Cracking Causes of Water Wall Tube of 600 MW Boiler in a Thermal Power Plant

The water wall tube of a 600 MW boiler in a thermal power plant cracked during the hydraulic test. The causes of cracking were analyzed by means of macro analysis, chemical composition analysis, metallographic examination and mechanical property test. The results show that there were slag inclusion defects in the corner of the original tube, which made the base metal form discontinuous defects. When the pressure was increased during the hydrostatic test, the crack propagation eventually led to the cracking failure of the tube.