Development of Advanced Corrosion-Resistant Fe-Cr-Ni Austenitic Stainless Steel Alloy with Improved High Temperature Strenth and Creep-Resistance

In February of 1999, a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was undertaken between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Special Metals Corporation-Huntington Alloys (formerly INCO Alloys International, Inc.) to develop a modified wrought austenitic stainless alloy with considerably more strength and corrosion resistance than alloy 800H or 800HT, but with otherwise similar engineering and application characteristics. Alloy 800H and related alloys have extensive use in coal flue gas environments, as well as for tubing or structural components in chemical and petrochemical applications. The main concept of the project was make small, deliberate elemental microalloying additions to this Fe-based alloy to produce, with proper processing, fine stable carbide dispersions for enhanced high temperature creep-strength and rupture resistance, with similar or better oxidation/corrosion resistance. The project began with alloy 803, a Fe-25Cr-35NiTi,Nb alloy recently developed by INCO, as the base alloy for modification. Smaller commercial developmental alloy heats were produced by Special Metals. At the end of the project, three rounds of alloy development had produced a modified 803 alloy with significantly better creep resistance above 815EC (1500EC) than standard alloy 803 in the solution-annealed (SA) condition. The new upgraded 803 alloy also had the potential for a processing boost in that creep resistance for certain kinds of manufactured components that was not found in the standard alloy. The upgraded 803 alloy showed similar or slightly better oxidation and corrosion resistance relative to standard 803. Creep strength and oxidation/corrosion resistance of the upgraded 803 alloy were significantly better than found in alloy 800H, as originally intended. The CRADA was terminated in February 2003. A contributing factor was Special Metals Corporation being in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Additional testing, further commercial scale-up, and any potential invention disclosures were not pursued. One objective of this project was to improve the high temperature creep resistance of the recently developed 803 alloy, while another was to have a wrought modified 803 alloy with significantly better creep resistance and corrosion resistance than the commonly used alloy 800H. The project was intended to use the established expertise at ORNL to design specific microalloying element additions to appropriately tailor the microstructure during aging or creep so that fine, stable carbides develop for strength. If possible, oxidation/corrosion resistance at high temperatures would also be enhanced. Optimum processing was to be developed for plate and tube products