Failure occurred in a steel superheater tube in a power plant. The tube was specified as ASTM A 213 grade T 22, and the reported operating conditions were 13 MPa (1900 psi) at 482 deg C (900 deg F). The tube carried superheated steam and was coal fired. Investigation (visual inspection, 2% nital etched 297x images, chemical analysis, and SEM fractographs) supported the conclusion that the superheater tube failed as a result of long-term overheating. Substantial creep damage reduced the strength of the tube to the point that overload failure occurred. No recommendations were made.

After some 87,000 h of operation, failure took place in the bend of a steam pipe connecting a coil of the third superheater of a steam generator to the outlet steam collector. The unit operated at 538 deg C and 135 kPa, producing 400 t/h of steam. The 2.25Cr-1Mo steel pipe in which failure took place was 50.8 mm in diam with a nominal wall thickness of 8 mm. It connected to the AISI 321 superheater tube by means of a butt weld and was one of 46 such parallel connecting tubes. The Cr-Mo tubing was situated outside the heat transfer zone of the superheater. The overall sequence of failure involved overheating of the Cr-Mo outlet tubes, heavy oxidation, oxide cracking on thermal cycling, thermal fatigue cracking plus oxidation, creep-controlled crack growth, and rapid plastic deformation and rupture. This failure was indicative of excess temperature of the steam coming from the heat transfer zone of the coil. It showed that many damage mechanisms may combine in the transition from fracture initiation to final failure. The presence of grain boundary sliding as an indication of creep damage was useful in the characterization of the stress level as high and showed that the process of creep was not operative throughout the life of the equipment.

A carbon steel furnace tube which should have given good service for ten years ruptured after one year. The tube showed obvious swelling at the point of rupture, and the bulged surface of the tube was oxidized at a temperature far above the design temperature. There was little or no loss in wall thickness due to corrosion or scaling, and the tube wall was thinned to a knife edge at the rupture. Metallographic examination showed the condition of the material was satisfactory. The failure was mechanical in nature, typical of short time creep rupture. The localized oxidation indicated improper furnace operation or blockage of the tube. The furnace was checked and found to have a burner tip out of order. After the tip was repaired, localized overheating was minimized and further premature failures did not occur.

Rupture occurred at a bend in a superheated steam transfer line between a header and a desuperheater of a boiler producing 230 t/h of steam at 540 deg C and 118 kPa. The boiler had operated for 77,000 h. Rupture occurred along the outer bend radius of the 168 mm diam tube, this being of 1 Cr, 0.5 Mo steel with a wall thickness of 14 mm. The design temperature of this tube was 490 deg C, but there is evidence that it was operating at a temperature much above 500 deg C. Metallographic analysis disclosed an advanced stage of creep damage accumulation in the form of local cracks, microcracks, and aligned damage centers which showed up as voids upon repeated polish-etch cycles. Because of the local nature of creep damage that can occur, any inspection that involves in situ metallography must be conducted at exactly the right or critical position or the presence of damage may not be detected.

The hot gas casing of a gas turbine used for peak load power production had developed extensive cracking during operation. The operating time was 18,000 h, and it had been subjected to 1,600 operating cycles. The gas temperature on the hot side was 985 deg C, on the cold side 204 deg C, the material being AISI 321 stainless steel. The purpose of the present study was to determine optimum repair welding procedures on the premise that the material was basically sound and undamaged by creep. The cracking was the result of thermal fatigue, and such cracks can propagate at elevated temperature, with damage ahead of the crack tip occurring by means of very local processes of creep. Metallographic examination disclosed heavy surface layers of carbides, such that the material was extremely brittle when subjected to bending. Accordingly, although it was demonstrated that the casing could be welded successfully, it was suggested that the remaining useful life was effectively exhausted and that it should be replaced. Thermal stresses produced during operation would rapidly result in additional cracks.

Some examples of equipment failures involving high temperature operation are presented. They include some steam generator superheater components and a pump shaft that should not have been at high temperature. Metallographic analysis is used to determine the causes of failure in each case.

A chemical storage vessel failed while in service. The failure occurred as cracking through the vessel wall, resulting in leakage of the fluid. The tank had been molded from a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) resin. The material held within the vessel was an aromatic hydrocarbon-based solvent. Investigation (visual inspection, stereomicroscopic examination, 20x/100x SEM images, micro-FTIR in the ATR mode, and analysis using DSC and TGA) supported the conclusion that the chemical storage vessel failed via a creep mechanism associated with the exertion of relatively low stresses. The source of the stress was thought to be molded-in residual stresses associated with uneven shrinkage. This was suggested by obvious distortion evident on cutting the vessel. Relatively high specific gravity and the elevated heat of fusion indicated that the material had a high level of crystallinity. In general, increased levels of crystallinity result in higher levels of molded-in stress and the corresponding warpage. The significant reduction in the modulus of the HDPE material, which accompanied the saturation of the resin with the aromatic hydrocarbon-based solvent, substantially decreased the creep resistance of the material and accelerated the failure.

During periodic inspection of the tubes of a reformer furnace, a soapy water leak test with the tubes pressurized with nitrogen was being carried out by site personnel in a manner contrary to the policy of the organization when one of the tubes suddenly disintegrated with explosive violence. The tube approximately 30 ft. long by 6 in. diam, was constructed of three spun cast sections butt welded together. The material specified for tubes for this service was basically a 25% chromium, 20% nickel, cast stainless steel containing 0.4% carbon to optimize creep resistance. Failure initiated in the region of the tube where the dark fracture surface and columnar grain structure were evident. These features indicated the presence of a defective zone or progressive cracking which had occurred during service. Microscopic examination of sections through the zone revealed extensive creep cracking. The cracking was intergranular and followed the interdendritic columnar structure adjacent to the outer surface.

Leakage was detected at the welds between stiffening plates and the pipe in a transfer line carrying butane and related petrochemical compounds. The line and reinforcing rings were of AISI 316 stainless steel, the pipe being of 508 mm diam and 6.25 mm wall thickness. The design temperature and pressure were 621 deg C and 2.75 kPa, respectively, while the operating conditions were 579 deg C and 1.03 kPa. The line was insulated. Failure occurred after approximately 90,000 h of operation, shutdowns being approximately two per annum. The cracking occurred at the toe of welds between the plates and the pipe. The creep damage failure was attributed to repeated relaxation cycles of very high thermal stresses of resulting from the periodic shutdowns, temperature fluctuations during service, or both. This failure emphasized the information available from an evaluation of the operative creep mechanism, namely grain boundary sliding, relating to the periodic nature of the loading, with high residual stresses being present.

Failures of 10Cr-Mo9-10 and X 20Cr-Mo-V12-1 superheated pipes during service in steam power generation plants are described. Through micrographic and fractographic analysis, creep and overheating were identified as the cause of failure. The Larson-Miller parameter is computed, as a function of oxidation thickness, temperature and time, confirming the creep failure diagnostic.

Creep crack growth and fracture toughness tests were performed using test material machined from a seam welded ASTM A-155-66 class 1 (2.25Cr-1Mo) steel steam pipe that had been in service for 15 years. The fracture morphology was examined using SEM fractography. Dimpled fracture was found to be characteristic of fracture toughness specimens. Creep crack growth generally followed the fusion line region and was characterized as dimpled fracture mixed with cavities. These fracture morphologies were similar to those of an actual steam pipe. It was concluded that creep crack growth behavior was the prime failure mechanism of seam-welded steam pipes.

A sample tube was removed from a reformer furnace for life assessment after 69,000 h of service. Sections were cut from the tube, which was a spindle cast A297 Grade HK 40 (25 Cr, 20 Ni, 0.4 C) austenitic steel of 122.5 mm OD and 10.5 mm nominal wall thickness. They were examined metallographically on transverse sections and on longitudinal sections through the butt welds joining the separate cast segments of the tube. Creep damage was mainly concentrated within the inner one third of the wall thickness. The use of damage assessment parameters in evaluating the reformer tube remaining life showed the welds to be inadequate, and to have a strength and creep resistance below those of the base metal.

The principal types of elevated-temperature mechanical failure are creep and stress rupture, stress relaxation, low- and high-cycle fatigue, thermal fatigue, tension overload, and combinations of these, as modified by environment. This article briefly reviews the applied aspects of creep-related failures, where the mechanical strength of a material becomes limited by creep rather than by its elastic limit. The majority of information provided is applicable to metallic materials, and only general information regarding creep-related failures of polymeric materials is given. The article also reviews various factors related to creep behavior and associated failures of materials used in high-temperature applications. The complex effects of creep-fatigue interaction, microstructural changes during classical creep, and nondestructive creep damage assessment of metallic materials are also discussed. The article describes the fracture characteristics of stress rupture. Information on various metallurgical instabilities is also provided. The article presents a description of thermal-fatigue cracks, as distinguished from creep-rupture cracks.

The results of a failure analysis of a series of Cr-Mo-V steel turbine studs which had experienced a service lifetime of some 50,000 h are described. It was observed that certain studs suffered complete fracture while others showed significant defects located at the first stress bearing thread. Crack extension was the result of marked creep embrittlement and reverse temper embrittlement (RTE). Selected approaches were examined to assess the effects of RTE on the material toughness of selected studs. It was observed that Auger electron microscopy results which indicated the extent of grain boundary phosphorus segregation exhibited a good relationship with ambient temperature Charpy data. The electrochemical polarization kinetic reactivation, EPR, approach, however, proved disappointing in that the overlapping scatter in the minimum current density, Ir, for an embrittled and a non-embrittled material was such that no clear decision of the toughness properties was possible by this approach. The initial results obtained from small punch testing showed good agreement with other reported data and could be related to the FATT. Indeed, this small punch test, combined with a miniature sample sampling method, represents an attractive approach to the toughness assessment of critical power plant components.

Pendant-style reheater, constructed of ASME SA-213, grade T-11, steel ruptured. A set of four tubes, specified to be 64 mm OD x 3.4 mm minimum wall thickness was examined. A small quantity of loose debris was removed from the inside of one of the tubes. The major constituent was revealed by EDS analysis of the debris to be iron with traces of phosphorus, manganese, sodium, calcium, copper, zinc, potassium, silicon, chromium, and molybdenum. Thus the debris was interpreted to be the scale from ID of the tube with boiler feedwater chemicals from the attemperation spray. The likely cause of failure was concluded to be exfoliation of the scale from the ID surface of the tube. Creep failures were interpreted to be caused by localized temperatures higher than the maximum service temperature. Replacement of the affected tubes was recommended. Inspection of the tubes by radiography to find the circuits with the greatest accumulation of debris and replacing them as necessary was recommended on an annual basis.

Airfoil-shape impingement cooling tubes were fabricated of 0.25 mm (0.010 in.) thick Hastelloy X sheet stock, then pulse-laser-beam butt welded to cast Hastelloy X base plugs. Each weldment was then inserted through the base of a hollow cast turbine blade for a jet engine. The weldments were finally secured to the bases of the turbine blades by a brazing operation. One of the laser beam attachment welds broke after a 28-h engine test run. Exposure of the fracture surface for study under the electron microscope revealed the joint had broken in stress rupture. Failure was caused by tensile overload from stress concentration at the root of the laser beam weld, which was caused by the sharp notch created by the lack of full weld penetration. Radiographic inspection of all cooling-tube weldments was made mandatory, with rejection stipulated for joints containing subsurface weld-root notches. In addition, all turbine blades containing cooling-tube weldments were reprocessed by back-brazing. Back brazed turbine blades were reinstalled in the engine and withstood the full 150-h model test run without incident.

A main steam pipe was found to be leaking due to a large circumferential crack in a pipe-to-fitting weld in one of two steam leads between the superheater outlet nozzles and the turbine stop valves (a line made of SA335-P22 material). The main crack surface was found to be rough, oriented about normal to the outside surface, and had a dark oxidized appearance. The cracking was found to be predominantly intergranular. Distinct shiny bands that etched slower than the remainder of the sample at the top of each individual weld bead were revealed by microscopic examination. These bands were found contain small cracks and microvoids. A mechanism of intergranular creep rupture at elevated temperature was identified as a result of a series of stress-rupture and tensile tests. It was revealed by the crack shape that cracking initiated on the pipe exterior, then propagated inward and in the circumferential direction in response to a bending moment load. It was concluded that the primary cause of failure was the occurrence of bending stresses that exceeded the stress levels predicted by design calculations and that were higher than the maximum allowable primary membrane stress.

Microstructural examinations on transverse cross sections of a steam reformer tube, showed the presence of large macrovoids elongated in the radial direction and emanating from the internal surface of the tube. The macrovoids were located at the interdendritic regions, and were partially filled by a Mn-Fe bearing chromium oxide film. The areas adjacent to the oxide film were chemically depleted in C, Cr and Mn and rich in Fe and Ni. Associated with this depletion were a large concentration of microvoids. It was suggested that the dissolution of carbides in areas surrounding the macrovoids and the concentration of stresses at their tips, caused extensive localized plastic deformation which led to the formation of microvoids and subsequently to the spalling of the oxide film. The non-protective character of the film induced a progressive deterioration of the grain boundaries properties. Grain boundary sliding and dislocation motion were enhanced, causing a local increase in the steady state strain rate and the premature failure of the tube.

The maximum life of base-loaded headers and piping is not possible to be predicted until they develop microcracking. The typical elements of a periodic inspection program after the occurrence of the crack was described extensively. Cracks caused by creep swelling in the stub-to-header welds in the secondary superheater outlet headers (constructed of SA335-P11 material) of a major boiler were described as an example. The OD of the header was measured to detect the amount of swelling and found to have increased 1.6% since its installation. Ligament cracks extending from tube seat to tube seat were revealed by surface inspection. Cracks were found to originate from inside the header, extend axially in the tube penetrations and radially from those holes into the ligaments. Cracks in 94 locations, ranging from small radial cracks to full 360Ý cracks were revealed by dye-penetrant inspection. The unit was operated under reduced-temperature conditions and with less load cycling than previously until a redesigned SA335-P22 header was installed.