High-temperature oxidation of Cr-Mo steels and its relevance to accelerated rupture testing and life assessment of In-service components

Use of accelerated creep rupture testing to assess the remaining life of components operating at elevated temperatures, such as pipes and tubes, is a common practice. At high temperatures, oxide growth can affect the creep results by diameter reduction and thus can increase the stress. However, the nature of oxide layer and hence oxidation behavior can be affected by minor changes in alloying composition of steels. This article presents the study of oxide-scale growth and specimen diameter reduction kinetics during oxidation of two Cr-Mo steels used in the manufacture of boiler tubing. Oxidation tests were carried out on 1.25Cr-0.5Mo and 2.25Cr-1Mo steels at 600 degrees C and 700 degrees C for times up to 1000 hours, using cylindrical specimens (similar to those used for creep testing). At 600 degrees C, the oxidation resistance of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel was superior to 1.25Cr-0.5Mo steel. However, the oxidation resistance of the two steels at 700 degrees C was similar in spite of the difference in their Cr contents. Multilayer oxide scales of oxides with various compositions were observed to have formed over the two steels. The similarity in oxidation kinetics of the two steels at 700 degrees C (in spite of differences in Cr contents) is ascribed to their Si contents and the predominant role of Si in oxidation at this temperature. The article also discusses implications of the variation in the oxidation kinetics to the stress enhancement in creep specimens due to scaling losses, and possible inaccuracies in creep data, as a result of minor variations in alloying composition.