scholarly journals High-temperature creep rupture of low alloy ferritic steel butt-welded pipes subjected to combined internal pressure and end loadings

Author(s):  
F Vakili-Tahami ◽  
D.R Hayhurst ◽  
M.T Wong

Constitutive equations are reviewed and presented for low alloy ferritic steels which undergo creep deformation and damage at high temperatures; and, a thermodynamic framework is provided for the deformation rate potentials used in the equations. Finite element continuum damage mechanics studies have been carried out using these constitutive equations on butt-welded low alloy ferritic steel pipes subjected to combined internal pressure and axial loads at 590 and 620 °C. Two dominant modes of failure have been identified: firstly, fusion boundary failure at high stresses; and, secondly, Type IV failure at low stresses. The stress level at which the switch in failure mechanism takes place has been found to be associated with the relative creep resistance and lifetimes, over a wide range of uniaxial stresses, for parent, heat affected zone, Type IV and weld materials. The equi-biaxial stress loading condition (mean diameter stress equal to the axial stress) has been confirmed to be the worst loading condition. For this condition, simple design formulae are proposed for both 590 and 620 °C.

Author(s):  
G. Shen ◽  
W. R. Tyson

A stress-strain equation of Ramberg-Osgood type is proposed to correlate the longitudinal stress with longitudinal strain of a thin plate when a constant stress is applied transversely. The same approach can be used to correlate the axial stress with axial strain for a thin-walled pipe in axial tension with internal pressure. The proposed stress-strain equation relating the longitudinal stress and strain closely approximates that of deformation theory. The effect of a secondary stress (hoop stress) on the J-integral for a circumferential crack in a pipe under axial load and internal pressure is evaluated by finite element analysis (FEA). The results show that the J-integral decreases with internal pressure at a given axial stress but increases with internal pressure at a given axial strain. It is concluded that while a secondary stress may be safely neglected in a stress-based format because it decreases the driving force at a given applied stress, it should not be neglected in a strain-based format because it significantly increases the driving force at a given applied strain.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaaki Tabuchi ◽  
Hiromichi Hongo ◽  
Yongkui Li ◽  
Takashi Watanabe ◽  
Yukio Takahashi

The creep strength of welded joints in high Cr steels decreases due to the formation of Type IV creep damage in heat-affected zones (HAZs) during long-term use at high temperatures. This paper aims to elucidate the processes and mechanisms of Type IV creep damage using Mod.9Cr–1Mo (ASME Grade 91) steel weldments. Long-term creep tests for base metal, simulated fine-grained HAZ, and welded joints were conducted at 550°C, 600°C, and 650°C. Furthermore, creep tests of thick welded joint specimens were interrupted at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 of rupture life and damage distributions were measured quantitatively. It was found that creep voids were initiated at an early stage of life inside the specimen thickness and coalesced to form cracks at a later stage of life. Creep damage was observed mostly at 25% below the surface of the plate. Experimental creep damage distributions were compared with computed versions using finite element method and damage mechanics analysis. Both multi-axial stress state and strain concentration in fine-grained HAZ appear to influence the formation and distribution of creep voids.


Author(s):  
Alfred E. Crouch

Previous work has shown that a corrosion assessment more accurate than B31.G or RSTRENG can be made if pipeline stresses are considered. A shell analysis can be carried out if both the corrosion profile and local pipe wall stresses are known. The corrosion profile can be approximated from analysis of magnetic flux leakage (MFL) signals acquired by an inline inspection tool (smart pig), but a measure of pipe wall stress has not been available. Approximations have been made based on pipe curvature, but a more direct measurement is desirable. Recent work has produced data that show a correlation between multi-level MFL signals from metal-loss defects and the stress in the pipe wall at the defect location. This paper presents the results of MFL scans of simulated corrosion defects in pipe specimens subjected to simultaneous internal pressure and four-point bending. MFL data were acquired at two different magnetic excitations using an internal scanner. The scanner’s sensor array measured axial, radial and circumferential magnetic flux components on the inner pipe surface adjacent to the defect. Comparison of the signals at high and low magnetization yields an estimate of the difference between axial and hoop stresses. If internal pressure is known, the hoop component can be determined, leaving data proportional to axial stress.


Author(s):  
D.R Hayhurst ◽  
R.J Hayhurst ◽  
F Vakili-Tahami

The paper reports three-dimensional creep continuum damage mechanics (CDM) analyses of creep failure in a medium bore Cr–Mo–V low alloy ferritic steel welded branched-pressure vessel that has been tested under a constant pressure of 4 MPa, at a uniform temperature of 590 °C. The use of the CDM computer software Damage XXX to analyse the initiation and growth of creep damage and subsequent failure in the branch weld is reported for a five-material model that includes: parent, Type IV, refined heat affected zone (R-HAZ), coarse grained heat affected zone (CG-HAZ) and weld materials. The results of the analyses are presented for two cases: the first without the CG-HAZ; and, the second with the CG-HAZ included. For both cases, lifetimes are conservatively, yet accurately predicted. It is shown that it is necessary to use a Type IV thickness of 0.7 mm to accurately predict the failure location and mode. The results of metallographic examinations of a tested vessel and the predicted damage fields are in close accord. Failure is predicted to take place, by steam leakage, from the interior of the vessel, through the Type IV zone adjacent to the main pipe, connecting through the R-HAZ to the CG-HAZ, where leakage takes place at the weld toe in the crotch plane.


Author(s):  
Takashi Ogata ◽  
Toshiki Mitsueda ◽  
Hiroshi Sakai

Grade 91 steels are widely used for high temperature pipes in ultra-super-critical thermal power plants. It was recently reported that the creep damage was detected in the fine grain region within the heat affected zone (HAZ) in the welded pipes, so called “Type IV” damage. So far, studies on creep damage and life assessment methods for welded joints of the Grade 91 steel were concentrated on longitudinal welded pipes. Circumferential welded joints are also susceptible to Type IV damage due to the increase of axial thermal stress superimposed with pipe weight. In this study, the effect of additional axial stress to the axial stress produced by the internal pressure on damage and rupture property is discussed based on internal pressure creep tests adding different levels of the axial loads using the Grade 91 circumferential welded tubes. Rupture time of the circumferential welded tube decreases with increasing additional axial load level. Longitudinal cracking in the weld metal was observed in the specimens tested under lower additional load level, and Type IV cracking was observed in the specimens under higher additional load level. The stress analysis results indicate that the longitudinal stress in the HAZ increases with the axial load. Type IV cracking occurs at a certain value of a ratio of the total longitudinal stress to the circumferential stress. Under the test condition where Type IV cracking occurs, the rupture time is significantly shorter than the predicted rupture time based on the creep rupture data of the longitudinal welded tubes. The limited creep strain concept is introduced to predict the rupture time of the circumferential welded tubes by considering the effect of stress multiaxiality. Eventually, the rupture times caused by Type IV cracking of both the longitudinal and the circumferential welded tubes were accurately predicted by the limited creep strain concept.


Author(s):  
Toshimi Kobayashi ◽  
Toru Izaki ◽  
Junichi Kusumoto ◽  
Akihiro Kanaya

The small punch creep (SPC) test is possible to predict residual creep life at a high accuracy. But, the results of SPC tests cannot be compared with uniaxial creep or internal pressure creep results directly. In this report, the relationship between SPC test results and uniaxial creep test results in ASME A335 P11 (1.25Cr-0.5Mo Steel) was studied. The obtained relationship between SPC load and equivalent uniaxial creep stress formed a simple linear equation under the wide range of test temperature and test period. Then, the SPC results can be compared with uniaxial results by converting SPC loads to the equivalent uniaxial creep stresses. The relationship between SPC test results and internal pressure creep tests results was also studied. The internal creep life of as-received P11 pipe was almost same as SPC result when the hoop stress was converted to the SPC load. The creep lives of internal pressure creep influenced materials also showed good correspondence with SPC results. Therefore SPC can estimate the residual life of internal pressure creep influenced materials.


The creep rupture of circumferentially notched, circular tension bars which are subjected to constant load for long periods at constant temperature is studied both experimentally and by using a time-iterative numerical procedure which describes the formation and growth of creep damage as a field quantity. The procedure models the development of failed or cracked regions of material due to the growth and linkage of grain boundary defects. Close agreement is shown between experimental and theoretical values of the representative rupture stress, of the zones of creep damage and of the development of cracks for circular (Bridgman, Studies in large plastic flow and fracture , New York: McGraw-Hill (1952)) and British Standard notched specimens (B.S. no. 3500 (1969)). The minimum section of the circular notch is shown to be subjected to relatively uniform states of multi-axial stress and damage while the B.S. notch is shown to be subjected to non-uniform stress and damage fields in which single cracks grow through relatively undamaged material. The latter situation is shown to be analogous to the growth of a discrete crack in a lightly damaged continuum. The continuum damage mechanics theory presented here is shown to be capable of accurately predicting these extreme types of behaviour.


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