Microstructural Characterization of Alloy 617 Crept Into the Tertiary Regime

The dislocation structure and area fraction of creep voids in Alloy 617 were characterized following creep tests interrupted at total creep strains ranging from 2–20%. A range of creep temperatures (750–1000°C) and initial creep stresses (10–145 MPa) produced creep test durations ranging from 1 to 5800 hours. Image analysis of optical photomicrographs on longitudinal sections of the gage length was used to document the fraction of creep porosity as a function of creep parameters. In interrupted creep tests performed at 750°C, minimal levels of creep porosity were found even in samples crept to ∼20% total creep strain. At 1000°C, creep porosity was negligible below total creep strains of 10% and increased thereafter with increasing total creep strain. Also, creep porosity increased with decreasing creep stress for a given total creep strain. TEM performed on the gage sections did not reveal significant creep void formation on grain boundaries or in the grains at the sub-micron level. However, dislocation boundaries exhibited extensive dislocation rearrangement and dislocation-dislocation reactions. It was concluded that the onset of tertiary creep did not result from creep void formation and more likely arose due to the formation of low energy dislocation substructures.