Fatigue Testing of Metallurgically-Bonded EBR-II Superheater Tubes

[摘要] Fatigue crack growth tests were performed on 2¼Cr-1Mo steel specimens machined from ex-service Experimental Breeder Reactor – II (EBR-II) superheater duplex tubes. The tubes had been metallurgically bonded with a 100 µm thick Ni interlayer; the specimens incorporated this bond layer. Tests were performed at room temperature in air and at 400°C in air and humid Ar; cracks were grown at varied levels of constant ?K. Crack growth tests at a range of ?K were also performed on specimens machined from the shell of the superheater. In all conditions the presence of the Ni interlayer was found to result in a net retardation of growth as the crack passed through the interlayer. The mechanism of retardation was identified as a disruption of crack planarity and uniformity after passing through the porous interlayer. Full crack arrest was only observed in a single test performed at near-threshold ?K level (12 MPa?m) at 400°C. In this case the crack tip was blunted by oxidation of the base steel at the steel-interlayer interface.

[发布日期] 2006-12-01 [发布机构] Idaho National Laboratory

[关键词] Crack Propagation;Fatigue;36 - Materials Science;Air;Metallurgical Bonding