ML20238E381

Insp Rept 99901096/87-01 on 870524-29.Violations & Nonconformance Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Review & Evaluation of Adequacy of Heat Treating Practices of Company

ML20238E381
Person / Time
Issue date:	09/02/1987
From:	Harper J, Stone J Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
Shared Package
ML20238E352	List: ML20238E351 ML20238E365 ML20238E371 ML20238E381
References
REF-QA-99901096 99901096-87-01, 99901096-87-1, NUDOCS 8709140308
Download: ML20238E381 (9)

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4 ORGANIZATION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING COMPANY MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA REPORT INSPECTION INSPECTION h0.: 99901096/87-01 DATES: 05/24-29/87 DN-SITF Wrf m9- 97 CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS: Precision Heat Treating Company ATTN: Brian Launder Vice President 1532 South. Greenwood Avenue Montebello, California 90640 ORGANIZATIONAL CONTACT: James Lastra, Quality Control 11anager TELEPHONE NUhBER: 213-724-4880 _

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NUCLEAR INDUSTRY ACTIVITY: Heat treating.

1 ASSIGNED INSPECTOR: R rh 728?

J. C.\ harper, Progrz!m Development & Reactive Uat/e Inspection Section (PDRIS)

GTHER INSPECTOR (S):

APPROVED BY: (4s.ge. [, . PM)P7 J. C(/5 tone, Chtef, PDRIS, Vendor Inspection Branch Date INSPECTION BASES AND SCOPE:

A. BASES: 10 CFR Part 21.

B. SC0PE: The inspection was performed to review and evaluate the adequacy of the heat treating practices of Precision Heat Treating Company (PHT).

j PHT was a contractor to Cardinal Industrial Products Corporation (CIPC -

now defunct). CIPC supplied fasteners having mechanical properties lower than allowed by material specification.

PLANT SITE APPLICABILITY: 50-456; 50-457 (Braidwood Station Units 1 and 2).

i 99 M* **

99901096 PDR  ;

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ORGANIZATION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING COMPANY MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA REPORT INSPECTION NO.: 99901096/87-01 RESULTS: PAGE 2 of 7 A. VIOLATIONS:

1. Contrary to Section 21.21 of 10 CFR Part 21, PHT failed to adopt a Part 21 procedure for evaluating and reporting deviations.

(87-01-01).

B. N0hCONFORMANCES:

1. Contrary to Criterion V of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 and paragraph 9.3 of the PHT QC Manual, PHT failed to indicate tir.ies fcr charging and removing heat treated material from the furnace on the furnace charts. (87-01-02)

C. OTHER FINDINGS OR COMMENTS:

Backaround and Conclusions

On l'.ay 16-22, 1987, the NRC inspector reviewed and evaluated records at Cardinal Industrial Prcducts Incorporated (C1PI) pertaining to the hcat l

treatment of fasteners supplied by the now defunct Cardinal Industrial Product Corporation (ClPC). Previous Vendor Branch inspections had identified nurrerous prcblems with the CIPC quality system.

CIPC supplied Ccmenwealth Edison Company (CECO) with fasteners having mechanical properties icwer than those allowed by the Amstican Society l of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code).

! Upon review of the CEC 0 report dated July 1, 1986, " System Materials Analysis Department Report en Testing cf Bolting liaterials for Braidwcot Station," the report concluded that heat treating problems existed with the fasteners having low mechanical properties. CECO's testing program ccr,sisted of examining a. total of 23 SA193 Grade 87 or B16 samples from five different heets of material. All of the samples tested met their requireo chemical content with the exception of sample numbers 17 ard 19 which were .03 and .02 per cent, respectively, above the specified range for manganese. Sample 21 from heat 2-2702 was substantially below the required Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) and Yield Strength (YS) for a grade B7 fastener. Samples 22 and 23 from heat 2-2702, both had marginal YS for grace D7 fastener. A193 grade B7 samples from heat #4616D also had marginal nechanical properties, microstructural analysis for sarcphs 21 and 22 of heat 2-27C2 indicated abnormal microstructure for a quench and tempered product (the microstructure was not tempered martensite). Sample 21 revealed a microstructure of tempered lower bainite and ferrite. Sample 22 had a microstructure of tempered martensite with sra.11 islands of f errite.

ORGANIZATION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING C0hPANY MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA REPORT INSPECTION NO.: 99901096/87-01 RESULTS: . PAGE 3 of 7 Based on these observations, it is apparent that the fasteners received inadequate heat treatment due to improper quench rates. PHT was ~

identified as the heat treater cf these fasteners. CIPC subcontracted heat treating to PHT as a matter of routine.

Prior to the inspection at PHT, the inspector reviewed records with a former official of the CIPC's staff at CIPI. This official concluded that time delays occurring between.the heat treating ovens and the quench tank were probably the cause of the imprcperly heat treated fasteners, because the batch heat treatment process was beine employed. With the batch heat treating process in the.open fire furnace, the material is manually removed and transferred from the heat treating oven to the quench tank.

At CIPI, the NRC inspector attempted to identify PHT quenched and tempered, cpen fire furnace, batch processed fasteners by heat number, custon.er, and sizes. Nine different heats were identified as being heat treated using the open fire furnace batch process. The heat treatment certified work cards (CWC) for two of these heats #99277 and #6094038 were evaluated by the hRC inspector while at PHT. Both CWC's were complete.

The CWC for heat h55277, Cardinal CI /t31373-3, PHT P0 #24142'(3-8 x 48" SA540) indicated that the heat treatment temperature was 1550*F for 3 hours3.472222e-5 days <br />8.333333e-4 hours <br />4.960317e-6 weeks <br />1.1415e-6 months <br /> and 30 minutes and subsequently quenched in oil (oil temperature was approximately 130*F). Tempering was carried out in 5 hours5.787037e-5 days <br />0.00139 hours <br />8.267196e-6 weeks <br />1.9025e-6 months <br /> at 1100 F.

A Reckwell hardness spot check yielded a hardness of 32 RC, the required hardness for the material is 30/34 RC. The PHT shop card for heat h6094C28, Cardinal CI #32670-2, PHT PO #24639 (31.x 4 SA 570) indicated the material received a 3 hcur 1550*F heat treatment followed by an oil quench. The tempering temperature was 1050 F for 6 hours6.944444e-5 days <br />0.00167 hours <br />9.920635e-6 weeks <br />2.283e-6 months <br />. The Brinell hardness spot check yielded a hardness of 321 EHN, the required hardness

" 277/321 EHN.

The open fire dual door, box furnace is 136" x 120" x 40" in the work zone and capable of a maximum temperature of 2100*F. Two baskets of material per side are usually charged, for a total of four baskets per furnace. Each basket is approximately 24" x 42" x 10" and can typically hold approximately 800# of material. These baskets are not stacked.

Furnace temperature uniformity is held within the limits specified by l MIL-H-0675 and is surveyed quarterly. The thermocouple used for.the q temperature uniformity surveys are calibrated against a reference  ;

standard thermocouple. The reference standard is calibrated at an i

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ORGANIZATION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING COMPAhY

!<ChTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA l

REPORT IhSPECTION j NO.: 99901096/87-01 RESULTS: PAGE 4 of 7 )

l outside source, against a seconcary standard, Lees & Northrop Potentio-meter Model 6652-2 Serial //1767181. I Each week the test thermoccuples are used to prcbe the furnace and the i temperature readings are compared to the furnace control thermocouple.

Thermocouple replacer,.ent is carried out when the furnace control thermo-ccuples differ from the test thermocouple by more than 5*F.

PHT maintains an oil quench tank of 9' x 12' with high speed agitation, l i and a capacity of 8500 gallons of high speed quench oil, and 6500 gallons l

reserve oil. There are a total of four mechanical agitators, two on each side of the oil quench tank. The temperature of the oil is main- )

tained in the range of 75-140*F. I When heat treating by the batch process it is conceivable that time delays acy occur frcm human error when physically nioving the heat i treating baskets frora the furnace to the oil quench tank (i.e., I dropped basket, etc.). The NRC inspector witnessed the quenching operation and timed the transfer between oven and quench tank at 30 seconds.

The quenching medium (egitation, reserve oil, oil temperature) should i have sufficed for an adcquate quench. Due to the routine and relative 1 ease of the transfer process, errors would have to be of a deliberate nature-(i.e., operator not being attentive) or mechanical problems with the charge transfer vehicle.

1 From interviews with PHT personnel the NRC inspector was informtd that CIPC on occassions would submit for heat treating, fasteners that had I beer, previously heat treated together with fasteners that had not been heat treated. Reheat treating of previously heat treated products is highly undesirable since there is no guarantee that subsequent heat treatrrents will yit:1d the cesired microstructure or mechanical properties. '

Therefore, there is a possibility that the heat treated fasteners which exhiLited low and marginal ri.echanical properties at CEC 0 were subjected to prior heat treatn.ent by CIPC.

All heat treatraent performed at PET is dcre according tc MIL-H-6875-cr customer process specifications. Procedures for heat treating at PHT are specified on the shop order forra which accompanies the n.aterial to be heat treated. At the tirae of the inspection, the nuclear related P0's reviewed by the NRC inspector, revea kd that 10 CFR Part 21 had been imposed on Phl.

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ORGANIZATION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING COMPANY MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA REPORT INSPECTION NO.: 99901096/87-01 RESULTS: PAGE 5 of 7 10 CFR Part 21 Issues Upon review of the PHT quality assurance documentation, it was apparent that a precedure for evaluating and reporting deviaticns did net exist.

Therefcre, at the time of the inspection, there was no formalized method of evaluating potentially reportable Part 21 items or reporting Part 21 items (see Violation 87-01-01).

Calibration The PHT Quality Assurance manual requires that hardness testing equipment be calibrated every 90 days by an approved instrument laboratory. PHT is in compliance with this commitment.

PHT regularly tests their protcctive atrosphere furnaces for intergranular oxidation and decarburization by approved cutside sources. Also, mechanical properties test and microstructural evaluation of quenched and tempered test pieces are perforned on a monthly basis.

1. Calibration for both the Rockwell and Erinell hardness testers were up to date. All hardness testing equipment, Rockwell and Brinell, was fcund to be calibrated evcry 90 days and a sticker was affixed to each machine that indicated the date of the calibration. The King 4 (No. XR-34) and Tinius Olsen Brinell (No. 123165) hardness testers were calibrated by Golden State Calibration & Service Company in acccrdance with National Bureau of Standards (f?BS), reference test Nos.. SJTDl/102533. The Rockwell hardness tester No. 5JR-1004, SJR-1074, end 4TT-749 were calibrated by Gciden State Calibration &

Service Company to be within the limits when using a standardized i diamond and/or ball penetrator on standardized Rockwell test biccks (six tests were perforned). The ranges were verified tc be in accordance with ASTM specification E18, per MIL-Std-45662.

Hardness Tester No. 4TT-749 calibrated ranges 15N-E2, 15N-91 were verified as well as tester No. 5JR-1074 calibrated ranges C-62, C-45, C-25 and tester SJR-1684 calibrated ranges C-12. C-45, C-25.

The Rockwcli hardness tester machine ID #2-SJR-BB/SN 1004 was checked with test blocks and recorded on a daily basis by the shift inspector.

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ORGAh1ZATION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING COMPANY.

MONTEBELLO, CALIFORhlA REP 0h7 ' INSPECTION NO.: 99901096/87-01 .RESULTS: PAGE 6.of 7 Constant and ecurate calibration of the hardness testers are essential.sint the hardness.results are used to verify material prcperties and adjust process controls.

2. Thermocouple used to perform the temperature uniformity survey in February 1987 on the gas fired car-bottom furnace hCB1 were calibrated by the Nelson Instrument Service Company, Incorporated. The Nelson Instrument certification #11948 was reviewed and.found adequate. . The i

therr.:occuple correction was (+)2*F for testing temperatures '1300,1500, 1700'F. The standards used were NBS test #236962.for S/N 1640392 and NBS test #235727 for S/N 876547. The standard. thermocouple was-l calibrated according to NBS test #238464.

The calibration of all recording potentiometer controllers were up to date and a sticker was affixed to each instrun'ent indicating i the date of last calibration.

3. End quench tests for'hardenability evaluations were performed in 1987. These tests were done acccrding to the requirements of MIL-H-6875G and ASTM A-255 for 4340 steel and evaluated by MQS Inspection, Incorporated in metallurgical lab report #37171-5-1, dated March 16, 1987. All samples met their required test specifications.

Basket Material Precision P0 CWC Date P0 Furnace 410 SS Bar PR 18362 02/23/87 H141 T2A 4340 Bar PR 18367 02/26/86 107 T2 17-4 PH PR 18360 02/23/87 H-126 T2A 4340 PR 18367 02/26/87 H-165 T1 4340 bar PR 18356 02/26/87 155 T2A 4340 PR 18358 02/26/87 199 3 4340 PR 16365 02/26/87 :001' 0F1 4540 PR 18365 02/26/87 002 0F1 6740 Steel Bar PR 18363 02/28/37 707 2

4. Decarburization Control and High Temperature Oxidation Test were performed in February 1987 and reported by Metallurgical Testing Corporation on March 16, 1987. The results indicated that test

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pieces frcm furnaces T2A, T1, T1A, T2, TC1, R2 and 2 were free of decarburization and detrir. ental intergranular oxidation.

Intergranular high temperature oxidetion and decarburization tests  ;

were performed per LCP-73-2020A. j i

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4 ORGAlil71sTION: PRECISION HEAT TREATING COMPANY MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA REPORT INSPECTION ti0. : 99901096/87-01 RESULTS: PAGE 7 of 7 Plant Tour en m.

During the plant tour of PHT, the endothermic atmosphere controllid ,

furnaces, the cpen fire non-atmospheric furnace, and the car botton, d tempering furnace (flo. 1 and ho. 2) were inspected for calibration.

Theoilquenchtankwasverified.tohaveadequatemechanicalagitition(.

The transfer time between the open fire furnace and quench tank was  ;

witnes' sed to be 30 seccnds. id .

faterial for shipment with blue acceptance tags necrc' verified as O R

having information regarding customer name, number of pieces, material type, part number, serial number, part name and PHT inspector approval.

The tiRC inspector also verified proper distribution of QC inspection stamps ho. 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 15 to the shift supervisor, shift leadman and QC inspectors. Each inspector had proper possession of his stamp during working hocrs.

Upcn review of four furnace charts for shop orders #53332, #53318 and

1. 53317 the time in which the load was charged and removed was.not indicated (see Nonconformance 87-01-02).

Shop order #53318 consisted of 422 pieces of heat treat ASTM A354BD .

it3/0 x 1, HX HD material for A&G Engineering Conipany. Shop order

1. 53317 consisted of 654 pieces of heat treated ASME SA 546 Grace 630, H1100 7/8 Hvy Hx nut material for A&G Engineering. Shop crder f53332 consisted of 125 lbs. of heat treated ASI;E SA 564 TY 630, H1100 1 1/8 .

Hvy hex nut material for A&G Engineering.

E. PERSONS CONTACTED:

• Brian L. Launder, Vice President

• Janies F. Lastra, QC llanager

• P. C. Scribante, Sales

• Present at the exit meeting.

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[ f' s Precision Heat Treating Co. September 11, 1987 cc: Cardinal Industrial Products, Incorporated ATTN: 141chael Donovan 3873 West 0quendo Suite 1000 Las Vegas, llevada 89118 Commonwealth Edison Company Attn: lir. James J. O'Connor, President {'

P.O. Box 762 Chicago, Illinois 60690 DISTRIBUTION: l RIDS Code.IE:09-VIB Reading DRIS Reading JParticw

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JHarper (2) j LParker l TTonque, SRI (Braidwood Station)

RSchultz, RI (Braidwood Station)

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l Precision Heat Treating'Co. September'll,-1987 cc: . Cardinal Industrial Products, Incorporated ATTN: 141chael Donovan 3873 West Oquendo Suite 1000 Las Vegas, llevada 89118 Commonwealth Edison Company Attn: 14r. James J. O'Connor, President P.O. Box.762 Chicago, Illinois 60690 DISTRIBUTION:

RIDS Code IE:09 VIB Reading DRIS Reading JPartlow BGrimes l Ehcrschoff JStone JHarper (2)

LParker TTonque, SRI (Braidwood Station) kSchultz, RI (Braidwood Station) j JStevens, Pl4 ,

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