The Influence of AGR Gas Carburisation on the Creep and Fracture Properties of Type 316H Stainless Steel

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Nasser ◽  
Catrin M. Davies ◽  
Kamran Nikbin
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Substantial Reduction ◽  
Creep Crack Growth ◽  
Creep Rupture ◽  
Rupture Time ◽  
Metallographic Examination ◽  
Fracture Properties ◽  
Integrity Assessment

Defects in the UK’s AGR nuclear reactors have been historically found in superheater regions of the boilers. These components are fabricated from type 316H austenitic stainless steel and operate in carbon dioxide gas coolant environments under creep conditions, at temperatures up to 550°C. As a result, some components maybe carburised throughout their life resulting in the formation of a hardened outer surface layer. This layer results from interstitial carbon diffusion and is thought to impact on the creep, creep-fatigue and fracture properties of 316H. Carburisation is currently unaccounted for within high temperature structural integrity assessment procedures. It is essential that carburisation and resulting damage mechanisms are well understood in order to accurately predict the failure of components. This paper aims to investigate the effect of AGR gas carburisation on the creep and fracture properties of type 316H stainless steel. Specimens have been preconditioned within a simulated AGR gas environment. The presence of carburisation has been confirmed through metallographic examination, hardness testing and surface analysis techniques. A series of constant load high-temperature creep tests have been conducted on preconditioned specimens. Compared to as-received material, carburised specimens displayed a significant reduction in creep rupture time with cracking of the outer carburised layer initiating creep crack growth. This phenomenon is seen to occur at very low strains and has been confirmed through interrupted creep testing. The substantial reduction in creep rupture time is postulated to result from embrittlement of the carburised material owing to strong precipitation of carbides along grain boundaries. It is concluded that carburisation can lead to a severe reduction in creep rupture life in test conditions; the possible implications of this with regards to plant conditions are discussed.

WISCALLOY 25-35Nb

Alloy Digest ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Tensile Properties ◽  
Creep Rupture ◽  
Centrifugally Cast ◽  
Heat Resistant ◽  
Rupture Properties

Abstract Wiscalloy 25-35Nb is a high-temperature cast heat-resistant stainless steel with good creep-rupture properties. The alloy is centrifugally cast and is often used as petrochemical furnace tubing. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, and tensile properties as well as creep. It also includes information on casting and joining. Filing Code: SS-654. Producer or source: Wisconsin Centrifugal.

Structural Integrity Code and Regulatory Issues in the Design of High Temperature Reactors

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. O’Donnell ◽  
Amy B. Hull ◽  
Shah Malik
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Elevated Temperature ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Cyclic Creep ◽  
Creep Rupture ◽  
Creep Fatigue ◽  
Asme Code ◽  
High Temperature Reactors ◽  
Gen Iv ◽  
Very High

Since the 1980s, the ASME Code has made numerous improvements in elevated-temperature structural integrity technology. These advances have been incorporated into Section II, Section VIII, Code Cases, and particularly Subsection NH of Section III of the Code, “Components in Elevated Temperature Service.” The current need for designs for very high temperature and for Gen IV systems requires the extension of operating temperatures from about 1400°F (760°C) to about 1742°F (950°C) where creep effects limit structural integrity, safe allowable operating conditions, and design life. Materials that are more creep and corrosive resistant are needed for these higher operating temperatures. Material models are required for cyclic design analyses. Allowable strains, creep fatigue and creep rupture interaction evaluation methods are needed to provide assurance of structural integrity for such very high temperature applications. Current ASME Section III design criteria for lower operating temperature reactors are intended to prevent through-wall cracking and leaking and corresponding criteria are needed for high temperature reactors. Subsection NH of Section III was originally developed to provide structural design criteria and limits for elevated-temperature design of Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) systems and some gas-cooled systems. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its Advisory Committee for Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) reviewed the design limits and procedures in the process of reviewing the Clinch River Breeder Reactor (CRBR) for a construction permit in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and identified issues that needed resolution. In the years since then, the NRC, DOE and various contractors have evaluated the applicability of the ASME Code and Code Cases to high-temperature reactor designs such as the VHTGRs, and identified issues that need to be resolved to provide a regulatory basis for licensing. The design lifetime of Gen IV Reactors is expected to be 60 years. Additional materials including Alloy 617 and Hastelloy X need to be fully characterized. Environmental degradation effects, especially impure helium and those noted herein, need to be adequately considered. Since cyclic finite element creep analyses will be used to quantify creep rupture, creep fatigue, creep ratcheting and strain accumulations, creep behavior models and constitutive relations are needed for cyclic creep loading. Such strain- and time-hardening models must account for the interaction between the time-independent and time-dependent material response. This paper describes the evolving structural integrity evaluation approach for high temperature reactors. Evaluation methods are discussed, including simplified analysis methods, detailed analyses of localized areas, and validation needs. Regulatory issues including weldment cracking, notch weakening, creep fatigue/creep rupture damage interactions, and materials property representations for cyclic creep behavior are also covered.

Elastic-Plastic Fracture Mechanics Analysis of Cast Stainless Steel Pipes (Influence of Axial Load on Z-Factor of Pipes With Circumferential Crack Under Bending Load)

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayuki Kamaya ◽  
Kiminobu Hojo
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Axial Load ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Term Operation ◽  
Steel Pipes ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Plastic Failure ◽  
Elastic Plastic ◽  
Bending Load

Since the ductility of cast austenitic stainless steel pipes decreases due to thermal aging embrittlement after long term operation, not only plastic collapse failure but also unstable ductile crack propagation (elastic-plastic failure) should be taken into account for the structural integrity assessment of cracked pipes. In the ASME Section XI, the load multiplier (Z-factor) is used to derive the elastic-plastic failure of the cracked components. The Z-factor of cracked pipes under bending load has been obtained without considering the axial load. In this study, the influence of the axial load on Z-factor was quantified through elastic-plastic failure analyses under various conditions. It was concluded that the axial load increased the Z-factor; however, the magnitude of the increase was not significant, particularly for the main coolant pipes of PWR nuclear power plants.

Developing New Cast Austenitic Stainless Steels With Improved High-Temperature Creep Resistance

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Maziasz ◽  
John P. Shingledecker ◽  
Neal D. Evans ◽  
Michael J. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Creep Strength ◽  
Stainless Steels ◽  
Creep Resistance ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steels ◽  
Creep Rupture ◽  
Particulate Filter ◽  
Alloy Development ◽  
Wide Range

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Caterpillar (CAT) have recently developed a new cast austenitic stainless steel, CF8C-Plus, for a wide range of high-temperature applications, including diesel exhaust components and turbine casings. The creep-rupture life of the new CF8C-Plus is over ten times greater than that of the standard cast CF8C stainless steel, and the creep-rupture strength is about 50–70% greater. Another variant, CF8C-Plus Cu/W, has been developed with even more creep strength at 750–850°C. The creep strength of these new cast austenitic stainless steels is close to that of wrought Ni-based superalloys such as 617. CF8C-Plus steel was developed in about 1.5 years using an “engineered microstructure” alloy development approach, which produces creep resistance based on the formation of stable nanocarbides (NbC), and resistance to the formation of deleterious intermetallics (sigma, Laves) during aging or service. The first commercial trial heats (227.5 kg or 500 lb) of CF8C-Plus steel were produced in 2002, and to date, over 27,215 kg (300 tons) have been produced, including various commercial component trials, but mainly for the commercial production of the Caterpillar regeneration system (CRS). The CRS application is a burner housing for the on-highway heavy-duty diesel engines that begins the process to burn-off particulates trapped in the ceramic diesel particulate filter (DPF). The CRS/DPF technology was required to meet the new more stringent emissions regulations in January, 2007, and subjects the CRS to frequent and severe thermal cycling. To date, all CF8C-Plus steel CRS units have performed successfully. The status of testing for other commercial applications of CF8C-Plus steel is also summarized.

Very-Short-Time, Very-High-Temperature Creep Rupture of Type 347 Stainless Steel and Correlation of Data

1969 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Lundin ◽  
A. H. Aronson ◽  
L. A. Jackman ◽  
W. R. Clough
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Minimum Creep Rate ◽  
Creep Rupture ◽  
Aisi Type ◽  
Data Scatter ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Very High ◽  
Rupture Behavior

Available equipment initially developed for welding research studies was used to investigate the creep-rupture behavior of AISI type 347 stainless steel in a very-high-temperature range from 62 to 86 percent of the solidus. Stress applications from 900 to 28,000 psi gave rupture times from a fraction of a second to several hundred seconds with thousandfold variations of minimum creep rate. Results could be presented by conventional means. Data scatter on a Monkman-Grant plot was typical. Correlation and extrapolation procedures developed by Larson-Miller, Manson-Haferd, Dorn, Korchynsky, and Conrad for conventional long-time results were found to be applicable, with preference being given to the Manson-Haferd procedures.

Mismatch Constraint Effect for Bimaterial Interfacial Creep Crack

2016 ◽  
Vol 853 ◽  
pp. 286-290
Author(s):  
Yan Wei Dai ◽  
Ying Hua Liu ◽  
Hao Feng Chen
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Elevated Temperature ◽  
Stress Field ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Creep Crack Growth ◽  
Constraint Effect ◽  
Creep Crack ◽  
Engineering Practices ◽  
Material Mismatch ◽  
Mismatch Effect

Mismatch effect of weldments is important for the assessment of structural integrity at elevated temperature. The interfacial creep crack is a common model which can be found in lots of engineering practices. Recently, the constraint effect is also considered to be significant for the evaluation of creep crack growth under high temperature. In this paper, a model for bimaterial interfacial creep crack is introduced to study the mismatch constraint effect. The stress field for bimaterial interfacial creep crack is investigated. An M*-parameter is proposed to characterize the constraint effect caused by material mismatch for bimaterial creep crack. A comparison is made between the geometry constraint caused by specimen loading and mismatch constraint caused by inhomogeneous material.

Environmental Crack Growth Predictions for Piping Components

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Ranganath ◽  
Guy DeBoo
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Test Data ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Reference Curve ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Water Reactor ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Asme Code ◽  
Reference Curves

Structural integrity assessment of reactor components requires consideration of crack growth. A key input to this is the development of reference stress corrosion crack (SCC) growth rate curves for use in the structural evaluation. The ASME Section XI Task Group on SCC Reference Curve is looking into available SCC data for stainless steel and nickel based alloys and associated weldment in both pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) environments. The test data show significant data scatter in crack growth rates (CGR). The conservative approach is to develop reference curves that bound all available data so that upper bound crack growth predictions. While this approach may be conservative, it may lead to excessive estimates of crack growth and result in unrealistic (and often meaningless) structural margin predictions. Selection of the appropriate SCC reference curves requires realistic interpretation of test data so that the predictions are consistent with field behavior and provide reasonable, but conservative assessment. This paper describes crack growth assessment for stainless steel piping and Alloy 600 safe end components with Alloy 182/82 welds in BWR environment. The results from the crack growth analysis for piping can be used to determine whether a proposed reference curve provides reasonable results. The objective is to use the piping and safe end crack growth predictions to develop optimal SCC Reference Curves for use in ASME Code evaluations.

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