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At least 271 records · Page 15

A Phenomenological Description of Primary Creep in Class M Materials

Observations of creep microstructures in the primary creep region in class M materials show a remarkable similarity with those formed in the exponential creep regime. As a result, it is proposed that the constitutive creep law for normal primary creep is similar to that for the exponential creep regime. A phenomenological description is discussed to rationalize these microstructural observations in terms of a normalized strain rate vs. stress plot. The implications of this plot in describing different testing procedures, steady-state flow, and on the observed deviations from the universal creep law are discussed. The plot is also extended to explain the observed similarities in the transient creep behavior in pre-strained materials and in stress change experiments.

Raj, S. V.↗

Investigation of Three Analytical Hypothesis for Determining Material Creep Behavior under Varied Loads, with an Application to 2024-T3 Aluminum-Alloy Sheet in Tension at 400 F

Three existing hypotheses are formulated mathematically to estimate tensile creep strain under varied loads and constant temperature from creep data obtained under constant load and constant temperature. hypotheses investigated include the time-hardening, strain-hardening, and life-fraction rules. Predicted creep behavior is compared with data obtained from tensile creep tests of 2024-T3 aluminum-alloy sheet at 400 F under cyclic-load conditions. creep strain under varied loads is presented on the basis of an equivalent stress, derived from the life-fraction rule, which reduces the varied-load case to a constant-load problem. Creep strain in the region of interest for structural design and rupture times, determined from the hypotheses investigated, are in fair agreement with data in most cases, although calculated values of creep strain are generally greater than the experimental values because creep recovery is neglected in the calculations.

Berkovits, Avraham↗

Accelerated Creep Testing of High Strength Aramid Webbing

A series of preliminary accelerated creep tests were performed on four variants of 12K and 24K lbf rated Vectran webbing to help develop an accelerated creep test methodology and analysis capability for high strength aramid webbings. The variants included pristine, aged, folded and stitched samples. This class of webbings is used in the restraint layer of habitable, inflatable space structures, for which the lifetime properties are currently not well characterized. The Stepped Isothermal Method was used to accelerate the creep life of the webbings and a novel stereo photogrammetry system was used to measure the full-field strains. A custom MATLAB code is described, and used to reduce the strain data to produce master creep curves for the test samples. Initial results show good correlation between replicates; however, it is clear that a larger number of samples are needed to build confidence in the consistency of the results. It is noted that local fiber breaks affect the creep response in a similar manner to increasing the load, thus raising the creep rate and reducing the time to creep failure. The stitched webbings produced the highest variance between replicates, due to the combination of higher local stresses and thread-on-fiber damage. Large variability in the strength of the webbings is also shown to have an impact on the range of predicted creep life.

Jones, Thomas C.↗

Effects of Microstructural Parameters on Creep of Nickel-Base Superalloy Single Crystals

Microstructure-sensitive creep models have been developed for Ni-base superalloy single crystals. Creep rupture testing was conducted on fourteen single crystal alloys at two applied stress levels at each of two temperatures, 982 and 1093 C. The variation in creep lives among the different alloys could be explained with regression models containing relatively few microstructural parameters. At 982 C, gamma-gamma prime lattice mismatch, gamma prime volume fraction, and initial gamma prime size were statistically significant in explaining the creep rupture lives. At 1093 C, only lattice mismatch and gamma prime volume fraction were significant. These models could explain from 84 to 94 percent of the variation in creep lives, depending on test condition. Longer creep lives were associated with alloys having more negative lattice mismatch, lower gamma prime volume fractions, and finer gamma prime sizes. The gamma-gamma prime lattice mismatch exhibited the strongest influence of all the microstructural parameters at both temperatures. Although a majority of the alloys in this study were stable with respect to topologically close packed (TCP) phases, it appeared that up to approximately 2 vol% TCP phase did not affect the 1093 C creep lives under applied stresses that produced lives of approximately 200 to 300 h. In contrast, TCP phase contents of approximately 2 vol% were detrimental at lower applied stresses where creep lives were longer. A regression model was also developed for the as-heat treated initial gamma prime size; this model showed that gamma prime solvus temperature, gamma-gamma prime lattice mismatch, and bulk Re content were all statistically significant.

MacKay, Rebecca A.↗

Time-temperature-stress superposition of PBX 9502 compressive creep data for lifetime predictions

The plastic-bonded explosive (PBX) 9502 is a viscoelastic, high-solids loaded polymer bound composite comprised of 95 weight% (wt%) TATB explosive crystals and 5 wt% FK-800 polymer binder. The uniaxial quasi-static mechanical properties have been studied and characterized extensively over 25+ years, including creep. Creep is the strain evolution over time as a result of an asymmetric load typically at temperatures above ambient. Creep measurements to failure can take excessively long periods of time depending on various factors including applied stress, temperature, and loading rate that render a single test to failure impossible. Using the principles of time-temperature-stress superposition (TTSSP), short-term creep tests at various applied stresses and temperatures can be used for long-term creep predictions. The TTSSP model shifts short-term test data using two factors, one for temperature and stress, creating a master curve at a reference test condition. The master curve can be shifted to predict the creep response at any desired test condition. PBX 9502 compression specimens were tested at three temperatures and various applied stresses. This work discusses the TTSSP analysis of PBX 9502 compressive creep data to create a single comprehensive master curve.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Structural Benchmark Creep Testing for Microcast MarM-247 Advanced Stirling Convertor E2 Heater Head Test Article SN18

This report provides test methodology details and qualitative results for the first structural benchmark creep test of an Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC) heater head of ASC-E2 design heritage. The test article was recovered from a flight-like Microcast MarM-247 heater head specimen previously used in helium permeability testing. The test article was utilized for benchmark creep test rig preparation, wall thickness and diametral laser scan hardware metrological developments, and induction heater custom coil experiments. In addition, a benchmark creep test was performed, terminated after one week when through-thickness cracks propagated at thermocouple weld locations. Following this, it was used to develop a unique temperature measurement methodology using contact thermocouples, thereby enabling future benchmark testing to be performed without the use of conventional welded thermocouples, proven problematic for the alloy. This report includes an overview of heater head structural benchmark creep testing, the origin of this particular test article, test configuration developments accomplished using the test article, creep predictions for its benchmark creep test, qualitative structural benchmark creep test results, and a short summary.

life (durability)↗

Novel Experiments to Characterize Creep-Fatigue Degradation in VHTR Alloys

It is well known in energy systems that the creep lifetime of high temperature alloys is significantly degraded when a cyclic load is superimposed on components operating in the creep regime. A test method has been developed in an attempt to characterize creep-fatigue behavior of alloys at high temperature. The test imposes a hold time during the tensile phase of a fully reversed strain-controlled low cycle fatigue test. Stress relaxation occurs during the strain-controlled hold period. This type of fatigue stress relaxation test tends to emphasize the fatigue portion of the total damage and does not necessarily represent the behavior of a component in-service well. Several different approaches to laboratory testing of creep-fatigue at 950°C have been investigated for Alloy 617, the primary candidate for application in VHTR heat exchangers. The potential for mode switching in a cyclic test from strain control to load control, to allow specimen extension by creep, has been investigated to further emphasize the creep damage. In addition, tests with a lower strain rate during loading have been conducted to examine the influence of creep damage occurring during loading. Very short constant strain hold time tests have also been conducted to examine the influence of the rapid stress relaxation that occurs at the beginning of strain holds.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Non-Elastic Strain Accumulation in Stanstead Granite During Brittle Creep

Understanding the long-term behavior of brittle rocks requires fundamental consideration of time-dependent strain evolution and brittle creep processes. Previous studies have evaluated sub-critical crack growth during time-dependent deformation and damage evolution in brittle rocks; however, there is an incomplete knowledge of how damage evolves spatially and temporally within the body of intact rocks, where distributed regions of damage interact and coalesce during creep. This paper presents laboratory research focusing on evaluating brittle creep damage processes in Stanstead granite (SG) using 2-dimensional digital image correlation (2D-DIC). In the laboratory, the prismatic SG specimens were loaded beyond an estimated Crack Damage stress threshold (CD) level and then maintained a constant stress to initiate the creep process. DIC was used to characterize full-field spatiotemporal strain evolution, which was then interpreted in the context of local regions of “damage”, determined according to a strain-based criterion. Here, a method was proposed for identifying “existing” and “new” damage regions over specified intervals during the test, followed by spatial clustering of these regions to assess their spatiotemporal evolution. The clustering analysis results demonstrated the extension of existing damage regions was the main damage process during brittle creep, which is consistent with existing models of sub-critical crack growth. In addition, temporal analysis of tensile and shear strains on a point-by-point basis revealed both new damage formation and the strain concentration within existing damaged regions significantly contribute to overall specimen strain during primary creep. In contrast, during secondary creep, increases in specimen deformation are influenced by the accumulation of strains within already damaged regions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Influence of Ca and Sr Addition on Impression Creep Behavior of Mg-4Al-RE Alloy

The impression creep behavior of Mg-4Al-RE-0.8Ca-0.2Sr (AEXJ4110) alloy was investigated under the applied stresses of 55, 75, 95 MPa and the temperatures of 398, 423, 448 K on a special apparatus. The results showed that the microstructure of AEXJ4110 alloy consisted of acicular Al{sub 11}La{sub 3}, granular Al{sub 2}La, bone shape Al{sub 2}Ca and fish-bone shape Al{sub 4}Sr. The impression creep resistance of AE41 alloy was improved by adding Ca and Sr. The primary impression creep depth of AEXJ4110 alloy was increased with increasing applied stress and temperature. The creep strain rates of AEXJ4110 alloy under different stresses and temperatures were a power function of time. The constitutive equation of steady-state impression creep for AEXJ4110 alloy can be written as ε-dot {sub s}=9.71×10{sup −3}(E/T)(σ/E){sup 4.3}exp ((−100.449+3368.98(σ/E))/RT) with stress exponent n 4.3 and creep activation energy Q{sub c} about 100.449 kJ/mol. The impression creep mechanism of AEXJ4110 alloy in the temperature range of 398-448 K and stress range of 55-95 MPa is controlled by dislocation climb dominated by self-diffusion of magnesium atoms impeded by the precipitated phases with high melting temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Microstructural Stability During Creep Exposure of 9Cr-1Mo Steel Treated at Different Normalization Temperatures

A modified 9Cr-1Mo steel has been exposed to three separate austenitization temperatures, i.e., at 950, 1025, and 1100 °C for normalization. After subsequent tempering at 750 °C, the normalized and tempered samples were creep-tested at temperatures of 550, 600, and 650 °C. The creep strength of the investigated samples was evaluated in terms of minimum creep strain rate and time to rupture. The effects of microstructure, precipitate and boundary misorientation on the creep behavior of the samples have been studied with TEM and EBSD analyses. Further, the evolution of crystallographic texture after creep tests has also been studied. The presence of an intermediate size of martensitic microstructural units (i.e., prior-austenite grain, martensitic packets, etc.) and combination of fine coherent and incoherent Nb(C,N) precipitates has provided superior creep strength for the samples normalized at 1025 °C, when these are subsequently subjected to low-temperature (i.e., 550 °C) and high-temperature (i.e., 650 °C) creep tests, as compared to other conditions of normalizing heat treatment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Evolution of Microstructure and Creep Behavior in an Fe-Ni-Cr-Nb-C Alloy during Service in Hydrocarbon Cracker Tubes

Heat resistant, cast austenitic Fe-Ni-Cr-Nb-C alloy tubes are used by the petrochemical industry to transport hydrocarbons at temperatures between 850 and 1050 °C. Exposure to carbon from the process stream and nitrogen from the air causes severe carburization and nitridation in the tube walls, which influences creep resistance and degrades their ductility. A better understanding of these processes would enable their service life to be extended. To this end, we report the results of an experimental and computational study of the changes in microstructure and creep behavior in a representative alloy during service. The microstructure of the fresh material is compared to that of 8- and 10-year-old tubes. The results confirm the presence of M{sub 23}C{sub 6}, M{sub 7}C{sub 3}, and M{sub 2}(CN) phases reported in prior studies, and also reveal the nucleation and growth of the carbo-nitride phase M{sub 6}(CN). We show that the spatial variations of carbide and nitride particle volume fractions in aged tubes can be predicted by a simple reaction–diffusion equation. In addition, the uniaxial compressive creep response of the fresh and aged tubes was obtained as functions of temperature and strain rate. The materials deform by power-law creep, with strain rate versus stress relation as ε-dot =Aσ{sup n}. Aging reduces the stress exponent from n = 8 in fresh tubes to n = 5 in aged tubes, and also reduces the pre-exponential coefficient A. Tests on model alloys with composition identical to that of the matrix combined with finite element simulations of creep in model microstructures reveal that Cr depletion is responsible for the change in stress exponent, while the change in A is caused by the increase in particle volume fraction. By combining the microstructure-scale simulations of creep with the predictions of the reaction–diffusion model of microstructure evolution, the creep behavior of tubes left in service beyond 10 years is estimated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Creep-Resistant Ferritic-Martensitic Steels for Power Plant Applications

Creep-resistant ferritic-martensitic steels are essential materials used in power plants for electricity generation. The efficiency and emissions of the plant are closely related to the operating temperature. Materials used in the hottest sections are one of the main limiting factor for plant operation at 650 °C. This review describes the recent development of creep-resistant ferritic-martensitic steels from a large dataset of in-house research. The findings are tied to available literature for discussion. A first steel, CPJ-7, was developed with an operating temperature approaching 650 °C, and a refined design, JMP, showed the potential to operate at 650 °C. Approximately fifty different ingots, each weighing ~ 7 kg, were vacuum induction melted and processed. Overall, wrought and cast versions of CPJ-7 present superior creep properties when compared to wrought and cast versions of COST alloys for steam turbine and P91/92 for boiler applications. The prolonged creep life was attributed to slowing down the process of the destabilization of the MX and M 23 C 6 precipitates at 650 °C. The cast version of CPJ-7 also revealed superior mechanical performance, above commercially available cast 9% Cr martensitic steel or derivatives. Following the work on CPJ-7, the JMP steels were designed with higher Co for increased solid solution strengthening, Si for oxidation resistance and increased W for matrix strength and stability. The JMP steels showed increases in creep life compared to CPJ-7 between 118 and 150% at 650 °C for testing at various stresses between 138 and 207 MPa. On a Larson–Miller plot, the performance of the JMP steels surpasses that of state-of-the-art MARBN steel. The influence of various elements within the composition of the alloys on the microstructure and mechanical properties is discussed. This review presents approximately 420,000 h of in-house creep testing, the equivalent of almost 50 years of cumulative creep tests.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Heterogeneous creep deformation behavior of functionally graded transition joints (GTJs)

Dissimilar metal welds (DMWs) made between ferritic steels and austenitic alloys are used extensively in high-temperature power plant components. These DMWs experience premature creep failure in the ferritic steel’s heat affected zone (HAZ), close to the weld interface. Steep variations in microstructure and chemical composition across the dissimilar weld interface have been the contributing factors for the failure. Graded transition joints (GTJs), developed by functionally grading the chemical composition in layers, have been proposed as potential candidates to replace DMWs. In this research, GTJ coupons were fabricated between 2.25Cr-1Mo steel and Alloy 800H base material using two filler materials: (i) Inconel 82 and (ii) P87. These samples were aged at 600°C for 2000h to accelerate high-temperature microstructural evolution seen in service conditions, before subjecting them to short-term (~1 month) creep tests. Surface strains were measured using digital image correlation (DIC) technique to extract creep strain rates at different locations within GTJs. Both the GTJs exhibited heterogeneous creep strain distribution. Creep strain accumulated in the FGHAZ of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel, similar to type IV failure associated with Cr-Mo steel weldments. Microstructure based creep model framework was developed to describe the discrete creep strain rates observed in various 2.25Cr-1Mo steel regions of GTJs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Creep behavior of 316 L stainless steel manufactured by laser powder bed fusion

Additive manufacturing as a new processing technique can produce unique microstructure that is difficult to achieve using conventional techniques. Here, we have investigated the creep behavior of 316 L stainless steel produced by a laser powder bed fusion process at temperatures of 550, 600 and 650 °C and stresses between 175 and 300 MPa. We found that additively-manufactured 316 L stainless steel had a higher stress dependence of the minimum creep rate than conventionally-made Type 316 SS, which could be attributed to the dislocation cell structure resulting from the printing process. The dislocation cell structure was unstable under creep, evolving into a uniform dislocation structure under the test conditions. While internal porosity in AM 316 L SS may serve as nucleation sites of creep voids and may be responsible for a relatively lower creep life, additively-manufactured 316 SS did not show inferior creep ductility when compared with conventionally-made 316 SS. The creep life of AM 316 L SS could be improved by stabilizing dislocation cell structure and/or reducing internal porosity through an optimized additive manufacturing process.

316 L stainless steel↗

High-temperature compressive creep tests of U 3 Si 2 with spark plasma sintering: Experiments and finite element modeling

This paper reports a systematic high-temperature creep behavior of dense U 3 Si 2 pellets using a spark plasma sintering (SPS) apparatus at elevated temperatures and pressures under vacuum conditions. The stress exponent was subsequently derived to be 3.21 at 1173 K and 2.17 at 1223 K, respectively, indicating a grain boundary sliding creep mechanism. The creep activation energy was determined to be 203.6 ± 19.0 kJ/mol, which agrees well with the literature. Finite element modeling was performed using the creep parameters fitted from the strain-time plot. Additionally, the results suggest an excellent match with the experimental data, confirming the validity of the experiments. Microstructure characterizations indicate that the main phase of the specimens after creep tests remains to be U 3 Si 2 , with a 4 μm thick layer of nano-sized particles induced from the diffusion between U 3 Si 2 and alumina disc used to avoid electric current passing through the sample. The successful conduct of creep experiments demonstrates the great potential of SPS to perform high-temperature mechanical testing of nuclear fuels under vacuum conditions. The subsequent finite element modeling exhibits excellent capabilities for accurately predicting material performance in the creep tests and provides a practical tool in evaluating nuclear fuels’ performance for a much-extended time scale.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effect of Nb and Cu on the high temperature creep properties of a high Mn–N austenitic stainless steel

The effect of Nb and Cu addition on the creep properties of a high Mn–N austenitic stainless steel was investigated at 600 and 650 °C. In the original high Mn–N steel, which was initially precipitate-free, the precipitation of M{sub 23}C{sub 6} (M = Cr, Fe) and Cr{sub 2}N took place mostly on grain boudaries during creep deformation. On the other hand, the minor addition of Nb resulted in high number density of Z-phases (CrNbN) and MX (M = Nb; X = C, N) carbonitrides inside grains by combining with a high content of N, while suppressing the formation of Cr{sub 2}N. The addition of Cu gave rise to the independent precipitation of nanometer-sized metallic Cu particles. The combination of the different precipitate-forming mechanisms associated with Z-phase, MX and Cu-rich precipitates turned out to improve the creep-resistance significantly. The thermodynamics and kinetics of the precipitation were discussed using thermo-kinetic simulations. - Highlights: • The creep rupture life was improved by Nb and Cu addition. • The creep resistance of the steel A2 in this study was comparable to that of TP347HFG. • The size of Z-phase and MX carbonitride did not change significantly after creep test. • The nanometer sized Cu-rich precipitate was observed after creep. • The predicted size of precipitates by MatCalc agreed well with measured size.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Precipitation behavior of ωo phase and texture evolution of a forged Ti-45Al-8.5Nb-(W, B, Y) alloy during creep

Highlights: • The morphology of ω{sub o} and residual β{sub o} phases depends on creep temperature and stress. • Stress can increase the tendency of the α{sub 2} to ω{sub o} phase transformation. • The strength of the texture components depend on temperature and stress. • β{sub o}(ω{sub o}) precipitation retards the growth of recrystallized γ grains. • ω{sub o} precipitation resists and deflects the crack during the crack propagation. - Abstract: Creep rupture tests of the as-forged Ti-45Al-8.5Nb-(W,B,Y) alloy with a duplex microstructure were carried out at 750–850 °C and 130–300 MPa. An investigation was performed to study the effects of temperature and stress on the microstructure and texture evolution, as well as on the creep properties of the forged high Nb-containing TiAl alloy with a duplex microstructure. The results show that the stress exponent n = 2.8–3.3, and the creep activation energy values are in the range of 300–400 kJ/mol. After creep, a regular arrangement of ω{sub o} precipitations was observed in the β{sub o} region. The un-transformed β{sub o} phase, which remained in the ω{sub o} interval, was examined using high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). It is shown that the growth of ω{sub o} precipitations and the morphology of residual β{sub o} phases are related to the creep temperature and stress. Certain β{sub o} stabilizer elements, such as Nb, segregate into α{sub 2} plates and cause ω{sub o} precipitation during dissolution of α{sub 2} plates at high temperature. The interfacial structure between the ω{sub o} and α{sub 2} phases was studied in detail using HRTEM. Meanwhile, texture evolution and dynamic recrystallization of the γ phase were studied using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Observations on the deformation structure also demonstrate that ω{sub o} precipitation acts as an obstacle inhibiting crack propagation and growth of the γ phase. The corresponding formation mechanism and possible effects on creep are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Microstructure control to improve creep strength of alumina-forming austenitic heat-resistant steel by pre-strain

Highlights: • The effect of pre-strain on creep strength of AFA steel was studied. • The creep test was performed at 700°C and 200Mpa, and the aging test was carried out using box furnace at 700°C to simulate the microstructural evolution during creep. • Microstuctural evolution was observed by using SEM, EBSD, and TEM to investigate the relationship between creep strength and microstructure. - Abstract: At 700 °C and 200 MPa, the creep rupture time of W-containing alumina-forming austenitic heat-resistant (WAFA) steel increases from 1044 to 3119 h by pre-strain. Pre-strain introduces a lot of dislocation into the matrix and most of the dislocations remain stable to the end of creep without recovery and recrystallization. In addition, the dislocations have enabled secondary NbC and Laves phase to be uniformly distributed and refined. However, the dislocations lower grain boundary strength due to the coarsening of precipitates along grain boundaries Therefore, the increase in the creep rupture time in spite of deterioration of grain boundary strength is attributed to the dislocation strengthening and enhanced precipitation hardening within grains.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗