Thermal aging of Gr. 91 steel in supercritical thermal plant and its effect on structural integrity at elevated temperature

Abstract

In this study, the influence of thermal aging on structural integrity is investigated for Gr. 91 steel. A commercial grade Gr. 91 steel is used for the virgin material, and service-exposed Gr. 91 steel is sampled from a steam pipe of a super critical plant. Time versus creep strain curves are obtained through creep tests with various stress levels at 600 °C for the virgin and service-exposed Gr. 91 steels, respectively. Based on the creep test results, the improved Omega model is characterized for describing the total creep strain curve for both Gr. 91 steels. The proposed parameters for creep deformation model are used for predicting the steady-state creep strain rate, creep rupture curve, and stress relaxation. Creep-fatigue damage is evaluated for the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) in a large-scale sodium test facility of STELLA-2 by using creep deformation model with proposed creep parameters and creep rupture curve for both Gr. 91 steels. Based on the comparison results of creep fatigue damage for the virgin and service-exposed Gr. 91 steels, the thermal aging effect has been shown to be significant.