Modeling and Simulation of Pore Formation in a Bainitic Steel During Creep

In the field of power engineering, where materials are subjected to high pressures at elevated temperatures for many decades, creep-resistant steels are put to work. Their service life is still, however, finite, as the many changes in their microstructure can merely be mitigated and not avoided. Creep cavitation is one of those changes and, in many cases, ultimately causes failure by rupture. In this work, a model is proposed to simulate the nucleation and growth of cavities during creep. This exclusively physics-based model uses modified forms of Classical Nucleation Theory and the Onsager Extremum Principle in a newly developed Kampmann–Wagner framework. The model is validated on P23 steel which underwent creep rupture experiments at 600 °C and stresses of 50, 70, 80, 90 and 100 MPa for creep times up to 46000 hours. The model predicts qualitatively the shape and prevalence of cavities at different sites in the microstructure, and quantitatively the number density, size of cavities and their phase fraction contributing to a reduction in density. Finally, we find good agreement between the simulation and the experimental results especially at low stresses and longer creep times.

Steam Generator Grade P91 Steel Components Creep-Assessment By Test After Extended Service

Previous study carried out creep analysis for steam generator high-temperature-section two components, outflow tubing and manifold of the superheater harp: they may have been critical because of the long continued service (109,000 hours or twelve years) and loading conditions, including maximum operation temperature (565°C) and applied stress (65 MPa). Metallographic methods by replica had showed no evidence of the creep cavitation in all the positions considered for both tubing and manifold. In particular, they had not found any cavitation or phases affecting creep strength of the material in the base, HAZ and weld metal microstructure. Now, present study carries out investigation for the two components based on the next plant outage outcome, after further 20,000-hours service. Both metallographic methods and hardness measurements’ results would compare with previous ones providing microstructure evolution in the period.

Experimental evidence that viscous shear zones generate periodic pore sheets

In experiments designed to understand deep shear zones, we show that periodic porous sheets emerge spontaneously during viscous creep and that they facilitate mass transfer. These findings challenge conventional expectations of how viscosity in solid rocks operates and provide quantitative data in favour of an alternative paradigm, that of the dynamic granular fluid pump model. On this basis, we argue that our results warrant a reappraisal of the community's perception of how viscous deformation in rocks proceeds with time and suggest that the general model for deep shear zones should be updated to include creep cavitation. Through our discussion we highlight how the integration of creep cavitation, and its Generalised Thermodynamic paradigm, would be consequential for a range of important solid Earth topics that involve viscosity in Earth materials like, for example, slow earthquakes.

Investigating the stress level impact on the creep rupture behaviour of 2195-T84 Al-Li alloy: Experimental and constitutive modelling

In the present study, the creep rupture behaviour and microstructural evolution of 2195-T84 Al-Li alloy are investigated at different tensile stresses. It is found that as the applied stress during the creep rupture process increases, the corresponding creep strain and creep rate significantly increase. Moreover, the evolution of microstructures, including precipitates, dislocation density and creep cavities at different stages is characterized using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The main strengthening precipitates are identified as T1 (Al2CuLi) and θ′ (Al2Cu) phases. Obtained results show that as the applied stress increases, T1 and θ′ phases are gradually coarsened. This coarsening is more pronounced for θ′ phase. Furthermore, the creep cavities are mainly distributed at the interface between the insoluble second phase particles and the matrix, and their average sizes gradually increase as the applied stress increases. Meanwhile, the density and size of dimples on the fracture surface gradually decrease as the applied stress increases. Moreover, the main fracture mechanism changes from transgranular dimple fracture to quasi-cleavage fracture. Based on the microstructural evolution, a novel set of unified creep rupture constitutive model is proposed. The established model incorporates the evolution of microstructures, including the dislocation density, average length of T1 and θ′ precipitates and creep cavitation, and correlates microstructural variables with creep rate. The results calculated by the constitutive model are in good agreement with the experimental data, which validates the proposed model.

On the Origin of Ultramylonites

<p><span>Deformation of lithospheric rocks regularly localizes into high-strain shear zones that include fine-grained ultramylonites. Occurring as quasi-straight layers of intimately mixed phases that often describe sharp transitions with the host rock, these structures may channelize fluid flow<strong><sup>[1,2]</sup></strong> and could serve as precursors for deep earthquakes<strong><sup>[3]</sup></strong>. However, although intensively documented, ultramylonites originate from still unknown processes. Here I focus on a mylonitic complex that includes numerous mantle ultramylonites in the Ronda peridotite (Spain). Among them, I was able to highlight one of their precursors that I better describe as a long and straight grain boundary, along which four-grain junctions are observed with randomly oriented grains of olivine and pyroxenes. This precursor starts from a pyroxene porphyroclast and extends to an incipient, weakly undulated ultramylonite, where intimate phase mixing arises with asymmetrical grain size distribution. While the finer grain size locates on one side, describing a sharp – but continuous – transition with the host rock, the grain size gradually increases towards the other side, giving rise to a smooth transition. All phases have a very weak lattice preferred orientation (LPO) in the ultramylonite, which strongly differs from the host rock where olivine is highly deformed with evidence of high dislocation densities and a strong LPO. Altogether, these features shed light on the origin of mantle ultramylonites that I attribute to a migrating grain boundary, the sliding of which continuously produces new grains by phase nucleation, probably at the favor of transient four-grain junctions. Nucleated grains then grow and progressively detach from the precursor as it keeps on migrating depending on the dislocation densities in the host rock. Although such an unusual grain boundary remains to be understood in terms of source mechanism, these findings provide new constraints on the appearing and development of ultramylonites.</span></p><p> </p><p>[1] Fusseis, F., Regenauer-Lieb, K., Liu, J., Hough, R. M. & De Carlo, F. Creep cavitation can establish a dynamic granular fluid pump in ductile shear zones. Nature <strong>459</strong>: 974–977 (2009)</p><p>[2] Précigout, J., Prigent, C., Palasse, L. & Pochon, A. Water pumping in mantle shear zones. Nat. commun. <strong>8</strong>: 15736, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15736 (2017)</p><p>[3] White, J. C. Paradoxical pseudotachylyte – Fault melt outside the seismogenic zone. J. Struct. Geol. <strong>38</strong>: 11-20 (2012)</p>