CCI Valve Technology AB is a company located in Säffle, Sweden, that manufactures and installs bypass valves. Due to requirements outside normal standards on the valve's hardness values, some measurements have had difficulties meeting such requirements. During this thesis work, tests were carried out to determine how to overcome the difficulties. The experiments focused on five different areas that may affect the components hardness, welding method, soaking temperature during post weld heat treatment, measuring procedure, component thickness and number of heat treatment cycles. The Grade 91 steel specimens that were examined consisted of five solid cylinders and three various pipes that were welded together by using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) or gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Each pipe was sawed apart into three equal parts. All specimens were hardness tested and eight of the specimens' microstructure was studied with an optical microscope. The hardness measurement instruments used, LECO V-100-C2 and GE-MIC 10, are Vickers hardness testers, one stationary and the other one portable. The measuring results contain a vast number of different hardness measurement data. From the analyzed data, the conclusions were drawn that the most suitable soaking temperature during post weld heat treatment were 750° C, that the SMAW method creates a more stable hardness profile than the GTAW method, and that one heat treatment cycle is more beneficial than two or more.

<p> Ferritic- Martensitic (F/M) alloys have been used in reactors as cladding steels, wrapper steels. They have Good creep strength, longer lifetimes, less corrosion Powder Metallurgy Hot Isostatic Pressing (PM- HIP) alloys have been suggested as an alternative to be able to improve reactor safety. Gaining a better understanding on how PM-HIP microstructures change under irradiation could make them more viable for widespread use in reactors   </p>

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Many of the projects utilizing Grade 91 steel are large in scale, therefore it is necessary to assemble on site. The assembly of the major pieces often requires welding in the assembly; welding drastically changes the superior mechanical properties of Grade 91 steel that it was specifically developed for. Therefore, because of the adverse effects of welding on the mechanical properties of Grade 91, it is necessary to do a localized post weld heat treatment. In this study a localized post weld heat treatment is used to gather experimental data. The data is then used to derive unknown heat transfer coefficients that are necessary for theoretically modeling heat treatments. With the derived coefficients that have been found one can theoretically model heat treatment scenarios specific to the situations and provide results that are reliable and provide insight as to what parameters will provide the best results. This research is very beneficial to the joining of metals industry because it provides a way to ensure the method used to heat treat the welded section is being properly done, and the required heat treatment is achieved. It is applicable to many different geometries so that it can be modified to specific situations.

L'acier grade 91 serait un candidat approprié pour des éléments de structures du circuit secondaire et du générateur de vapeur des réacteurs nucléaires de génération IV. Leur durée de vie sera prolongée jusqu'à 60 ans. Cela nécessite de considérer les mécanismes actifs durant de très longs temps de fluage afin de proposer des prédictions de durées de vie plus fiable que de simples extrapolations. La striction est le mécanisme de ruine principal pour des durées de vie jusqu'à 160 kh à 500°C et 94 kh à 600°C. Une simulation de la striction tenant compte de l'adoucissement du matériau conduit à deux lois de bornes qui encadrent les durées de vie expérimentales d'un grand nombre d'aciers martensitiques revenus jusqu'à 200 kh à température 500-700°C. Des cavités intergranulaires observées en FEG-SEM à deux durées de vie longues affectent faiblement la vitesse de déformation. Une prédiction du développement des cavités permettrait d'extrapoler les durées de vie hors du domaine expérimental. Leur germination et croissance, supposées associées à la diffusion des lacunes, sont modélisées grâce à deux modèles classiques. Le premier tient compte d'une germination instantanée (Raj et Ashby) et le second d'une germination continue - Dyson. Le second, plus stable par rapport à ses paramètres que le premier, conduit à des prédictions des tailles finales de cavités en accord raisonnable avec les mesures en FEG-SEM. La vitesse de germination identifiée expérimentalement est requise dans ce modèle. La germination continue des cavités par diffusion est modélisée grâce au modèle classique de Raj. Ce modèle ne permet pas des prédictions de densité de cavités en accord avec les mesures, même en tenant compte de la germination aux interfaces matrice / précipités, observée au MEB-FEG et d'un facteur maximal de concentration de contrainte locale de 2. Ce dernier a été obtenu grâce à des calculs par éléments finis en déformations planes du fluage de microstructures simulées ou réelles, comprenant des points triples ou des précipités/phases de Laves. L'utilisation de la loi de germination de Dyson permet de proposer des prédictions au-delà de 200kh. La durée de vie prédite par le modèle de Riedel d'un essai à basse contrainte semble être en accord avec la durée expérimentale estimée de l'essai (toujours en cours) et actuellement en stade tertiaire, basée sur la fraction de la durée de vie habituellement consommée par le stade tertiaire.

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Grade 91 (Gr.91) is a common structural material used in boiler applications and is favored due to its high temperature creep strength and oxidation resistance. Under cyclic stresses, the material will experience creep deformation eventually causing the propagation of type IV cracks within its heat-affected-zone (HAZ) which can be a major problem under short-term and long-term applications. In this study, we aim to improve this premature failure by performing a computational thermodynamic study through the Calculation of Phase Diagram (CALPHAD) approach. Under this approach, we have provided a baseline study as well as simulations based on additional alloying elements such as manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and titanium (Ti). Our simulation results have concluded that high concentrations of Mn and Ni had destabilized M23C6 for short-term creep failure, while Ti had increased the beneficial MX phase, and low concentrations of nitrogen (N) had successfully destabilized Z-phase formation for long-term creep failure.

Os aços Grau 91 vêm sendo amplamente utilizados como componentes para trabalhar em elevadas temperaturas nas indústrias de geração de energia, petroquímica e refinarias de petróleo em consequência da sua excelente resistência a fluência e corrosão em altas temperaturas. Apesar destas notáveis propriedades têm sido encontradas dificuldades na soldagem do aço Grau 91, visto que pode apresentar valores de dureza fora dos limites especificados e provocando redução de diversas propriedades mecânicas. Foram confeccionadas juntas tubulares do aço Grau 91, por meio de soldagem usando o processo TIG na raiz e o processo Eletrodo Revestido nas camadas de soldagem subsequentes. As juntas soldadas foram submetidas ao tratamento térmico póssoldagem (TTPS) a 760°C com diferentes tempos de patamar (1h, 4h e 8h) e posteriormente, as propriedades mecânicas foram analisadas para verificar o atendimento aos requisitos normativos, por meio da realização de ensaios de tração convencional e à quente (540°C), impacto Charpy, dureza Vickers e caracterização microestrutural. Os resultados mostraram que as propriedades mecânicas do aço Grau 91 sofreram alterações, como uma melhor resistência ao impacto e diminuição da dureza com o aumento do tempo de patamar de temperatura, indicando que é possível obter uma melhor combinação de resistência mecânica e tenacidade com o tempo de patamar maior do que 4 horas no TTPS nas condições utilizadas. / Grade 91 steels have been widely used as components to work at high temperatures in power generation plants, petrochemicals and oil refineries as a result of their excellent creep and corrosion resistance at high temperatures. Despite these remarkable properties, difficulties in welding Grade 91 have been encountered, as they may exhibit hardness values outside the specified limits and cause a reduction in various mechanical properties. Grade 91 tubular joints were made through welding by using the GTAW process at the root and the SMAW process in the subsequent welding layers. The welded joints were subjected to PWHT at 760°C with different tempering times (1h, 4h and 8h) and their mechanical properties were evaluated by performing conventional tensile, elevated-temperature tensile (540°C), Charpy V-notch impact toughness, Vickers hardness testing and microstructural characterization. Results indicated that mechanical properties of grade 91 steel change with increasing tempering time, and a better combination of strength and toughness can be reached with more than 4 hours of PWHT, under certain conditions.

Os aços Grau 91 vêm sendo amplamente utilizados como componentes para trabalhar em elevadas temperaturas nas indústrias de geração de energia, petroquímica e refinarias de petróleo em consequência da sua excelente resistência a fluência e corrosão em altas temperaturas. Apesar destas notáveis propriedades têm sido encontradas dificuldades na soldagem do aço Grau 91, visto que pode apresentar valores de dureza fora dos limites especificados e provocando redução de diversas propriedades mecânicas. Foram confeccionadas juntas tubulares do aço Grau 91, por meio de soldagem usando o processo TIG na raiz e o processo Eletrodo Revestido nas camadas de soldagem subsequentes. As juntas soldadas foram submetidas ao tratamento térmico póssoldagem (TTPS) a 760°C com diferentes tempos de patamar (1h, 4h e 8h) e posteriormente, as propriedades mecânicas foram analisadas para verificar o atendimento aos requisitos normativos, por meio da realização de ensaios de tração convencional e à quente (540°C), impacto Charpy, dureza Vickers e caracterização microestrutural. Os resultados mostraram que as propriedades mecânicas do aço Grau 91 sofreram alterações, como uma melhor resistência ao impacto e diminuição da dureza com o aumento do tempo de patamar de temperatura, indicando que é possível obter uma melhor combinação de resistência mecânica e tenacidade com o tempo de patamar maior do que 4 horas no TTPS nas condições utilizadas. / Grade 91 steels have been widely used as components to work at high temperatures in power generation plants, petrochemicals and oil refineries as a result of their excellent creep and corrosion resistance at high temperatures. Despite these remarkable properties, difficulties in welding Grade 91 have been encountered, as they may exhibit hardness values outside the specified limits and cause a reduction in various mechanical properties. Grade 91 tubular joints were made through welding by using the GTAW process at the root and the SMAW process in the subsequent welding layers. The welded joints were subjected to PWHT at 760°C with different tempering times (1h, 4h and 8h) and their mechanical properties were evaluated by performing conventional tensile, elevated-temperature tensile (540°C), Charpy V-notch impact toughness, Vickers hardness testing and microstructural characterization. Results indicated that mechanical properties of grade 91 steel change with increasing tempering time, and a better combination of strength and toughness can be reached with more than 4 hours of PWHT, under certain conditions.