High temperature tensile deformation behavior of Grade 92 steel

Candidate structural materials for advanced reactors need to have superior high temperature strength and creep-rupture properties among other characteristics. The ferritic-martensitic Grade 92 steel (Fe-9Cr-2W-0.5Mo, wt.%) is considered such a candidate structural material. Tensile tests were performed at temperatures of 600, 650 and 700 °C in the strain rate range of 10−5-10−3 s−1. After analyzing the tensile results using the Bird-Mukherjee-Dorn (BMD) equation, a stress exponent of about 9.5 and an activation energy of about 646 kJ/mol were obtained. In the light of high values of the stress exponent and activation energy, the threshold stress concept was used to elucidate the operating high temperature deformation mechanism. As a result of this modification, the true activation energy and stress exponent of the high temperature deformation in Grade 92 steel were found to be about 245 kJ/mol and 5, respectively. Thus, the dominant high temperature deformation mechanism was identified as the high temperature climb of edge dislocations and the appropriate constitutive equation was developed.