Effects of beam offset on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Alloy 690–SUS 304L EBW joints for nuclear power plant

The current study investigates the effect of the beam offset (BOF) on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and the corrosion resistance of the fusion zone (FZ) of Alloy 690–SUS 304L stainless steel (SS) dissimilar metal butt joints formed by electron beam welding (EBW). The experimental results showed that as the value of the BOF increased from 0 to 0.30 mm, i.e. the electron beam shifted progressively toward the Alloy 690 base metal (BM), the tensile strength of the FZ fell from 582.1 to 541.2 MPa. However, the modified Huey test results indicated that the interdendritic corrosion resistance of the FZ was significantly enhanced. Pit nucleation potential value (Enp) was raised from 385 to 1050 mV. An offset of 0.30 mm appears to be the optimal BOF setting when fabricating Alloy 690–SUS 304L SS dissimilar metal butt joints using the EBW technique.