Microstructural Degradation and Creep Fracture Behavior of Conventionally and Thermomechanically Treated 9% Chromium Heat Resistant Steel

The microstructural degradation and the creep fracture behavior of conventionally and thermomechanically treated Grade 91 steel were investigated after performing small punch creep tests. A remarkable reduction in creep ductility was observed for the samples thermomechanically treated in comparison to those conventionally treated under the tested conditions of load (200 N) and temperature (700 °C). A change in the fracture mechanism from a ductile transgranular fracture to a brittle intergranular fracture was observed when changing from the conventionally treated to the thermomechanically treated processing condition, leading to this drop in creep ductility. The change in the fracture mechanism was associated to the localized concentration of creep deformation, close to coarse M 23 C 6 carbides, at the vicinity of prior austenite grain boundaries (PAGB) in the thermomechanically treated samples. The preferential recovery experienced at the vicinity of PAGB produced the loss of the lath structure and the coarsening of the M 23 C 6 precipitates. The electron microscopy images provided suggest that the creep cavities nucleate in these weak recovered areas, associated to the presence of coarse M 23 C 6 . After the coalescence of the cavities the propagation of the cracks was facilitated by the large prior austenite grain size produced during the austenitization which favors the propagation of the cracks along grain boundaries triggering the intergranular brittle fracture. This fracture mechanism limits the potential use of the proposed thermomechanical processing routes.