Effects of pre-creep on dislocation and tensile property of Cr-Ni steel

Abstract

Pre-creep experiments were performed on chromium-nickel (Cr-Ni) stainless steel in the early stage of creep. The temperature was held for 500–2000 h under high-temperature load conditions (873 K and 150 MPa), and various analysis methods, including optical microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction, were used to determine the pattern of dislocation evolution under different temperature-holding times. The results showed that the slip bands intersected at the initial stage of pre-creep, and a quadrilateral network structure was formed by the dislocation pinning. As the temperature-holding time increased, the dislocation network began to climb to form dislocation walls, dislocation cells, and other substructures. At 2000 h, the grain boundaries widened considerably; creep holes were found at the grain boundaries; and dislocation pairs with oscillating contrast occurred, which indicates nitrogen diffusion. The yield and tensile strengths of the Cr-Ni steel samples subjected to pre-creep at holding times of above 1000 h decreased after they were subjected to room-temperature tensile tests.