Creep deformation property of Grade 91 steels was analyzed on more than 370 creep curves over a wide range of time to rupture from about 10 hours to beyond 100,000 hours, in order to evaluate time to 1% total strain, time to minimum creep rate and time to initiation of tertiary creep. Time to initiation of tertiary creep was assessed as a 0.2% offset with a slope of minimum creep rate. It is difficult to determine time to minimum creep rate precisely, which is a basis of 0.2% offset, however, it has been confirmed that time to initiation of tertiary creep is not sensitive to the time when the creep rate indicates minimum value. Life ratio of 1% total strain time against creep rupture time increases up to about 60% with increase of temperature and decrease of stress. Life ratio of time to initiation of tertiary creep also tends to increase with decrease in stress. However, change of it is in a range of 50 to 60% of creep rupture life over a wide range of creep rupture life from 10 hours to 100,000 hours, and it is not sensitive to creep test temperature. Over a range of temperatures from 500 to 600°C and up to about 200,000 hours, a temperature and time-dependent stress intensity limit, St is controlled by 67% of minimum stress to rupture. However, a difference between 67% of minimum stress to rupture and 80% of minimum stress to initiation of tertiary creep decreases with increases in temperature and time, and both values approach each other in the long-term beyond about 100,000 hours at 600°C. In the long-term beyond about 10,000 hours at 650°C, St is controlled by 80% of minimum stress to initiation of tertiary. The stable life fraction of time to initiation of tertiary creep establish a reliability of a temperature and time-dependent stress intensity limit value.
Modeling Onset of Tertiary Creep for Rupture Life Prediction
