Creep Parameters and Dislocation Substructure in AISI 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel From 600ºC To 800ºC
Creep Parameters and Dislocation Substructure in AISI 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel From 600ºC To 800ºC
Creep Parameters and Dislocation Substructure in AISI 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel From 600ºC To 800ºC
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1980-5373-MR-2016-0998
Creep Parameters and Dislocation Substructure in AISI 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel From
600ºC to 800ºC
Sergio Neves Monteiroa*, Fernanda Santos da Luza, Wagner Anacleto Pinheiroa, Luiz Paulo
a
Military Institute of Engineering (IME), Department of Materials Science, Praça General Tibúrcio, 80,
Praia Vermelha, Urca, CEP 22290-270, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Received: December 11, 2016; Revised: May 2, 2017; Accepted: June 8, 2017
Stainless steels are well known by their corrosion resistance. The austenitic types, in particular,
are also applied as structural components in engineering systems operating at high temperatures
such as nuclear reactors, petrochemical furnaces and turbines. For these applications operational
temperatures may go up to 800ºC. Under constant load applications the main mechanism of failure,
which would limit the material’s life, is creep. In the present work creep parameters were evaluated
in the high temperature interval of 600 to 800ºC for an AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel. Dislocation
substructures were observed by transmission electron microscopy in creep ruptured specimens. Two
distinct mechanisms of dynamic strain aging and dynamic recovery associated with different values
for the power law exponent n and the Arrhenius activation energy Q for creep were verified below
and above 700ºC, respectively.
Keywords: Creep test, AISI 316 stainless steel, dislocation substructure, high temperature
mechanisms
1. Introduction II in the strain vs. time creep curve, is probably the most
important parameter. A general state equation proposed by
Creep behavior of metals and alloys has been attracting Mukherjee et al.11 relates fo S to other creep parameters
considerable interest since the beginning of the twentieth
The creep behavior of 316 steel, in particular, has been were thinned by electropolishing at 3V in the aforementioned
investigated since the 1960s. Early works of Garofalo et al.12,13 solution until the first hole was obtained with convenient
found in 316 steel a creep activation energy of Q=314 kJ/ areas for transmission electron imaging. A TEM 200 kV Jeol
mol in the temperature range between 593 to 830ºC, which microscope was used to observe dislocation substructures.
was attributed to self-diffusion in face-centered cubic (FCC)
γ iron. In principle this could be associated with a vacancy 3. Results and Discussion
controlled climb of dislocations type of mechanism. Mazza
and Willoughby14 reported an activation energy of 565 kJ/mol Strain versus time creep curves were directly recorded
at 600ºC, which might be assigned to chromium diffusion. by the machine in digital form and processed by computer
Below 700ºC, Barnby15 found evidence of aging-controlled to allow determination of true strain (ε), the corresponding
creep in 316 steel, probably corroborating the Cr diffusion. true stress (σ) and the time derivative fo = dε/dt (creep rate)
In a later work, Kestenbach et al.16 presented the dislocation at each point of the curve. The time variation of creep rate
substructure developed during creep of 316 steel between displayed the typical curve with a short stage II associated with
600 and 800ºC. They found that the high stresses dislocation secondary creep. The minimum obtained in the continuous
climb was replaced by glide, which does not depend on interpolation of fεo Sversus t computer data was chosen as the
diffusion. Moreover, above 650ºC the substructure changed secondary creep rate, fo S .
from cells to elongated subgrains. Figure 1 shows the logarithmic dependence of fo S with σ,
Recent works on creep behavior of 316 steel have corresponding to the constant load, for different investigated
emphasized the combined effect of creep-fatigue in the steel temperatures. In spite of some scatter in the data points for each
operational life based on damage and crack propagation17-25. temperature in Figure 1, a consistent linear relationship was
In spite of relevant results, the works on high temperature found between log f as
o S and log σ. These straight lines indicate
creep of 316 steel have not yet provided a comprehensive an experimental creep behavior associate with the power
analysis of mechanical parameters and dislocation substructure law, equation (2). As a consequence, the slopes of straight
in terms of creep mechanisms. In the present work the creep lines in Figure 1 correspond to the value of the exponent n.
mechanisms in 316 steel tested from 600 to 800ºC were
assessed and associated with stress-related parameters and
dislocation substructure.
Table 1. Chemical composition of the investigated AISI type 316 stainless steel.
C Cr Ni Mo Mn Si P S
0.07 18.3 12.5 2.55 1.72 0.50 0.026 0.014
Creep Parameters and Dislocation Substructure in AISI 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel From 600ºC to 800ºC 3
Figure 4. TEM fractographs of dislocation substructures at: (a) 600ºC and (b) 750ºC in creep tested 316 steel.
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5. Conclusions
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