DC Potential Drop Method for Evaluating Material Degradation

The remaining life estimation for the aged components in power plants as well as chemical plants are very important because mechanical properties of the components are degraded with in-service exposure time in high temperatures. Since it is difficult to take specimens from the operating components to evaluate mechanical properties of components, nondestructive techniques are needed to evaluate the degradation. In this study, test materials with several different degradation levels were prepared by isothermal aging heat treatment at 630°C. The DC potential drop method and destructive methods such as tensile and fracture toughness were used in order to evaluate the degradation of 1Cr-1Mo-0.25V steels. In this result, we can see that tensile strength and fracture toughness can be calculated from resistivity and it is possible to evaluate material degradation using DC potential drop method, non-destructive method.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]