Research on representative stress and fracture ductility of P92 steel under multiaxial creep

Creep experiments on both plain and notched specimens were conducted at 650 °C over a stress range of 120–185 MPa. The notch strengthening effect was found to exhibit in notched specimens. By using stress components at the skeletal point, several expressions of representative stress were compared to validate their effectiveness in predicting creep rupture lives of P92 steel under multiaxial stress states. The results showed that Hayhurst representative stress was more suitable for life predictions of P92 steel. In the mean time, the relationship between the fracture ductility and multiaxiality was presented to investigate the influence of the multiaxial stress states on creep rupture behavior of P92 steel. A more reasonable prediction model was proposed, and the validity of the model was verified by experimental data.     

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.     

Research on elastic-plastic creep damage of notched P92 steel specimens

Creep tests were performed on P92 steel specimens with notches of three different sizes at 650 °C. The results showed that the specimens switched from exhibiting ductility to showing brittleness at their center and at the notch root under multiaxial stress, but to varying degrees. This transformation was accompanied by a decrease in the reduction in area as well as in the number of dimples in the sample cross-section. The multiaxiality had a marked impact on the precipitation of the secondary phase, with its value determining the extent of precipitation of the secondary phase at the center and the root of the notch during creep. Using finite element analysis, an elastic-plastic creep damage model is embedded into the interface program and the creep behavior of the notched specimens was simulated. The results showed that plastic deformation at the notch root can accelerate specimen damage.     

Study on creep mechanical behaviour of P92 steel under multiaxial stress state

The creep mechanical behaviour of P92 steel at 650°C has been studied by experimental research and finite element analysis. During the creep of P92 steel, there existed the notched strengthening effect, which was influenced by the shapes of the notch and the nominal stress. Under the condition of the same notch depth, the creep life enhancement factor increased with decreasing notched radius or the increase of stress. The multiaxial stress caused by the notch effect had a significant influence on the evolution of the microstructure and resulted in a transforming tendency from ductile to brittle at the root of the notch. The fracture position varied with the shapes of the notch: the U shaped notch started to fracture at the root of the notch, while the C shaped notch in the centre of the specimen. The creep process of notched specimens was simulated by embedding Kachanov–Rabotnov creep damage constitutive model into the interface program of finite element software. The result showed that damage distribution of notched specimens varied during the process of creep. The maximum damage location at the end of creep depended on the notch shape: with larger notch radius the maximum damage location was in the centre, while smaller radius of notch specimens was near the notch root, which was consistent with the analysis of the fracture morphology.     

Finite element analysis and experimental research on notched strengthening effect of P92 steel

Abstract

The notched strengthening effect during creep of P92 steel has been studied by finite element analysis and experimental research. It was found that there was a transforming tendency from ductile to brittle at the root of the notch and the extent of the transforming intensified with the increment of the nominal stress. It was the transforming tendency that increased the value of creep life enhancement factor. With the help of finite element software, Kachanov–Rabotnov creep damage constitutive model was embedded into the interface program and the notched specimens creep was simulated. The result has shown the Kachanov–Rabotnov model can be used to simulate the notched strengthening effect of P92 steel accurately when the material constant α?=?0·73.     

Influence of temperature on multiaxial creep behaviour of 304HCu austenitic stainless steel

Effect of temperature on multiaxial creep behaviour of 304HCu austenitic stainless steel has been investigated. The multiaxiality was introduced by incorporating notches in smooth specimens. Creep rupture life increased with notch acuity ratio having a saturation/decline tendency. Notch strengthening increased with temperature, stress and notch sharpness. Multiaxial ductility decreased rapidly with notch sharpness and tended towards saturation. Fracture mode was found to change from transgranular ductile to intergranular creep depending on the stress, temperature and notch sharpness. Finite element analysis of notched specimens along with orientation imaging microscopic study was carried out to assess the deformation and damage at different normalised stress ratio. A temperature independent unique master plot for multiaxial rupture life as a function of stress has been established.     

Comparison of creep crack growth rate in heat affected zone of welded joint for 9%Cr ferritic heat resistant steel based on C, dδ/dt, K and Q parameters

Creep crack growth behavior is very sensitive to the materials’ micro-structures such as the heat affected zone of a weld joint. This is a main issue to be clarified for 9%Cr ferritic heat resistant steel for their application in structural components. In this paper, high temperature creep crack growth tests were conducted on CT specimens with cracks in the heat affected zone of weld joints of W added 9%Cr ferritic heat resistant steel, ASME grade P92. The creep crack growth behavior in the heat affected zone of welded joint was investigated using the Q^∗ concept following which the algorithm of predicting the life of creep crack growth has been proposed. Furthermore, three-dimensional elastic-plastic creep FEM analyses were conducted and the effect of stress multiaxiality of welded joint on creep crack growth rate was discussed as compared with that of base metal.     

Influence of initial ovality on creep life of P92 pipe bends subjected to in-plane bending

Initial ovality is an inevitable problem in the process of pipe bends manufacturing which results in the stress redistribution of the pipe bends working at high temperature. In order to study the influence of ovality on creep life of pipe bends, full-size creep experiment of P92 pipe bend subjected to in-plane bending has been conducted. The creep strains and outside diameters of dangerous positions have been measured. The microstructures of three different positions of the pipe bend were compared through SEM and the results showed the number and size of the carbide precipitation were the largest at the flank of the pipe bend, which indicated that the creep damage developed fastest at the flank. The modified Kachanov–Robatnov constitutive equations were used to stimulate the creep of P92 pipe bends with FEA software. The representative stress, damage and multiaxiality distributions of the pipe bends have been discussed. The FEA results were consistent with the experimental results and the influence of initial ovality on creep life of P92 pipe bends were analyzed. The results showed that creep life of pipe bends reduced by the increase of ovality and their relationship coincided with the parabolic law.     

Effects of creep ductility and notch constraint on creep fracture behavior in notched bar specimens

The creep rupture life of U-type notched specimens and smooth specimens has been calculated based on the ductility exhaustion damage model using stress-dependent creep ductility. Effects of creep ductility and notch constraint on creep fracture behaviour in notched bar specimens have been investigated. The results show that the U-type notch exhibits notch strengthening effect under a wide range of stress level and notch constraint condition (notch acuity) for creep ductile materials. The lower equivalent stress in notched specimens plays main role for reducing creep damage and increasing rupture life. The rupture life of notched specimens of creep brittle materials (with lower creep ductility) decreases with the increase in stress level and notch constraint. With increasing creep ductility and decreasing notch constraint, the degree of the notch strengthening effect increases. In creep life designs and assessments of high-temperature components containing notches, the material creep ductility, notch constraint and stress levels need to be fully considered.     

Ageing and cracking of simulated heat affected zones in 321 stainless steel

The heat affected zone (HAZ) of stabilised austenitic stainless steel welds may exhibit a serious form of intercrystalline cracking during service at high temperature. This type of embrittlement, well known as stress relief cracking, is related to thermal ageing: a fine and abundant intragranular Ti(C,N) precipitation appears near the fusion line during service at high temperature and modifies the mechanical behaviour of the HAZ. To analyse this embrittlement micro mechanism and to assess the lifetime of real components, different HAZ were simulated by various solution heat treatments, cold rolling and ageing conditions. The mechanical behaviour of these resulting materials was investigated using creep and tensile tests on smooth bars. Then, creep tests were carried out and simulated on notched bars by finite element calculations. A damage model was identified from intergranular damage measurements made on notched specimens and compared with calculated mechanical fields. Further tests on fatigue precracked specimens showed that crack propagation occurred under stress relaxation conditions in simulated HAZ material.     

Experimental and simulated characterization of creep behavior of P92 steel with prior cyclic loading damage

The effect of prior cyclic loading on creep behavior of P92 steel was investigated. Creep tests on prior cyclic loading exposure specimens were performed at 650?C and 130 MPa. In order to clarify the influence of prior cyclic loading on creep behavior, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were used. Experimental results indicate that the prior cyclic loading degrades the creep strength significantly. However, the degradation tends to be saturated with further increase in prior cyclic loading. From the view of microstructural evolution, the recovery of martensite laths takes place during prior cyclic loading exposure. This facilitates the dislocation movement during the following creep process. Therefore, premature rupture of creep test occurs. Additionally, saturated behavior of degradation can be attributed to the near completed recovery of martensite laths. Based on the effect of prior cyclic loading, a newly modified Hayhurst creep damage model was proposed to consider the prior cyclic loading damage. The main advantage of the proposed model lies in its ability to directly predict creep behavior with different levels of prior cyclic loading damage. Comparison of the predicted and experimental results shows that the proposed model can give a reasonable prediction for creep behavior of P92 steel with different level of prior cyclic loading damage.     

Failure estimation of TIG butt-welded Inco718 sheets at 620 °C under creep and plasticity conditions

This paper describes the creep behaviour of plain, notched and welded specimens machined from Inco718 sheet material. The Inco718 welded sheets experience out of plane distortion due to the welding process and these sheets also have weld beads with sharp fillet radii. Both the out of plane distortion and the fillet radii result in high stress concentrations and local plastic deformations which can significantly affect the failure life of the sheets, at high temperature, under creep conditions. Experimental creep testing using plain, notched and welded specimens was carried out at 620 °C. From the test data, the plasticity behaviour and the creep and damage constitutive equations were obtained for the material. On this basis, failure predictions of the welded sheets, based on continuum damage mechanics modelling, were conducted, using the finite element method. The results obtained are compared with the corresponding experimental data and the applicability of the method for predicting failure lives is discussed.     

Creep behaviour leading to Type IV cracking for service-exposed 1.25Cr-0.5Mo steel welds

To ensure reliability of elevated temperature components, the creep behaviour of weldment must be predicted since the ultimate failures mostly take place at this tiny region. In the case of low alloy ferritic steels, the most likely failure mode of equipment operated for long hours should be Type IV cracking, which is defined as preferential damage evolution at the Intercritical HAZ (ICZ). Despite the importance of this phenomenon, there have been some uncertainties remained unsolved. In order to elucidate the cause and accelerating factors of Type IV cracking, creep behaviours of cross-weld and the ICZ microstructure have been examined in the present work using service-exposed 1.25Cr-0.5Mo steel.Onset time to Type IV failure significantly reduced when tested by spirally notched cross-weld specimens as a result of concentrated damage accumulation at the root of a vee notch, revealing that multiaxaial stress state could play a key role in Type IV failure.The feature of creep damage suggests that grain boundary damage leading to Type IV cracking is caused by the sliding of grain boundaries around fine grains which are considered to be the products of partial transformation during welding. Heterogeneous damage evolution to the level of facet cracking surrounded by damage free grains raises the fundamental question on the validity of a generally accepted assumption, namely, that stress of grains associated with a grain boundary cavity will be off-loaded. As a matter of fact, a clear evidence that grain boundary cavitation accelerates the strain rate at the tertiary regime has not been observed in creep curves of simulated ICZ specimens, owning a bimodal microstructure expected at the ICZ in whole gauge length.Difference in the susceptibility to Type IV cracking has been found in materials with the same alloying elements and the vulnerability of the ICZ microstructure is not necessarily dependent upon creep strength of parent material.Considerable metallurgical factors to shorten the onset time to Type IV damage and the effectiveness of strain rate measurement as a potential technique for the life assessment shall be discussed.     

Investigating creep rupture and damage behaviour in notched P92 steel specimen using a microscale modelling approach

Idealized random grains separated by pseudo grain boundaries were generated by using Voronoi tessellation to simulate the polycrystalline microstructure. Combined with finite element analyses, this approach made it possible to addressing crack initiation and progressive failure due to crack growth in notched bar geometries of P92 steel at high temperature. The calculations provided good predictions for creep rupture lives of notched specimen with different notch radii and external stress. Simultaneously, irregular crack growth shape, intergranular crack mode, and wedge cracks at triple grain interaction were captured in the model. The crack initiation positions were found to be influenced by notch radius and applied stress causing high stress triaxiality at the subgrain level. Furthermore, the preferential crack growth directions were changed as the notch varied from sharp to blunt.     

THE EFFECT OF HARDNESS ON THE FRETTING FATIGUE OF ALLOY STEELS

The fretting fatigue behaviour of several alloy steels is reported in this paper. Fretting fatigue experiments were conducted on flat fretting junctions in axial tension at a stress ratio of 0.1. In all cases the same materials were fretted against each other. The fretting fatigue strength at a slip amplitude of 45 μ is rather insensitive to the hardness of the materials. The fretting fatigue strength at the slip amplitude of 10 μ increases with increase in hardness. As the slip amplitude increases the fretting fatigue life of 3SCrMo steel decreases, the depth of wear scars increases and the wear damage becomes more severe. The reason for similarity of fretting fatigue to the fatigue of notched specimens is that the effect of wear scars is similar to that of notches.     

金属蠕变律及蠕变行为研究

蠕变过程中 ,材料内部状态的不断演化 ,使得材料的蠕变行为发生改变。本文提出考虑损伤和硬化影响的蠕变律。利用该蠕变律讨论了 12 Cr1Mo V钢蠕变行为。分析结果表明 ,ε·c在蠕变过程中始终变化 ,第二阶段仅仅是ε·c相对稳定的阶段 ,其相对稳定程度和持续范围与载荷大小有关。在相同寿命分数下 ,不同应力水平引起的硬化状态也不相同     

Creep properties of a U‐type notch plate in Ni‐based superalloy

In the present investigation, the effect of notch on creep rupture behavior and creep rupture life of a Ni‐based superalloy has been assessed by performing creep tests on smooth and U‐notched plate specimen under 0°C. The finite element analysis coupled with continuum damage mechanics are carried out to understand the stress distribution across the notch throat and the creep damage evolution under multi‐axial stress state. The creep rupture life of U‐notched specimen is much larger than that of plane plate specimen under the same stress condition, indicating that there is a strengthening effect on notch specimen. Creep rupture life increases with increasing the notch radius, the smaller notch radius can induce the creep rupture easier. The effect of notch on the creep damage is also studied. It is found that the location of the maximum creep damage and the maximum equivalent creep strain initiates first at the notch root and gradually moves to the inside as the notch radius increases.     

Creep deformation and failure of E911/E911 and P92/P92 similar weld-joints

This paper deals with characterisation of microstructure and creep behaviour of similar weld-joints of advanced 9% Cr ferritic steels, namely E911 and P92. The microstructures of the investigated weld-joints exhibit significant variability in different weld-joint regions such as weld metal (WM), heat-affected zone (HAZ), and base metal (BM). The cross-weld creep tests were carried out at 625 °C with initial applied stresses of 100 and 120 MPa. Both weld-joints ruptured by the “type IV cracking failure mode” in their fine-grained heat-affected zones (FG-HAZ). The creep fracture location with the smallest precipitation density corresponds well with its smallest measured cross-weld hardness. The welds of P92 steel exhibit better creep resistance than those of E911 steel. Whereas the microstructure of P92 weld after creep still contains laths, the microstructure of E911 weld is clearly recrystallized. The creep stress exponents are 14.5 and 8 for E911 and P92 weld-joints, respectively. These n-values indicate the “power-law creep” with dislocation-controlled deformation mechanism for both investigated weld-joints.     

Microstructure Evolution of a 10Cr Heat-Resistant Steel during High Temperature Creep

The microstructure evolution of a 10Cr ferritic/martensitic heat-resistant steel during creep at 600℃ was investigated in this work.Creep tests demonstrated that the 10Cr steel had higher creep strength than conventional ASME-P92 steel at 600℃.The microstructure after creep was studied by transmission electron microscopy,scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis.It was revealed that the martensitic laths were coarsened with time and eventually developed into subgrains after 8354 h.Laves phase was observed to grow and cluster along the prior austenite grain boundaries during creep and caused the fluctuation of solution and precipitation strengthening effects,which was responsible for the two slope changes on the creep rupture strength vs rupture time curve.It was also revealed that the microstructure evolution could be accelerated by stress,which resulted in the lower hardness in the deformed part of the creep specimen,compared with the aging part.     

Modelling of damage development and failure in notched-bar multiaxial creep tests

Finite‐element predictions of creep rupture in notched specimens are presented in this work. A damage model linked to the creep strain rate and stress triaxiality has been used to predict creep life under multiaxial stress conditions and the predictions have been compared with experimental data for a C–Mn steel. Finite‐element analyses have been conducted using primary–secondary (PS) and primary–secondary–tertiary (PST) creep laws. As expected a PST analysis gives a shorter predicted rupture life than a PS analysis. An additional term was included in the model to allow for an increase in hydrostatic strain due to creep damage. The incorporation of this term improved the agreement between the experimental data and the finite‐element predictions. A further enhancement to the model was to model the initiation and growth of a sharp crack in the vicinity of the notch, through the use of a nodal release technique linked to the damage evolution. It was found that the predictions obtained using the nodal release technique were very similar to those from the PST creep model incorporating the hydrostatic damage term. The effect of mesh size has also been examined and the finite‐element predictions were seen to be quite mesh sensitive with a finer mesh generally giving a shorter predicted life.