On the residual creep life assessment based on macroscopic constitutive rules

Critical analysis of errors of the residual creep life assessment methods based on the phenomenological macroscopic constitutive equations is presented. Extrapolations and missing definition of equivalent states are identified as a principal sources of errors

Reliability Problems in Methods of Residual Creep Life Assessment

The service life of components designed to operate for long periods under loading at elevated temperatures is limited by the creep deformation and fracture phenomena. Possibility of a reliable prediction of the residual creep life is of major practical and economical relevance. A number of approaches has been used for the estimation of the creep damage and residual life; these approaches could be divided into two principal branches. The microscopic methods are based on the microstructural observations of accumulated damage in the samples of material after service, while macroscopic meth- ods use mechanical testing of the samples under some reference conditions. However, both approaches still do not provide enough reliable results for wide practical use, be- cause of result scatter and missing generally applicable models for the creep damage evolution. The most important factors which make the results unreliable are analyzed in the present paper. These are mainly: i) production scatter in the material's properties, ii) inhomogeneity of the material, iii) sampling problem in microscopic methods, iv) extrapolations involved in macroscopic methods. Some suggestions to overcome these problems are made and the need for a new approach and new experimental techniques is presented

Low Strain Creep of ex-service 0.5CrMoV Steel

Helicoid spring creep testing technique with high strain sensitivity was applied on specimens of low-alloy steel after 197 thousands hours in service. The creep testing conditions were selected to be close to that of the service, that is 560 °C and 35MPa. The ex-service specimens creep much faster than the unused one and an anisotropy in creep properties was also observed. The method is capable to provide some additional information for the residual creep life assessment, but interpretation of the results is quite difficult. The large volume of the material needed for testing is also considerable disadvantage

Measurement of very slow creep deformations of nuclear fuel coating materials by helicoid specimens technique.

Presented technique enables experimental determination of the creep properties of the nuclear fuel cladding tubes under conditions leading to very low strain rates, which are not measurable by conventional creep tests. The data are necessary for the numerical modeling of the nuclear fuel behavior inside the reactor or during the fuel storage and are not available or used to be replaced by the data obtained by unreliable extrapolation

Vliv zatěžovací historie na creep 9% chromové oceli

The creep life assessment is currently based on the phenomenological models mostly derived from the constant stress or constant load creep experiments. Since the loading history of the parts in industry used to be complicated and frequently unknown, the model data can be invalid. Stress change creep experiments were done on the P-91 type creep resistant steel at loading conditions corresponding to the low stress creep regime. The experiment was interrupted, that is cooled down and heated up again several times. The interrupts were done during the ``quasi-steady state'' when the creep rate is stabilized. The effect of both stress changes and temperature cycles on creep properties was analyzed. While the temperature cycle introduce some additional creep strain, the stress changes reduce the creep rate considerably. Taking into account the proportionality between the creep strain and creep damage nucleation, it is possible to conclude that small stress changes during primary stage can improve the creep strength of the steel, while the temperature changes have opposite effect

Problems in Theories of Low Stress Creep Mechanisms

Viscous creep behaviour of many materials including creep resistant steels was observed at temperatures close to one half of absolute melting point and at very low stresses. The experimental results were interpreted as Coble diffusional creep and/or Harper-Dorn dislocation creep. Some of the results are in a very good agreement with the Coble theory of diffusional creep and support an idea that the diffusional creep is an important deformation mechanism under certain loading conditions. Nevertheless, another results are not fully compatible with the theoretical predictions. Some authors dispute the role or even the very existence of the diffusional creep and offer the Harper-Dorn creep mechanisms instead. In fact, there are many theories trying to deescribe Harper-Dorn creep mechanism, but none of them is capable to explain all observed properties. Transition (or primary) stage observed at low stress creep regime exhibits also some properties which contradict all existing theories. The observed effects which cannot be explained by the current theories are: i) a large scatter of creep rates observed for coarse grain materials, ii) creep rates much higher than those predicted by the diffusional creep theory while the creep rate dependence on grain size is maintained, iii) transition stage duration is independent of stress, iv) transition strain is dependent on temperature. Despite the problems in theoretical description, the experiments show that the viscous creep regime in structural materials must be considered as an important behaviour of the structural materials

Transient Effects in Creep of Sanicro 25 Austenitic Steel and Their Modelling

Transient effects upon stress changes during creep of the new Sanicro 25 steel were investigated experimentally using the helicoid spring specimen technique. The creep behaviour was found to be qualitatively the same as that observed earlier with the creep-resistant 9% Cr ferritic-martensitic P-91 steel, but the transient strains are considerably smaller. Negative creep rate, which is strain running against the applied stress, was observed with any stress decrease. Parameters for the complex creep model were estimated and model results were compared to the creep rates measured experimentally. The model can be used for the finite element method modelling of the creep and stress relaxation effects in the components made from the Sanicro 25 steel

Tensile and Creep Testing of Sanicro 25 Using Miniature Specimens

Tensile and creep properties of new austenitic steel Sanicro 25 at room temperature and operating temperature 700 °C were investigated by testing on miniature specimens. The results were correlated with testing on conventional specimens. Very good agreement of results was obtained, namely in yield and ultimate strength, as well as short-term creep properties. Although the creep rupture time was found to be systematically shorter and creep ductility lower in the miniature test, the minimum creep rates were comparable. The analysis of the fracture surfaces revealed similar ductile fracture morphology for both specimen geometries. One exception was found in a small area near the miniature specimen edge that was cut by electro discharge machining, where an influence of the steel fracture behavior at elevated temperature was identified