• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.94-101
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• 2003

The pressure tubes made of cold-worked Zr-2.5Nb alloy are subjected to creep deformation during service period resulting in changes to their geometry such as longitudinal elongation, diameter increase and sagging. To evaluate integrity of them, information on the material creep property of the serviced tubes is essential. As one of the methods with which the creep property is directly measured from the serviced components, small punch(SP) creep testing has been considered as a substitute for the conventional uniaxial creep testing. In this study, applicability of the SP creep testing to Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube alloy was studied particularly by measuring the power law creep constants, A, n. The SP creep test has been successfully applied fur other high temperature materials which have isotropic behavior. Since the Zr-2.5Nb alloy has anisotropic property, applicability of the SP creep testing can be limited. Uniaxial creep tests and small punch creep tests were conducted with Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube alloy along with finite element analyses. Creep constants obtained by each test method are compared. It was argued that the SP creep test result gave results reflecting material properties of both directions. But the equations derived in the previous study for isotropic materials need to be modified. Discussions were made fur future research directions for application of the SP creep testing to Zr-2.5Nb tube alloy.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2010

This paper investigates the influence of aging time on creep properties via a small punch creep test and evaluates the microstructural change of P122 steel at $600^{\circ}C$. The area fraction of precipitates was quantitatively analyzed to identify the relationship between the creep rupture life and precipitates was coarsening behavior of precipitates along the grain boundaries was also investigated for various aging times. It is found that this coarsening behavior led to a loss of solution hardening and rewulte in a hardness drop and a reduction of creep life.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2565-2573
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• 2002

A basic research was performed to ensure the usefulness of Small Punch-creep(SP-creep) test for residual life evaluation of heat resistant components effectively. This paper presents analytical results of initial stress and strain distributions in SP specimen caused by constant loading for SP-creep test and its experimental correlations with uniaxial creep(Ten-creep) test on 9Cr1MoVNb steel. It was shown that the initial maximum equivalent stress, ${\sigma}_{eq{\cdot}max}$ from FE analysis was correlated with steady-state equivalent creep strain rate, ${\epsilon}_{qf-ss'}$ rupture time, $t_r$, activation energy, Q and Larson-Miller Parameter, LMP during SP-creep deformation. The simple correlation laws, ${\sigma}_{sp}-{\sigma}_{TEN}$, $P_{sp}-{\sigma}_{TEN}\; and\; Q_{sp}-Q_{TEN}$ adopted to established a quantitative correlation between SP-creep and Ten-creep test data. Especially, the activation energy obtained from SP-creep test is linearly related to that from Ten-creep test at $650^{\circ}C$ as follows : $Q_{SP-P}\;{\risingdotseq}\;1.37 \;Q_{TEN},\; Q_{SP-{\sigma}}{\risingdotseq}1.53\; Q_{TEN}$.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.11
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• pp.965-973
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• 2010

The small punch creep (SPC) test has recently received much attention as a new alternative to the conventional uniaxial creep test because it needs only a miniature-sized specimen directly detached from an operating system or component without any serious sampling damages. However, it is difficult to obtain the equivalent uniaxial creep data directly from the SPC data. As a specimen is deformed by a punch in the SPC test, the test result is sensitive to the friction between them. Finite element analyses with various friction coefficients was performed and showed a tendency of increased SPC life with an increased friction coefficient. The necking position predicted by the SPC simulation with a proper friction coefficient showed good agreement with that observed from the real SPC test. Finally, a noble method to convert the SPC load and displacement rate into the equivalent uniaxial creep stress and strain rate, respectively, was established in this study.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.12 s.255
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• pp.1526-1533
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• 2006

The aim of this research was to confirm the existence of the thermal creep degradation by hydrides of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube materials. Small punch creep tests were performed to obtain the relationship between a creep displacement and a loading period at $300^{\circ}C$. A creep stress and a creep strain rate were also converted from the previous results. The creep material constants and the creep stress exponents at the different hydride contents were compared. Finally the hydrides of the axial and circumferential section were observed using OM, SEM and TEM. The following conclusions were made: 1) The degradation of the thermal creep by hydrides was existed and it strongly depended on the hydride contents. 2) As the hydride contents were increased, the creep stress exponents (m) were also increased. 3) Even though the hydride was not precipitated in 50 ppm materials at $300^{\circ}C$, the degradation of thermal creep was found. Therefore, it was believed that this phenomenon strongly related to the hydride precipitation at room temperature.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.265-268
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• 2000

In this study, a small punch creep (SP-Creep) test using miniaturized specimen has been described for the development of the new creep test method for high temperature structural components such as headers and tubes of boiler, turbine casing and rotor, and reactor vessel. The SP-Creep testing technique has been applied to 1Cr-0.5Mo steel used widely as boiler header material and the creep test temperature are varied at $550^{\circ}C{\sim}600^{\circ}C$. From the experimental results, e.g. SP-Creep curve behaviors, the creep rate in steady state and creep rupture life with test temperature and load, the load exponential value(n, m), the activation energy($Q_{spc}$), the Monkman-Grant relation and the creep life assessment equation etc., it can be summarized that the SP-Creep test may be a useful test method to evaluate the creep properties of the heat resisting material such as boiler header.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.43-48
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• 2000

In this study, a small punch creep(SP-Creep) test using miniaturized specimen$(10{\times}10{\times}0.5mm)$ has been described for the development of the newly semi-destructive creep test method for high temperature structural components such as headers and tubes of boiler turbine casino and rotor and reactor vessel. The SP-Creep testing technique has been applied to 2.25Cr-1Mo(STBA24) steel used widely as boiler tube material and the creep test temperature are varied at $550^{\circ}C{\sim}600^{\circ}C$. The overall deformations of SP-Creep curves are definitely depended with applied load and creep test temperature and show the creep behaviors of three steps like conventional uniaxial creep curves. The steady state creep rate${\delta}_{ss}$ of SP-Creep curve for miniaturized specimen increases with increasing creep temperature, but the exponential value with creep loading is decreased. The activation energy$(Q_{spc})$ during SP-Creep deformation with various test temperatures shows 605.7kJ/mol that is g.eater than 467.4kJ/mol reported in uniaxial creep test. This may be caused by the difference of stress states during creep deformation In two creep test. But from the experimental results, e.g. SP-Creep curve behaviors, the steady state creep rate${\delta}_{ss}$ with creep temperature, and the exponential value(n) with creep loading, it can be summarized that the SP-Creep test may be a useful test method to evaluate the creep properties of the heat resisting material.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2008

A micro-impression creep machine was designed and developed, adopting a small punch in diameter of 150 um, displacement gage with an accuracy of sub-${\mu}m$ scale, and load-cell with an accuracy of mN scale in order to investigate creep behavior of small solder ball in diameter of less than 1 mm. Creep behavior of lead-free solder ball(Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu) in diameter of $760\;{\mu}m$ was investigated in the stress range of $8{\sim}60\;MPa$ and at $303\;K{\sim}393\;K$. The applied load became decreased slightly and continuously in the creep rate of $10^{-4}/s$ range during the current experiments. Also, the machine frame was so sensitive to the environmental temperature that nm scaled displacement recording was unstable according to the change in environmental temperature.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.30-30
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• 2002

It has been reported that the creep characteristics on weldment which is composed of weld metal(W.M), fusion line(F.L), heat-affected zone(HAZ), and base meta(B.M) could be unpredictably changed in severe service conditions such as high temperature and high pressure. However, the studies done on creep damage in power plant components have been mostly conducted on B.M and not the creep properties of the localized microstructures in weldment have been thoroughly investigated yet. In this paper, it is investigated the creep characteristics for three microstructures like coarse-grain HAZ(CGHAZ), W.M, and B.M in X20CrMoV121 steel weldment by the small punch-creep-(SP-Creep) test using miniaturized specimen(l0×10×0.5mm). The W.M microstructure possesses the higher creep resistance and shows lower creep strain rate than the B.M and CGHAZ. In the lower creep load the highest creep strain rate is exhibited in CGHAZ, whereas in the higher creep load the B.M represents the high creep strain rate. The power law correlation for all microstructures exists between creep rate and creep load at 600℃. The values of creep load index (n) based on creep strain rate for B.M, CGHAZ, and W.M are 7.54, 4.23, and 5.06, respectively and CGHAZ which shows coarse grains owing to high welding heat has the lowest creep loade index. In all creep loads, the creep life for W.M shows the highest value.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.754-761
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• 2002

It has been reported that the creep characteristics on weldment which is composed of weld metal(W.M), fusion line(F.L), heat-affected zone(HAZ), and base meta(B.M) could be unpredictably changed in severe service conditions such as high temperature and high pressure. However, the studies done on creep damage in power plant components have been mostly conducted on B.M and not the creep properties of the localized microstructures in weldment have been thoroughly investigated yet. In this paper, it is investigated the creep characteristics for three microstructures like coarse-grain HAZ(CGHAZ), W.M, and B.M in X20CrMoV121 steel weldment by the small punch-creep-(SP-Creep) test using miniaturized specimen($10{\times}10{\times}0.5mm$). The W.M microstructure possesses the higher creep resistance and shows lower creep strain rate than the B.M and CGHAZ. In the lower creep load the highest creep strain rate is exhibited in CGHAZ, whereas in the higher creep load the B.M represents the high creep strain rate. The power law correlation for all microstructures exists between creep rate and creep load at $600^{\circ}C$. The values of creep load index (n) based on creep strain rate for B.M, CGHAZ, and W.M are 7.54, 4.23, and 5.06, respectively and CGHAZ which shows coarse grains owing to high welding heat has the lowest creep loade index. In all creep loads, the creep life for W.M shows the highest value.