The correlation between the creep deformation parameters and creep life has been investigated for Gr.91 by analyzing creep strain data at 450 to 725 °C, 40 to 450 MPa and tr = 11.4 to 68,755 h in the NIMS Creep Data Sheet. The creep life tr is correlated with the time to minimum creep rate tm as
t r = 3.7 t m .
Taking the stress dependence of tm / tr into account, the creep life could be predicted more reliably. The minimum creep rate ε̇min depends on both the tm and the strain to minimum creep rate εm as
ε . min = 0.54 ε m / t m .
The εm is evaluated to be 0.02 to 0.03 at high stresses at each temperature but it decreases with decreasing stress at temperatures above 550 °C, suggesting that the creep deformation in the transient region becomes more inhomogeneous with decreasing stress probably due to localized creep deformation within 1 μm in the vicinity of prior austenite grain boundaries. The downward deviation takes place in the the tr versus ε̇min curves (Monkman-Grant plot). At the same ε̇min, both the εm and tm change upon the condition of tm ∝ εm as can be seen from the above equation. The decrease in εm with decreasing stress, corresponding to decreasing ε̇min, causes a decrease in tm, indicating the downward deviation of the tr versus ε̇min curves.