Technological mode progress demands the use of materials at high temperature and pressure. Constant load creep tests have been carried out over the range of stresses at high temperatures. One of the most critical factors in considering such applications as the most critical one is the creep behavior. In order to investigate the creep behavior in this study, the stress exponents during creep were determined over the temperature range of 275℃ to 325℃ and the stress range of 36MPa to 72MPa. The applicability of modified Monkman-Grant relationship was also discussed.

The very high temperature gas reactor (VHTR) is one of the next generation nuclear reactors for its safety, long-term stability, and proliferation-resistance. The high operating temperature of over 800˚C enables various applications with high energy efficiency. Heat is transferred from the primary helium loop to the secondary helium loop through the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX). The IHX material requires creep resistance, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance in a helium environment at high operating temperatures. A Ni-based superalloy such as Alloy 617 is considered as a primary candidate material for the intermediate heat exchanger. In this study, the microstructures of Alloy 617 crept in pure helium and air environments at 950˚C were observed. The rupture time in helium was shorter than that in air under small applied stresses. As the exposure time increased, the thickness of outer oxide layer of the specimens clearly increased but delaminated after a long creep time. The depth of the carbide-depleted zone was rather high in the specimens under high applied stress. The reason was elucidated by the comparison between the ruptured region and grip region of the samples. It is considered that decarburization caused by minor gas impurities in a helium environment caused the reduction in creep rupture time.

Ni기 초내열합금 GTD 111의 미세조직의 변화와 크리프 파단특성에 대해 연구하였다. 조직관찰을 통해 본 합금의 응고거동과 주조 후 응고과정에서 석출거동을 분석하였다. MC탄화물의 생성위치가 γ/γ' 상 보다 수지상 중심에서 가까운 것으로 MC탄화물이 γ/γ'공정상보다 먼저 응고된 것을 확인할 수 있었다. η상은 Ti가 많은 γ'상에서 변태되어 형성되었으며, γ/γ'공정상에서 η상으로의 변태에 따라 η상 근처에 PFZ가 형성되고 PFZ 내부에 TaC가 석출됨을 확인하였다. 871˚C이상의 온도에서 크리프 파단은 결정입계를 따라 진행되는 것이 명확하였으며, 표면에서 형성된 균열과 내부에서 생성된 균열이 전파, 조합되어 최종파단을 초래하였다. 결정입계 균열의 생성은 최종응시 형성된 미세공동과 밀접한 관계가 있는 것으로 분석되었으며, η상과 PFZ는 균열 생성에 큰 영향을 주지 않았다.