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Application of small punch creep test for Inconel 617 alloy
weldment
B. J. Kim
a,b
, Y. B. Sim
a
, J. H. Lee
a
, M. K. Kim
a
and B. S. Lim
a
*

a
Material Strength & Computational Bioengineering Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University
300, Cheoncheon-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon, gyeonggi-do 440-746, Korea
b
School of Mechanical Engineering, Dongyang Mirae University, 62-160, Kochuck-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul city, 152-714, Korea
Abstract
In this work, SP creep tests were applied to the Inconel 617 alloy and its weldment, which is one of the candidate materials for
future advanced fossil power plant. To find the creep characteristics of the weakest local part in Inconel 617 alloy weldment, test
specimens of thin squares (10 10 0.5mm) were machined at three different locations: weld metal, base metal, and HAZ near
base metal. The test results of different microstructures were compared to one another. To investigate the effect of microstructure
on the creep behavior of Inconel 617 alloy weldment, the rupture parts were also observed by a scanning electron microscope.


2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of ICM11
Keywords: Small punch creep ; Cross weld ; Weldment ; Fusionline ; Heat affected zone.
1. Introduction
The small punch(SP) creep test is a highly useful method for creep life assessment of service components such as
steam pipe and turbine rotor operating at high temperatures because it requires only miniature sized test specimens
which can be acquired from the actually operating components in nondestructive manner[1-8]. The SP creep tester is
equipped by a ceramic (Si
3
N
4
) ball of 2.4 mm in diameter to apply a concentrated load to the specimen. Because of
its small ball size, it has been successfully employed to evaluate the local creep characteristics of weldment of
various microstructures[9-12]. In this work, the SP creep test was applied to the Inconel 617 alloy and its weldment.
Inconel 617 (UNS N06617: Ni-22Cr-12Co-9Mo) is primarily a solid solution nickel-base superalloy, which is one
of the promising candidate materials for an advanced ultra super critical(usc) fossil-fuel power plant with superior
engineering properties[13-16]. Because of its excellent properties of elevated temperature strength and creep
resistance, this alloy has been already widely used in fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, aerospace, and chemical
plants. Based on a literature survey, we found that no previous work has been reported on the SP creep test results
for Inconel 617 alloy and its weldment. Therefore, the main purpose of this research was set to evaluate the local

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +82-31-290-7471; fax: +82-31-290-7934.
E-mail address: bslim@skku.edu
1877-7058 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of ICM11
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2011.04.425
Procedia Engineering 10 (2011) 25792584
2580 B. J. Kim et al. / Procedia Engineering 10 (2011) 25792584
creep behavior of various microstructures such as, HAZ(heat affected zone), weld metal, and base metal of Inconel
617 alloy weldment using the SP creep tests. The test results were evaluated and compared to one another. Also, to
investigate the effect of microstructure on the creep behavior of Inconel 617 alloy weldment, its microstructure and
fracture surface were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

Nomenclature

G

minimum displacement rate

A material constant
P applied load
n load exponent
2. Experimental Procedure
2.1. Materials
Table 1 shows the chemical composition of Inconel 617 alloy, which is base metal of this study, and of HAYNES
and Thyssen 617(filler metal)[17]. Welding procedure was performed in seven passes by TIG(Tungsten Inert Gas
arc Welding).
Table 1. The chemical composition of Inconel 617 alloy(base metal) and Tissen 617(filler metal), wt(%).



2.2. Creep test and specimen preparation
To examine the local creep characteristics by SP creep tests, a small weld block was etched to determine the
microstructure and machining position of SP specimens. Thin square shape (10 10 0.5mm) specimens were
machined at three different locations from the block, i.e., weld metal, base metal, and HAZ(cross-weld specimen) as
shown in Fig. 1. In case of HAZ specimen, it was machined to locate the fusion line at the center of specimen. The
specimens were grounded and polished following the standard metallographic sample preparation method. The final
polishing process was carried out using 0.1 m Al
2
O
3
powder to avoid the possible stress concentration by
machining scratch. The thickness was controlled to within 10 m with a digital micrometer. Fig. 2 shows the SP
creep jig used in this work. It consists of puncher, ball, upper die, and lower die. The specimen is first placed on the
lower die. The upper die is then assembled on the lower die. This assembly is finally clamped by four clamping
screws. Constant creep loads ranging from 392N to 589N were applied to SP creep specimen by a ceramic (Si
3
N
4
)
ball with diameter of 2.4mm through the puncher. The displacement of the specimen was measured by a linear
variable displacement transducer (LVDT) to the accuracy of 10
3
mm. All the tests were performed at 700 under
argon gas condition to prevent oxidation during tests. The temperature of the SP-creep tester furnace was controlled
to an accuracy of 1.

Material Ni Cr Co Mo Al C Fe Mg Si S Ti Co B Mn
Alloy 617
44.5 20.0
~24.0
10.0
~15.0
8.0
~10.0
0.8
~1.5
0.05
~0.15
3.0 1.0 1.0 0.015 0.6 0.5 0.006
Tissen617 Bal 21.5 11.0 9.0 1.0 0.05 1.0 0.1 0.5 0.1
B. J. Kim et al. / Procedia Engineering 10 (2011) 25792584 2581

Fig. 1. Inconel 617 alloy weldment block and SP creep specimens. Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of SP-creep test apparatus
2.3. Microstructure and Fracture
To examine the effect of microstructure on the local creep behavior, the different microstructures of 617 alloy
weldment were observed by SEM. After SP creep tests, to investigate the fracture mode of local microstructural
region in weldment, those three specimens of different microstructures were investigated using an SEM at the creep
fracture surface.
3. Result and Discussion
3.1. Microstructure characteristics
Typical microstructures of different specimens are presented in Fig. 3, which shows (a) base metal, (b, e) weld
metal, and (c, d, f) HAZ. The microstructures of base and weld metal were dissimilar at the boundary of fusion line.
The interfacial regions of the Thyssen 617 filler metal and Inconel 617 base metal are shown in Fig. 3(d). However,
no considerable unmixed zones can be observed. It can be attributed to the similarity of 617 filler and base metal
from the viewpoint of the melting temperature and chemical composition. As shown in Fig. 3, the microstructure of
(a) base metal shows an austenitic() matrix with an average grain size of 50m and some inter- and intra-granular
precipitates while that of weld metal shows completely austenitic with a dendrite structure and contains precipitates
dispersed in the matrix. The weld metal is mostly composed of fine equiaxed dendrites as shown in Fig. 3 (b, e). The
617 filler material is reported to have better ultimate tensile strength and total elongation values compared with the
other fillers[17]. This can be related to the fine dendrite microstructure of filler metal. Therefore, this fine equiaxed
dendrite microstructure is thought to contribute to the creep resistance and lead to different creep fracture behavior
from the base metal. Generally, this fine microstructure has a lower segregation ratio of Mo which reduces the
solidification cracking during the welding process[18]. Fig. 3(d) shows the higher magnification of HAZ region. In
the interfacial HAZ region, both coarse and mixed grains of base and filler metal were observed. This
microstructural transition region can be resulted in creep strength mismatch. As shown in Fig. 3(g, h), the crack and
microvoids were also observed. This crack formation is believed to be caused by solidification cracking[18]. These
defects will have an effect on the scatter of creep data. Also, as shown in Fig. 3(f), the migrated grain
boundaries(MGB) and the ductility dip cracking(DDC) was observed at the HAZ region adjacent to the weld metal
and it can be resulted from the formation of precipitates along the solidification grain boundaries (SGB). Generally,
it is well known that the DDC in nickel-based alloys typically occurs on the migrated grain boundary (MGB) in
regions reheated by a multipass welding and is unavoidable in welding operations[19]. Therefore, it is important to
control the MGB, which is the primary factor in reducing cracking susceptibility. According to report, it is
postulated that precipitate on MGB plays an important role as a pinning effect, leading to increased resistance of
MGB evolution during reheating by multipass operation[20]. These MGB and DDC are believed to have a
detrimental effect the detrimental effect on the creep rupture strength and life of HAZ.

2582 B. J. Kim et al. / Procedia Engineering 10 (2011) 25792584


Fig. 3. SEM microstructure of 617 alloy weldment; (a)base metal; (b, e)weld metal; (c, d, f)HAZ; ( g, h) solidification cracking in base metal



3.2. Local creep behavior of 617alloy weldment
Fig. 4 shows typical displacement-rupture time curve obtained from SP creep tests for base metal, weld metal and
HAZ in various load conditions. As shown in Fig. 4, the SP creep curves were similar to the unaxial creep curves.
Fig. 5 shows the comparison results of creep curves for base metal, weld metal and HAZ. The longest creep rupture
life was found in weld metal for the same load conditions, whereas HAZ revealed the shortest rupture life and the
greatest slope of displacement. As mentioned above, the fine equiaxed dendrite microstructure of weld metal is
closely related with the creep strength and rupture life. The rupture time of HAZ specimens were lower than those of
the base and weld metal. This behavior becomes more significant when decreasing test loads. It indicates that the
creep strength of HAZ was lower than those of the base and weld metal. There must have been some contribution
from the surrounding materials to the creep deformation of HAZ which has the width of 0.2mm. This effect was
considered because the crack initiation and propagation caused by the 2.4mm ball indenter were all observed to take
place inside of the HAZ region. According to a report, a tri-axial stress state is found to exist in HAZ which lowers
creep strength [9]. Generally, the creep deformation of HAZ is mechanically constrained by weld metal and base
metal of relatively higher creep strength and it generates a tri-axial stress condition in HAZ. In prior research, we
demonstrated by a series of interrupted creep rupture tests that the necking of creep rupture occurred in Type IV
region where a relatively large number of creep cavities were found [5]. Creep voids were frequently observed at the
interface of large M
23
C
6
carbides at prior austenite grain boundaries. Fig. 5 shows the relationship between
minimum displacement rate and applied load of each microstructure of 617 alloy weldment obtained from SP creep
tests. In the SP creep tests, the relationship between displacement rate, G , and load, P , can be established by the
following equation,

n
AP G

, (1)

where A is a constant and n is load exponent.
The load exponents of the weld metal and base metal were 4.6 and 6.19, respectively, while that of HAZ was
10.37. The displacement rates of base and weld metals showed a very similar tendency. The weld metal specimen
shows the lowest minimum displacement rate, whereas HAZ has the highest minimum displacement rate. This
difference becomes larger at higher load conditions. It implies that the HAZ with inhomogenious microstructures is
(a) (b) (c)
(d)
(e) (l)
(g) (h)
base
weld
HAZ
(e)
Fihe equiaxed
dehdrile slruclure
MC
SC
DDC
B. J. Kim et al. / Procedia Engineering 10 (2011) 25792584 2583
highly sensitive to the load conditions compared to base and weld metals having relatively homogenious
microstructures. This result is strongly related with fracture behaviors during the SP creep test.


Fig. 4. SP creep curves of (a) base metal; (b) weld metal; (c) HAZ (cross weld) at 700.

Fig. 5. Comparison results of SP minimum displacement rates of (a) base metal; (b) weld metal; (c) HAZ (cross weld) at 700.
3.3. Fracture behavior
Fig. 6 shows the bottom fracture surface of each of the SP creep rupture specimens of the weldment under the
load of 392N. For the base metal, the creep brittle intergranular fracture mode was observed and several
circumferential brittle branch cracks were formed as shown in Fig. 6 (a). The intergranular creep cavities or ductile
dimples were not observed in the creep ruptured part. But, for the weld metal, the fracture mode almost revealed
ductile fracture as shown in Fig. 6 (b). From the close-up view of Fig. 6 (b), red square area, it was observed that the
fracture occurred at MGB and SGB. Fig. 6 (c) shows the fracture surface of HAZ specimen. A mixed fracture of
base and weld metals was observed at the interfacial region which is the locally weakest part of weldment, HAZ.


Fig. 6. Bottom fracture surface of SP creep rupture specimens (a) base metal; (b) weld metal; (c) HAZ at 392N (T= 700)
(a) (b) (c) base nelal
weld nelal
HAZ
2584 B. J. Kim et al. / Procedia Engineering 10 (2011) 25792584
4. Conclusion
In this work, the local creep characteristics of various microstructures in Inconel 617 alloy weldment were
investigated by using an SP creep tester at 700 and the following conclusions were obtained. Interfacial HAZ
region showed the greatest slope of displacement rate and had the shortest rupture life, implying it is the weakest
part of the whole weldment. From the results of metallurgical and fracture mode observation, the microstructural
transition region was found to cause creep strength mismatch leading to the early failure of this region. But in the
base and weld metal specimens, although the fracture mode is brittle, it showed longer creep lives. Finally, the SP
creep tests for Inconel 617 alloy weldment showed that it is experimentally possible to derive the creep properties
for different microstructures of weldment with the good validity.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Power Generation & Electricity Delivery of the Korea Insitute of Energy
Technology Evaluation and Planning(KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government Ministry of Knowledge
Economy. (No. R-2007-1-001-01.)
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