Effect of temperature on fatigue crack growth in P92 steel

Abstract

Fracture at high temperature has become a critical problem for such high temperature components as those used in power plants or oil refinery plants, because both high operating temperature and pressure are required for better thermal efficiency. Therefore, it is very important to approach such problems from the viewpoint of high temperature material properties. Since fatigue and creep are closely related to such components failures, the fracture behavior in high temperature components must be evaluated through fatigue and creep crack growth tests, and based on these results, better operating conditions can be determined. In this study, recently developed P92 (9Cr-2W) alloy steel, which is a high strength material for high temperature use, is investigated and its fatigue crack growth has been characterized by Paris law. A series of high temperature fatigue tests were carried out at 400, 500, 550, 600, 625, 650, and 700°C to verify the temperature effect. The results indicated that the Paris exponent remained at approximately the same value up to a certain temperature. From 600 to 700°C, creep rupture tests were conducted in order to investigate the creep behavior with temperature. Further analysis has also been carried out to investigate the effect of temperature on fracture mode shift, dimple formation, and its role in crack growth rate and deformability at high temperature.