Estimating the remanent life of boiler pressure parts: Pt. 3

A cast of 1Cr1/2Mo steel has been creep tested in argon at stresses in the range 34-80 MPa and temperatures between 590-6300C in various heat treatment states, including normalized and tempered, and overaged. To assess their use in remanent life evaluations, various techniques have been used including hardness, bulk extraction of carbides and X-ray examination of the phases present, determination of matrix solute content, X-ray determination of the matrix lattice parameter and carbide extraction replication of the structure and measurement of various interparticle spacing parameters. The dependence of the spacing on time and temperature has been established and used to calibrate a model of tertiary creep for the material, based on the coarsening of the interparticle separation. The model is shown to match and predict the material's behaviour well. In application to plant the interparticle spacing can be determined from a small sample removed from the component. The model can be used to give estimates of the time to rupture, or more usefully, estimate the time to any given strain. Of all the techniques used, interparticle spacing determinations give the best estimates of remanent life. (author)