualification shall be made in
accordance with Section IX of the Code as modified
by Section III and as given herein.
(b) Separate welding procedure qualification of
Section IX of the Code shall be required for this
material and combinations of other materials with this
material. When joints are made between two different
types or grades of base material, a procedure qualification must be made for applicable combinations of
material even though procedure qualification tests have
been made for each of the two base materials welded
to itself. (Materials of the same nominal chemical
analysis and mechanical properties range even though
of different product form may be considered as the
same type or grade.)
(c) The following, in addition to the variables in
Sec. IX, QW-250 shall be considered as essential
variables requiring requalification of the welding procedure.
(1) A change in filler metal SFA classification
or to a weld metal not covered by an SFA specification.
(2) An increase in the maximum or a decrease in
the minimum specified preheat or interpass temperatures.
The specified range of preheat temperatures shall not
exceed 150F.
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CASE (continued)

N-7-1
CASES OF ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE

(3) A change in the heat treatment (procedure

qualification tests shall be subjected to heat-treatment
essentially equivalent to that encountered in fabrication
of the vessel or vessel parts including the maximum
total aggregate time at temperature or temperatures and
cooling rates.)
(4) A change in the type of current (AC or
DC), polarity, or a change in the specified range for
ampere, volt or travel speed.
(5) A change in the thickness (T) of the welding
procedure qualification test plate as follows:
(a) For welded joints which are Q and T
after welding any increase in thickness (the minimum
thickness qualified in all cases is 14 in.).
(b) For welded joints which are not Q and
T after welding any change as follows:

(c) Welding filler metal containing more than

0.06% vanadium shall not be used.
(d) In addition to the requirements of NB4410 of Section III of the Code, the materials may
require rebaking in order to eliminate moisture. The
procedures for doing this for covered arc welding
electrodes are given in Specifications SFA-5.1 and
SFA-5.5.
(e) The radius of the mandrel or die used in
the guided bend tests of Section IX, QW-466.1, QW466.2 and QW-466.3 shall be:
Thickness of
Specimens, in.

A in.

B in.

C in.

D in.

212

114

623 t

313 t

338
823 t
+ 18

11116
412 t
+ 116

T
Less than 58 in.
5

8 in. and over

Any decrease in thickness (The

maximum thickness qualified is
2T.).
Any departure from the range
of 58 in. to 2T.

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