Materials Science and Engineering A 483–484 (2008) 262–265

Stress rupture characteristics of Inconel

718 alloy for ramjet combustor
Duck-Hoi Kim a , Jae-Hoon Kim b,∗ , Jeong-Woo Sa a ,
Young-Shin Lee b , Chul-Kyu Park b , Soon-Il Moon c
a National Fusion Research Center, 52 Yeoeun-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea
b Department of Mechanical Design Engineering, Chungnam National University, 220 Gung-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea
c Agency for Defense Development, Daejeon Yuseong P.O. Box 35, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea

Received 6 June 2006; received in revised form 5 November 2006; accepted 21 December 2006

Abstract
To evaluate the accelerated creep phenomena for ramjet combustor, the stress rupture tests for Inconel 718 alloy were performed at a temperature
range of 649–760 ◦ C and a stress range of 381–1093 MPa. The stress exponent, n, under the given conditions was obtained. Also, the activation
energy, H, was calculated from the experimental results. An empirical formula of accelerated creep rate for Inconel 718 alloy was calculated by
computer simulation. The accelerated creep life of Inconel 718 alloy was evaluated by using Larson–Miller parameter.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Accelerated creep; Stress rupture; Inconel 718 alloy; Creep life; Stress exponent; Activation energy

1. Introduction creep rupture at a very high temperature environment have been

In the design of components operating at elevated temper-
atures, creep behavior needs to be considered primarily. In
general, creep involves the time dependent deformation and frac-
ture of materials. Creep is accelerated by an increase in stress or
temperature. Creep is the slow deformation of a material under
constant stress leading to a permanent change in shape. Creep
fracture is normally related to the tertiary creep and charac-
terized mainly by the nucleation, growth, and coalescence of
microscopic internal cavities [1–3].
Inconel 718, a precipitation-strengthened nickel-iron-base
super alloy, is one of the most widely used super alloys that
exhibit adequate creep strength, ductility, and fatigue resistance
up to 650 ◦ C. Applications of this alloy expanded from disk
alloys in gas turbine engines to the components used in nuclear
and cryogenic structures, high-strength bolts and fasteners, and
components in space craft, owing to its excellent fabricability
and weldability. Up to now, the creep characteristics of Inconel
718 alloy have been focused on conditions within maximum ser-
vice temperature. On the contrary, studies related to accelerated
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 42 821 6645.
E-mail address: kimjhoon@cnu.ac.kr (J.-H. Kim).
progressed a little. However, accelerated creep rupture behav-
ior of Inconel 718 alloy is one of major considerations in the
application in the aerospace structures.
In this study, the accelerated creep behavior of Inconel 718
alloy was investigated to be used in the combustor design of
ramjet propulsion system. The stress exponent, n, under a given
condition was obtained. Also, the activation energy, H, was
calculated from the experimental results. An empirical formula
of accelerated creep rate was obtained from the experimental
results. The accelerated creep life was finally evaluated by using
the Larson–Miller parameter (LMP).
2. Experimental procedures
The test material was Inconel 718 alloy, and its chemical
composition is shown in Table 1. The material was heat-treated
in accordance with AMS 5596. Table 2 shows the mechanical
properties, which were measured at RT and high temperatures
of 649 ◦ C (1200 ◦ F), 704 ◦ C (1300 ◦ F) and 760 ◦ C (1400 ◦ F).
In general, the recommended service temperature of Inconel
718 alloy is within 650 ◦ C. As can be seen in Table 2, the mechan-
ical strengths at 649 ◦ C decreased about 20% compared with
those at room temperature (RT).

0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2006.12.159
 D.-H. Kim et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 483–484 (2008) 262–265 263

Table 1
Chemical compositions
Element Composition (mass%)

Ni 55.0–55.5
Cr 17.0–21.0
Fe 18.5
Mo 3.0
Ti 0.65–1.15
Co 1.00
Nb + Ta 5.1

The accelerated creep rupture tests were controlled by con-

stant loading conditions based on ASTM E139. Stress rupture
tests were performed using MTS 810 and test temperatures were
649 ◦ C, 704 ◦ C and 760 ◦ C on equal terms of tensile test. Ini-
tial stress level was selected from 45% to 95% of the ultimate
strength.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Creep curves

Fig. 1 shows the strain–time curves for accelerated creep

rupture tests of Inconel 718 alloy at various temperatures and
stresses. As the temperature increases, tertiary creep behavior
becomes dominant.
Fig. 2 shows the dependence of stress on the accelerated creep
rupture life of Inconel 718 alloy. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the
stress dependence increases with increasing test temperature.

3.2. Stress exponent due to creep deformation

Creep rupture is usually caused by thermally activated time-

dependent plastic deformation. The dependence of creep rate on
the applied stress, called stress exponent n, can be calculated
using the following Eq. (1) [4,5]:
dln ε
n= (1)
dln σ
Fig. 3 shows the dependence of creep rate on the applied stress.
The stress exponent decreased with increasing test temperature.
This behavior can be explained that with decreasing temperature,
dislocation diffusion is dominant due to the increase in the dislo-
cation density under increasing stress. However, with increasing
temperature, lattice diffusion is dominant [6]. From Fig. 3, the
stress exponent, n, can be expressed as a linear function of tem- Fig. 1. Strain–time curves obtained from the stress rupture tests. (a) 649 ◦ C, (b)
perature. Fig. 4 shows the stress exponent as a function of the 704 ◦ C and (c) 760 ◦ C.
temperature for accelerated creep rupture test.

Table 2
Mechanical properties
Temperature (◦ C) Yield strength (MPa) Ultimate strength (MPa) Young’s modulus (GPa) Reduction of area (%)

Room temperature 1227 1423 209 15.54

649 1023 1150 163 8.18
704 936 997 161 3.17
760 814 848 151 1.06
264 D.-H. Kim et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 483–484 (2008) 262–265

Fig. 2. Dependence of stress on the accelerated creep rupture. Fig. 5. Dependence of creep rate on temperature.

obtained by [6]:
dln ε
H = −R (2)
d(1/T )
where T is absolute temperature and R is the gas constant.
Fig. 5 shows the dependence of creep rate on temperature.
It is seen that the activation energy decreased with increasing
stress. Also, the activation energy can be expressed as a linear
function of stress, and the fitting result is presented in Fig. 6.

3.4. Empirical formula of creep rate ε̇

The creep behavior is a function of temperature (T), stress

(σ), structural factor (SF) and chemical compositions, etc. It can
Fig. 3. Dependence of creep rate on the applied stress. be expressed using the following empirical equation [6]:
 
−HA(σ, T, SF)
3.3. Activation energy of creep deformation ε̇ = A(σ, T, SF)σ(ε)n(σ,T,ST) exp (3)
RT

Creep deformation is also progressed by thermally where stress exponent (n) and activation enthalpy (H) were
activated process, and activation enthalpy, H, can be already obtained as a function of temperature and stress in
Figs. 4 and 6.

Fig. 4. Stress exponents vs. temperatures curve for accelerated creep rupture
tests. Fig. 6. Relation between the activation enthalpy and stress.
 D.-H. Kim et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 483–484 (2008) 262–265
Fig. 7. Dependence of ln A on stress.
The relations between ln A and stress under a certain temper-
ature using computer simulation are shown in Fig. 7. As can be
seen in Fig. 7, ln A under constant temperature conditions can
be expressed as a linear function of stress. (i.e. Eq. (4)):
ln A = gσ + h
Coefficients g and h in Eq. (4) were calculated using computer
simulation, and then used in Eq. (4). Thus, ln A can be expressed
as
ln A = (4.61 × 10−6 σ − 2.7 × 10−2 )σ
+(0.3952σ − 234.296)
Therefore, the empirical equation of creep rate ε̇ can written:
ε̇ = exp[(4.61 × 10−6 σ − 2.7 × 10−2 )σ
+(0.3952σ − 234.296)]
 
(−6.66×10−2 T +62.84) (−0.23σ + 209.64) × 103
×σ exp
RT
3.5. Accelerated creep life prediction
To predict the accelerated creep rupture life, the well-known
Larson–Miller parameter was used. Fig. 8 shows the correlation
of Larson–Miller parameter for Inconel 718 alloy. The data in
Fig. 8 is comparable to the data given in the specification. The
265
Fig. 8. Correlation of Larson–Miller parameter for Inconel 718 alloy from
accelerated stress rupture tests.
accelerated creep rupture life can be easily predicted by using
this result.
4. Conclusions
(i) Accelerated creep tests of Inconel 718 alloys showed a good
creep resistance up to 704 ◦ C.
(ii) The stress exponents, n, were evaluated as 9.6, 6.2 and 2.2
(4)
at 649, 704 and 760 ◦ C, respectively. The stress exponent
decreased with increasing test temperature.
(iii) The activation energies, H, were calculated as 515.8,
196.7, 55.6 kcal/mol K under 700, 800 and 900 MPa,
respectively.
(iv) An empirical formula of accelerated creep rate of Inconel
(5) 718 alloy was obtained by computer simulation. The accel-
erated creep life for Inconel 718 alloy can be expressed as
follows, (LMP = (T + 273.15)(log tr + 625) × 10−3 ).
Acknowledgments
This work was partially supported by the Agency for Defense
Development project (ADD-03-04-02).
(6) References
[1] J.T. Yeom, J.Y. Kim, Y.S. Na, N.K. Park, Metall. Mater. Int. 9 (2003)
555–560.
[2] R. Viswanathan, J. Foulds, J. Press. Vess.-Trans. ASME 120 (1998) 105–115.
[3] S. Srinivas, K.S. Prasad, D. Gopikrishna, M.C. Pandey, Mater. Charact. 35
(1995) 93–98.
[4] F. Garofulo, Trans. TMS-AIME 229 (1963) 351.
[5] L.J. Cuddy, Metall. Trans. 1 (1970) 395.
[6] Y.G. Park, B.J. Yoon, J.H. Choi, J. Ksht. 13 (2000) 383–390 (in Korean).