• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.592-595
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• 2011

It is well known that modified 9Cr-1Mo steel has a low thermal expansion and high thermal conductivity with excellent high temperature properties compared to austenitic stainless steel. For these advantages, the steel is very popular for the boiler tube of thermal power plants. Normalizing is commonly utilized to obtain martensite in this steel, which shows an unusual toughness for martensite. However, some accidents related to this steel have been reported recently, opening the necessity for further study. As a particular behavior of the steel, an abrupt drop of the impact value has been identified upon tempering at 750$^{\circ}C$ for about 1 hour. It is well known that $Fe_3C$ forms during autotempering and turns to $Cr_2C$ at an early stage and then transforms to $Cr_{23}C_6$. In this study, the cause of the abrupt drop of the impact value was investigated with an impact test, microstructural observation, nanodiffraction and phase analyses using instruments such as optical and transmission electron microscopes (TEM) with an extraction carbon replica of the carbides. The analyses revealed that the $M_2C$ that formed when retained for about 1 hour at 750$^{\circ}C$ causes a drastic decrease in the mechanical properties. The sharp drop in mechanical properties, however, disappeared as the $M_2C$ transformed into $M_{23}C_6$ with longer retention.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.251-257
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• 2011

This paper deals with the statistical properties of parameters B and q in the creep crack growth rate (CCGR) law, da/dt=B$(C^*)^q$, in Mod. 9Cr-1Mo (ASME Gr.91) steel which is considered a candidate materials for fabricating next generation nuclear reactors. The CCGR data were obtained by creep crack growth (CCG) tests performed on 1/2-inch compact tension (CT) specimens under an applied load of 5000N at a temperature of $600^{\circ}C$. The CCG behavior was analyzed statistically using the empirical equation between CCGR, da/dt and the creep fracture mechanics parameter, $C^*$. The B and q values were determined for each specimen by the least-squares fitting method. The probability distribution functions for B and q were investigated using normal, log-normal, and Weibull distributions. As far as this study is considered, it can be appeared that B and q followed the log-normal and Weibull distributions. Moreover, a strong positive linear correlation was found between B and q.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2005

Interrupted creep tests for investigating the structural degradation during creep were conducted for a Mod.9Cr-1Mo steel in the range of stress from 71 to 167 MPa and temperature from 873 to 923 K. The change of hardness and tempered martensitic lath width was measured in grip and gauge parts of interrupted creep specimens. The lath structure was thermally stable in static conditions. However, it was not stable during creep, and the structural change was enhanced by creep strain. The relation between the change in lath width and creep strain was described quantitatively. The change in Vickers hardness was expressed by a single valued function of creep LCR(life consumption ratio). Based on the empirical relation between strain and lath width, a model was proposed to describe the relation between change in hardness and creep LCR. The comparison of the model with the empirical relation suggests that about 65% of hardness loss is due to the decrease of dislocation density accompanied by the movement of lath boundaries. The role of precipitates on subboundaries was discussed in connection with the abnormal subgrain growth appearing in low stress regime.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2015

The material properties of crack growth models at an elevated temperature were derived from the results of numerous crack growth tests for Mod.9Cr-1Mo (ASME Grade 91) steel specimens under fatigue loading and creep loading at an elevated temperature. These crack growth models were needed for defect assessment under creep-fatigue loading. The mathematical crack growth rate models for fatigue crack growth (FCG) and creep crack growth (CCG) were determined based on the test results, and the models were compared with those of the French design code RCC-MRx to investigate the conservatism of the code. The French design code RCC-MRx provides an FCG model and a CCG model for Grade 91 steel in Section III Tome 6. It was shown that the FCG model of RCC-MRx is conservative, while the CCG model is non-conservative compared with the present test data. Thus, it was shown that further validation of the property was required. Mechanical strength tests and creep tests were also conducted, and the test results were compared with those of RCC-MRx.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.271-279
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• 2012

9-12% Cr steels have been used in thermal power plants which repeat start and stop operations. Major factors of fatigue life are temperature, frequency, stress ratio, holding time, microstructure, and environment. Normally, fatigue life decreases at high temperature, low frequency, high stress ratio, and long holding time conditions. A Mod.9Cr-1Mo steel, called G91, was developed at ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA) and was adopted as a high-temperature structural material in the ASME Code in 2004. However, its low-cycle fatigue and fatigue crack growth characteristics have been rarely studied. In this work, we have investigated the low-cycle fatigue crack growth behaviors of G91 steel under various test conditions in terms of temperature and stress ratio. As temperature and stress ratio increase, the crack growth rate becomes faster and striation distance also increases. On the other hand, the number of branch cracks decreases.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.1251-1259
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• 2013

In this study, high temperature design and creep-fatigue damage evaluation of a decay heat exchanger (DHX) in the decay heat removal systems of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) have been performed. Detail design and 3D finite element analysis have been conducted for the DHXs to be installed in active and passive decay heat removal systems in Korean Generation IV SFR, and the DHX installed in the STELLA-1(Sodium integral effect test loop for safety simulation and assessment) at KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). Evaluations of creep-fatigue damage based on full 3D finite element analyses were conducted for the two Mod.9Cr-1Mo steel heat exchangers according to the elevated temperature design codes of ASME Section III Subsection NH and RCC-MR code. Code comparisons were made based on the creep-fatigue damage evaluation and issues on conservatisms of the design codes were discussed.