TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterisation and 3D modelling of Cast Duplex Stainless Steel microstructure
T2 - Application to ultrasonic wave propagation simulations
AU - Aghenzour, Zakaria
AU - Lhuillier, Pierre Emile
AU - Leymarie, Nicolas
AU - Dorval, Vincent
AU - Imperiale, Alexandre
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors
PY - 2025/4/1
Y1 - 2025/4/1
N2 - Due to their high strength and corrosion resistance, Cast Duplex Stainless Steels (CDSS) are employed in the primary coolant piping of nuclear power reactors. In-service Non-Destructive Evaluations (NDEs) based on Ultrasonic Testing (UT) must be conducted to ensure their safe operation. However, accurately detecting and sizing flaws within CDSS components poses a significant challenge. This is primarily due to their manufacturing process, which results in metallurgical structures featuring coarse grains and complex microstructural features, including a dual-phase composition with various morphological scales. Thus, in these structures, ultrasonic waves undergo scattering at grain boundaries, leading to high attenuation and structure noise echoes that alter the inspection. Modelling these phenomena using 3D numerical simulation tools with a detailed description of the microstructure allows for a better understanding of the multiple wave/microstructure interactions by quantifying the influence of microstructural characteristics on NDE performance. This paper aims to present the results of numerical simulations applied to representative CDSS microstructures. Thanks to the use and development of numerical tools, virtual microstructures of these duplex steels can be generated with different levels of complexity in Representative Elements Volumes (REVs). These REVs are validated to varying scales through comparison with experimental metallurgical characterisations. They are then used to define the propagation media using dedicated Finite Element (FE) software to observe the impact of this microstructure on ultrasonic waves. These FE simulations will then characterise the effective homogeneous media by determining attenuation and phase velocity variations as a function of the wave frequency. The attenuation results obtained from these simulations are compared with experimental attenuation measurements for different frequencies.
AB - Due to their high strength and corrosion resistance, Cast Duplex Stainless Steels (CDSS) are employed in the primary coolant piping of nuclear power reactors. In-service Non-Destructive Evaluations (NDEs) based on Ultrasonic Testing (UT) must be conducted to ensure their safe operation. However, accurately detecting and sizing flaws within CDSS components poses a significant challenge. This is primarily due to their manufacturing process, which results in metallurgical structures featuring coarse grains and complex microstructural features, including a dual-phase composition with various morphological scales. Thus, in these structures, ultrasonic waves undergo scattering at grain boundaries, leading to high attenuation and structure noise echoes that alter the inspection. Modelling these phenomena using 3D numerical simulation tools with a detailed description of the microstructure allows for a better understanding of the multiple wave/microstructure interactions by quantifying the influence of microstructural characteristics on NDE performance. This paper aims to present the results of numerical simulations applied to representative CDSS microstructures. Thanks to the use and development of numerical tools, virtual microstructures of these duplex steels can be generated with different levels of complexity in Representative Elements Volumes (REVs). These REVs are validated to varying scales through comparison with experimental metallurgical characterisations. They are then used to define the propagation media using dedicated Finite Element (FE) software to observe the impact of this microstructure on ultrasonic waves. These FE simulations will then characterise the effective homogeneous media by determining attenuation and phase velocity variations as a function of the wave frequency. The attenuation results obtained from these simulations are compared with experimental attenuation measurements for different frequencies.
KW - Attenuation
KW - CDSS
KW - Coherent wave
KW - Microstructure
KW - Multi-scale
KW - Scattering
KW - Ultrasonic
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85215544128&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpvp.2024.105430
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpvp.2024.105430
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85215544128
SN - 0308-0161
VL - 214
JO - International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping
JF - International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping
M1 - 105430
ER -