Estimating the Influences of Prior Residual Stress on the Creep Rupture Mechanism for P92 Steel

Abstract

Creep damage is one of the main failure mechanisms of high Cr heat-resistant steel in power plants. Due to the complex changes of stress, strain, and damage at the tip of a creep crack with time, it is difficult to accurately evaluate the effects of residual stress on the creep rupture mechanism. In this study, two levels of residual stress were introduced in P92 high Cr alloy specimens using the local out-of-plane compression approach. The specimens were then subjected to thermal exposure at the temperature of 650 °C for accelerated creep tests. The chemical composition of P92 specimens was obtained using an FLS980-stm Edinburgh fluorescence spectrometer. Then, the constitutive coupling relation between the temperature and material intrinsic flow stress was established based on the Gibbs free energy principle. The effects of prior residual stress on the creep rupture mechanism were investigated by the finite element method (FEM) and experimental method. A comparison of the experimental and simulated results demonstrates that the effect of prior residual stress on the propagation of micro-cracks and the creep rupture time is significant. In sum, the transgranular fracture and the intergranular fracture can be observed in micrographs when the value of prior residual stress exceeds and is less than the material intrinsic flow stress, respectively.