Creep Damage Evaluation of Fine-Grained HAZ in Mod. 9Cr Ferritic Heat-Resistant Steel Weldments

Author(s):  
N. Yoneyama ◽  
K. Kubushiro ◽  
H. Yoshizawa

9Cr steel weldments are concerned with evaluation of creep life time and creep rupture mechanism. In fine grain HAZ (FG-HAZ) of weldments, TYPE IV cracking and creep voids occurred at lower stress than rupture stress level of base metal. In the crept specimen, FG-HAZ sometime has large coarsening grains near creep voids. These recovery phenomena are localized in FG-HAZ, and recovered microstructures are dependent on heat input of welding. In this study, creep tests are examined in two types of weldments, and relations between creep life time and coarsened sub-grains or grains have been studied by microstructural changing with EBSP analysis. In crept specimens, boundaries are moved and boundary density is decreasing in the fine-grained HAZ. Maximum grain size and creep life time have linear function, and EBSP can evaluate creep life time of 9Cr weldments. These microstructural changing are considered by morphology of precipitates in the several crept specimens.

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaaki Tabuchi ◽  
Hiromichi Hongo ◽  
Yongkui Li ◽  
Takashi Watanabe ◽  
Yukio Takahashi

The creep strength of welded joints in high Cr steels decreases due to the formation of Type IV creep damage in heat-affected zones (HAZs) during long-term use at high temperatures. This paper aims to elucidate the processes and mechanisms of Type IV creep damage using Mod.9Cr–1Mo (ASME Grade 91) steel weldments. Long-term creep tests for base metal, simulated fine-grained HAZ, and welded joints were conducted at 550°C, 600°C, and 650°C. Furthermore, creep tests of thick welded joint specimens were interrupted at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 of rupture life and damage distributions were measured quantitatively. It was found that creep voids were initiated at an early stage of life inside the specimen thickness and coalesced to form cracks at a later stage of life. Creep damage was observed mostly at 25% below the surface of the plate. Experimental creep damage distributions were compared with computed versions using finite element method and damage mechanics analysis. Both multi-axial stress state and strain concentration in fine-grained HAZ appear to influence the formation and distribution of creep voids.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Ogata ◽  
Masatsugu Yaguchi

Creep-fatigue tests on the heat-affected zone(HAZ) simulated materials, base metal, weld metal and weld joint of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel, and elastic-plastic and creep FEM analysis for the weld joint were conducted. It was found from the comparison between experimental evidences and the analytical results that “Type IV” cracking was caused by two major reasons. One is accumulation of creep strain during strain hold in the fine-grain region is larger than that in other regions, suggesting progress of creep damage in the fine-grain region prior to other regions. The other is existence of triaxial tensile stress field within the fine-grain region caused reduction of failure ductility. Crack initiation portion and failure life under the creep-fatigue test could be well predicted by the nonlinear damage accumulation model based on the FEM analysis results.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seok Jun Kang ◽  
Hoomin Lee ◽  
Jae Boong Choi ◽  
Moon Ki Kim

Ultrasuper critical (USC) thermal plants are now in operation around the globe. Their applications include superheaters and reheaters, which generally require high temperature/pressure conditions. To withstand these harsh conditions, an austenitic heat-resistant HR3C (ASME TP310NbN) steel was developed for metal creep resistance. As the designed life time of a typical thermal plant is 150,000 h, it is very important to predict long-term creep behavior. In this study, a three-state variable continuum damage model (CDM) was modified for better estimation of long-term creep life. Accelerated uniaxial creep tests were performed to determine the material parameters. Also, the rupture type and microstructural precipitation were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The creep life of HR3C steel was predicted using only relatively short-term creep test data and was then successfully verified by comparison with the long-term creep data.


Author(s):  
Kenji Kako ◽  
Susumu Yamada ◽  
Masatsugu Yaguchi ◽  
Yusuke Minami

Type IV damage has been found at several ultra-supercritical (USC) plants that used high-chromium martensitic steels in Japan, and the assessment of the remaining life of the steels is important for electric power companies. The assessment of the remaining life needs long-term creep data for over 10 years, but such data are limited. We have attempted to assess the remaining life by creep tests and by microstructural observation of Grade 91 steels welded pipes which were used in USC plants for over 10 years. Following the results of microstructural observation of USC plant pipes, we find that microstructures, especially distribution of MX precipitates, have large effect on the creep life of Grade 91 steels.


Metals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dezheng Liu ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Xiangdong Xie ◽  
Guijie Liang ◽  
Jing Zhao

Creep damage is one of the main failure mechanisms of high Cr heat-resistant steel in power plants. Due to the complex changes of stress, strain, and damage at the tip of a creep crack with time, it is difficult to accurately evaluate the effects of residual stress on the creep rupture mechanism. In this study, two levels of residual stress were introduced in P92 high Cr alloy specimens using the local out-of-plane compression approach. The specimens were then subjected to thermal exposure at the temperature of 650 °C for accelerated creep tests. The chemical composition of P92 specimens was obtained using an FLS980-stm Edinburgh fluorescence spectrometer. Then, the constitutive coupling relation between the temperature and material intrinsic flow stress was established based on the Gibbs free energy principle. The effects of prior residual stress on the creep rupture mechanism were investigated by the finite element method (FEM) and experimental method. A comparison of the experimental and simulated results demonstrates that the effect of prior residual stress on the propagation of micro-cracks and the creep rupture time is significant. In sum, the transgranular fracture and the intergranular fracture can be observed in micrographs when the value of prior residual stress exceeds and is less than the material intrinsic flow stress, respectively.


Author(s):  
Masaaki Tabuchi ◽  
Hiromichi Hongo ◽  
Yongkui Li ◽  
Takashi Watanabe ◽  
Yukio Takahashi

The present paper aims to clarify the Type IV creep damage process of Mod.9Cr-1Mo (Gr.91) steel weldment. Long-term creep tests for base metal and simulated fine-grained HAZ and welded joints were conducted at 550, 600 and 650 °C. Furthermore, creep tests of thick welded joint specimens were interrupted at 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 of rupture life, and damage distributions were measured quantitatively. It was found that creep voids initiated at the early stage of life inside the specimen thickness, and grew into cracks at the later stage of life. Experimental creep damage distributions were compared with computed ones using FEM and damage mechanics analysis. The effect of multiaxial stress condition on creep damage evolution is discussed.


Author(s):  
Fumio Takemasa ◽  
Isamu Nonaka ◽  
Takuya Ito ◽  
Kensuke Saitou ◽  
Yoshikazu Miyachi ◽  
...  

In order to establish the creep life assessment method for modified 9Cr-1Mo steel welded joints on hot reheat piping of generating power plants, internal pressure creep tests conducted with full size components are analysed using the finite element method (FEM). As a result, it is shown that the creep damage distribution in weld heat affected zone (HAZ) can be predicted by stress distribution in HAZ, and that average stress in HAZ can be a representative value for creep strength of welded joints.


Author(s):  
Toshiki Mitsueda ◽  
Kazuya Fujii ◽  
Somei Ohnuki

To establish a remaining life assessment standard for aged thermal power boilers, internal pressure creep tests of representative low alloy pipe steels were conducted. The tested materials were 2.25Cr-1Mo steel, 1Cr-0.5Mo steel, and 0.5Mo steel. Specimens with and without welded parts in their trunks were made of each material and were φ 70 mm-L400mm-t15mm in dimension. Creep test conditions were 570–620°C × 59MPa and internal pressures were applied by Argon gas or water vapor. Creep tests were interrupted at intervals to acquire data on the crept material as creeping progressed. The observations of replicas from the specimen surface showed the characteristic features of each and the following results were obtained from the comparison of them. (1) The specimens of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel and 1Cr-0.5Mo steel suddenly expanded at about 80% of creep life ratio, and that of 0.5Mo gradually expanded from 60%. They finally ruptured with 15–20% expansions in diameter. (2) Although 2.25Cr-1Mo steel witnessed few creep voids near the end of its creep life, 1 Cr-0.5Mo steel and 0.5Mo steel witnessed many voids such as microcracks from mid-creep life onward. (3) Deformation of ferrite grains contributed to the expansion of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel specimens. On the other hand, partial separations of grains seem to have been owed to the expansions of 1Cr-0.5Mo steel and 0.5Mo steel. In 2.25Cr-1Mo steel, the strength of grain boundary versus grain interior seems to be higher than those of 1Cr-0.5Mo steel and 0.5Mo steels. (4) The amount of creep voids in the HAZ of 1.5Cr-0.5Mo steel was roughly three times that of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel.


Author(s):  
Takashi Ogata ◽  
Toshiki Mitsueda ◽  
Hiroshi Sakai

Grade 91 steels are widely used for high temperature pipes in ultra-super-critical thermal power plants. It was recently reported that the creep damage was detected in the fine grain region within the heat affected zone (HAZ) in the welded pipes, so called “Type IV” damage. So far, studies on creep damage and life assessment methods for welded joints of the Grade 91 steel were concentrated on longitudinal welded pipes. Circumferential welded joints are also susceptible to Type IV damage due to the increase of axial thermal stress superimposed with pipe weight. In this study, the effect of additional axial stress to the axial stress produced by the internal pressure on damage and rupture property is discussed based on internal pressure creep tests adding different levels of the axial loads using the Grade 91 circumferential welded tubes. Rupture time of the circumferential welded tube decreases with increasing additional axial load level. Longitudinal cracking in the weld metal was observed in the specimens tested under lower additional load level, and Type IV cracking was observed in the specimens under higher additional load level. The stress analysis results indicate that the longitudinal stress in the HAZ increases with the axial load. Type IV cracking occurs at a certain value of a ratio of the total longitudinal stress to the circumferential stress. Under the test condition where Type IV cracking occurs, the rupture time is significantly shorter than the predicted rupture time based on the creep rupture data of the longitudinal welded tubes. The limited creep strain concept is introduced to predict the rupture time of the circumferential welded tubes by considering the effect of stress multiaxiality. Eventually, the rupture times caused by Type IV cracking of both the longitudinal and the circumferential welded tubes were accurately predicted by the limited creep strain concept.


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