Effect of normalizing temperature on microstructural stability and mechanical properties of creep strength enhanced ferritic P91 steel

Mechanical properties of creep enhanced ferritic (CSEF) steels is affected by various parameters, the solutionizing temperature is one of them. The present work demonstrates the effect of solutionizing temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of CSEF P91 steel. Optical metallography (OM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out to study the microstructure of P91 steel in different heat treatment conditions. In order to determine the precipitates present in microstructure; X-ray analysis was performed. Moreover, the influence of solutionizing temperature on the mechanical properties (strength, hardness and impact toughness) has also been studied.