Estimation of Creep Strength of Grade 91 Steel Welded Joint in Time Region Over 100,000 Hours

A creep strength of welded joint of ASME Grade 91 steel in a region exceeding 100,000 hours was examined in this work. Creep tests were conducted on the steel used at USC plants for long-term, and remaining creep life of the material for operating condition was calculated on a fitting curve using Larson-Miller parameter. Total creep life of the material, which means a creep life at initial state, was presumed to be a summation of the service time at the plants and the remaining creep life. The estimation was conducted for welded joints used at five plants for long-term, and all results lay within 99% confidential band by the creep life evaluation curve of the material proposed by Japanese committee in 2015, while a significant heat-heat variation of creep strength was found even in the region exceeding 100,000 hours. Creep tests on base metals related to each welded joint were also conducted, and the estimation results of the total creep life of the base metals were compared to those of the welded joints. It was suggested that the heat-heat variation of the welded joints eminently depends on the creep life property of the corresponding base metal.