Use of micro tensile test samples in determining the remnant life of pressure vessel steels

The aim of this collaborative study was to measure mechanical properties of 14MoV67-3 steel taken from small sections of material machined in-situ from an operating high pressure collector pipe after different operating lifetimes (from 0h to 186 000h) at elevated temperatures (540°C). Conventional methods of measuring mechanical properties of materials, such as the uniaxial tensile test require relatively large test samples. This can create difficulties when the amount of material available for testing is limited. One way of measuring mechanical properties from small quantities of material is using micro tensile test samples. In this work, micro-samples with a total length of 7.22mm were used. Digital Image Correlation method (DIC) was employed for the strain measurements in a uniaxial tensile test. This paper shows that there is measurable difference in the yield, ultimate tensile strength and elongation to failure as a function of the plant operating conditions. This work demonstrates, therefore, a ‘semi-invasive’ method of determining uniaxial stress-strain behaviour from plant components