Characterization of the creep properties of heat resistant 9-12% chromium steels by miniature specimen testing

A miniature specimen geometry is presented that allows to extract small samples for tensile creep tests directly from critical components of steam generators in power plants like e.g. superheater tubes. In this way, material can be tested which has been subjected to the full processing chain of the component. The specimens then exhibit all microstructural modifications that are present in the component after the shaping process and heat treatment, and representative mechanical properties are determined. Similarly, specimens can be extracted from pre-corroded test pieces or used components after service to determine the impact of complex aging/loading/oxidation conditions during service on the mechanical properties of the material. The applicability of the miniature specimen test method is demonstrated in a comparative creep study involving standard and miniature specimens of P91 tempered martensite ferritic steel. Test results indicate satisfactory accuracy/repeatability of the method. Comparison with large scale specimen data reveals an influence of specimen size on the obtained creep behavior. These size effects need to be considered for a correct interpretation of results from miniature specimen creep tests.