Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93

Co n te n ts l i s ts a va i l a b l e a t S ci Ve rs e S ci e n ce D i re ct

Computational Materials Science

j o u rn a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m /l o c a t e /c o m m a t s c i

Prediction of creep crack growth behavior in ASME P92 steel welded joint
Lei Zhao, Hongyang Jing, Yongdian Han, Junjie Xiu, Lianyong Xu ⇑
Sch o o l o f Ma teria ls Scie n ce an d En gin e erin g, Tia n jin Un ive rsity, Tia n jin 3 00072 , Ch in a

Tia n jin Key La b o ra to ry o f A dva n ce d Jo in in g Te ch n o lo gy, Tia n jin 3 00072 , Ch in a

a r t i c le i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article h isto ry:
In the present study, the prediction of creep crack growth behavior in ASME P92 steel welded joint at
Received 27 February 201 2 650 ° C was carried out using elastic–plastic–creep finite element method (FEM) and theoretical predic-
Received in revised form 6 April 201 2 tion models, respectively. Then the predicted creep crack growth rate was correlated with parameter
Accepted 6 April 201 2 Ã
C and compared with experimental data. It was observed that the creep crack growth behaviors calcu-
Available online 5 May 201 2
lated by the FEM and predicted by the modified NSW model under plain stress condition agreed well with
experimental results. Hence, the appropriate creep residual life for the in-service components containing
defects could be provided without conducting creep crack growth tests. Furthermore, creep crack growth
Keywo rds:

Creep crack growth

behaviors of specimens with the initial crack located in the different zones of welded joint were also cal-
Finite element method
P92 steel culated. The simulation results revealed that the highest creep crack growth rate occurred at the interface
Parameter à C
between the fine grain heat affected zone and the base metal due to low creep strength and high
constraint.
Ó 201 2 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1 . Introduction conditions and also studied the creep crack initiation behavior in
1 /2CrMoV steel welded joint [ 7,8]; Tu et al. reported the reduction
The ASME P92 steel has been widely used in the Ultra Supercritical in the structure life due to the presence of a weld and the effect of
Power Plants Components due to high creep resistance and high weld repair [ 9]. Becker et al. predicted the creep rupture life in a
corrosion resistance at temperature above 600 ° C and service pres- multi-material cross-weld bar using continuum damage mechan-
sure above 30 MPa [ 1 –3]. Components always contain some macro- ics approach incorporated within FEM [ 1 0]. However, the studies
scopical or microscopical defects (e.g. inclusions or micro cracks) mentioned above only focused on the creep fracture life and the
during manufacturing. These defects may grow during service. In creep initiation time, and the creep crack process was not studied
addition, they can also stimulate the nucleation and coalescence in detail. In addition, a number of FEM analyses had been carried
of creep voids during creep [ 4] . For the components servicing at ele- out to obtain the creep crack process by releasing the nodes con-
vated temperature, crack propagation may occur by the nucleation, strained in the crack plane. Using this method, Saxena et al. [ 1 1 ]
growth and coalescence of the creep voids, which in turn may accel- analyzed creep crack growth data by assessing the deflection rate
erate the failure in material. Therefore, it’s crucial to develop the and Zhao et al. [ 1 2] numerically derived the creep crack behavior
safe and accurate methods to predict the creep crack initiation in a nickel base superalloy on the basis of experimental creep crack
and creep crack growth behavior Thus catastrophic fracture occur- propagation dada. Although these calculated results showed agree-
ring in fossil power plants components made of ASEM P92 steels ment with the experimental data, the criterion of crack length ver-
during long time service could be avoided. sus time was determined by the experimental result rather than
Up to now, existing methods to predict creep crack growth can the creep damage accumulation of the specimen. Hence, the above
be clarified into two main fields. Firstly, finite element method investigations cannot be employed to provide the appropriately
(FEM) coupled with damage mechanics had been widely employed predicted creep crack growth. Another prevail method for obtain-
to predict the creep crack behavior. Based on Karchanov–Rabotnov ing creep crack growth data was to estimate by theoretical predic-
continuum damage mechanics, Hayhurst et al. investigated the tion model. The commonly adopted method was that a single
creep damage evolution within the material to analyze the rupture damage variable based on continuum damage mechanics was em-
life of structure [ 5,6]; Hyde et al. investigated the failure life of the ployed to account for the creep crack growth. In particular, Nikbin,
butt-welded Inco71 8 sheets at 620 ° C under creep and plasticity Smith and Webster proposed a predicted model based on the duc-
tility exhaustion theory [ 1 3], the stress field in the crack tip (HRR
⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin field) [ 1 4,1 5] and the Cocks and Ashby void growth model [ 1 6] .
University, Tianjin 300072, China. Tel./fax: +86 022 27402439. In this model, it was assumed that the creep damage would occur
E- m a il a ddress: xulianyong@tju.edu.cn (L. Xu). in the zone ahead of crack tip which was in the creep processing

0927-0256/$ - see front matter Ó 201 2 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http: //dx.doi.org/1 0.1 01 6/j.commatsci.201 2.04.028
1 86 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93

zone and the local fracture would occur at the crack tip when the
creep ductility of the material was exhausted. Furthermore, this
model had been widely applied in evaluating the creep crack
growth behavior [1 3].
In the present study, the prediction of creep crack growth
behavior of ASME P92 steel welded joint at elevated temperature
was carried out by the FEM and the theoretical models. Due to
the disadvantages of the prevailed FEM approaches, a new node re-
lease technique on the basis of the creep ductility exhaustion dam-
age model is adopted. The virtual creep crack growth process can
be achieved when the damage in the material reaches to the criti-
cal value [1 7]. Furthermore, for ASME P92 steel components used
in power plants, they were mainly fabricated by welding. The early
failure of welded joint had been reported, which always occurred
in the heat affected zone (HAZ) adjacent the base metal and was Fig. 1 . Dimension and size of a CT specimen used in the present study.
caused by creep crack, known as Type IV cracking [4,1 8,1 9]. There-
fore, the prediction of creep crack growth behavior in welded joint
is important to the safety assessment of the in-service compo- Table 2

Experimental conditions for creep crack growth test.

nents. The effect of cracks location on the creep crack growth of
ASME P92 steel welded joint is also investigated. Specimen Material Crack Load P (N) Initial stress Duration
length intensity factor time t (h)f
1 /2
a0/ W K (MPam )
2. Experimental details
CT1 BM 0.50 2050 14 1 001
CT2 WM 0.50 2050 14 336.5
In the present study, the material used was an as-received,
ASME P92 steel pipe, with an inner diameter of 390 mm and a
thickness of 80 mm. The chemical composition of the steel is given
in Table 1 . The pipe was welded by gas tungsten arc welding fol-
lowed by a post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), details of which
are shown below: heated to 760 ° C, kept at the peak temperature
for 6 h and then cooled in the air.
For the creep crack growth test, a standard compact tension
(CT) specimen with a thickness of 1 0 mm was used and loaded
with a constant force at 650 ° C. The dimension and size of CT spec-
imen is shown in Fig. 1 , which are chosen in accordance with ASTM
E1 457-07 [20]. Creep crack growth tests were carried out in a ten-
sile-creep testing machine equipped with a slip furnace. The tem-
perature during test was maintained within ±1 ° C. The creep crack
behavior was measured by the potential drop technique. All spec-
imens were machined from the welded steel pipe and then were
pre-cracked for 2 mm under fatigue loading at room temperature.
In the present study, CT specimens with initial cracks located at
base metal (BM) and welded metal (WM) were conducted. Table
2 shows the experimental conditions in detail.
Fig. 2. Schematic of average creep strain rate e_ cA in creep curve.
3 . Numerical simulation of creep crack growth

namely the primary, secondary and tertiary creep stage as shown

3. 1 . Material model
in Fig. 2. In order to describe all three stages of the creep curves,
an average creep strain rate obtained form the uniaxial creep data
In the present study, two-dimensional elastic–plastic–creep is employed [1 7]. The average creep strain rate is schematically
analyses were performed due to large deformation occurring in shown in Fig. 2 and is obtained in the form:
the creep crack test. According to the thermal elastic–plastic
mechanics, the total strain e can be considered as:
t
e_ cA ¼ et ¼ Ar
f n
e
ð2Þ
¼e þe þe ð1 Þ
r
t e p c
e
where e is the average creep strain rate; e is the uniaxial creep fail-
c
A f

where e , e and e are elastic, plastic and creep strain components,

e p c
ure strain; t is the rupture time in the uniaxial creep test; r is the
r e

respectively. equivalent stress; n is the power-law creep stress exponent and A is

In general, the creep deformation behavior was characterized a temperature dependent material constant.
by uniaxial creep tests with different stress levels. For uniaxial The elastic and plastic strain components are considered to be
creep test, the creep curve can be divided into three regions independent of strain rate. The material investigated is assumed

Table 1

Chemical composition of ASME P92 steel (all data are given in weight-%.).
Material C Si Mn S P Cr Ni Mo W V Nb B Al N
P92 0.1 0 0.47 0.40 0.001 0.008 8.77 0.1 2 0.38 1 .48 0.1 6 0.054 0.001 0.02 0.043
 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93 1 87

to be isotropic and homogenous and linear elastic up to the yield

Z t
Z t
x
_
c

x¼ x
_ dt ¼ dt ð5Þ
strength and post-yield the material which follows von Mises flow 0 0 eÃf
theory with isotropic strain hardening. Material properties for
ASME P92 steel welded joint at 650 ° C is shown in Table 3, which In this theory, it is assumed that there is no damage occurring in
were obtained from the tensile tests and uniaxial creep tests of the specimen at beginning of the creep crack tests, which means
base metal (BM), welded metal (WM), simulated fine grain heat af- that x = 0; and then as the creep time increases, the creep damage
fected zone (FGHAZ) and coarse grain heat affected zone (CGHAZ). gradually accumulates. When the damage of an integration point
The simulated FGHAZ and CGHAZ were obtained by subjecting big- reaches to 1 or 0.999, this point is assumed to be failed. In addition,
ger steel samples to the expected thermal cycles which corre- it can be noted that the creep deformation is independent of the
sponded to the actual thermal cycles undergone by the FGHAZ creep damage accumulation. As a result, the creep strain rate can
and the CGHAZ during the welding process [21 ]. Tensile tests were not be accelerated by the damage evolution.
carried out on the cylindrical specimens with a cross-sectional
diameter of 5 mm and a gauge length of 25 mm at a constant strain
3. 3. Finite element model
rate of 0.02 minÀ 1 to obtain the elastic–plastic characteristics. Uni-
axial creep tests were performed on the rod-shaped specimens
Creep crack growth simulation was carried out using the finite
with a cross-sectional diameter of 1 0 mm and a gauge length of
element code ABAQUS. Due to the symmetry, only upper half of the
1 00 mm in the stress range of 1 40–1 80 MPa to obtain the creep
specimen with the initial crack located at the BM and WM is em-
properties. The geometry and size of tensile specimens and uniax-
ployed. The finite element mesh used in the analysis is shown in
ial creep specimens were all designed according to ASTM standards
Fig. 3, which is composed of two-dimensional four-node plane
E1 39-06 [22] and E8-04 [23]. Experimental procedures of the ten-
strain or plain stress elements. Eight-node quadratic elements with
sile tests and uniaxial creep tests used to generate the material
reduced integration normally are the first choice to carry out the
properties were published elsewhere [8,9,22].
analysis due to the crack tip singularity in the stationary creep
fracture mechanics. However, as a general for the crack extension
3. 2. Creep damage constitutive equation
analysis, four-node first-order elements can work best [24]. Fur-
thermore, the refined elements are employed in the crack tip and
An uncoupled single damage theory which is on the basis of the
the size of the smallest mesh is 1 5 lm, which is the experimentally
creep ductility exhaustion approach is adopted to investigate the
observed average grain size of ASME P92 steel. A finer mesh in the
creep damage accumulation [1 3]. The damage parameter x , de-
crack tip can be used to eliminate mesh dependency effects in the
fined ranging from 0 (no damage) to 1 (full damage), is employed
analysis.
to represent the creep damage accumulation. The damage rate is
The load was applied on the CT specimen using an analytical ri-
defined to depend on the equivalent creep strain rate as shown:
gid pin that represented the bolt in the experiment and was tied to
e_ c e_ c the hole of the specimen. The analytical rigid and the specimen
x
_ ¼ ¼ ð3 Þ
efÃ
MSFe f were tied through the contact surfaces in ABAQUS. A pre-crack in-
serted in the specimen was realized by the nodes that were not
where x is the creep damage rate; e is the equivalent creep strain
_ _
c
constrained in the y-direction. The creep crack propagation for
rate, which is determined by the average creep strain rate in this pa- one-half model is carried out using the node release technology.
per; eà is the critical multiaxial failure strain, which depends on the
f The schematic of this technology is illustrated in Fig. 4. In this anal-
uniaxial creep fracture strain e and the appropriate multiaxial
f ysis, it is assumed that the creep crack extension only occurs along
stress factor MSF. e depends on the material and the temperature
f the plane of crack tip, which is the symmetry plane of CT specimen.
and is 1 6% for the present ASME P92 steel at 650 ° C, which is the In addition, the crack tip is a sharp fronted flat crack, idealizing the
measured value of uniaxial creep tests. The form of MSF should be multiple micro cracks ahead of the crack tip during the actual tests.
calculated using an appropriate model. As a rule, the creep crack At beginning, the nodes of crack plane are all constrained in the y-
growth in Cr–Mo steel is caused by the creep voids. Therefore, in direction. When the value of damage at two integration point
the present study, the model proposed by Cocks and Ashby [1 6] belonging to the elements representing the current crack tip
which is based on the void growth and coalescence is used. The reaches to 0.999, the nodes of these elements are released, which
adopted MSF depends on the power creep law stress exponent ( n) means that the constraint of these nodes are deleted. Then the
and the stress triaxiality predicted which is defined as the ratio of creep crack propagates in further. The user-defined multi-point
the hydrostatic stress ( r ) and equivalent stress ( r ). The relation-
m e constraint subroutine in ABAQUS which can alter the constraints
ship can be written as: of the nodes during analysis is used to carry out the node releasing.
      
eÃf 2 n 05À n 05À rm
sinh sinh 2 ð 4Þ
: :
MSF ¼ ¼
ef 3 nþ0 5 : nþ0 5 : re

Furthermore, the total damage at any time is calculated from the

time integral of creep damage rate:

Table 3

Mechanical properties and creep properties of ASME P92 steel welded joint at 650 ° C.
Material Elastic modulus Yield strength A (hÀ 1 /MPa )n
n ef (%)
E (GPa) r (MPa)
y

BM 1 25 1 80 2.6353EÀ 1 6 5.23 16
WM 1 20 1 70 1 .4594eEÀ 20 7.63 16
FGHAZ 90 1 60 2.7567EÀ 1 8 6.80 16
CGHAZ 110 1 90 6.791 3EÀ 21 7.1 5 16 Fig. Two-dimensional FEM model of CT specimen for creep crack growth
3.

analysis.
1 88 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93

Fig. 4. Schematic of node releas e technique for creep crack propagation.

In order to as sure that the creep crack growth length is uniform,

the regular elements in the crack tip plane are used ( see Fig. 3 ).

The length of creep crack growth is calculated by the number of re-

leas ed regular elements .

4. Results and discussion

4. 1 . Creep crack growth behavior of FEM and experiment

Fig. 5 presents a comparis on between FEM calculated and

experimental creep crack length for CT specimens with WM and

BM. The tendency of creep crack propagation is well predicted.

Accelerated creep crack growth rate towards to the interrupt of

the test is also given by FEM analysis , due to the reduction in liga-

ment caused by creep crack propagation. In addition, it can be

noted that the experimental data generally lie between the plane

stres s and plane s train predictions . Furthermore, the plain s tres s

numerical s imulations are in agreement with the experimental Fig. 6. Relations hip between FEM calculated creep crack growth length and

normalized time.
data. The relations hips between creep crack length and normalized

time t/tf for BM and WM s pecimens are shown in Fig. 6, where t is

the current time of load application and tf is the life of creep crack
thickness of 1 0 mm is us ed and the stres s condition under testing
growth for each s pecimen, res pectively. The portions of the total
is close to the plain s tress condition.
creep crack growth taken by the linear relationship between creep
Representative creep damage accumulation contour of creep
crack length and normalized time of the FEM calculated res ults un-
crack propagation under the plain stres s condition for BM s peci-
der plain s tres s condition is nearly the s ame as that of experimen-
men is shown in Fig. 7 . It can be obs erved that the failed elements
tal results . While the calculated crack length under plain s train
are behind the current crack tip. In addition, the relatively uniform
condition is higher than that of the experimental res ult at the same
size and s hape of failed elements s uggest that steady creep crack
normalized time. This phenomenon may be caus ed by the dimen-
growth is occurring. As s tated in Eqs. ( 4) and ( 5 ), the creep damage
sion of CT specimen. In the present s tudy, CT specimen with a
accumulation depends on the s tress triaxiality. Therefore, the var-

iation of the stress triaxiality during creep crack growth under

plain strain and plain s tress conditions is inves tigated in Fig. 8 . It

reveals that under the plain s tress condition, the stress triaxiality

is relatively ins ens itive to the creep crack extension length ( see

Fig. 8 a) while under the plain s train condition, the s tres s triaxiality

varies as the creep crack length propagates ( see Fig. 8 b). The high-

es t s tress triaxiality under plain strain condition is located approx-

imately 0.2 0 mm away from the crack tip, which is independent of

creep crack length. Its value increas es as the creep crack grows. The

stress triaxiality under plain s train condition is higher than that

under plain stres s condition, which leads to a faster creep crack

growth ( s ee Fig. 6).

Ã
4. 2. Characterization of creep crack growth data using parameter C

When the creep occurs in the components with cracks at high

temperature, the dis tribution of stress and strain rate in the crack
Ã
tip is us ually characterized by the parameter C . The creep zone in

the crack tip is s urrounded by the annular region where the elas-

Fig. 5 . Relationship between FEM calculated creep crack growth length and time. tic– plastic filed remains valid and the creep condition prevails .
 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93 1 89

Fig. 7 . Creep damage contour of creep crack growth process .

 Ã  1 = ðnþ1 Þ
C
rij ¼ rij ð h
~ ; nÞ ð 6Þ
AIn r

3
eij Are
nÀ 1
_ ¼ Sij ð7Þ
2

1
Sij ¼ rij À d ij rkk ð8Þ
3

where rij is the stress tensor; eij

_ is the strain rate tensor; r and h are

polar coordinates with the origin at the crack tip, which are referred

to the radial distance from the crack tip and the crack tip angle,

respectively; In is an integration constant; rij ð h

~ ; nÞ is a dimension-

less function of n and h, identical to the corresponding HRR angular

function; Sij is the deviatoric stress tensor; d ij is the Kronecker delta

function; rkk is summation of three normal stress. Parameter C

Ã
is

the path independent integral of the energy release rate, which is

analogous to the definition of the J integral for the non-linear elastic

Ã
behavior. In addition, according to ASTM E1 45 7 -07, the C for the CT

specimen can be calculated by the load line displacement rate dur-

ing creep crack growth tests; the relation is described as follows

[ 2 0] :

 
à PV
_
c n 2
C ¼ þ 0: 5 2 2 ð9Þ
Bn ð W À aÞ n þ 1 1 À a= W

where P is the applied load in tests; B is the specimen thickness; Bn

is the net specimen thickness between the bottoms of side grooves;

a is the current creep crack length, W is the specimen width; n is the

exponent in creep deformation law; V

_
c is the creep load line dis-

placement rate and is always given as follows:

V
_
c ¼V
_
t À Ve À V p
_ _
ð 1 0Þ

where V
_
t ; Ve
_
and V
_
p are the total, elastic and plastic load line dis-

placement rates, respectively.

2
2K Bn a
_

V
_
e ¼ ð1 1 Þ
PE
Fig. 8. Variation of s tress triaxiality during creep crack growth ( a) under plain

stres s condition and ( b) under plain s train condition. and

ð m þ 1 Þ Jp Bn a_
V
_
p ¼ ð1 2Þ
P
Stres s fields in the crack tip under creep condition are addres sed by

Hutchinson [ 1 4] , and Rice and Rosengren [ 1 5 ] . For a power law where a

_ is the creep crack growth rate, E is the Young’ s modulus, m
material under creep, the amplitude of stres s and s train rate is gi- is the exponent in a Ramberg–Osgood fit to the tensile data and Jp is
Ã
ven by the C : the plastic component of the J-integral.
1 90 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93

The corresponding creep crack growth rates evaluated in terms creep crack extens ion. In ASTM E1 45 7 -07 [ 2 0] , it specifies that the
Ã
of C for experimental res ults and FEM res ults of BM and WM s pec- load dis placement rate ratio s hould be: V
_
c = Vt
_
! 0 : 5 . When this ra-

imens are shown in Fig. 9a and b, respectively. It can be obs erved tio is les s than 0.2 , the s tress intensity factor K is the dominant

that there is a tail occurring first in experimental and predicted re- parameter to correlate with creep crack growth rate. Fig. 1 0 s hows

s ults. After the tail, a linear relations hip between the creep crack the variation of load line displacement rate ratio during the calcu-
Ã
growth rate and C occurs , which represents the s teady creep crack lated creep crack proces s. For plain strain predictions , the load line

propagation. The creep crack propagation in Fig. 9 can be divided displacement ratio ranges from 0.65 to 0. 98 and the average value

into three bands , which represent plain strain prediction, plain is about 0.7 5 . While for the cas e of plain stres s predictions , this ra-

s tres s prediction and experimental data, res pectively. The plain tio keeps cons tant at a value of 0.95 . Therefore, the ratio exceeds

s train prediction exhibits a high creep crack growth rate and a 0.5 in all these s imulations, which stratifies the s pecification on
Ã
low value of C . The creep crack growth rate of plain s tress predic- the creep ductility failure in ASTM E1 45 7 -07 . Hence, it can be de-
Ã
tion is a little higher than that of experimental res ults but it con- duced that the relations hip between C and creep crack growth
Ã
verges to the experimental data at a high value of C . rate obtained from the FEM res ults is effective.

Ã
4. 3. Effectiveness of parameter C 4. 4. Prediction of creep crack growth behavior using theory models

Ã
As a rule, the parameter C is only applicable for the condition In addition to the prediction calculated by FEM, on the bas is of

that that the material shows creep-ductile behavior, where the creep ductility exhaustion theory and s tress filed ahead of crack tip

creep proces s zone near the crack tip is extensively wide. In ASTM as shown in Eq. ( 6), Nikbin, Smith and Webster als o propos ed that

E1 45 7 -07 , some specific terms of conditions are defined to ens ure the creep crack growth rate can be predicted as follows [ 1 3 ] :

the applicability of parameter

Ã
C . In general, the load line dis place-  Ã n= n þ 1
n þ 1 C 1 = ð nþ 1 Þ
ment rate ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the creep load line a
_ ¼ Ã
ð Arc Þ ð1 3 Þ
dis placement rate Vc
_
and the total load line dis placement rate Vt ,
_
is
ef In

always used to certify the effectiveness of the relations hip between

where rc is the size of the creep process zone ahead of crack tip. The
Ã
C and creep crack growth rate. This ratio repres ents the degree of
model is known as the NSW model. Tan et al. [ 2 5 ] recommended

that for plane stress condition e Ãf was taken to be the uniaxial failure

strain ef while for plane strain condition was e f/3 0, which was ex-

pected to provide appropriate upper and lower bound predictions.

However, in this model, the stress state ahead of crack tip during

the crack propagation was ignored, which led to a conservative pre-

diction. Therefore, a modified version of the NSW model, named

NSW-MOD, was proposed [ 2 6] . This model considered not only

the dependence of creep strain on the h ( crack tip angle) and n

( creep stress exponent) but also the dependence of the stress state

of crack tip. The value of e Ãf for different stress states could be calcu-

lated from the uniaxial failure strain and the MSF as mentioned in

Eq. ( 4).

It can be noted that that both rm and re depend on n and h as

s hown in Eq. ( 6), thus the MSF is als o a function of n and h. There-

fore, in the NSW-MOD model, it is as sumed that the failure of

material is considered to occur firs t where the angular function

n
r
~
e
ð h; n Þ
attains its maximum value. As a result, the predicted crack
MSFð h ; n Þ

growth rate can be described as :

Fig. 9. Comparison of FEM calculated creep crack growth rate with experimental

data ( a) BM specimen and ( b) WM s pecimen. Fig. 1 0. Variation of dis placement rate ratio V
_
c = Vt
_
during creep crack growth.
 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93 1 91

 Ã 
r ð h nÞ 
n = nþ 1 n
C the plain stres s NSW model underestimates it. However, the plain

1 = ð nþ 1 Þ 1 ~
e
;
¼ ð n þ 1 Þ ð Arc Þ ð 1 4Þ
MSFð h n Þ 
a
_

In ef ;
s tres s and plain s train NSW-MOD models give more accurate lower
max
and upper prediction lines for the experimental res ults compared

In the present s tudy, A and n are s hown in Table 3 for different with NSW model. In particular, the NSW-MOD predictions under

s ub-regions of ASME P92 welded j oint; rc is taken as the size of the plain stres s condition are cons is tent with experimental data of

smallest element in the crack plane used in the FEM analys is , WM and BM s pecimens. It can be concluded that the NSW-MOD

l
n
r
~ ð h; n Þ
m; In and depend on the different values of n
e
which is 1 5 model can give appropriate creep crack growth rate. Hence, it
MSFð h ; n Þ

for different s ub-regions of welded j oint. Table 4 s hows the above can be us ed to evaluate the s afety of s tructures containing defects.

cons tants of modified NSW prediction model, which are calculated As analyzed in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 , the FEM res ults under plain

according to the reference [ 2 7 ] . s tres s condition exhibit agreement with experimental res ults. Fur-

Fig. 1 1 a and b s hows the predicted creep crack growth rates thermore, the NSW-MOD predictions under plain stres s condition

using NSW and NSW-MOD models for BM and WM specimens, are also consistent with experimental data. Therefore, it can be de-

res pectively. In addition, the prediction res ults are also compared duced that us ing the relations hip between the creep crack growth
Ã
with the experimental results. It can be obs erved that the plain rate and C obtained from the numerical simulations and coupling

s train NSW model overestimates the creep crack growth rate while with the modified NSW prediction models can be employed to give

the appropriate predicted res idual life for the actual in-s ervice

Table 4 components containing defects without conducting the creep crack

Constants for modified NSW prediction model.
growth tests . The creep properties of the in-s ervice components

Material Condition rc ( lm) In r
~
n
e
ð h; n Þ  can be obtained us ing the s mall punch creep tes t, a miniaturized

MSFð h ; nÞ max
mechanical testing technique, which s hows great potentiality as

a nondes tructive method to as sess the remaining life of s tructural

BM Plain s tres s 15 3 .3 7 1 . 966

Plain s train 15 4.98 1 1 .63 2 components in both nuclear and foss il fuel power plants [ 2 8 ,2 9] .

Therefore, this approach not only can reduce the cos t and time of
WM Plain s tres s 15 3 .1 4 1 . 944

Plain s train 15 4.7 3 1 1 .61 1 the experiment but als o is nondes tructive to the in-s ervice

components.

4. 5. Effect of crack tip location on the creep crack

For ASME P92 s teel serviced at high temperature, premature

failure always occurs in the FGHAZ adj acent to the bas e metal

zone, known as Type IV cracking. This failure is mainly caus ed by

the creep crack growth. Hence, it is crucial to predict the creep

crack growth behavior of the FGHAZ. Furthermore, the creep

strength of micro zones in the P92 steel welded j oint is different

from each other. When the initial crack is located at the interface

of two s ub-regions of welded j oint, the crack behavior may be

accelerated due to multiaxial stress conditions induced by the dif-

ference of creep s trength. Therefore, the effect of crack position on

the creep crack is als o investigated by FEM analysis . Due to the

uns ymmetry of CT s pecimens with HAZ, a whole model is em-

ployed, which is shown in Fig. 1 2 . In thes e models, the width of

the HAZ is 1 mm and the width of FGHAZ is the same as that of

the CGHAZ, which is 0.5 mm; the initial crack length and the initial

stress intensity factor K for all the cas es are kept constant, which is
1 /2
1 0 mm and 1 4 MPam , res pectively. The creep crack behaviors of

specimens with cracks pos ition located at the FGHAZ, the FGHAZ/

BM interface, the FGHAZ/CGHAZ interface and the CGHAZ/WM

interface are calculated. According to the above analys es , station-

ary creep crack analys es under plane stres s condition are con-

ducted to obtain the creep crack behaviors of thes e models with

HAZ. Because the node release technique can not be carried out

in the whole model, the creep crack extension is carried out us ing

the element extinction method. In this method, when the damage

of element reaches to 0.9 99, this element is as sumed to be failed

and then the s tiffnes s of this element is s et to a value near zero

and the remaining forces exerted by the element on adj acent nodes

are relaxed to a value near zero [ 6,9 ] . The creep crack length is cal-

culated by the number of damaged elements.

Fig. 1 3 shows the predicted creep crack behavior of the CT spec-

imens with different crack locations. It can be noted that the creep

crack res is tance decreas es in a sequence: WM/CGHAZ, FGHAZ,

FGHAZ/CGHAZ and FGHAZ/BM. This is due to the lowes t creep

strength and the highest multi-stress s tate located at FGHAZ/BM

interface. The creep s trength in the FGHAZ is the lowes t among

Fig. 1 1 . Comparison of NSW and NSW-MOD predicted res ults with experimental
the micro zones in the welded j oint. This means that the FGHAZ

data ( a) for BM s pecimen and ( b) for WM s pecimen. creeps more eas ily. As a res ult, the creep strain rate in this zone is
1 92 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93

high, which accelerates the creep damage accumulation that

depends on the creep strain according to Eq. (5). Meanwhile, the
deformation of FGHAZ is constrained by the adjacent zone such as
BM and CGHAZ, which makes a high multi-stress state occur in
the crack tip. In addition, the creep strength of BM is higher than
that ofCGHAZ. As a result, the constraint at the FGHAZ/BM interface
is higher than that at the FGHAZ/CGHAZ interface. Therefore, a
more higher multi-stress state occurs at the FGHAZ/BM interface,
which accelerates the creep damage accumulation in further [30].
The relationships between calculated creep crack growth rate
against CÃ are shown in Fig. 1 4. It can be noted that at the same va-
lue of CÃ , the FGHAZ/BM interface exhibits higher creep crack grow
rate than the FGHAZ/CGHAZ interface while the creep crack growth
rate in the CGHAZ/WM interface is much smaller than those in
other crack positions at the same value of CÃ . Therefore, the prema-
ture failure of ASME P92 steel welded joints is likely to occur at the
FGHAZ/BM interface, corresponding to Type IV cracking.

5 . Conclusions

Fig. 1 2. A whole FEM model of CT specimen with crack in HAZ. In the present study, the predictions of creep crack growth
behavior in ASME P92 steel welded joint at 650 ° C are carried out
on CT specimens using FEM and a modified NSW model under
plain stress and plain strain conditions. The calculated results
and the predicted results are compared with experimental data un-
der the same condition. Furthermore, the effect of crack position on
creep crack growth is also investigated using FEM analysis. The
conclusions are listed as follows:
(1 ) The FEM predictions provide lower and upper creep crack
growth lines. The lower creep crack line under plain stress
condition is in agreement with experimental result.
(2) The FEM results all show higher creep crack growth rate
than the experimental data at the same value of C⁄ . How-
ever, the calculated results under plain stress condition con-
verge to the experimental results at high value of C⁄.
(3) The modified NSW model under plain stress condition gives
accurate prediction results for CT specimens with base metal
and welded metal compared with experimental results.
However, the modified NSW model under plain strain condi-
tion overestimates the creep crack growth rate at the same
value of C⁄.
Effect of crack location on creep crack growth behavior.
Fig. 1 3 .
(4) The FEM analysis coupled with the modified NSW prediction
model may be employed to give the appropriate predicted
residual life for the in-service components containing flaws
without conducting the creep crack growth tests.
(5) The specimen with crack in the FGHAZ/BM interface exhibits
a higher creep crack growth rate than those with cracks in
other zones of welded joints, i.e. FGHAZ, FGHAZ/CGHAZ
interface and CGHAZ/WM interface. This is due to low creep
strength and high constraint condition in this zone.

Acknowledgements

This research work was financially supported by the Project of

the National Natural Science Foundation of China (508051 03,
509751 96 and 51 1 75375) and Key Project in the Science &
Technology Pillar Program of Tianjin (Grant No. 1 1 ZCKFGX03000)
and Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education
of China (200900321 1 0026 and 201 1 00321 30002).

References

[1 ] M. Yoshizawa, M. Igarashi, Int. J. Pres. Ves. Pip. 84 (2007) 37–43.

Fig. 1 4.Comparison of creep crack growth rate versus C
Ã
for the specimens with [2] J.C. Vaillant, B. Vandenberghe, B. Hahn, H. Heuser, C. Jochum, Int. J. Pres. Ves.
different crack locations. Pip. 85 (2008) 38–46.
 L. Zhao et al. / Computational Materials Science 61 (201 2) 1 85–1 93 1 93

[3] A. Hernas, M . Imosa, B. Formanek, J. Cizner, J. Mater. Process . Technol. 1 5 7 – 1 5 8 [ 1 9] K. Shinozaki, H. K. Dej un Li, H. Harada, K. Ohis hi, T. Sato, Sci. Technol. Weld.

( 2 004) 3 48 – 3 5 3 . Join. 8 ( 2 003 ) 2 8 9– 2 95 .

[ 4] L. Zhao, H. -Y. Jing, L. -Y. Xu, J.-C. An, G. -C. Xiao, D.-L. Xu, Y. -C. Chen, Y. Han, J. [ 2 0] ASTM , ASTM E1 45 7 -07 , Standard Test M ethod for M easurement of Creep Crack

M ater. Res . 2 6 ( 2 01 1 ) 93 4– 943 . Growth Times in M etals, ASTM I nternational, 2 007 , pp. 1 01 2 – 1 03 5 .

[ 5] D.R. Hayhurs t, P. R. Dimmer, C. J. M orrison, Philos . Trans . R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A 3 1 1 [ 21 ] Y. Shi, Z. Han, J. Mater. Proces s . Technol. 2 07 ( 2 008 ) 3 0– 3 9.

( 1 98 4) 1 03 – 1 2 9. [ 22] ASTM , Standard Test M ethods for Conducting Creep, Creep-Rupture, and

[ 6] R. J. Hayhurs t, R. Mus tata, D.R. Hayhurs t, Int. J. Pres . Ves . Pip. 8 2 ( 2 005 ) 1 3 7 – 1 44. Stres s -Rupture Tes ts of Metallic M aterials , ASTM E1 3 9-06, United States :

[ 7] T.H. Hyde, W. Sun, A.A. Becker, Int. J. Pres. Ves. Pip. 7 8 ( 2 001 ) 7 65 – 7 7 1 . American Society for Testing M aterials , 2 006.

[ 8] T.H. Hyde, A. A. Becker, Y. Song, W. Sun, Comput. Mater. Sci. 3 5 ( 2 006) 3 5 –41 . [ 23] ASTM , Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials, ASTM

[ 9] S.-T. Tu, P. Segle, J. -M. Gong, I nt. J. Pres . Ves . Pip. 8 1 ( 2 004) 1 99– 2 09. E8 -04, United States : American Society for Tes ting Materials, 2 004.

[ 1 0] A.A. Becker, T.H. Hyde, W. Sun, P. Anderss on, Comput. M ater. Sci. 2 5 ( 2 002 ) [ 2 4] M. Göting, J. Röler, Comput. Struct. 8 5 ( 2 007 ) 2 2 5 – 2 3 2 .

3 4– 41 . [ 25] M. Tan, N. J. C. Celard, K. M. Nikbin, G. A. Webs ter, Int. J. Pres . Ves . Pip. 7 8 ( 2 001 )

[1 1 ] A. Saxena, D.E. Hall, D. L. McDowell, Eng. Fract. M ech. 62 ( 1 999) 1 1 1 – 1 2 2 . 7 3 7 – 7 47 .

[ 1 2] L.G. Zhao, J. Tong, J. Byrne, Eng. Fract. Mech. 68 ( 2 001 ) 1 1 5 7 –1 1 7 0. [ 2 6] M. Yatomi, N.P. O’Dowd, K. M. Nikbin, G. A. Webster, Eng. Fract. M ech. 7 3 ( 2 006)

[1 3] K. M. Nikbin, D.J. Smith, G. A. Webs ter, Ser. A: M ath. Phys . Sci. 3 96 ( 1 98 4) 1 8 3 – 1 1 58–1 1 75.

1 97 . [ 27] J. Galkiewicz, M. Graba, J. Theor. Appl. M ech. 44 ( 2 006) 1 9– 3 0.

[ 1 4] J. W. Hutchinson, J. Mech. Phys . Solids 1 6 ( 1 968 ) 1 3 – 3 1 . [ 28] D. T. Blagoeva, R.C. Hurs t, M ater. Sci. Eng. A 5 1 0– 5 1 1 ( 2 009) 2 1 9– 2 2 3 .

[ 1 5] J. R. Rice, G.F. Ros engren, J. Mech. Phys . Solids 1 6 ( 1 968 ) 1 – 1 2 . [ 2 9] P. Egan, M. P. Whelan, F. Lakes tani, M .J. Connelly, Comput. Mater. Sci. 40 ( 2 007 )

[ 1 6] A.C.F. Cocks , M. F. Ashby, M et. Sci. 1 4 ( 1 98 0) 3 95 – 402 . 3 3 – 3 9.

[ 1 7] M. Yatomi, C. M . Davies, K. M. Nikbin, Eng. Fract. Mech. 7 5 ( 2 008 ) 5 1 40– 5 1 5 0. [ 3 0] D. Li, K. Shinozaki, H. Kuroki, Mater. Sci. Technol. 1 9 ( 2 003 ) 1 2 5 3 – 1 2 60.

[ 1 8] T. Watanabe, M. Tabuchi, M. Yamazaki, H. Hongo, T. Tanabe, I nt. J. Pres . Ves.

Pip. 8 3 ( 2 006) 63 – 7 1 .