Creep deformation and fracture behavior of types 316 and 316L(N) stainless steels and their weld metals

The creep properties of a nuclear-grade type 316(L) stainless steel (SS) alloyed with nitrogen (316L(N) SS) and its weld metal were studied at 873 and 923 K in the range of applied stresses from 100 to 335 MPa. The results were compared with those obtained on a nuclear-grade type 316 SS, which is lean in nitrogen. The creep rupture lives of the weld metals were found to be lower than those of the respective base metals by a factor of 5 to 10. Both the base and weld metals of 316L(N) SS exhibited better resistance to creep deformation compared to their 316 SS counterparts at identical test conditions. A power-law relationship between the minimum creep rate and applied stress was found to be obeyed for both the base and weld metals. Both the weld metals generally exhibited lower rupture elongation than the respective base metals; however, at 873 K, the 316 SS base and weld metals had similar rupture elongation at identical applied stresses. Comparison of the rupture lives of the two steels to the ASME curves for the expected minimum stress to rupture for 316 SS base and weld metals showed that, for 316L(N) SS, the specifications for maximum allowable stresses based on data for 316 SS could prove overconservative. The influence of nitrogen on the creep deformation and fracture behavior, especially in terms of its modifying the precipitation kinetics, is discussed in light of the microstructural observations. In welds containing δ ferrite, the kinetics of its transformation and the nature of the transformation products control the deformation and fracture behavior. The influence of nitrogen on the δ ferrite transformation behavior and coarsening kinetics is also discussed, on the basis of extensive characterization by metallographic techniques