The multiaxial creep ductility of austenitic stainless steels

Calculations of creep damage under conditions of strain control are often carried out using either a time fraction approach or a ductility exhaustion approach. In practice, calculations of creep damage are further complicated by the presence of multiaxial states of stress. In the case of the time fraction approach, there are a number of models that can be used to predict the effect of state of stress on creep rupture strength. In particular, Huddleston developed a model from data on stainless steels. The R5 procedure uses a ductility exhaustion approach to calculate creep damage and includes a model for use under triaxial states of stress. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of this model, which is based on considerations of cavity nucleation and growth and was developed from multiaxial creep data on Type 304 and 316 steels.     

Experimental study of remaining creep life of SA-304L stainless steel using small punch creep test

In this paper, the remaining creep life of SA-304L stainless steel at elevated temperatures is studied. The small punch creep tests (SPCT) were performed on SA-304L virgin and aged materials at constant loads. Times to fracture and the minimum deflection rate in SPCTs were recorded, and the time-temperature parametric analysis was performed, based on experimental results. The constants of the Larson–Miller parameter and the Monkman–Grant relationship were obtained for different consumed creep life ratios, and eventually the equations were established to explain the variation of constants of the Larson–Miller parameter and the Monkman-Grant relationship with respect to the consumed creep life ratio.     

Corrosion fatigue behaviour of 304 stainless steel under proportional and non‐proportional multiaxial loading condition

Corrosion fatigue and electrochemical tests under proportional loading and non‐proportional loading were conducted on 304 stainless steel in 0.63 mol L^?1 NaCl solution at room temperature. Two biaxial loading paths were applied to study the effect of proportional loading and non‐proportional loading on corrosion fatigue behaviour. Surface and fractographic observations of multiaxial corrosion fatigue specimens were carried out by scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that proportional loading had a more significant effect on the occurrence of local corrosion compared with non‐proportional loading because the continuous rotation of the principal stress plane under non‐proportional loading inhibits the pit formation.     

The importance of multiaxial stress in creep deformation and rupture

This paper investigates the importance of multiaxial stress states by considering several distinct testing techniques used in assessing both creep deformation and creep damage accumulation. The requirements of testing programmes to determine the necessary data are discussed in respect of sensitivity and interdependence of the principal and hydrostatic stress ratios.     

Isochronous creep rupture loci on deviatoric plane and its application to P92 steel creep behaviour under multiaxial stress state

The transformation relationship of the coordinate variables between principal stress space and deviatoric stress plane has been deduced and the isochronous creep rupture loci of disparate criteria have been described on deviatoric stress plane so as to analyze the creep behaviour under multiaxial stress state. The creep experiments of P92 steel smooth and notched specimens subjected to various stresses at 650 °C have been conducted. A modified constitutive model for the creep of P92 steel has been proposed and used to simulate the creep of P92 steel notched specimens with FEA software. The FEA results were consistent with the experimental data and the fracture morphology observation. It was found that the Hayhurst criterion had the best correlation with the experimental results of P92 steel under multiaxial stress state than other criteria through the comparison of the isochronous creep rupture loci on deviatoric plane.     

Nanoindentation creep deformation behaviour of high nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel

Nanoindentation tests of the high nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel (HNS) were performed with peak load in a wide range of 100–600?mN to investigate the nanoindentation creep deformation behaviours. The results of the nanoindentation creep tests have demonstrated that the load plateaus, creep strain rate and creep stress of the cold-rolled HNS are larger and its creep stress exponent is smaller than the solution-treated HNS. The analysis reveals that the obvious creep deformation behaviour in the cold-rolled HNS arises from the rapidly relaxed dislocation structures in the initial transition regime, while the small creep deformation behaviour of the solution-treatedHNS is mainly attributed to that the stable dislocation structures for the intensive interactions between dislocations.     

Super304H奥氏体耐热钢微观组织研究

为了深入认识新型奥氏体耐热钢Super304H(0.1C-18Cr-9Ni-3Cu-Nb,N)的微观组织,利用光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、电子探针和X射线衍射等手段,研究了Super304H钢合金元素的分布和析出相的组成及分布形态.试验结果表明,Super304H钢在供货状态下的显微组织由γ-基体和析出相组成.与传统的18-8不锈钢相比,这种奥氏体钢晶粒均匀细小,晶粒尺寸约46μm.析出相主要由Nb(C,N)和富铜相组成,Nb(C,N)有呈方向性分布的条块状和呈弥散分布的细小颗粒状两种形态,条块状的Nb(C,N)是软化过程中残留下来的,而弥散分布的是固溶处理及冷却过程中析出形成的.其中弥散分布的Nb(C,N)与富铜相对细化晶粒和改善钢的高温强度起重要作用,而多种复合强化机制使得Super304H钢具有优异的高温性能.     

Creep crack growth rate predictions in 316H steel using stress dependent creep ductility

Abstract

Short and long term trends in creep crack growth (CCG) rate data over test times of 500–30?000 h are available for Austenitic Type 316H stainless steel at 550°C using compact tension, C(T), specimens. The relationship between CCG rate and its dependence on creep ductility, strain rate and plastic strain levels has been examined. Uniaxial creep data from a number of batches of 316H stainless steel, over the temperature range 550–750°C, have been collected and analysed. Power-law correlations have been determined between the creep ductility, creep rupture times and average creep strain rate data with stress σ normalised by flow stress σ_0·2 over the range 0·2<σ/σ_0·2<3 for uniaxial creep tests times between 100 and 100?000 h. Creep ductility exhibits upper shelf and lower shelf values which are joined by a stress dependent transition region. The creep strain rate and creep rupture exponents have been correlated with stress using a two-stage power-law fit over the stress range 0·2<σ/σ_0·2<3 for temperatures between 550 and 750°C, where it is known that power-law creep dominates. For temperature and stress ranges where no data are currently available, the data trend lines have been extrapolated to provide predictions over the full stress range. A stress dependent creep ductility and strain rate model has been implemented in a ductility exhaustion constraint based damage model using finite element (FE) analysis to predict CCG rates in 316H stainless steel at 550°C. The predicted CCG results are compared to analytical constant creep ductility CCG models (termed NSW models), assuming both plane stress and plane strain conditions, and validated against long and short term CCG test data at 550°C. Good agreement has been found between the FE predicted CCG trends and the available experimental data over a wide stress range although it has been shown that upper-bound NSW plane strain predictions for long term tests are overly conservative.     

The effect of overload on the fatigue crack growth behaviour of 304 stainless steel in hydrogen

Fatigue crack growth (FCG) behaviour and its characteristics following tensile overloads were investigated for AISI 304 stainless steel in three different atmospheres; namely dry argon, moist air and hydrogen. The FCG tests were performed by MTS 810 servohydraulic machine. CT specimens were used for the tests and crack closure measurements were made using an extensometer. FCG rates of 304 stainless steel at both dry argon and moist air atmospheres have shown almost the same behaviour. In other words, the effect of moisture on FCG of this material is very small. However, in a hydrogen atmosphere, the material showed considerably higher crack growth rate in all regimes. In general, for all environments, the initial effect of overloads was to accelerate the FCG rate for a short distance (less than a mm) after which retardation occurred for a considerable amount of time. The main causes for retardation were found as crack blunting and a long reinitiation period for the fatigue crack. Regarding the environmental effect, the overload retardation was lowest in a hydrogen atmosphere. This low degree of retardation was explained by a hydrogen embrittlement mechanism. In a general sense, hydrogen may cause a different crack closure mechanism and hydrogen induced crack closure has come in to the picture. Scanning electron microscope and light microscope examinations agreed well with the above results.     

Observations of fatigue crack behaviour in proton‐irradiated 304 stainless steel

Thermoelastic stress analysis (TSA) has been used to monitor fatigue crack growth in compact tension (CT) specimens, made from 304 grade austenitic stainless steel, that have been subject to proton irradiation. Several specimens had a 10 × 10 mm area ahead of a 1‐mm precrack irradiated with a 1.6 MeV proton beam up to 0.216C to 0.648C of accumulated charge prior to fatigue testing. Subsequently, specimens were loaded sinusoidally at 20 Hz with an R ratio of 0.5, and TSA data were collected both at the loading frequency and its second harmonic. Irradiation appears to cause an increase in the fatigue life, with a reduction in crack growth rate observed in the irradiated specimens compared with the unirradiated control specimens. Irradiation damage caused a moderately linear change in both the parameters of the Paris law with accumulated charge from the irradiation.     

Investigation of the multiaxial fatigue behaviour of 316 stainless steel based on critical plane method

In this work, the multiaxial behaviour of 316 stainless steel is studied under the lens of critical plane approach. A series of experiments were developed on dog bone–shaped hollow cylindrical specimens made of type 316 stainless steel. Five different loading conditions were assessed with (a) only tensile axial stress, (b) only hoop stress, (c) combination of axial and hoop stresses with square shape, (d) combination of tensile axial and hoop stresses with L shape, and (e) combination of compressive axial and hoop stresses with L shape. The fatigue analysis is performed with four different critical plane theories, namely, Wang‐Brown, Fatemi‐Socie, Liu I, and Liu II. The efficiency of all four theories is studied in terms of the accuracy of their life predictions and crack failure plane angle. The best fatigue life predictions were obtained with Liu II model, and the best predictions of the failure plane were obtained with Liu I model.     

奥氏体不锈钢凝固相转变规律曲线(SPT曲线)建立

利用自行设计的高温凝固相转变测定实验装置,研究了304奥氏体不锈钢在不同冷却速度下的高温凝固相转变过程,得到了凝固过程中液相（ L）到高温铁素体（δ）到奥氏体（γ）的相变温度。在此基础上分析了304奥氏体不锈钢在不同冷却速度下的高温凝固相转变规律,从而建立了304奥氏体不锈钢的低冷速凝固相转变规律曲线—SPT（Solidification phase transforma?tion）曲线。结果表明：对试样进行液氮酒精淬火有效地保留了试样高温时各相的状态。可以清楚的显示在不同冷速下的不同温度淬火时液相和固相的各相成份比例及在不同淬火温度下各成份体积比例的变化。通过研究体积比例变化,可以得到304奥氏体不锈钢在不同冷速下的液相线、固相线及各种反应开始和结束的转变温度（即SPT曲线）。由SPT曲线也可以看出,随着冷却速度的增大,相转变模式会发生变化,相图会向左移动,各相变反应的温度区间减小。     

Fracture failure analysis of AISI 304L stainless steel shaft

Fracture failure analysis of an agitator shaft in a large vessel is investigated in the present work. This analysis methodology focused on fracture surface examination and finite element method (FEM) simulation using Abaqus software for stress analysis. The results show that the steel shaft failed due to inadequate fillet radius size and more importantly marking defects originated during machining on the shaft. In addition, after visual investigation of the fracture surface, it is concluded that fracture occurred due to torsional–bending fatigue during operation.     

拉伸变形对304不锈钢应力腐蚀的影响

研究了在-70℃和180℃拉伸变形对304不锈钢应力腐蚀的影响，结果表明，随着拉伸变形量的增加，180℃拉伸变形的304不锈钢在42％沸腾MgCl2溶液中应力腐蚀破裂敏感性逐渐减小，而在-70℃拉伸变形的304不锈钢在42％沸腾MgCl2溶液中应力腐蚀破裂敏感性经历了一个从减小到增大的过程．马氏体相的存在导致304不锈钢在42％沸腾MgCl2溶液中应力腐蚀破裂敏感性增大。     

储能缝焊工艺对304不锈钢接头性能的影响

为研究电容储能缝焊工艺对304不锈钢接头性能的影响规律,对0.5 mm厚304不锈钢板进行了缝焊工艺实验,通过接头拉剪力检测和金相显微组织观察,对比了不同焊接速度、充电电容和放电频率下的缝焊接头组织特点,并分析了各工艺参数对接头拉剪力、熔核宽度、焊缝重叠量和焊透率的影响.结果表明:储能焊焊缝中心晶粒细小,熔合区为柱状晶,重叠部位晶粒粗大,接头组织呈现不均匀性,随着充电电容的增大晶粒变得更细密,组织不均匀程度显著降低,焊接速度和放电频率增大导致晶粒组织粗化并出现缩孔缺陷,提高电极压力可克服缩孔并使组织趋向均匀;充电电容对接头拉剪力的影响较小,焊接速度、充电电压、放电频率和电极压力调到一个合适值后,继续增大参数值对接头拉剪力影响很小;焊接速度的增大引起焊缝熔核宽度和重叠量急剧下降,充电电压增大引起焊缝焊透率下降过多,导致飞溅、过烧、毛刺等焊接缺陷的产生.因此,304不锈钢储能缝焊应采用低的焊接速度、较小的充电电压和较高的电极压力。     

The effect of prior fatigue on the creep behaviour of type 321 stainless steel

An investigation was made of the influence of prior elevated-temperature fatigue (at 400°C, 650°C and 750°C) on the creep behaviour of type 321 stainless steel stressed at 200 MPa at 650°C. Prior fatigue was found to accelerate the creep rate, increase the creep ductility, and decrease the time to failure. The acceleration in creep rate was ^∝e^1.8t^0.68, where e is the strain amplitude and t is the duration of the fatigue test. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the dislocation structures produced by prior fatigue tended to persist throughout the subsequent creep test. A stress-aided recovery mechanism is suggested to account for these effects.     

Cyclic fracture behaviour of 304LN stainless steel under load and displacement control modes

Attempts have been made to understand cyclic fracture behaviour of AISI 304LN stainless steel used for nuclear piping materials under load vis‐à‐vis displacement controlled fracture tests; the former closely simulate the seismic loading conditions. The load controlled tests indicate that a material fails in a limited number of cycles even when the load amplitudes are sufficiently below the maximum load in a monotonic J–R test. The displacement controlled tests, on the other hand, show that the energy absorbing ability of a material gets severely reduced under cyclic loading conditions. The obtained results on standard laboratory specimens have been compared with similar available results on components in order to provide guidelines for maximum load bearing capability of engineering components under cyclic loading.     

Microstructure and thermomechanical pretreatment effects on creep behaviour of helium-implanted DIN 1·4970 austenitic stainless steel

Microstructure investigations were carried out on unimplanted and 150 at.ppm helium implanted foil specimens of DIN 1·4970 austenitic stainless steel after various thermomechanical pretreatments. Creep tests were also carried out for both helium-implanted and unimplanted specimens at 700°C and 800°C. The strength, ductility and rupture time are correlated with the dislocation and precipitate distributions. Helium embrittlement can be reduced in these experiments when dispersive TiC precipitate distributions are produced by proper pretreatments or allowed to form during creep test.     

Creep fracture behaviour of SUS304H steel with vanadium addition based on small punch creep testing

The high-temperature creep fracture behaviour and creep strength of SUS 304H containing a minor addition of V were investigated in this study. A series of small punch (SP) creep and uniaxial creep tests were performed at 700 °C. The load and punch displacement rates obtained from the SP creep tests were used to derive conversion equations to determine the equivalent stress and creep strain rates. A converting equation is suggested in this study so that Norton’s secondary power law creep constants obtained from the SP creep testing can be in agreement with those obtained from the uniaxial tensile creep tests. The creep strength of the modified SUS 304H steel containing V was shown to be superior to that without V based on the current results and other available results for type 304H steel.