ECCC Creep Conference, 1214 September 2005, London.

etd@etd1.co.uk

Creep and Creep Damage Assessment in P91 Weld Joints

Kulvir Singh, G Jaipal Reddy, D V Vidyasagar and V Thyagarajan * Metallurgy Department, Corporate R&D, BHEL, Hyderabad 500 093 * Quality Assurance & Labs, HPBP, BHEL, Tiruchirappalli 620 014
Abstract Boilers used in thermal power plants are designed for long-term service. X10 CrMoVNb 9 1 (P91) steel finds extensive use in place of low alloy steels in these boilers in welded condition. Since most of the weld joint failures occur in the heat affected zone (HAZ), it is important to study the creep and mechanical properties of P91 steel in various microstructural conditions within the HAZ encountered during welding. To achieve the weld heat affected zone microstructures viz. coarse, fine, inter-critical and process annealed structures, the P91 steel samples were heat-treated in the temperature range of 800 to 1300oC and subsequently tempered at 760oC. The heat-treated steel was subjected to detailed stress rupture testing at various temperature and stress ranges. Prolonged exposure of P91 steel used in fossil boilers in welded condition leads to considerable microstructural changes including precipitation and coalescence of carbides thereby affecting the mechanical and creep rupture properties of the material. It was, therefore, proposed to study the creep/ stress rupture behaviour of the post weld heat-treated (PWHT) weld joints in different aged conditions. Similar composition electrodes were used to prepare the weld joints. The weld joints after post weld heat treatment at 760oC were subjected to different aging conditions at 600 and 700oC and times up to 10,000h. Hardness and creep/ stress rupture tests were conducted on the aged weld joints and parent metal. While carrying out in-situ metallurgical evaluation, magnetic parameter (Barkhausen Noise) measurement helps in identifying the area (location) of maximum degradation. Barkhausen Noise (BN) depends on the microstructure, dislocation density, shape, size and distribution of precipitates in the matrix. Generally BN increases on decrease in UTS or hardness, particle softening and microstructural degradation. Similarly, it has been established that BN also increases when remaining life decreases. In other words, the location where BN measurement is high can be taken as the location having undergone microstructural degradation. Further tests such as replication etc can be carried out on such locations to accurately predict the remaining life of the component under study. Key Words: P91 Steel, Weld Joint, Stress Rupture Behaviour, Impact Strength, Heat Affected Zone, Intercritical Region, Microstructure, Barkhuasen Noise

1 1.1

Introduction Weld Simulation

T91/P91 pipes, headers and tubes require extensive welding in shop floor while manufacturing, and at sites whenever replacement is required in some critical areas. In this study, the emphasis is on the microstructural changes in the heat-affected zone (HAZ), adjacent to a weld and their effect on mechanical properties like, impact, tensile and creep/ stress rupture properties. It is also necessary to study the role of carbides by TEM in the as received and tested condition to understand the long-term behaviour at higher temperatures. To carry out all the tests and microstructural correlation of different zones is not possible on actually welded pieces due to small thickness of HAZ, which is about 2-3 mm in width. Therefore, weld simulation by heat treatment to generate various microstructures in the test samples was adopted in the present study. P91 steel was heat-treated at 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200 & 13000C for 1hr and cooled in air (a.c.) and tempered at 7600C/ 2hr/ a.c.

825

K. Singh, G. Reddy, D. Vidyasagar and V. Thyagarajan

1.2

Effect of Ageing

Very few studies have been carried out on the effect of long term service exposure on strength and toughness behaviour of P91 steel. Some attempts by Gianfrancesco et.al. [1] and Alamo et.al. [2] have been made to study the effect of aging. Gianfrancesco et.al. aged the material at 550, 600, 650 and 7000C with duration of 3000h, 9000h and 26500h. Thereafter, they characterized the hardness, toughness and tensile strength etc. to calculate the effect of time and temperature exposure on the mechanical behaviour. The tensile strength of the aged material did not show any significant decrease after aging. At 6500C and 7000C and aging for 26,500h and 3,000h, respectively, the P91steel shows a reduction of strength and hardness and an increase in ductility. The results of hardness tests after aging at 7000C for 3,000h show a reduction of 40 - 80Hv (around 20-30%). The toughness is greatly influenced by aging. Up to 6000C, there is a constant reduction of absorbed energy vs. aging time, while at 6500C, there is a gradual increase in toughness for various durations up to 10,000h. However, longer durations up to 26,500h result in a significant decrease in toughness. Allen and Fleming [3] are of the opinion that the high alloy ferritic steel (P91 and E911) weld joints could pose either a lesser problem or a greater one than the older low alloy CrMoV steels for high temperature applications. They have attributed this fact to the degradation of microstructure occurring in the HAZ of these high alloy steels. 1.3 Welds and Heat Affected Zones (HAZ)

After welding, the weld must be cooled down to below the Mf temperature to ensure full martensitic transformation of the structure. In the as welded condition the hardness of the weld is about 450Hv. PWHT in the temperature range 740 to 770oC is recommended. This treatment leads to a maximum hardness below 300Hv. Blum et.al. [4] have shown that maximum hardness before and after PWHT is found in the weld metal, and minimum hardness is found in the inter critical heat affected zone (HAZ) between base metal and fine grained HAZ on each side of the weld. Isothermal tests conducted at 575, 600 and 625oC confirm the lower creep strength of the base material used by deWitte et.al. [5, 6] compared to mean ORNL values. Isothermal tests have also been conducted on the cross weld specimens at 575, 600 and 625oC. The test results at 600oC for the weldments prepared by normal welding procedure show 20% lower creep strength compared to the half tempered weldments. This is due to the fact that the fine MX carbides are not precipitated during half tempering before welding so that no spheroidisation can occur during welding. These carbides are only formed during the post weld heat treatment. Metallographic examination on ruptured cross weld specimens showed that failure occurred at all temperatures in the inter-critical HAZ for both types of welds [7]. Eggeler et.al.[8] have analysed the uni-axial creep behaviour of P91 in three material state i.e. base metal, weld and HAZ. They have found the weldment to be strongest followed by the base metal and HAZ. To define the zone in which maximum softening occurs, Bendick et.al. [9] had prepared simulated HAZ and subjected the specimens to different peak temperatures in the range of 760 to 950oC and the hardness was tested in the as welded (simulated) and the tempered condition (760oC/ 2h AC). The results show that in the as welded condition the hardness level remain unaltered for the peak temperatures between 760oC and 850oC compared to the as received pipe material, although the Ac1 for this material was found to be 810oC. Only for peak temperatures above 850oC, increase in hardness could be observed. The tempering treatment (2h at 760oC) reduces the hardness again to a more or less uniform level of about 240Hv as result of annealing effect. Hald [10] investigated the microstructural changes in the heat affected zone (HAZ), adjacent to a weld are examined by thermal simulation followed by investigations in transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results are validated by investigations in real weld HAZ. The microstructural changes from 880 to 1245oC as observed by Hald [10] exhibited that, the sample subjected to peak temperature of 880oC shows a two phase microstructure. This means that the AC1 temperature for P91 is between 850 and 880oC. The microstructure of the sample, which had received a peak temperature of 880oC, shows that some portion is fresh martensite having a very high dislocation density. 826

Creep and Creep Damage Assessment in P91 Weld Joints

The other part has not transformed. The microstructure is heavily annealed having a low dislocation density. When the peak temperature is increased to 980oC the hardness increases dramatically in the as welded condition from 200 to 375 Hv30. The microstructure shows fully martensitic indicating that the AC3 temperature has been passed. The M23C6 carbides are now coarsening and the smallest of them are dissolved. This is probably the reason for the lowering of the hardness at 1040oC. At temperatures between 1000oC and 1135oC even the large M23C6 carbides dissolve. As this occurs the carbon diffuses into the austenitic matrix leaving the metal atoms, which are all ferrite formers. This is believed to be the reason why some spherical ferrite islands appear. The hardness increases with the increased peak temperatures up to 1245oC. Higher peak temperature results in grain growth and the hardness of these samples tends to decrease. 2 2.1 Results Hardness

The hardness values measured on P91 steel given different heat-treatments from 800oC to 1300oC are plotted in Fig.1. HAZ simulated specimens were subjected to different peak temperatures in the range of 800oC to 1300oC and hardness was measured on as welded (simulated) and the tempered material (760oC/ 2hr aircooled). The result indicate that in the as welded conditions, the hardness level remained unaltered at temperature 800oC as compared to the as received pipe material. As shown in Fig.1, this steel shows the tendency to form a softened region in the fine-grained HAZ zone after weld simulation heat treatment, as also observed by Blum [4]. The hardness in the zone was found to be 20Hv lower than that of the unaffected base material. The tempering treatment (2hr at 760oC) reduces the hardness as a result of reduction in dislocation density and tetragonality of martensite [11]. However, a careful examination of the data indicates that there is a minimum in the curve at a temperature of 900oC. The decrease of hardness in this region is 15 to 20 HV units compared to the adjacent areas. The hardness was measured on P91 weld joint samples aged at four conditions i.e. 600oC/5,000h, 600oC/10,000h, 700oC/5,000h and 700oC/10,000h. The hardness of the weld metal for the samples aged at 600oC is around 300 Hv whereas hardness of the samples aged at 700oC has come down to around 200 Hv. It shows considerable amount of softening and microstructural uniformity among parent metal, HAZ and weld metal. 2.2 Charpy V-Notch Impact Tests

The charpy V-notch impact tests were performed to investigate the toughness behaviour of the different HAZ regions. Fig.1 also exhibits the impact strength Vs austenitising temperature. It can be observed that CVN-toughness of the fine grain HAZ increased when compared to the neighboring region (simulatedly heat treated at 800 or 1000oC temperatures). Thereafter, toughness decrease continued up to the simulated temperature of 1300oC. The high toughness of this HAZ can be explained in terms of formation of low carbon martensite and a relatively low susceptibility of the overheated zone to grain coarsening. 2.3 Tensile Testing

The effect of austenitising temperature on room temperature mechanical properties is shown in Fig.2. The 0.2% proof stress (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) are almost constant from 800oC to 1000oC. At 1100oC austenitising temperature, the value increased drastically and thereafter slight increase is seen in P91 steel austenitised at 1100oC to 1300oC. 2.4 Stress-Rupture Tests

The stress rupture behaviour of welded P91 (simulated) steel was investigated by stress rupture tests performed on samples from material austenitised at different austenitising temperatures. The stress rupture test results are presented in Fig.3. It can be seen that welding influences the stress rupture property of the P91 steel. The softened zone, observed during hardness test corresponding to the peak temperatures of about 827

K. Singh, G. Reddy, D. Vidyasagar and V. Thyagarajan

900oC during the welded (simulated) thermal cycle, reduces the stress rupture strength of the welded P91 steel. The reason is that the material heat treated to 900oC is partially transformed and consists of a mix of transformed and un-transformed grains. The martensite formed at 900oC as a result of partial transformation consists of lower amount of carbon and is softer. The un-transformed grains are over-tempered and would offer lower creep resistance. Therefore, overall stress rupture strength of this zone is lowest of all. Although this zone is very small in actual weldments, it governs the stress rupture strength of the weld joint on the whole. Because of this, the fracture location shifts from base metal to the softened fine-grain (HAZ) zone. The 1,00,000h stress rupture strengths at 540 and 565oC extrapolated from the stress rupture test results for the simulated heat-treated conditions of 800-1300oC are given in Fig.3 itself. The material heat treated at 1100oC exhibits improved stress rupture properties and higher mechanical properties with a slight decrease in impact strength. This is in conformity with the results obtained by Orr et.al. [11]. Material heat-treated at 1200 and 1300oC offer highest long-term properties but very poor toughness. Therefore, the regions exposed to such temperatures are vulnerable to sudden impact loads. As is evident from the results, if one desires to have higher stress rupture properties, P91 steel can be austenitised at 1100oC. The stress rupture behaviour of aged weld joints of P91 steel is presented in Fig.4. It can be observed that aging of weld joints influences the stress rupture property of the P91 steel. It is seen that maximum allowable stress decreases with increasing time and temperature combination i.e. the weld joints aged at 700oC for 10,000h yield lowest stress rupture properties. It can also be noticed that the P91 weld joints aged at 600oC for 5,000h and 10,000h yield very low rupture elongation and reduction in area. This happens due to the formation of new z-phase, which causes embrittlement [12]. This is a point of concern as this aging regime is approximately equivalent to around 50,000h to 1,00,000h of normal power plant operation. The weld joints, which have served around 1,00,000h, need to be examined. However, service exposed P91 weld joints were examined at a power station and no alarming behaviour was observed. 2.5 Microstructural Examination

The microstructures as observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM) in the as received as well as heat-treated (thermally simulated at 800 to 13000C) conditions of the material are shown in Figs.5. SEM microstructure of the normalised and tempered P91 steel consists of tempered martensite with large amounts of M23C6 and MX precipitates. The microstructure of P91 material heat-treated at 8000C / 1hr / a.c. and tempered at 7600C/ 2hr/ a.c. shows very fine grains, approximate ASTM grain size being 10. The structure is a fine dispersion of carbides in a ferrite matrix. The grains are clearly resolved. Coarse carbide precipitation was observed near and along the grain boundaries (Figs.5a). Grain size of the material heat-treated at 900 and 1000oC was also similar but sharply increased for the material heat-treated at 1100 1300oC. The material heat-treated at 900oC shows a mix of fine and coarse precipitates as to be expected in untransformed over-tempered grains (Fig.5b). Fig.5c exhibits microstructure of the steel heat-treated at 1000oC, and is almost similar to that shown in Fig.5a. Fig.5d shows the microsrtucture of the material heat-treated at 1100oC, which shows slightly coarse-grained microstructure but less precipitation because at that temperature most of the carbides would have gone into solution. Due to higher dissolution of carbon into austenitic matrix, the resultant martensite also contains higher amount of carbon. This martensite is responsible for improvement in stress rupture strength and slight decrease in impact strength. The microstructure of the material heat-treated at 1200 and 1300oC is almost similar except the fact that 1300oC condition gives rise to coarser grains. There is profuse precipitation within the grains, within the martensitic laths and also along the grain boundaries. This precipitation imparts very high mechanical properties and stress rupture properties by pinning the movement of dislocations. However, the impact strength is drastically reduced. 2.6 Transmission Electron Microscopic Studies

All the samples heat-treated at 800 to 1300oC were observed in transmission electron microscope (TEM). The representative TEM micrographs of P91 material heat-treated at 1100oC are shown in Fig.6a-d. The TEM micrographs of P91 material heat-treated at 1100oC and creep rupture tested are shown in Figs.6e&f. The material heat-treated at 800oC and creep rupture tested shows coarse M23C6 carbide precipitation. There is profuse precipitation of M23C6 in the head region. P91 heat-treated at 900oC and creep-rupture tested 828

Creep and Creep Damage Assessment in P91 Weld Joints

shows ferritic and martensitic grains and fine precipitation of M23C6 and VC carbides within the grains. The ferritic grains are un-transformed at 900oC and would have been over-tempered, resulting in lower creeprupture life. TEM micrographs of P91 heat-treated at 1000oC and creep-rupture tested showed fine precipitation of M23C6, and VC carbides is observed within the grains in the gauge portion. The carbides are coarsened in the head region. P91 heat-treated at 1100oC and creep rupture tested exhibits precipitation of M23C6 along the lath boundaries. Interaction of fine carbides with the dislocations was also observed. Lath structure is broken in the gauge portion during creep testing. While in the head region of the test specimen, it still existed after creep testing. Higher precipitation of carbides along the lath boundaries was observed in P91 steel samples heat-treated at 1200oC and creep-rupture tested.

2.7

Barkhausen Noise Measurements

Majority of the thermal power plants in India require condition assessment and/or the remaining life assessment for some of their critical components. Methodologies have already been established for fatigue damage assessment through residual stress measurement employing X-ray diffraction and magnetic methods (Barkhausen noise - BN) for some of the steam turbine component materials. Creep and fatigue involve changes in microstructure and residual stress. Monitoring these changes as a function of operating hours is the basis for RLA. In ferromagnetic materials, the stress and microstructural changes (grain size, embrittlement etc.) will influence the way the domains (small magnetic regions) choose and lock into their easy direction of magnetization. This will induce an electrical pulse, called Barkhausen Noise (BN), into the coil placed near the sample. Since most of the power plant components are made out of ferromagnetic materials (steels), this principle can be utilized in applying magneto elastic method to assess creep and fatigue damages. The Barkhausen technique is concerned with measuring the number and magnitude of abrupt magnetic reorientations that the magnetic domains make in a ferromagnetic material. These re-orientations are observed as pulses, which are somewhat random in amplitude, duration and temporal separation, and therefore, are roughly described as noise. The Barkhausen Noise changes due to residual stresses present in the material and also due to the microstructural changes. Wherever maximum degradation in the structure takes place, the higher value of Barkhausen Noise is obtained. This correlation is used to spot the vulnerable locations in the power plant components for further metallographic studies. 3. Discussion

The investigation of simulated HAZ specimens allow a more accurate determination of the microstructure compared to the investigations of real welded HAZ structures, because no gradient structures and properties have to be taken into account. This is not only valid for the investigation of the mechanical properties, but also for the microstructures. The microstructure of the normalized and tempered P91 steel consists of tempered martensite with large amounts of M23C6 and MX precipitates; the precipitates of coherent vanadium rich MX carbides are mainly responsible for the creep rupture properties of this steel. The subsequent tempering treatment at about 760oC/ 2hr, air-cooled, results in the precipitation of MX carbo-nitrides and M23C6 carbides and a recovery of the martensitic matrix. Microscopic examination of the specimens subjected to HAZ simulation thermal cycles revealed no remarkable changes in the microstructures when the peak temperatures are about 800oC. When the peak temperature becomes essentially higher than the AC1- temperature, depending on the shape of the thermal cycle, more and more austenite is formed and transformed into martensite during cooling to room temperature. When heating up to around 900oC, the amount of martensite, which is formed under this condition, will be about 70 to 80%. On the other hand at temperatures slightly above AC1 temperature, no significant amounts of precipitates form. Carbon and nitrogen go into solution. Therefore, the martensite formed under these conditions will lack in carbon content, resulting in reduction in hardness at these peaktemperatures around 920oC. This is confirmed by the observation that in the material heat-treated at higher 829

K. Singh, G. Reddy, D. Vidyasagar and V. Thyagarajan

peak temperature (>1000oC), a greater portion of precipitates goes into the solution. This causes an increased amount of carbon and nitrogen in the martensite. Therefore, the martensite formed in specimens cooled from the austenitising temperatures in the range 1100 to 1300oC, has a higher hardness than that formed using conventional austenitising temperatures. It can also be explained that the pronounced recrystallization of the matrix and the over-ageing of the precipitates results in a significant softening in the fine-grained regions in the HAZ, which were heated to about 900 to 950oC during the weld thermal cycle. The behaviour of the microstructures heated to 900oC and tempered subsequently is different. Since very little amount of carbon goes into solution at these peak temperatures, a re-precipitation of M23C6 carbides and MX carbo-nitrides during the subsequent tempering treatment is very limited. As per the literature, the recrystallization kinetics of the newly formed carbon deficient martensite is also different. In contrast to the specimens cooled from higher temperatures, these microstructures undergo almost complete recrystallization during tempering. In addition, the coherent MX particles coarsen and coagulate and loose their strengthening effect to a large extent. A re-precipitation of coherent MX particles is also hardly possible, because very small amount of V, Nb, N and carbon is in solution at peak temperatures between 900oC and 950oC. Even the M23C6 carbides, which are very unstable, were found practically un-dissolved after the thermal cycling. From these observations, it can be concluded that both the phenomena, the pronounced recrystallization of the matrix and over-ageing of the precipitates result in a significant softening to these fine-grained regions in the HAZ which are heated up to 900 - 950oC during the weld thermal cycle. Finer precipitation of M23C6 and VC in the material heat-treated at 1100oC imparts higher creep-rupture and mechanical properties. The material heat-treated at peak temperatures of 1200-1300oC consists of fine precipitation of M23C6 and VC carbide particles and finer martensitic laths, which are responsible for extremely high creep-rupture and mechanical properties. However, due to very high strength of the matrix grains, the grain boundaries are comparatively weaker and allow the cracks to propagate on sudden impact loads as is evident from the poor impact strength of the material heat-treated at 1200-1300oC. Considering the reasonably good impact strength and creep-rupture properties of the P91 steel heat-treated at 1100oC, this heat treatment (austenitising temperature) can be employed if higher creep-rupture properties are intended. On aging after PWHT, creep strength of the weld joint had decreased in general compared to the weld joints in post weld heat-treated condition. Creep ductility of the specimens aged at 600oC and creep tested was found to be much lower compared to the as received creep tested specimens. Reason for low ductility was attributed to the in-homogeneity in the material caused due to hard and soft phases present as a result of welding. The low ductility observed in creep tested specimens aged at 600oC is indicative of likely low ductility failures in P91 welds after around 1,00,000h of service. It is, therefore, recommended that the P91 weld joints should be microstructurally examined at around 1,00,000h of service exposure. However, with a view to mitigate the problem, the aged weld joints were given a re-tempering treatment and subjected to creep testing. Creep rupture ductility was found to recover after re-tempering treatment indicating that retempering might be an answer to the embrittlement issue. 4. Conclusions

The following major conclusions are drawn on the basis of above studies: 1. Creep rupture properties increased with increasing grain size when austenitised above 900oC. Creeprupture properties were lowest for P91 steel heat-treated at 900oC, which represents intercritical zone and were very high for the material heat-treated at 1200 or 1300oC. Impact properties decreased with increasing grain size (austenitising temperature) whereas room and high temperature tensile strength increased with increasing austentising temperature. TEM studies have revealed that in all conditions M23C6 carbide is present but in the material heattreated at higher austenitising temperatures, the dislocation density is higher and lath size is finer, which has resulted in higher mechanical properties and creep strength. 830

2.

3.

Creep and Creep Damage Assessment in P91 Weld Joints

4.

Considering the impact strength of ~ 120J and creep rupture properties of P91 steel austenitised at 1100oC, it can be inferred that the austenitising temperature of this steel can be beneficially increased up to 1100oC if higher creep rupture properties are required at the cost of slight reduction in impact strength. After aging after PWHT, creep strength of the weld joints decreased in general compared to the weld joints in post weld heat-treated condition. Aging at 600oC for 5,000h and 10,000h is approximately equivalent to the service exposure of around 50,000 to 1,00,000h at 565oC. The low ductility observed in creep tested specimens aged at 600oC is indicative of likely low ductility failures in P91 welds after around 1,00,000h of service. It is, therefore, suggested that the P91 weld joints should be microstructurally examined at around 1,00,000h of service exposure. Re-tempering of the aged weld joints at 760oC has resulted in improved creep strength and rupture ductility indicating that re-tempering of service exposed weld joints may be helpful in containing the embrittlement problem. Barkhausen Noise exhibits a good correlation with microstructural degradation and can be used to spot the vulnerable locations in the power plant components for further metallographic studies.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Acknowledgement Authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Corporate R&D Management in successfully carrying out the project work and according permission to publish this paper. They are also grateful to BHEL Trichirappalli in general and WRI in particular for arranging the P91 pipe material and supplying the details about plant practices. The help rendered by Mr. S.V. Reddy, Corporate R&D, Hyderabad for Scanning Electron Microscopic studies and Prof. D.S. Sarma, BHU, Varanasi for Transmission Electron Microscopic studies is gratefully acknowledged. References 1. DiGianfrancesco, A, Rasche, C and Orr, J. The Properties of Steel 91 after Aging. ECSC Information Day, The Manufacture and Properties of Steel 91 for the Power Plant and Process Industries, Commission of the European Communities, Dusseldorf, Germany, 1992: Paper 2.5 2. Alamo, A, Brachet, J C, Castaing, A and Foucher, C. Effects of the Initial Metallurgical Conditions on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of 9Cr1Mo and 9Cr1MoVNb Thermal Aged Steels. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Aged Materials II, P K Liaw, R Viswanathan, K L Murty, D Frear and E P Semenen (eds); 1996: 121-134 3. Allen, D J and Fleming, A. Creep Performance of Similar and Dissimilar E911 Weldments for Advanced High Temperature Plants. Proc. of 5th Charles Parsons Turbine Conf., A. Strang et.al. (eds), Cambridge, U.K.; 2000: 276-290 4. Blum, R, Hald, J, Bendick, W, Rossolet, A and Valliant, J C. Newly Developed High Temperature FerriticMartensitic Steels from USA, Japan and Europe. VGB Kraftswerktechnik; 1994; 74(8):553563 5. deWitte, M and Coussement, C. Creep Properties of 12%Cr and Improved 9%Cr Weldments. Materials at High Temperatures, 1991; 9(4): 178-184 6. Coussement, C, Dhooge, A, deWitte, M, Dobbelaere, R and van der Donckt, E. High Temperature Properties of Improved 9%Cr Steel Weldments. Intl J Pres. Ves. & Piping, 1991; 45: 163-178 7. Sikka, V K. Development of Modified 9Cr-1Mo Steel for Elevated Temperature Service. Conf. on Ferritic Alloys for Use in Nuclear Energy Technologies, Snowbird, Utah; 1983: 417-423. 8. Eggeler, G, Ramteke, A, Coleman, M, Chew, B, Peter, G, Burblies, A, Hald, J, Jeffery, C, Rantala, J, deWitte, M and Mohrmann, R. Analysis of Creep in a Welded P91 Pressure Vessel. Intl. Jl. Pres. Ves. & Piping. 1994; 60: 237-257 9. Bendick, W, Niederhoff, K, Wellnitz, G, Zschau, M and Cerjak H. The Influence of Welding on the Creep Rupture Strength of 9% Chrome Steel P91. Intl. Power Conference, 1994; 587-598. 831

K. Singh, G. Reddy, D. Vidyasagar and V. Thyagarajan

10. 11.

Hald, J. TEM Investigations on HAZ in P91 Steel. Intl. Conf. on Joining of Materials, Helsignr, Denmark; 1993: 317-324 Orr, J, Burton, D and Rasche, C. The Sensitivity of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Steel 91 to Initial Heat Treatments. ECSC Information Day, The Manufacture and Properties of Steel 91 for the Power Plant and Process Industries, Commission of the European Communities, Dusseldorf, Germany, 1992; Paper 2.3.

12.

Httestrand, Mats and Andrn, Hans-Olof. Evaluation of particle size distributions of precipitates in a 9% chromium steel using energy filtered transmission electron microscopy. Micron, 2001; 32(8): 789-797

832

Creep and Creep Damage Assessment in P91 Weld Joints

300

400

250

Hardness, Hv Impact Strength, J

200

225

100

200

0
800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400

700

Austenitising Temperature, deg C

Fig. 1 Hardness and impact strength of P91 steel given simulation heat treatment at 800 1300oC, tempered at 760oC

100 90 Strength, kg/sqmm 80 70 60 50

Strength Vs Austenitising Temperature

UTS

YS

800
Fig. 2

900 1000 1100 1200 Austenitising Temperature, C

1300

Tensile strength of P91 steel given simulation heat treatment at 800 1300oC, tempered at 760oC

833

Impact Strength, J

275

300

Hardness, Hv30

K. Singh, G. Reddy, D. Vidyasagar and V. Thyagarajan

100

PH800 PH900 PH1000 PH1100 Stress, kg/mm PH1200 PH1300

10
2

1,00,000 h extrapolated rupture s tres s , kg/m m 2

M atl. P H 8 00 P H9 00 P H1 000 P H1 100 P H1 200 P H1 300 1 17

at 5 40 C 14.0 12.0 14.0 22.0 24.0 26.0

at 56 5 C 1 1.0 8 .0 1 1.0 1 6.0 1 9.0 1 9.0

18

19

20

21
-3

22

23

LM param eter x10

Fig. 3

Stress vs Larson Miller plots for P91 steel given simulation heat treatment at 800 1300oC

10 0 0

P91WJ600/5000 P91WJ600/10000 P91WJ700/5000 P91WJ700/10000

10 0

10 17 18 19 20 21 22 LM P a ra m e t e r, X 0 .0 0 1

Fig. 4

Stress vs LM parameter plots for aged (after PWHT) weld joints of P91 steel

834

Creep and Creep Damage Assessment in P91 Weld Joints

800oC

900oC

1000oC

1100oC

1200oC

1300oC

Fig. 5

SEM Microstructures of P91 (a f) heat-treated at 800 1300oC, tempered at 760oC

835

K. Singh, G. Reddy, D. Vidyasagar and V. Thyagarajan

0.5

0.5

0.2

e
Fig. 6

0.5

0.5

TEM micrographs of P91 heat-treated at 1100oC showing: (a, b) VC & M23C6 precipitates, (c) SAD pattern and (d) high dislocation density and (e, f) M23C6 and VC carbides in P91 heat treated at 1100oC and creep rupture tested

836