Effective Exploration of New 760°C-Capability Steels for Coal Energy
- The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
Cost effective and high performance alloys that are capable of operating at 760 °C or higher for extended periods of time under a very aggressive environment are critically required for the design and development of advanced ultrasupercritical (AUSC) boilers and steam turbines. Finely dispersed Laves phase precipitates have been shown by Takeyama and co-workers to be a viable strengthening mechanism in high temperature austenitic steels. There is currently no straightforward theory that can predict what other intermetallic phases can serve as potent precipitation-strengthening phases for steels; thus we employed a highly effective dual-anneal diffusion multiple (DADM) approach to screen for viable strengthening precipitates over a wide range of compositions. From the Fe-Co-Cr-Ni-Mo DADMs, the Fe-Cr-Mo based Chi phase was identified as a new strengthening phase for high temperature ferritic steels; and from the Fe-Mn-Cr-Nb-Ni-Mo-FeAl DADMs, the Laves phase was identified as a viable strengthening precipitate in Fe-Mn and Fe-Ni based austenitic steels. After identification of viable strengthening phases from the DADMs that covered compositions in the basic ternary and quaternary systems, we employed computation thermodynamics to perform multicomponent alloy design and optimization. For the new the Chi-phase strengthened steels, we performed thermodynamic calculations to vary the volume fraction of the Chi phase and introduced Nb and carbon to promote the formation of stable carbides for grain size control during solution heat treatment. For the Fe-Ni-Mn based austenitic steels, we performed extensive parametric optimization of compositions in order to reduce the expensive Ni content, add Cr and Al for oxidation resistance, and balance the alloying contents (Ni, Mn, Cr, Al, Mo) to suppress the ferritic phase and promote the austenitic matrix phase. Four steels (two ferritic + two austenitic) were designed and tested. The two Chi-phase strengthened ferritic steels exhibited excellent oxidation resistance and good creep-rupture strength at moderate temperatures, considering their ferritic matrix that usually results in lower creep resistance than austenitic steels. These steels showed brittleness and sample-to-sample variability in ductility. The low ductility might be due to the macro segregation during solidification or the significant grain growth during the solution heat treatments. We believe there is no inherent brittleness based on the chemistry of the steels. The creep-rupture performance of the steels is comparable to the 9Cr steels. Due to their ferritic matrix, the new Chi-phase strengthened ferritic steels may not be suited for the 760 °C AUSC applications, but they are very good candidates for intermediate temperature applications due to their outstanding oxidation resistance and high strength. Further study is required to find the source of low and highly variable ductility. We believe the compositions of the Chi-phase strengthened steels are not inherently brittle. The Chi-phase strengthened ferritic steels may also be excellent candidates for intermediate-temperature and room-temperature cast stainless steels, thus we highly recommend further investigations. The two Mn-containing austenitic steels based on the Laves phase showed good ductility, excellent oxidation resistance (slightly inferior to the two ferritic steels) at high temperatures and moderate creep strength. The creep-strength of the two austenitic steels based on the Larson-Miller parameters is higher than that of the traditional 316 stainless steels, but lower than the alumina-forming alloys (AFAs) developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. We do not recommend high priority in further studying these compositions unless higher Cr alloys are required for hot-corrosion resistance.
- Research Organization:
- The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0008960
- OSTI ID:
- 1332272
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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