Research on low temperature brittleness of 30Cr1Mo1V high-temperature rotor and its life optimization in rapid start-up and warm-up process

Abstract

Recently, there is the serious fracture for two high-temperature steam turbine rotors made of 30Cr1Mo1V steel in different power plants, characterized by brittle fracture. This steel has the disadvantage of low temperature brittleness. Currently, a large number of 30Cr1Mo1V rotors are in service. Meanwhile, these rotors are required to start up and warm up faster due to the demand for operation flexibility of the power system. In order to ensure the safety of the 30Cr1Mo1V rotors under flexible operation, it is necessary to study the low temperature brittleness of the rotors and its influence on the fatigue life in rapid start-up and warm-up processes. In this paper, the fracture causes of the 30Cr1Mo1V rotor were analyzed by the mechanical property tests, microstructure examination and fracture analysis. The test results showed that the toughness of rotor decreased significantly after service. Secondly, the temperature and stress changes of the high-temperature rotors during the rapid start-up and warm-up process were calculated by the finite element method. The simulation results showed that if the speed rose too fast, the thermal stress in the rotor inlet area would increase significantly and the temperature was lower than the fracture appearance transition temperature when reaching the full speed. The high stress will easily lead to a crack initiation under low-cycle fatigue. Then, crack instability propagation will soon occur due to the low temperature and poor toughness. Thirdly, the life of the turbine in the rapid start-up was optimized by controlling the startup time. In addition, the life under different warm-up conditions was quantitatively analyzed. It not only reveals the necessity of the warm-up process for the center hole rotor, but also successfully demonstrates that the warm-up process of the solid rotor can be cancelled, which improves the economy of the power plant.