Maintenance in the nuclear energy sector, which is associated with strategic safety issues, is essential to guarantee the safety of facilities. The actions implemented in this context make it possible to ensure the normal operation of a plant, prevent accidents and limit the effects on workers, the public and the environment. These measures are taken at the design, construction and commissioning stages of a nuclear facility, as well as during use, final shutdown and dismantling.
It is in this context that one of the main actors of nuclear maintenance evolving in the boiler making sector requested our laboratory to carry out a comparative chemical analysis on two steels. For equivalent implementation parameters, this industrialist has indeed observed, during welding assembly operations, a different behavior between two batches of the same material.
After having checked the contents of the principal chemical elements characteristic of the metal alloy concerned, a complete chemical analysis of each of the batches was carried out in order to highlight in a comparative way a possible difference of composition. These analysis were carried out by specific elemental analysers (C/S, N/O and H) and by Optical Emission Spectrometry of the ICP type after mineralisation. This complete determination of the chemical composition revealed a slight difference between the two batches, resulting in a difference in equivalent carbon and in weldability. Thanks to these results and to the reactivity of our laboratory, slight evolutions of welding parameters could be defined in a specific way by this actor of the industrial boiler making which allowed him to continue his intervention and to respect his delivery deadline.
FILAB has significant experience in the implementation of these analysis, which are performed under COFRAC accreditation and recognized by various approvals (SAFRAN, etc.). FILAB can assist you with your chemical analysis needs on all types of metal alloys (iron, aluminum, copper, titanium, nickel, cobalt, etc.).
