Effects of Long-term Creep at Elevated Temperatures on Rupture Ductility in 9Cr-1Mo-V-Nb-N Steel

Besides the creep strength, creep ductility has also been recognized as an important material parameter, since low ductility is often associated with notch sensitivity and concomitant prema-ture failure, especially brittle fracture. Creep rupture data of 9Cr-1Mo-V-Nb-N show that the creep ductility decreases with decreasing stress at constant temperatures or with decreasing tem-perature at constant stresses. SEM and TEM were used to investigate the mechanism of creep brittleness. The results indicate that the decrease of rupture ductility after long-term creep is related to the decrease of mobile dislocation density, the coarsening and coalescence of carbides and the decrease of shear lip size.