Accelerated Creep Test for New Steels and Welds

Conventional “constant-load” creep tests of new steels for thermal power generation and chemical processing are very long lasting, thus delay application of new steels for years. Same problem appears with creep tests on heat-affected zones in welded joints of these steels, as welding procedure influences their properties. And frequent power plant shut-downs due to adding solar/wind power to the net, call for creep-fatigue data which standard creep tests cannot provide. To address all these issues a test was developed allowing to obtain creep life data in less than 24 h. The accelerated creep test is a low-cycle thermal-mechanical fatigue procedure based on detailed microstructure study of crept steels and welds. It is carried-out on Gleeble physical simulator. The paper explains selected ACT results and describes microstructures.