Clifford Jesse Lissenden III, Thesis Supervisor Patrick James Drew, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Inconel microscopy creep
Abstract:
Inconel 617, a nickel based super alloy is the premier candidate material for intermediate heat exchanger components in the next generation nuclear power plant. This is due to its excellent high temperature properties, most notably its corrosion resistance and yield strength. Once in service, nondestructive structural health monitoring of these components, via ultrasonic evaluation methods, within the nuclear power plant is essential in ensuring the safety of the plant in addition to decreasing the reoccurring service costs. In developing such a method, results yielded from destructive evaluation are necessary in determining the accuracy the ultrasonic evaluation. The focus of this research is performing the destructive evaluation, via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, to determine how thermal aging, as well as creep and low-cycle fatigue testing impact the microstructure of Inconel 617. Aspects include examining oxidation and carbide depleted region thicknesses in thermally aged samples, and observing grain boundary twinning and performing precipitate analysis in creep and low-cycle fatigue tested samples.
