Effects of some carbide stabilizing elements on creep-rupture strength and microstructural changes of 18-10 austenitic steel

The creep rupture test has been carried out for 18Cr-10Ni-0.1 wt pct C stainless steels bearing individually Ti, Nb(Cb), and V, followed by the microstructural study. The highest value of 700°C-10⁴ h rupture strength in a titanium and niobium series (the steel containing various amounts of titanium and niobium, respectively) has been obtained at Ti/C and Nb/C atomic ratio of 0.8 and 0.2 to 0.4, respectively. On the other hand, in a vanadium series, the creep rupture strength of the steel showed its maximum at V/C atomic ratio of about unity in the testing at the temperature of 700° and 800°C, but at 600°C, the strength increases monotonically with vanadium content up to 1.53 wt pct. Such high strength in the steels con-taining proper amount of Ti, Nb, and V is related mainly with the fine distribution of M₂₃C₆ precipitates which is caused by the acceleration of nucleation due to the foregoing precipi-tation of a MC type carbide within the austenite grains. And it has been deduced that the solid solution strengthening effect of the vanadium contributes also to the remarkable in-crease in the rupture strength of the vanadium steel at 600°C.     

Effect of Sb, P, Sn and B on the microstructure and creep properties of normalized and tempered 1.25 Cr-0.5 Mo steels

A program to study the effect of Sb, P, Sn and B on creep properties of four normalized and tempered 1.25 Cr-0.5 Mo steels at 538°C (1000°F) has been completed. Results show that even a combined addition of large amounts of Sb, P and Sn does not affect short time creep strength or ductility of the steel at 538°C (1000°F). Addition of B resulted in an increase or decrease of creep strength depending on the nature of the impurity species present, presumably due to B-impurity interactions. Regardless of the effect on creep strength, B additions caused sharp reductions in rupture ductility in all cases. Comparison of the present results on the four laboratory steels (100 pct bainite) with results of a previous study on a commercial steel (60 pct bainite + 40 pct ferrite) show that the effect of microstructure becomes negligible and rupture strength values of the various steels at 538°C (1000°F) approach each other at rupture times in excess of 10⁴ h.     

The effect of Nb,V, N and Al on the creep rupture strength of 9–12 % Cr steel

The creep resistance of advanced chromium steels can be significantly increased due to precipitation of very small particles of vanadium nitride VN. The solubility and precipitation of VN, Nb(C,N) and AIN in austenite and ferrite was analysed using relevant solubility products. The calculated values of nitrogen in solid solution were used for assessment of creep rupture strength of chromium steel (mean considered chemical composition, mass contents in %: 0.18 C; 10.5 Cr; 1.0 Mo; 0.2 V; 0.07 Nb; 0.05 N; 0.01 Al). Increasing N mass contents from 0.03 to 0.07 % leads to increasing creep rupture strength in 100 000 h at 600°C of about 60 %. Lowering AI mass contents from 0.045 to 0.005 % produces higher creep rupture strength of about 30 %.     

Effect of Sb,P, Sn and B on the microstructure and creep properties of normalized and tempered 1.25 Cr−0.5 Mo Steels

A program to study the effect of Sb, P, Sn and B on creep properties of four normalized and tempered 1.25 Cr−0.5 Mo steels at 538°C (1000°F) has been completed. Results show that even a combined addition of large amounts of Sb, P and Sn does not affect short time creep strength or ductility of the steel at 538°C (1000°F). Addition of B resulted in an increase or decrease of creep strength depending on the nature of the impurity species present, presumably due to B-impurity interactions. Regardless of the effect on creep strength, B additions caused sharp reductions in rupture ductility in all cases. Comparison of the present results on the four laboratory steels (100 pct bainite) with results of a previous study on a commercial steel (60 pct bainite + 40 pct ferrite) show that the effect of microstructure becomes negligible and rupture strength values of the various steels at 538°C (1000°F) approach each other at rupture times in excess of 10⁴ h.     

Microstructure-strength relations in a hardenable stainless steel with 16 pct Cr, 1.5 pct Mo,and 5 pct Ni

Metallographic studies have been conducted on a 0.024 pct C-16 pct Cr-1.5 pct Mo-5 pct Ni stainless steel to study the phase reactions associated with heat treatments and investigate the strengthening mechanisms of the steel. In the normalized condition, air cooled from 1010 °C, the microstructure consists of 20 pct ferrite and 80 pct martensite. Tempering in a temperature range between 500 and 600 °C results in a gradual transformation of martensite to a fine mixture of ferrite and austenite. At higher tempering temperatures, between 600 and 800 °C, progressively larger quantities of austenite form and are converted during cooling to proportionally increasing amounts of fresh martensite. The amount of retained austenite in the microstructure is reduced to zero at 800 °C, and the microstructure contains 65 pct re-formed martensite and 35 pct total ferrite. Chromium rich M₂₃C₆ carbides precipitate in the single tempered microstructures. The principal strengthening is produced by the presence of martensite in the microstructure. Additional strengthening is provided by a second tempering treatment at 400 °C due to the precipitation of ultrafine (Cr, Mo) (C,N) particles in the ferrite.     

Effect of titanium,niobium and zirconium on creep rupture strength and ductility of cobalt base superalloys

An attempt has been made to develop a cobalt base casting superalloy (30Cr-10Ni-7W-Co) having high creep rupture strength and ductility for first stage nozzles of gas turbines. In cobalt base superalloys, there was found to exist a close correlation between the creep rupture strength and MC type carbide forming elements such as Ti, Nb and Zr. In cobalt base alloys with 0.25 wt pct C, precipitation and coarsening of carbides can be reduced by addition of Ti, Nb and Zr. Therefore, by adding the optimum amount of Ti, Nb and Zr, precipitation of carbides in the alloy reaches such an amount as to give the highest creep rupture strength. Excess addition of Ti, Nb and Zr does not improve the creep rupture strength. By adding C, creep rupture strength of the cobalt alloy with Ti, Nb and Zr can be improved and becomes the highest at 0.40 wt pct. C. According to the experimental results, the creep rupture strength becomes the highest at a value of (Ti + Nb + Zr)/C (atomic ratio) of about 0.3. Contrary to the expectation, it was found in this experiment that the ductility in creep rupture tests increases with increasing carbon content up to 0.6 wt pct.     

Thermal treatment improving creep properties of nitrogen-added Mod.9Cr-1Mo steels

Generation IV reactors are being developed to produce a reliable energy safely and with an economic benefit, because nuclear energy is being seriously considered to meet the increasing demand for a world-wide energy supply without environmental effects. Ferritic/martensitic steels are attracting attention as candidate materials for the Gen-IV reactors due to their high strength and thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion, and good resistance to corrosion. In recent years, new ferritic/martensitic steels have been developed for ultra supercritical fossil power plants through advanced technologies for steel fabrication. The microstructural stability of these materials for the pressure vessel, cladding and core structure of the VHTR and SFR is very important. Nitrogen is a precipitation hardening element, and the thermal stability of nitrides is superior to that of carbides. So the formation of nitrides may improve the thermal stability of the microstructure and eventually increase the creep rupture strength of high Cr steels. The effect of nitrogen on the creep rupture strength and microstructure evolution of nitrogen-added Mod.9Cr-1Mo steels has been studied. Creep testing was carried out at 873 and 923 K under constant load conditions. The optimum controlled Cr₂X precipitates were developed by special heat treatment, and they were not dissolved after a creep deformation. These fine and stable Cr₂X precipitates contributed to the increase of the creep rupture strength. The prior austenite grain size and martensite lath width were decreased by the resultant stable nitrides.     

钒对T122铁素体耐热钢组织和性能的影响

研究了(%):0.11C- 11.89～12. 19Cr- 1.86～1.90W-0.37～0.38Mo-0.9Cu铁素体耐热钢T122 中 0.14%～0.31%V-0.05%Nb复合强化添加剂中V 含量对钢的组织和性能的影响。结果发现,随V 含量增加, 钢中δ铁素体量增加,室温拉伸强度、650℃拉伸强度和650℃持久强度逐渐降低;当V 含量为0.19%时T122 钢的室温拉伸强度、650℃拉伸强度和持久性能较高。 V 含量变化影响钢中M₂C、MX 和Laves相的析出, 0.19%V-0.05%Nb析出强化效果最好     

Interrelations of cooling rate,microstructure, and mechanical properties in four HSLA steels

The present study was carried out on four steels containing 0.1 pct C-1.5 pct Mn-0.003 pct B* in common, with additions of 1 pct Cr, 0.5 pct Mo, 0.25 pct Mo + 1 pct Cr, 0.2 pct Ti + 1 pct Cr. They were designated, accordingly, as Cr, Mo, Mo-Cr, and Cr-Ti steels. All the steels exhibited a complete lath martensite microstructure with thin interlaths of retained austenite (≈0.05 pct) in the quenched condition. The normalized microstructures, granular bainite, contained massive areas of ferrite and granules of bainite laths. Both microconstituents contained a fine dispersion of cementite particles (size ≈50 Å) together with high dislocation densities. A mechanism explaining their for-mation has been given. The Cr steel, due to its low hardenability, showed in addition polygonal ferrite in the neighborhood of the so-called M-A constituent (twinned martensite and/or austenite). The annealed microstructure (using a cooling rate of 0.033 °C s^?1) of the Cr steel consisted of coarse ferrite-pearlite. Addition of 0.2 pct Ti to the Cr steel markedly refined the structure, whereas an addition of 0.25 pct Mo altered the microstructure to ferrite-lower bainite. In the 0.5 pct Mo steel, polygonal ferrite was found to be completely missing. The mechanical properties of the four steels after quenching, normalizing, and annealing were investigatedvia hardness and tensile test mea-surements. An empirical equation, relating the ultimate tensile strength to the steel composition, for steels that had granular bainite microstructures in the normalized condition, was proposed. The fracture surfaces exhibited cleavage and variable-size dimples depending on the microstructure and steel composition.     

The effect of tungsten on creep

The effect of tungsten on creep behavior and microstructural evolution was investigated for tempered martensitic 9Cr steels with various W concentrations from 0 to 4 wt pct. The creep rupture testing was carried out at 823, 873, and 923 K for up to 54 Ms (15,000 hours). The creep and creep rupture strength increased linearly with W concentration up to about 3 wt pct, where the steels consisted of the single constituent of the tempered martensite. It increased only slightly above 3 wt pct, where the matrix consisted of the tempered martensite and δ-ferrite. The minimum creep rate was described by a power law. The apparent activation energy for the minimum creep rate showed a tendency similar to the W concentration dependence of the creep-rupture strength and was larger than the activation energy for self-diffusion at high W concentrations above 1 wt pct. The martensite lath microstructure with fine carbides along lath boundaries was responsible for a high resistance to creep deformation. With increasing W con- centration, the martensite lath microstructure became stabilized, which decreased the minimum creep rate and increased the apparent activation energy for the minimum creep rate.     

The effect of titanium on creep strength in 2.25 Pct Cr-1 Pct Mo steels

The effect of a low level of titanium on the microstructure and creep properties of 2.25 pct Cr-1 pct Mo steels has been examined as a function of carbon content and austenitizing temperature. The addition of 0.04 wt pct titanium resulted in a dramatic increase in creep strength at 565 °C, and this was found to be associated with the presence in the microstructure of very small (50 to 100 Å) titanium-bearing precipitates based upon both TiC and Mo₂C. The variation of the minimum creep rate with carbon content and austenitizing treatment was explained in terms of the solubility of TiC in austenite. The titanium-bearing carbides have an important effect on microstructural stability and on the maintenance of creep strength, but it is also apparent that solid solution strengthening by molybdenum can make a significant contribution to creep strength at low carbon levels (0.02 wt pct).     

The effect of molybdenum on high-temperature properties of 9 pct Cr steels

Heat-resistant 9 Cr steels with 1, 2, and 3 pct Mo were tested for mechanical properties, weldability, and creep-rupture properties. The elevated-temperature and rupture strengths increase with increasing molybdenum content. While the 9 Cr-1 Mo steel is martensitic and is precipitation strengthened with carbides, the 9 Cr-2 Mo and 9 Cr-3 Mo steels receive added benefits from precipitation of Laves phase and solid-solution strengthening. The latter cause little decrease in ductility and impact resistance. The 9 Cr-2 Mo and 9 Cr-3 Mo steels are characterized by a duplex microstructure which aids weldability. Weld cracking tests show no need for preheating the latter steels, although the martensitic 9 Cr-1 Mo steel is known to be susceptible to weld cracking if not preheated. Both duplex-structure steels have good resistance to stress-relief cracking. Anisotropy of mechanical properties, due to the orientation of the duplex structure in the rolling direction, is less than that observed in the fully martensitic 9 Cr-1 Mo steel.     

Delta ferritic heat-resistant chromium-molybdenum steels with improved rupture strength

Nine experimental delta-ferritic steels have been examined as potential low expansion heat-resistant steels for use in fossil fuel power generation, nuclear power generation, nuclear process heat plants and coal gasification plants. The steels contain 10 to 14 pct Cr and 2 to 6 pct Mo, with additions of columbium, titanium, vanadium, aluminum and boron. Room-temperature tensile properties and oxidation resistance of all steels were determined. Selected steels were aged for 1000 h at 760 °C (1400 °F) and subjected to elevated temperature tensile tests at the aging temperature. Creep-rupture properties of selected steels were determined at 760 and 815 °C (1400 and 1500 °F). Extensive metallographic and phase identification studies were conducted. Of the two steels tested for creep-rupture strength, the 10Cr-6Mo-0.5Cb steel, with good room-temperature ductility, has rupture strength exceeding that of martensitic 12Cr-1Mo-V steel. The 14Cr-3Mo-0.5Cb-lTi-2Al steel exhibits an even higher rupture strength, but has only marginal ductility at room temperature.     

Structure and mechanical properties of tempered martensite and lower bainite in Fe−Ni−Mn−C steels

The structure and mechanical properties of tempered martensite and lower bainite were investigated in a series of high purity 0.25 pct C steels with varying amounts of nickel and manganese. The martensites in 0.25 C-5 Ni?Fe and 0.25 C-3 Mn?Fe alloys were mainly untwinned, while those in 0.25 C-5 Ni-7 Mn?Fe and 0.25 C-7 Mn?Fe alloys were heavily twinned. Manganese appears to promote carbide precipitation along the lath boundaries in tempered martensite. At equivalent yield and ultimate tensile strength levels, the tempered martensite of lower manganese steels showed better impact toughness than the tempered martensite of higher manganese steels. The impact toughness (compared at similar strength levels) of untwinned tempered martensite of 0.25 pct C steel with Widmanstatten precipitation of carbide was higher than that of lower bainite, which showed unidirectional carbides. The reasons for the difference in impact toughness between the alloys, and also between the structures are rationalized in terms of internal twinning, grain boundary precipitation and carbide morphology together with other microstructural features.     

Notch-Fatigue Properties of Advanced TRIP-Aided Bainitic Ferrite Steels

To develop a transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP)-aided bainitic ferrite steel (TBF steel) with high hardenability for a common rail of the next generation diesel engine, 0.2?pct C-1.5?pct Si-1.5?pct Mn-0.05?pct Nb TBF steels with different contents of Cr, Mo, and Ni were produced. The notch-fatigue strength of the TBF steels was investigated and was related to the microstructural and retained austenite characteristics. If Cr, Mo, and/or Ni were added to the base steel, then the steels achieved extremely higher notch-fatigue limits and lower notch sensitivity than base TBF steel and the conventional structural steels. This was mainly associated with (1) carbide-free and fine bainitic ferrite lath structure matrix without proeutectoid ferrite, (2) a large amount of fine metastable retained austenite, and (3) blocky martensite phase including retained austenite, which may suppress a fatigue crack initiation and propagation.     

Embrittling characteristics of Ni-Cr-Mo-V steels designed to exhibit low susceptibility to temper embrittlement in large steam turbine rotor applications

Test steels containing 0.25 pct C, 1.0 pct Ni, 3.0 to 4.5 pct Cr, 0.8 to 2.0 pct Mo, 0.12 pct V and two levels of such impurities as phosphorus, tin and antimony, quenched and tempered to a 825 MPa (120 ksi) minimum yield strength level, have been examined for temper-embrittlement susceptibility. The susceptibility is influenced by a combination of chromium and molybdenum contents rather than by contents of individual elements. The susceptibility in steels with 3 pct Cr-0.8 pct Mo and 4.5 pct Cr-0.8 to 1.6 pct Mo was significantly lower than that of a 3.5Ni-1.7Cr-0.5Mo-0.1V steel at the same impurity level.     

Strength and toughness of Fe-10ni alloys containing C,Cr, Mo,and Co

The effects of C (0.10 to 0.20 pct), Cr (0 to 3 pct), Mo (0 to 2 pct), and Co (0 to 8 pct) on the yield strength, toughness (Charpy shelf energy), and tempering behavior of martensitic lONiCr-Mo-Co steels have been investigated. Variations in the carbon content between 0.10 and 0.20 pct result in yield strengths between 160 and 210 ksi (1.1 and 1.45 GN/m²) when these steels are tempered at 900° to 1000°F (480° to 540°C) for times of 1 to 100 h. These steels exhibit a secondary-hardening peak at 900° to 1000° F (480° to 540°C) where coarse Fe₃C carbides are gradually replaced by a fine, dislocation-nucleated dispersion of (Mo, Cr)₂C carbides. Maximum toughness at a given yield strength in these steels is only obtained when they are tempered for sufficiently long times so that the coarse Fe₃C carbides are completely dissolved. Molybdenum is primarily responsible for the secondary-hardening peak observed in these steels. However, chromium additions do result in lower secondaryhardening temperatures and promote coarsening of the secondary-hardening carbide. Best combinations of strength and toughness are obtained with steels containing 2 pct Cr and 1 pct Mo. Cobalt increases the yield strength of these steels over the entire tempering range and results in a higher secondary-hardening peak. This effect of cobalt is attributed to 1) a retardation in the rate of recovery of the dislocation substructure of the martensite, 2) the formation of a finer dispersion of secondary-hardening carbides, and 3) solid-solution strengthening. The finer dispersion of secondary-hardening carbides in steels containing cobalt is favored by the finer dislocation substructure in these steels since the (Mo, Cr)₂C carbide is dislocation-nucleated. This fine dispersion of (Mo, Cr)₂C carbide combined with the high nickel content accounts for the excellent combination of strength and toughness exhibited by these steels.