Creep deformation of TD--nickel chromium

The creep behavior of thoria dispersed nickel-chromium (TD-NiCr) was examined at 10930C. Major emphasis was placed on 1) the effects of the material and the test related variables (grain size, temperature, stress, strain and strain rate) on the deformation characteristics, and 2) the evaluation of single crystal TD-NiCr material produced by a directional recrystallization technique. Creep activation enthalpies were found to increase with increasing grain size reaching maximum values for the single crystal TD-NiCr. Stress exponent of the steady state creep rate was also significantly higher for the single crystal material as compared with that determined for the polycrystalline TD-NiCr. The elevated temperature deformation of TD-NiCr was analyzed in terms of two parallel-concurrent processes: 1) diffusion controlled grain boundary sliding and 2) dislocation motion. The characteristics of the dislocation motion deformation mode (as observed in the single crystal TD-NiCr) suggest that strong particle-dislocation interactions are present. The relative contributions of dislocation motion and grain boundary sliding in TD-NiCr were estimated. In creep, grain boundary sliding was found to predominate for the small, equiaxed grain structures, whereas the dislocation deformation mode became significant for only the large grain TD-NiCr and the single crystal material