Report on thermal aging effects on tensile properties of ferritic-martensitic steels.

Abstract

This report provides an update on the evaluation of thermal-aging induced degradation of tensile properties of advanced ferritic-martensitic steels. The report is the first deliverable (level 3) in FY11 (M3A11AN04030103), under the Work Package A-11AN040301, 'Advanced Alloy Testing' performed by Argonne National Laboratory, as part of Advanced Structural Materials Program for the Advanced Reactor Concepts. This work package supports the advanced structural materials development by providing tensile data on aged alloys and a mechanistic model, validated by experiments, with a predictive capability on long-term performance. The scope of work is to evaluate the effect of thermal aging on the tensile properties of advanced alloys such as ferritic-martensitic steels, mod.9Cr-1Mo, NF616, and advanced austenitic stainless steel, HT-UPS. The aging experiments have been conducted over a temperature of 550-750 C for various time periods to simulate the microstructural changes in the alloys as a function of time at temperature. In addition, a mechanistic model based on thermodynamics and kinetics has been used to address the changes in microstructure of the alloys as a function of time and temperature, which is developed in the companion work package at ANL. The focus of this project is advanced alloy testing and understanding the effects of long-term thermal aging on the tensile properties. Advanced materials examined in this project include ferritic-martensitic steels mod.9Cr-1Mo and NF616, and austenitic steel, HT-UPS. The report summarizes the tensile testing results of thermally-aged mod.9Cr-1Mo, NF616 H1 and NF616 H2 ferritic-martensitic steels. NF616 H1 and NF616 H2 experienced different thermal-mechanical treatments before thermal aging experiments. NF616 H1 was normalized and tempered, and NF616 H2 was normalized and tempered and cold-rolled. By examining these two heats, we evaluated the effects of thermal-mechanical treatments on material microstructures and associated mechanical properties during long-term aging at elevated temperatures. Thermal aging experiments at different temperatures and periods of time have been completed: 550 C for up to 5000 h, 600 C for up to 7500 h, and 650 C for more than 10,000 h. Tensile properties were measured on thermally aged specimens and aging effect on tensile behavior was assessed. Effects of thermal aging on deformation and failure mechanisms were investigated by using in-situ straining technique with simultaneous synchrotron XRD measurements.