Influence of Grain Boundary Character on Creep Void Formation in Alloy 617

Abstract

Alloy 617, a high-temperature creep-resistant, nickel-based alloy, is being considered for the primary heat exchanger for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), which will operate at temperatures exceeding 760 °C and a helium pressure of approximately 7 MPa. Observations of the crept microstructure using optical microscopy indicate creep stress does not significantly influence the creep void fraction at a given creep strain over the relatively narrow set of creep conditions studied. Void formation was found to occur only after significant creep in the tertiary regime (>5 pct total creep strain) had occurred. Also, orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) was used to characterize the grain boundaries in the vicinity of creep voids that develop during high-temperature creep tests (900 °C to 1000 °C at creep stresses ranging from 20 to 40 MPa) terminated at creep strains ranging from 5 to 40 pct. Preliminary analysis of the OIM data indicates voids tend to form on grain boundaries parallel, perpendicular, or 45 deg to the tensile axis, while few voids are found at intermediate inclinations to the tensile axis. Random grain boundaries intersect most voids, while coincident site lattice (CSL)–related grain boundaries did not appear to be consistently associated with void development. Similar results were found in oxygen-free, high-conductivity (OFHC) copper, severely deformed using equal channel angular extrusion, and creep tested at 450 °C and 14 MPa.