As-received Gr.91 steel tube was normalized at either 940 or 1060 • C for 1 h, followed by Ar-assisted cooling to room temperature, then tempered at 760 • C for 2 h. Those samples were designated as 940NT or 1060NT samples. An infrared heating system was used to simulate HAZ microstructures in the weld, which included over-tempering (OT) and partial transformation (PT) zones. The results of short-term creep tests showed that normalizing at higher temperature improved the creep resistance of the Gr.91 steel. By contrast, welding thermal cycles would shorten the creep life of the Gr.91 steel. Among the tested samples in each group, the PT samples had the shortest life to rupture, especially the 940NT-PT sample. The microstructures of the PT samples comprised of fine lath martensite and ferrite subgrains with carbides decorating the grain and subgrain boundaries. Excessive dislocation recovery, rapid coalescence of refined martensite laths, and growth of ferrite subgrains were responsible for the poorer creep resistance of the PT samples relative to those of the other samples.
Overlay-welding of IN52M and IN52MSS onto CF8A stainless steel (SS) was conducted by a gas tungsten arc welding process in multiple passes. An electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) was applied to determine the distributions and chemical compositions of the grain boundary microconstituents, and the structures were identified by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The hot cracking of the overlay welds was related to the microconstituents at the interdendritic boundaries. The formation of γ-intermetallic (Ni 3 (Nb,Mo)) eutectics was responsible predominantly for the hot cracking of the 52M and 52MSS overlays. The greater Nb and Mo contents in the 52MSS overlay enhanced the formation of coarser microconstituents in greater amounts at the interdendritic boundaries. Thus, the hot cracking sensitivity of the 52MSS overlay was higher than that of the 52M overlay. Moreover, migrated grain boundaries were observed in the 52M and 52MSS overlays but did not induce ductility dip cracking (DDC) in this study. amount of interdendritic phases [25]. Coarse (Nb,Ti)C precipitates in 52M overlays will enhance the formation of Laves phases and increase their size [25,26], leading to increased hot crack sensitivity of the overlay welds.Besides the occurrence of hot cracking, Ni-based deposits for repair-welding of nuclear reactor components can be susceptible to ductility dip cracking (DDC) [27][28][29]. DDC in a Ni-based alloy weld mainly occurs in the reheated weld at elevated temperatures, and it is related to grain boundary (GB) sliding, impurity segregation at GBs, and intergranular precipitation [30]. GB sliding is responsible for the DDC of 52M deposits in strain-to-fracture tests [31]. Moreover, ductility dip cracks are initiated due to the combined effects of the strain concentration on the concave side of the grain boundary, the orientation of the GB to the loading direction, and GB disorientation [32]. In a prior study, IN52 alloy is reported to be more susceptible to DDC than IN82 alloy [33]. Adding Nb and Ti into IN52 alloy can reduce its DDC susceptibility due to the precipitation of NbC and TiC at the GBs [30]. It was reported that the DDC of a 52MSS weld, which was modified from 52M by adding 2.5% Nb and 3.0% Mo, can be alleviated even after multi-pass welding [34,35].In this study, IN52M and IN52MSS fillers were employed to perform overlay-welding on CF8A SS substrate. The microstructures and chemical compositions of the microconstituents at the solidified boundaries of the overlay welds were investigated. The hot cracking tendency and DDC of 52M and 52MSS overlays were evaluated by inspecting the interior microfissures carefully. Grain boundary micro-constituents were analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to identify the complex phases. Furthermore, the relationships between microstructural features and the cracking tendencies of the overlay welds were correlated with those interdendritic precipitates.
T92 steel tubes have been widely applied in advanced supercritical boilers to replace Gr.91 tubes. Simulated samples with microstructures similar to those present in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a T92 steel weld were subjected to short-term creep tests in the study. T92 steel tubes were normalized at either 1213 K (L) or 1333 K (H) for 1 h, followed by tempering (T) at 1033 K for 2 h. After the normalizing and tempering treatments, the HT samples comprised finer precipitates but in greater numbers along the prior austenite grain boundaries (PAGBs) and martensite lath boundaries, as compared with those of the LT samples. The HAZ microstructures in the T92 steel welds were simulated by using an infrared heating system, which included over-tempering (OT, below AC1) and partial transformation (PT, slightly below AC3) zones. Martensite laths in the OT sample were more likely to be replaced by numerous cellular structures or subgrains together with spherodized carbides mainly located at the lath and austenite grain boundaries. Furthermore, coarser but fewer carbides were found along the refined lath and grain boundaries in the PT samples, in comparison with other samples in each group. Short-term creep tests showed that the PT samples were more likely to fracture than other samples in each group. Moreover, under the same testing conditions, the microstructures of T92 steel were more stable and resistant to degradation than those of T91 steel after welding or loading at elevated temperatures. Such events were responsible for higher creep resistance of the simulated T92 samples than that of the simulated T91 samples under the same creep-rupture conditions.
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