The Failure of Titanium Clad Tube Sheet in Heat Exchanger by Fatigue

Cracking and Corrosion

C. H. Hsu, Department of Mechanical Engineering California State University

From: C.H. Hsu, The Failure of Titanium Clad Tube Sheet in Heat Exchanger by Fatigue
Cracking and Corrosion, Industrial Heat Exchangers (Proceedings of the 1985 Exposition and
Symposium on Industrial Heat Exchanger Technology, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 68 November
1985) A.J. Hayes, W.W. Liang, S.L. Richen, E.S. Tabb, Ed., American Society for Metals, 1985
p 281284
Abstract: Corrosion failure occurred in a titanium clad tubesheet because of a corrosive tube-side gas-
liquid mixture leaking through fatigue cracks in the seal welds at tube-to-tubesheet joints. The
tubesheet was a carbon steel plate clad with titanium on the tube side face. The seal weld cracks were
initiated by cyclic stress imposed by exchanger tubes. The gas-liquid mixture passed through cracks
under tube-side pressure, resulting in severe corrosion of the steel backing plate. The failure started
with the loosening of the expanded tube-to-tubesheet joints. Loose joints allowed the exchanger tubes
to impose load on seal welds and the shell side cooling water enterred the crevice between the
tubesheet and the tubes. The cooling water in the crevice caused galvanic reaction and embrittlement
of seal welds. Brittle crack opening and crack propagation in seal welds occurred due to the cyclic stress
imposed by the tubes. The cyclic stress arised from the thermal cycling of the heat exchanger. The
possible effects of material properties on the failure of the tubesheet are discussed.
Keywords: Heat exchangers; Tube sheet; Welded joints
Materials: Titanium cladding (Commercially pure or low-alloyed titanium); Carbon steel
(Nonresulfurized carbon steel)
Failure types: Galvanic corrosion; Thermal fatigue fracture; Crevice corrosion

Introduction
In recent years, there has been a growing application of reactive metals in the processing equipment in
chemical, petroleum, and power industries. Commercially pure titanium with desirable engineering
properties as well as excellent corrosion resistance is among the most widely used reactive metals. Thin-
walled titanium tubes and titanium clad tubesheet are frequently specified for severely corrosive
services.
In a titanium clad tubesheet, the titanium cladding, normally at the tube side face, offers the corrosion
resistance whereas the backing plate provides the strength. The titanium tubes most frequently are
joined to the tubesheet by grooving the tube holes and expanding the tube material in the backing plate
1. The plastic deformation of tube material in the grooves increases the holding strength of the joint and
also seals off the gap between the tube and the tubesheet on the shell side. The seal welding of the tube
end to the titanium cladding can prevent the leakage of tube side fluid to the interface of tube and
tubesheet. Nevertheless, the construction has not been inservice without drawbacks. Problems
frequently encountered include the loosening of the expanded tube-to-tubesheet joints and the cracks
in the titanium seal welds 2. Cracked seal welds can allow the corrosive tube side fluid to leak through
the relatively thin titanium cladding and corrode the vulnerable backing plate, resulting in premature
failure of tubesheets.
This paper will present the failure of a titanium clad steel tubesheet resulting from seal cracks and
subsequent corrosion of the steel backing plate. Discussions will be made on the possible effects of
material properties on the loosening of tube-to-tubesheet joints, cracking of seal welds, and corrosion of
the clad tubesheet.
Failed Tube-to-Tubesheet Joint
The sectional view of a failed tube-to-tubesheet joint is shown in Figure 1. The sample was taken from a
titanium clad steel tubesheet that was welded to the steel shell of a tubular heat exchanger. The tube
material is the most widely used ASTM Grade 2 Commercially Pure Titanium. The operating pressure of
the tube side gas-liquid mixture was considerably higher than that of the shell side cooling water. The
operating temperature was about 100C higher on the tube side. The tubesheet failed after three years
in service.

Fig. 1 The sectional view of a failed tube-to-tubesheet joint. (1.7)
As shown in Figure 1, the titanium cladding of the tubesheet seems to remain unharmed while the
carbon steel at the interface with cladding has been severely corroded. A crevice extends from the twin
grooves in the steel backing plate to the cracked seal weld. The crack also extends in the circumferential
direction in the same seal weld. It is likely that the corrosive tube side gas-liquid mixture leaked under
pressure along the seal weld crack and the crevice to attack the carbon steel beyond repair. The
corrosion of the steel backing plate occurred at the interface with the cladding and along the titanium
tube. The consumption of carbon steel along the tube is not shown in Figure 1.
The fractographic examination revealed that the seal weld crack initiated at the tip of the crevice and
propagated through the seal weld. The cleavage and quasi-cleavage fracture surface at the tip of the
crevice, where the crack initiated, suggests a possible brittle crack opening, Figure 2. The striation
pattern observed on the path of crack propagation (Figure 3) indicates a progressive cracking under
stress of cyclic nature.

Fig. 2 The cleavage and quasi-cleavage fracture surface at the location of crack initiation.
(300)

Fig. 3 The striation pattern on fracture surface. (4,250)
Failure of Expanded Joints
It was considered that the failure of the tubesheet began with the loosening of the tube-to-tubesheet
joints. The primary objective of tube expansion in tubesheet is to increase the residual contact pressure
and thus increase the holding strength of the joints. The expanded joint should hold and guide the tube
in the tube hole to eliminate the undesirable longitudinal load imposed by exchanger tube on the seal
weld. The seal welds are mainly for sealing up the gap between tubesheet and tubes.
To ensure the holding strength of an expanded joint, a residual contact pressure of sufficient intensity
between the tube and the tubesheet must be maintained. In practice, an expansion ratio is specified to
reduce the tube wall thickness to a degree so that a sufficient contact pressure can be obtained. For this
purpose, it is highly desirable that the elastic recovery of the tubesheet is greater than, or at least equal
to, that of the tube when the expansion pressure is released. Theoretically this can be achieved by
selecting a tubesheet material with strength greater than that of the tube material provided both
materials have similar modulus of elasticity.
In the clad tubesheet shown in Figure 1, the grooves are cut in the carbon steel backing plate. The
carbon steel used and the commercially pure titanium have similar minimum yield strengths, whereas
the modulus of elasticity of the carbon steel is twice as great as that of titanium. The springback of the
titanium is considered significantly greater than that of the carbon steel, resulting in a decrease in
holding strength. The loss of holding strength might be aggravated due to the lack of isotropy of
titanium, which has a hexagonal crystal structure 3.
The difference in the thermal expansion coefficient of carbon steel and titanium might have played an
important part in the loosening of the joint. The thermal expansion coefficient of carbon steel is over
30% greater than that of titanium within the operating temperature range of the heat exchanger 3. As
the exchanger temperature varied with process flow fluctuation, the joints were subjected to a
thermally cyclic condition. The tube and the tubesheet, being joined by the residual contact pressure,
had the tendence to expand or contract at different rates in thermal cycling. As temperature changed,
one is pulled into compression while the other is pulled into tension. This is equivalent to a cyclic
stressing condition. The holding strength, which relies on the residual contact pressure, may be
weakened by thermal cycling or cyclic stressing 4, 5.
Insufficient initial joint strength, incompatible thermal expansion coefficients, and thermal cycling could
contribute to the loosening of the joint in Figure 1. Other factors, such as joint groove design, tube
expansion ratio, and expansion techniques, also have direct effects on the holding strength and the
loosening of expanded joints. No attempt is made in this paper to discuss the effects of these design and
fabrication aspects.
Embrittlement of Titanium
Unalloyed titanium has excellent corrosion resistance due to the stable oxide film on the surface.
Titanium retains the corrosion resistance as long as there is moisture or a trace of oxygen to keep the
oxide film intact 6. The oxide film on titanium reduces the penetration of hydrogen and thus the
absorption of hydrogen by titanium at room temperature. Nevertheless, the protection deteriorates
rapidly above 100C 7. Furthermore, titanium is notably immune to galvanic corrosion, but tends to
accelerate the corrosion of the other metal with which a galvanic couple is formed 8. In a galvanic
couple, the cathodic titanium may absorb the hydrogen evolved in the reaction to form hydrides if the
temperature is sufficiently high. The formation of titanium hydrides becomes significant as the hydrogen
content increases above approximately 20 ppm 7. The hydriding of titanium occurs at higher rates with
increasingly higher titanium-dissimilar metal area ratio in the galvanic couple 9.
In the failed clad tubesheet previously described, the cooling water had easy access to the crevice
between titanium tubes and steel tubesheet backing plate after the grooved joint became loose. The
cooling water entered the crevice and became stagnant. The stagnant water in the crevice might caused
galvanic reaction in which the carbon steel along the titanium tube became anodic and dissolved while
the titanium absorbed hydrogen and became embrittled. The high titanium-steel area ratio in the
crevice could also promoted the hydrogen absorption of titanium. The brittle crack opening in the seal
weld might be a consequence of the embrittlement of titanium. Although microscopic examination did
not confirm a heavy concentration of titanium hydride platelets in the seal weld, hydrogen contents
greater than the 20 ppm solubility limit were repeatedly detected in the titanium tubes at the
tubesheets.
Failure of Seal Welds
After the tube-to-tubesheet joints become loose and lose their holding strength, the seal welds may be
subjected to longitudinal load. In general, the longitudinal load can arise from tube side pressure, shell
side pressure, and thermal expansion of tubes in an axisymmetric exchanger shell equipped with fixed
tubesheets 10.
The tube side pressure alone generates a tensile circumferential stress and a corresponding strain in
that direction in the tubes. The tubes must contract concurrently in the longitudinal direction due to
Poisson's effect. The tubes tend to pull the tubesheet in the direction of contraction whereas the
tubesheet is fixed to the exchanger shell, resisting the pull. As a result, the tubesheet is subjected to a
complex stress state in which material at different locations in the tubesheet experiences different
bending stresses. The tubesheet cladding on the tube side experiences tensile bending stress near the
rim (unperforated peripheral portion of tubesheet) and experiences compressive bending stress near
the center 10. The tubes apply a force on the seal weld in the direction of contraction under the tube
pressure.
The shell side pressure generates a compressive circumferential stress and causes the tubes to elongate.
The shell side pressure is expected to have effects on the tubesheet opposite to that of tube pressure.
When the thermal expansion of tubes is considered, the effect is also opposite to that of tube pressure if
the tube temperature is higher than shell temperature. These three sources of longitudinal load
contribute forces in tube direction and bending forces in tubesheet. A seal weld then will be subjected
to the same forces as schematically shown in Figure 4. Note that the force (or stress) in the
circumferential direction is not shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 4 A schematic representation of stresses acting on the seal weld.
The force in the tube direction can become cyclic as the process flow temperature or pressure
fluctuates. Under the cyclic condition, crack may initiate and propagate in the plane shown in Figure 4 in
the direction determined by the intensities of stress in longitudinal direction and the bending stress
acting on the tubesheet. A such crack is shown in Figure 5. Note that the crack initiates at the tip of the
crevice and propagates through the thinnest section of the seal weld.

Fig. 5 A seal weld crack extending through the thinnest section of the seal weld. (85)
After the cracks propagated through the seal welds in the clad tubesheet studied, the tube side gas-
liquid mixture leaked along cracks and crevices between tubesheet and tubes to severely corrode the
steel backing plate. The attack of the tube side gas-liquid mixture is a direct chemical corrosion. Most of
the tubesheet damage was caused by the chemical corrosion.
Summary
The failure processing of a titanium clad tubesheet was studied. The failure was considered to have
started at the tube-to-tubesheet joints. The joints became loose due to thermal cycling or cyclic
stressing arised from the fluctuation of process flow. The loosened joints allowed load to be imposed
directly on the seal welds. As a result, cracks developed and allowed the tube side fluid to leak to the
shell side and corrode the steel backing plate. The steel backing plate was also consumed by galvanic
reaction.
Acknowledgment
The author is grateful to Dr. N. Ohtsuka of Chiyoda Chemical Engineering and Construction Company,
Japan, for his valuable advice.
References
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