Threshold Stress Creep Behavior of Alloy 617 at Intermediate Temperatures

Creep of Alloy 617, a solid solution Ni-Cr-Mo alloy, was studied in the temperature range of 1023 K to 1273 K (750 °C to 1000 °C). Typical power-law creep behavior with a stress exponent of approximately 5 is observed at temperatures from 1073 K to 1273 K (800 °C to 1000 °C). Creep at 1023 K (750 °C), however, exhibits threshold stress behavior coinciding with the temperature at which a low volume fraction of ordered coherent γ′ precipitates forms. The threshold stress is determined experimentally to be around 70 MPa at 1023 K (750 °C) and is verified to be near zero at 1173 K (900 °C)—temperatures directly correlating to the formation and dissolution of γ′ precipitates, respectively. The γ′ precipitates provide an obstacle to continued dislocation motion and result in the presence of a threshold stress. TEM analysis of specimens crept at 1023 K (750 °C) to various strains, and modeling of stresses necessary for γ′ precipitate dislocation bypass, suggests that the climb of dislocations around the γ′ precipitates is the controlling factor for continued deformation at the end of primary creep and into the tertiary creep regime. As creep deformation proceeds at an applied stress of 121 MPa and the precipitates coarsen, the stress required for Orowan bowing is reached and this mechanism becomes active. At the minimum creep rate at an applied stress of 145 MPa, the finer precipitate size results in higher Orowan bowing stresses and the creep deformation is dominated by the climb of dislocations around the γ′ precipitates.