Experimental and simulated characterization of creep behavior of P92 steel with prior cyclic loading damage

The effect of prior cyclic loading on creep behavior of P92 steel was investigated. Creep tests on prior cyclic loading exposure specimens were performed at 650 °C and 130 MPa. In order to clarify the influence of prior cyclic loading on creep behavior, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were used. Experimental results indicate that the prior cyclic loading degrades the creep strength significantly. However, the degradation tends to be saturated with further increase in prior cyclic loading. From the view of microstructural evolution, the recovery of martensite laths takes place during prior cyclic loading exposure. This facilitates the dislocation movement during the following creep process. Therefore, premature rupture of creep test occurs. Additionally, saturated behavior of degradation can be attributed to the near completed recovery of martensite laths. Based on the effect of prior cyclic loading, a newly modified Hayhurst creep damage model was proposed to consider the prior cyclic loading damage. The main advantage of the proposed model lies in its ability to directly predict creep behavior with different levels of prior cyclic loading damage. Comparison of the predicted and experimental results shows that the proposed model can give a reasonable prediction for creep behavior of P92 steel with different level of prior cyclic loading damage.