Launchpad, January - February 2005
For a full list of proposed, active and closed projects see here
Raising the acceptance level for Ni in C-Mn welds for sour service
To be launched: March 2005
Cost per sponsor: £27,500 pa, two payments
Project Leader: Stuart Bond
At present ISO15156-2:2003 (MR0175) requires demonstration of acceptance for welds with more than 1%Ni in the deposit. Suitable data for the range 12.5%Ni, could allow the standard to be changed and eliminate the need for repeat testing, providing cost savings via reduced lead times for weld qualification without reduction in safety. Beyond this, exploration of the limits for Ni to just above 3.5% consumables may allow a wider range of low temperature toughness consumables to be considered for sour service where operational integrity at low temperatures is also required to assure asset integrity and plant safety. This project will assess the performance of weldments manufactured from consumables in both ranges to develop acceptance data for concentrations greater than 1%Ni in the weld metal.
Definition of sour service limits for welded type 316L and cost effective CRAs
To be launched: March 2005
Cost per sponsor: £25,000 pa, two payments
Project Leader: Stuart Bond
Many applications in sour service require use of cost effective CRA materials such as Type 316L (UNS S31603) stainless steels but the limits of application are not well defined and hence conservative restrictions exist in ISO15156-3:2003/MR0175. To allow less conservative material selection and to ensure safe application of these grades in the welded condition, further data are required on the application envelope to avoid environmental cracking in sour service. This project will consider both low and high concentrations of chloride to give guidance appropriate to both downhole and well-head conditions, and environments appropriate to locations downstream of water separation such as compressors etc.
Tin whiskers - reducing the risk
Launched: January 2005
Cost per sponsor: £10,000 pa, two payments
Project Leader: Damien Kirkpatrick
The European Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation, which comes into force in July 2006, requires the elimination of lead in most electronics products. One of the consequences of this legislation is that many electronic component suppliers are switching from tin/lead to pure tin finishes on surface mount components.
It has been known for many years that pure tin coatings are susceptible to the growth of filamentary 'whiskers' from the metal surface. There is a history of reported failures of electronic equipment caused by short circuits resulting from the bridging of critical circuit elements by tin whiskers. The increased adoption of pure tin finishes raises serious concerns that the incidence of tin whisker related failures will increase.
This project will address the concerns of electronics system builders and component manufacturers by providing the knowledge and tools to establish systems and procedures to minimise the risk of tin whiskers affecting their products. The work will include development of effective screening procedures, researching processes to reduce susceptibility of components to whiskers and a survey of the whisker control procedures of surface mount component suppliers.
