Crack growth and fracture behaviour of stress corrosion cracks of turbine generator steels

The object of this investigation was the quantifying of the behaviour of cracks which were induced during service under corrosive media. To investigate the influence of stress corrosion crack configurations on stress intensity factor, six different test materials from 2 and 3.5% NiCrMoV and 2% Cr/1% Ni steels were chosen. The stress corrosion cracks were induced at wedge loaded compact tension specimens in a corrosive media in the laboratory. Fracture mechanics tests as well as fatigue crack growth tests were performed at these specimens. All stress corrosion cracks have an intercrystalline path and a crack length longer than 1 mm; they are multiple and have branched cracks tips. The fracture mechanics tests at these stress corrosion cracks induced in the laboratory and during service of components show that their stress intensity factor is 30 to 70% smaller than the stress intensity factor calculated for single straight cracks too. Theoretical calculations arrived to the same results. Crack initiation and growth behaviour under cyclic loading starting from these stress corrosion cracks results in that the load or the stress intensity range ΔK has to be increased three times larger than the ΔK-threshold value to induce crack initiation. The crack growth velocity influenced by multiple crack tips and multiple growing cracks from these crack tips is much lower than the crack growth velocity of a normal fatigue crack (one crack tip). (orig./MM) With 32 figs