ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6, pp.

641–653
Review

Strengthening Mechanisms of Creep Resistant Tempered

Martensitic Steel

Kouichi MARUYAMA, Kota SAWADA2) and Jun-ichi KOIKE

Department of Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aobayama, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579
Japan. 2) National Research Institute for Metals, Sengen, Tsukuba 305-0047 Japan.
(Received on November 29, 2000; accepted in final form on February 19, 2001 )

The creep deformation resistance and rupture life of high Cr ferritic steel with a tempered martensitic lath
structure are critically reviewed on the basis of experimental data. Special attention is directed to the follow-
ing three subjects: creep mechanism of the ferritic steel, its alloy design for further strengthening, and loss
of its creep rupture strength after long-term use.
The high Cr ferritic steel is characterized by its fine subgrain structure with a high density of free disloca-
tions within the subgrains. The dislocation substructure is the most densely distributed obstacle to disloca-
tion motion in the steel. Its recovery controls creep rate and rupture life at elevated temperatures.
Improvement of creep strength of the steel requires a fine subgrain structure with a high density of free dis-
locations. A sufficient number of pinning particles (MX particles in subgrain interior and M23C6 particles on
sub-boundaries) are necessary to cancel a large driving force for recovery due to the high dislocation densi-
ty. Coarsening and agglomeration of the pinning particles have to be delayed by an appropriate alloy design
of the steel.
Creep rupture strength of the high Cr ferritic steel decreases quickly after long-term use. A significant im-
provement of creep rupture strength can be achieved if we can prevent the loss of rupture strength. In the
steel tempered at high temperature, enhanced recovery of the subgrain structure along grain boundaries is
the cause of the premature failure and the consequent loss of rupture strength. However, the scenario is
not always applicable. Further studies are needed to solve this important problem of high Cr ferritic steel.
MX particles are necessary to retain a fine subgrain structure and to achieve the excellent creep strength of
the high Cr ferritic steel. Strengthening mechanism of the MX particles is another important problem left un-
solved.
KEY WORDS: steel for elevated temperature service; creep; strengthening mechanism; alloy design;
microstructure; microstructural degradation.

erations at higher temperature. The alloy development has

1. Introduction
Reduction of CO2 emission is an urgent task for power
industries, especially for fossil power plants. The amount of
CO2 emission decreases with increasing operation tempera-
ture of the plants. Plant operation at higher temperature re-
quires heat resistant materials with higher creep strength.
Thermal fatigue of the structural components is a grave
concern of the fossil power plants subjected to daily or
weekly start-and-stop operations. Ferritic steel has a high
thermal conductivity and a low thermal expansion coeffi-
cient, and is less susceptible to the thermal fatigue than
austenitic stainless steel. Because of these attractive proper-
ties ferritic heat resistant steel has been used extensively in
the fossil power plants. However, operation temperature of
power plant has been limited owing to the poor creep
strength of ferritic steel.
Alloy development of the advanced ferritic heat resistant
steel started from Cr–Mo steel. V, Nb and N were added to
increase its creep strength, and Cr content was raised to
have better oxidation resistance necessary for the plant op-
resulted in several advanced ferritic steels, such as
Mod.9Cr–1Mo steel (T91/P91: 9Cr–1Mo–VNb), NF616
steel (T92/P92: 9Cr–1.8W–0.5Mo–VNb), and HCM12A
steel (T122/P122: 11Cr–2W–0.5Mo–CuVNb).1,2) The creep
strength of NF616 and HCM12A is as good as austenitic
stainless steel. These high Cr ferritic steels are character-
ized by a tempered martensitic lath structure. They com-
monly contain MX type carbo-nitrides (M5V, Nb and
X5C, N) and M23C6 (M5Cr) type carbides.
The high Cr ferritic steel has been used successfully
under ultra super critical (USC) steam conditions at 600°C,
and may be used at 625°C. USC power plants of the next
generation are to be operated at 650°C. Further improve-
ment of creep strength is necessary for this advancement.
To establish the alloy design concept for this alloy develop-
ment, creep deformation and fracture behavior of the high
Cr ferritic steel have been studied extensively in the last
decade. Several conferences on the steel and related sub-
jects have been held in the last few years. The present paper
will provide an overview of the strengthening mechanisms

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6

of the high Cr ferritic steel with a tempered martensitic lath

structure under creep condition.

2. Heat Treatment and Microstructural Features of

High Cr Ferritic Steel
The high Cr ferritic steel is normalized in an austenite
regime (usually at 1 040–1 100°C) and then cooled to room
temperature. A high Cr concentration (9–12 mass% Cr) en-
ables martensitic transformation during air cooling, and a
martensitic lath structure with a high density of dislocations
is introduced into the steel after normalizing treatment. The
steel is then subjected to tempering at a temperature be-
low Ae1. During tempering, the martensitic lath structure
changes into a subgrain structure.3)
Figure 1 shows an optical micrograph of high Cr ferritic Fig. 1. A typical optical microstructure of high Cr ferritic steel.
steel. Prior austenite grains are divided into packets and
further into blocks. There are many elongated subgrains in
the blocks, and each subgrain contains a high density of
free dislocations in it. High Cr ferritic steel for steam tur-
bine rotors is tempered at lower temperature (usually
650–730°C) to keep its higher yield stress. It contains a
high density of free dislocations within subgrains. Steel for
boiler tubes and pipes is tempered at higher temperature
(usually 750–780°C), and has a lower density of free dislo-
cations. Because of the different tempering temperatures,
the precipitation sequence is slightly different between the
rotor and tube/pipe steels.
The following three types of precipitates appear in high Fig. 2. A schematic drawing of precipitates in high Cr ferritic
Cr ferritic steel4): M23C6 carbide, MX carbo-nitride and steel.
Fe2M Laves phase. In the Cr carbide M23C6 a part of Cr
atoms are replaced with Fe and other alloying elements.5,6)
The M23C6 particles are formed during tempering, and lo-
cated on grain boundaries and sub-boundaries as described
in Fig. 2. Their precipitation may continue during creep
tests of the rotor steel tempered at low temperature.7)
The MX carbo-nitrides are classified into VN and NbC.
Parts of N atoms in VN and C atoms in NbC are substituted
with C and N, respectively. There are four types of MX par-
ticles. Coarse primary NbX particles remain after normaliz-
ing.8) Fine platelet VX and fine spherical NbX form during
tempering.9,10) VX wings are formed on fine NbX particles
during creep tests.9,10) Precipitation of MX may continue
during the creep tests of the rotor steel.5,8,11,12) The MX par-
ticles except the primary NbX are fine and distributed uni- Fig. 3. Minimum creep rates of ferritic steels at 600°C.
formly within subgrains5,9) as well as on sub-boundaries.
The Laves phase (Fe2M) is an intermetallic compound: mechanisms attributed to these obstacles are classified into
Fe2W and Fe2Mo in W and Mo containing steels, respec- the following three categories:
tively. It is not present after tempering, but precipitates on Dislocation hardening: sub-boundaries and free disloca-
grain boundaries and sub-boundaries during creep tests.8,13) tions
The rotor steel often contains fine M2X (mainly Cr2N) Particle hardening: M23C6 and Fe2M on sub-boundaries
particles within subgrains.5,6,8,14,15) HCM12A steel has Cu and MX within subgrains
particles on sub-boundaries.11) Solution hardening: W and Mo in solution
In this section we assess the contribution of each type of
3. Assessment of Strength Mechanisms obstacles to creep strength of ferritic steel.

As mentioned in Sec. 2, the high Cr ferritic steel contains
several types of obstacles to dislocation motion. They are
sub-boundaries, free dislocations within subgrains, and
M23C6, Fe2M and MX particles. Solute atoms such as Mo
and W can contribute to creep strength. The strengthening
3.1. Solution Hardening
Minimum creep rates of a iron (0.001mass%C) and
a Fe (0.001mass%C)–2.3mass%W alloy are compared in
Fig. 3.16) The alloy concentration is expressed in mass%
throughout this paper. Both materials do not have the parti-

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6

cles and the subgrain structure with the free dislocations

(referred to as dislocation substructure hereafter). The W
addition reduces the creep rate by three orders of magni-
tude. This fact proves that the solid solution hardening is
effective if the dislocation hardening and the particle hard-
ening are absent. Iwanaga et al.17) have confirmed the solu-
tion hardening in a Fe–9Cr–2Ni alloy with a dislocation
substructure. It is to be noted in Fig. 3 that the reduction in
creep rate by the addition of 2.3 % W is less significant in
the Fe–9Cr–VNbCN steel with the particles and the dislo-
cation substructure than in the a iron without these obsta-
cles.
Fig. 4. Minimum creep rates of ferritic (F) and bainitic (B) steels
3.2. Particle Hardening by MX within Subgrains at 600°C and 98 MPa. 1P and 1S mean that MX parti-
cles and solute atoms (0.6W10.15Mo) were added to the
As is evident in Fig. 3, the creep rate of a iron is reduced steels.
tremendously by introducing MX particles into the Fe–
VNbC steel. This result confirms the particle hardening by
MX particles. Two explanations have been proposed on the
particle hardening. One is that MX particles themselves act
as obstacles to dislocation motion,18,19) and the other is that
they slow down recovery of the dislocation substructure and
retain the dislocation hardening for longer duration.8)
3.3. Dislocation Hardening
A comparison is made in Fig. 420) between creep rates of
bainitic (B) steel with the dislocation substructure and fer-
ritic (F) steel without the dislocation substructure. The dis-
location substructure of bainite is similar to that of tem-
pered martensite. When MX particles and solute atoms Fig. 5. Creep curves of tempered martensitic steels with
(0.6W10.15Mo) are present, the introduction of the dislo- (Fe–9Cr–2Ni) and without (Fe–9Cr–0.1C) M23C6 parti-
cation substructure (from the ferritic (F1P1S) steel to the cles.
bainitic (B1P1S) steel) lowers the creep rate to 1/70,
demonstrating the effectiveness of the dislocation harden- al.24) have demonstrated significant decrease in creep rate
ing in creep. The dislocation hardening is confirmed in due to stabilization of the dislocation substructure by Cu
Fig. 3 between Fe–9Cr–VNbCN with the dislocation sub- particles.
structure and Fe–VNbC without the dislocation substruc-
ture, and also in 9Cr–1Mo steel.21)
4. Strengthening Mechanism of Advanced High Cr
As is evident in Fig. 4, the dislocation substructure can-
Ferritic Steel
not reduce the minimum creep rate (F→B) without parti-
cles and solute atoms, since the dislocation substructure As proved in Sec. 3, each strengthening mechanism,
cannot be retained during creep without these obstacles. namely the solution hardening, the dislocation hardening or
Therefore, particles and/or solute atoms are necessary to re- the particle hardening, is effective in creep when the other
veal the strengthening by the dislocation substructure. On two mechanisms are absent. Practical steels have all the ori-
the other hand, a similar amount of particles (F1P vs. gins of the three strengthening mechanisms, i.e. solute
B1P) or solute atoms (F1P1S vs. B1P1S) can reduce atoms, dislocation substructure and particles. Furthermore,
creep rate more effectively when the dislocation substruc- several kinds of particles, for example MX, M23C6 and
ture is present. These facts suggest that the dispersed parti- Fe2M, coexist in the steels. We have to specify the strength-
cles and the solute atoms assist the dislocation hardening in ening mechanism of such practical steels in this section. It
addition to their own roles in strengthening. is reasonable to assume that the obstacles determining the
athermal yield stress at intermediate temperatures also con-
3.4. Particle Hardening Due to Particles on Sub-
trol creep deformation and rupture life. As mentioned in
boundaries
Secs. 3.1 and 3.3, a simple additive rule does not hold
Figure 517) shows creep curves of 9Cr–0.1C steel having among the three strengthening mechanisms. As shown in
M23C6 particles on sub-boundaries and of 9Cr–2Ni steel Sec. 4.1, the most closely spaced obstacles in a material de-
without particle. Both steels have the dislocation substruc- termine the athermal yield stress of the material. We have
ture typical of tempered martensite. The M23C6 particles to discuss which obstacles determine the athermal yield
obviously improve creep resistance, since they slow down stress of the high Cr ferritic steel.
the recovery of the dislocation substructure.17–19,22)
Igarashi and Sawaragi23) have studied creep of ferritic 4.1. Orowan Stress of a Material Containing Several
steel with Fe2M particles but without the dislocation sub- Kinds of Point Obstacles
structure and MX particles, and have confirmed an increase Suppose there are three kinds of point obstacles A, B and
in creep resistance by the Fe2M particles. Tsuchiyama et C in a material as listed in Table 1. The average spacing of

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6
Table 1. Orowan stress s i estimated from the density Ni and
spacing l i of each type of obstacles. The obstacles A,
B and C are supposed to be free dislocations within
subgrains, M23C6 and Fe2M particles, respectively.
Table 2. Volume fraction, diameter and spacing of each kind
of particles in high Cr ferritic steel, together with
Orowan stress estimated form the values of interpar-
ticle spacing.
the ith obstacles on a slip plane is denoted as l i. The fol-
lowing equation correlates l i to the number density Ni of
the obstacles on the slip plane:
Ni51/l 2i ....................................(1)
Orowan stress s i of the ith obstacles is defined by the fol-
lowing equation and is given in the table:
s i50.8MGb/l i...............................(2)
where M is the Taylor factor (53), G is the shear modulus
(64 GPa at 650°C), and b is the length of Burgers vector
(0.25 nm). The total number density of the obstacles Nt and
the average spacing l t of the whole obstacles determine the
actual Orowan stress of the material containing the three
kinds of obstacles. They are given by
N t5 ∑N i .................................(3)
i
λ t 51 ∑N i
i .............................(4)
The Orowan stress s or of the material is given in Table 1
(see “total”). It is obvious that the additive rule does not
hold between s or of the material and s i due to each kind of
point obstacles.
σ or , ∑σ i
i .................................(5)
The value of s or is primarily determined by obstacle A with
the highest density, when the average spacing of the other
obstacles, B1C, is sufficiently greater than that of obstacle
A: say more than twice. In such a case, we may neglect the
other obstacles B and C when discussing particle strength-
ening of the material.
4.2. Obstacle Determining Athermal Yield Stress
Typical values of the volume fraction V, diameter dp and
spacing l p of the major particles contained in high Cr fer-
ritic steels are listed in Table 2. They were estimated on the
basis of experimental data reported in literature.2,6,8,11) The
Orowan stress of each kind of particles was evaluated by
Eq. (2). The Orowan stresses due to the particles in the
table are candidates that may give rise to athermal yield
© 2001 ISIJ
Fig. 6. Recovery of dislocation substructure during creep of
11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel at 650°C under 98
MPa, together with the creep curve under the creep con-
dition and athermal yield stresses estimated from the dis-
location substructure.
stress s a. The value of s a of the high Cr ferritic steel with
tempered martensitic lath structure is in the range of 400 to
500 MPa. The M23C6 particles give the largest value of
Orowan stress in the table, but the value is too small to ex-
plain the experimental level of s a.
The tempered martensitic lath structure, namely the dis-
location substructure, is another plausible candidate deter-
mining s a. The athermal yield stress sr due to the free dis-
locations within subgrains is given by
sr 50.5MGb√— r f .............................(6)
Free dislocation density s f decreases with increasing tem-
pering temperature and is in the range of 1–1031014
m22.6,7,25,26) The dislocation density corresponds to s a of
240 to 760 MPa. The subgrain structure also contributes to
s a. The athermal yield stress s sg due to the subgrain struc-
ture is given by
s sg510Gb/l s ................................(7)
where l s is the subgrain width (a short width in the case
of elongated subgrains)8,25–29) and in the range of 350 to
500 nm in high Cr ferritic steels.7,25,26) The values of l s
give s a of 300 to 450 MPa. The dislocation substructure
gives the greater values of s a than the particles and can ex-
plain the experimental value of s a. Therefore it can be con-
cluded that the dislocation substructure is a major obstacle
which determine the athermal yield stress of the high Cr
ferritic steel with the tempered martensitic lath structure.
4.3. Obstacle Controlling Creep Rate
At intermediate temperatures, moving dislocations pass
through the dislocation substructure athermally by the aid
of applied stress. At elevated temperatures, on the other
hand, diffusion assists dislocations in passing through the
obstacles, and yield stress goes down below s a in tensile
tests. In this creep regime, the dislocation substructure re-
mains to be the major obstacle controlling creep rate, if it
does not significantly recover during creep tests. Figure 626)
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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6

shows an example of changes in the dislocation substruc-

ture which took place during a creep test of 11Cr–2.6W–
0.1Mo–CoVNb steel. The free dislocation density within
subgrains decreases and the subgrain width increases with
the progress of creep deformation. These changes are the
typical recovery process of the dislocation substructure.
The athermal yield stresses corresponding to the free dislo-
cation density and the subgrain width were estimated by
Eqs. (6) and (7), respectively, and are drawn in the figure.
They are kept at the significantly higher level than the creep
stress (98 MPa) over the whole period of creep test. On the
other hand, the Orowan stress due to the particles in Table 2
is about 150 MPa at the beginning of creep and decreases
during creep. These facts point out that the dislocation sub-
structure is the main obstacle that controls dislocation mo-
tion during the whole period of creep tests. The creep strain
accumulation in Fig. 6(a) is accelerated at the late stage of
creep. This acceleration corresponds to the accelerated re-
covery of the dislocation substructure.
Fig. 7. (a) Creep curves, and changes in (b) subgrain width and
5. Recovery Process during Creep (c) free dislocation density within subgrains during creep
of three high Cr ferritic steels at 650°C under 98 MPa.
5.1. Recovery of Dislocation Substructure
The dislocation substructure of tempered martensitic
steel is essentially stable even at 650°C, but plastic defor-
mation promotes its recovery.19,30) Figure 726,31) shows a
typical example of such recovery processes observed in
three high Cr ferritic steels during creep at 650°C under
98 MPa. The subgrain width increases and the free disloca-
tion density within subgrains decreases with the progress of
creep deformation.6–8,19,25,26,30,32) The elongated subgrains
related to martensitic transformation become equiaxed sub-
grains typical of creep deformation.
The evolution of subgrain width given in Fig. 7 is repre-
sented as a function of creep strain in Fig. 825,33,34) together
with other experimental results. The subgrain width l s in-
creases with creep strain and then reaches a stationary
value above a critical strain e c. Similar saturation occurs in
the free dislocation density within subgrains. The values of
e c are about 0.1 in many cases.17,20,25,33–35) It should be
Fig. 8. Evolution of subgrain width as a funtion of creep strain.
noted that the difference among the subgrain width versus
time curves in Fig. 7(b) disappears in Fig. 8. The relation
between (l s2l so)/(l*2s l so) and creep strain e is represent- stationary values of subgrain width l*s and free dislocation
ed by a straight line irrespective of creep conditions and density r *f are given by the following equations8,26–28,36):
materials33–35):
l*510Gb/
s s c ..............................(10)
λs2λso
5aε ...............................(8) r *5(s c/0.5MGb)2 ..........................(11)
λ∗2λ
f
s so
where b is the length of Burgers vector, G the shear modu-
where l so and l*s are the initial and stationary values of lus, and M the Taylor factor. These values are primarily de-
subgrain width, and a is a constant independent of creep termined by s c and independent of materials and initial
conditions and materials tested. On the other hand, Blum states of the dislocation substructure.25,33–35)
and Götz8,29) have proposed the following equation relating
x (subgrain width or free dislocation spacing) to creep 5.2. Effects of Recovery Speed on Creep Deformation
strain e : Resistance
As is evident in Fig. 7, the recovery speed of the disloca-
xo  ε  tion substructure is different among the three steels. It is
ln x5ln x *1ln exp2  ..............(9)
x*  k (σ c )  slower in the 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb and 9Cr–1.8W–
0.4Mo–VNb steels containing W than the 9Cr–1Mo–VNb
where xo and x* are the initial and stationary values of x, steel without W. Creep curves corresponding to the recov-
and k(s c) is a constant depending on creep stress s c. The ery processes are shown in Fig. 7(a). The following rela-

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6

tionship is well known between the creep rate ė and the

subgrain width37):
ė ~l 3s .....................................(12)
This equation explains that the slow growth of the subgrain
width in the W containing steel reduces its creep rate and
consequently extends its creep rupture life. The good corre-
lation between the recovery speed and the creep rate con-
firms the decisive role of the dislocation substructure in
creep.

6. Microstructure Design of High Cr Ferritic Steel

In the high Cr steel with tempered martensitic lath struc-
ture, recovery of the dislocation substructure controls creep
deformation and subsequent creep failure. Eq. (12) suggests
that a material can have high creep deformation resistance
if a fine subgrain structure is introduced into the material.
High resistance to recovery of the dislocation substructure
is also essential to keep a good creep resistance for long du-
ration as demonstrated in Fig. 7. In this section we discuss
how to design the microstructure of the high Cr ferritic
steel for improving creep strength. Fig. 9. Creep curves of four high Cr ferritic steels at 650°C
under 98 MPa. The time scale in (b) is normalized by
6.1. Dislocation Substructure time to rupture tr of each material.
Creep curves of four steels are compared in Fig. 9 under
the same creep condition. Characteristics of their disloca- Table 3. Heat treatment and the initial states of dislocation
tion substructures are summarized in Table 3. The 11Cr substructure of the high Cr ferritic steels tested.
steels have smaller subgrain width than the 9Cr steels. The
high W concentration of the 11Cr steels may help the for-
mation of the fine subgrain structure. The creep resistance
of the 11Cr–2W–0.3Mo–CuVNb steel in Fig. 9(a) is worse
than that of the 9Cr–1.8W–0.4Mo–VNb steel despite the
smaller subgrain width of the former. This result point out
that the other parameter of dislocation substructure, namely
the free dislocation density within subgrains may also have
a significant effect on creep resistance of the steel. On the
basis of a result of 1Cr–1Mo–0.25V bainitic steel,74) Abe38)
has proposed that the extent of primary creep strain increas-
es with increasing the free dislocation density within sub-
grains. We have to assess this proposal. The free dislocation
density within subgrains increases with decreasing temper-
ing temperature. The 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel de-
forms at a lower speed than the 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel, be-
cause of the finer subgrain width and the higher free dislo-
cation density of the former. As seen in Fig. 9(b), the densi-
ty of free dislocations has a significant effect on the extent
of primary creep strain defined as the strain to the mini-
mum creep rate. The strain is large in the 9Cr–1Mo–VNb Fig. 10. Effect of tempering temperature (750 and 800°C) on
creep rupture strength at 600 and 650°C.
and 11Cr–2W–0.3Mo–CuVNb steels with the low density
of free dislocations, and is small in the 11Cr–2.6W–
0.1Mo–CoVNb steel with the high density of free disloca- of dislocations introduced during martensitic transforma-
tions. As a result, the specimens reach 1 % strain at 10 % of tion primarily determines the subsequent subgrain size.
rupture life tr in the former and at 70 % of tr in the latter. Singh and Bhadeshia40) have proposed that a large driving
The result of Fig. 9 is opposite to the proposal of Abe, but a force for martensitic transformation and a large deforma-
result similar to Fig. 9 has been reported on a predeformed tion resistance of the austenitic phase surrounding marten-
Cu alloy.39) It can be concluded that a high density of free site domains are required for making a fine subgrain struc-
dislocations in addition to a fine subgrain width is better to ture. Low transformation temperature of martensite is also
have high creep resistance. good to make fine subgrains.41)
It is easy to control the free dislocation density within A comparison is made in Fig. 1042) between stress–rup-
subgrains by changing tempering temperature. The density ture curves of 12Cr–1W–1Mo–VNb steel tempered at the

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6

two temperatures. The specimen tempered at the lower tem-

perature (750°C) has higher dislocation density and longer
rupture life at high stress.42,43) Its superior creep rupture
strength usually disappears at longer rupture life.18,19,42) The
low temperature tempering sometime gives shorter rupture
life at low stress as seen in Fig. 10, since a high density of
dislocations enhances quick recovery.42,44) It should be
noted that a material with a high density of dislocations is
useless unless its premature recovery of dislocation sub-
structure is prevented by some means.
6.2. Pinning Particles
Two processes have been pointed out on the recovery of
subgrain structure.38) (a) Disappearance of a sub-boundary
by annihilation of dislocations constructing the sub-bound-
ary, and (b) mutual annihilation of two sub-boundaries with Fig. 11. A schematic drawing of the recovery process of disloca-
tions at sub-boundaries.
opposite signs. The first process is dominant at least in the
early stage of recovery, though the latter process may occur
at the later stage. Dislocations constructing sub-boundaries
are in their stable position after tempering, and it is not easy
for them to climb in the sub-boundaries. However, if dislo-
cations (represented by the dotted line) glide into the sub-
boundaries from the sub-grain interior as shown in Fig. 11,
they disturb the balance in the sub-boundaries and bring
about annihilation of dislocations in the sub-boundaries. As
a result, the dislocation density decreases in the sub-bound-
aries as well as within the subgrain. The number of disloca-
tions dNd supplied to a unit length of sub-boundary during
a time period dt is given by
dNd5r f vgdt ...............................(13)
where r f and vg are the density and the velocity of free dis- Fig. 12. Diffusion coefficient of ferritic steel at 600°C as a func-
locations within subgrains. The annihilation rate of disloca- tion of Curie temperature of the steel.
tions at sub-boundaries is proportional to the product of
dNd and the climb velocity of dislocations. In order to re-
duce the annihilation rate, vg is required to be small. 7. Alloy Design for Stable Dislocation Substructure
Dispersion of fine MX particles is necessary to keep vg 7.1. Self-diffusion Coefficient
small and retain fine subgrains.45) Diffusion coefficient is the most important parameter in
The climb velocity vc of dislocations in sub-boundaries is creep, and is required to be as small as possible in order to
given by retain fine particles for long duration and to slow down the
vc 5AF ...................................(14) recovery of the dislocation substructure. Ferritic steel trans-
forms from a para- to a ferro-magnetic state below the
where A is the mobility of dislocations and expressed as Curie temperature Tc, and its self-diffusion coefficient is re-
A5Db/kT .................................(15) duced by the magnetic transformation.75,76) The high Cr fer-
ritic steel is used in this temperature regime below Tc. The
The driving force F is given by diffusion coefficient of ferritic steel at 600°C is given in
Fig. 12.8) The diffusion coefficient decreases with increas-
F5s d b2s pb ..............................(16)
ing Tc of the material.5,8,75,76) We can control Tc by changing
In these equations, D is the diffusion coefficient, k is alloy concentration. The removal of Ni, Si and Mn, or addi-
Boltzmann’s constant, and T is the absolute temperature. tion of Co decreases diffusion coefficient.
The interaction force s d b between dislocations is inversely A result of COST project in Europe is given in Fig. 13.18)
proportional to dislocation spacing. Since the interaction The abscissa is a microstructural stability parameter defined
force increases with increasing dislocation density, Eq. (14) by the following equation
can explain the enhanced recovery of the steel tempered at
the lower temperature in Fig. 10. A large pinning force s d b  1   1 
Parameter5a11a2 exp2  1a3 exp2 
of particles is necessary to cancel the large driving force of  Ae1   Ae32Ae1 
recovery. The pinning force s p is related to interparticle
.........................................(17)
spacing by Eq. (2). A fine interparticle spacing of M23C6
and Fe2M is needed to keep fine subgrains for long dura- where Ae1 and Ae3 are A1 and A3 temperatures in equilibri-
tion. um, and a1, a2, and a3 are experimental constants. The para-
meter increases with increasing Ae1 and (Ae3–Ae1). It has

647 © 2001 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6
Fig. 13. Creep strength which gives the rupture lives at 600°C
plotted against a microstructural stability parameter de-
fined by Eq. (17).
Fig. 14. Number of particles counted in a unit area as a function
of exposure time at 650°C.
been claimed that ferritic steel has better creep rupture
strength when the parameter is large,5,18,19) though the phys-
ical basis of the parameter has not been justified yet. It is
known that the best steel (B2) in the figure has low concen-
tration of Si and Mn, leading to a low diffusion coeffi-
cient.5,19)
7.2. Pining Particles
Major particles in the high Cr ferritic steel are MX
carbo-nitride within subgrains and M23C6 carbide and Fe2M
Laves phase on sub-boundaries. The particles on sub-
boundaries act as obstacles to dislocation climb motion and
slow down the recovery of subgrain structure.8) Figure 1431)
shows changes in the density of M23C6 and Fe2W particles
during creep tests of three high Cr ferritic steels at 650°C.
The W containing steel includes 9Cr–1.8W–0.4Mo–VNb
and 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steels. The density of
Fe2W in the 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel is the high-
est among the three steels. The density of M23C6 is at least
five times higher than that of Fe2M, suggesting that M23C6
particles are the major obstacle to dislocation climb.26,31,38,46)
The density of M23C6 is higher in the W containing steel.
This fact results in the slower recovery of the dislocation
substructure in the W containing steel shown in Fig.
7.26,31,46) The presence of B in the W containing steels also
contributes to their high density of M23C6.
Precipitation sequence and particle size measured in
10Cr–1W–1Mo–VNb steel (tempered at 730°C for 12 h)
© 2001 ISIJ
Fig. 15. Precipitation sequence and particle diameter in 10Cr–
1W–1Mo–VNb steel.
are summarized in Fig. 15.10) The M23C6 and MX particles
have been formed already during tempering, and their
coarsening and agglomeration take place during creep ex-
posure. Usual tempering temperature is too high to form
Fe2W and Fe2Mo. Fine particles of Fe2M precipitate during
the creep exposure, but they grow faster than the M23C6
particles. A Z phase, Cr(V, Nb)N, also precipitates during
the high temperature exposure. They are fine just after pre-
cipitation, but grow quickly. On the other hand, the MX
particles grow very slowly and any appreciable change in
the diameter cannot be detected at the creep temperature up
to a creep exposure time of 43104 h. In order to make good
use of the pinning particles, we have to understand their
precipitation and coarsening behavior during high tempera-
ture exposure.
7.3. Precipitation of Particles
The fraction of particles w(t) which has precipitated at a
time t is represented by the following Johnson–Mehl–
Avrami equation.8)
w(t)512exp{2(t/t )3/2}......................(18)
2/3
4   Co2Ceα 
1 / τ 52 D π N p   β α 
..............(19)
3   Ce 2Ce 
where Co, Cea and Ceb are the initial concentration of an al-
loying element, its equilibrium concentration in matrix, and
the value in particles, respectively. In order to keep W and
Mo atoms in solution, the rate constant t for the precipita-
tion of Fe2M should be large. On the contrary, the precipita-
tion proceeds at a faster speed when diffusivity D, density
of precipitation sites Np and/or Co are larger. For example,
Fe2W precipitates faster in HCM12A steel than in NF616
steel, since Cu particles in the former provide a large value
of Np.11) Faster precipitation of Fe2W in steel with a high W
concentration can be explained by its increased value of Co.
7.4. Ostwald Ripening
Coarsening of pining particles is accompanied by their
agglomeration and the consequent reduction of pinning
force s p in Eq. (16). To keep the pinning force at a high
level, the coarsening rate should be low. The coarsening is
described by the following equation:
dpn2don5Kd t ...............................(20)
where do and dp are the average diameter of particles before
648
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6
Fig. 16. Effect of W on the growth of M23C6 particles during
creep of 9Cr–W steel at 600°C.
testing and at a time t, and Kd is a constant. The exponent n
depends on the coarsening mechanism: n52 (coarsening
controlled by interface diffusion), 3 (volume diffusion), 4
(grain boundary diffusion), and 5 (pipe diffusion). The ex-
ponent n often takes 3, and Kd is given by the following
equation in this case:
α α /β
8γ (Vmβ )2 DM cM
Kd5 β
.....................(21)
9RTVmα (cM α
2cM )
where g is the interfacial energy of particles, Vma and Vmb the
molar volumes of ferrite matrix and particles, DM a
the diffu-
sion coefficient of M atoms in ferrite, c M, c M and c aM/b the
a b
equilibrium mole fraction of M atoms in ferrite, particles
and at particle surface, respectively. The most important pa-
rameters in the equation are DaM and c aM/b . caM is often used
as c aM/b . Equation (21) points out that growth of particles is
a
slow when DM and caM of the major elements in the particles
are low in the ferrite matrix.
Coarsening of M23C6 particles on sub-boundaries is de-
scribed by Eq. (20) with n53, and Kd is given by Eq. (21).
It has been reported that Kd decreases with decreasing Mo
concentration.8) Reduction of Ni6) (see Fig. 19) and Mn47,48)
also lowers the coarsening rate of M23C6 particles due to the
decrease of D. Diameter of M23C6 particles measured in
9Cr–W steel after creep rupture is plotted against creep ex-
posure time in Fig. 16.38) The figure demonstrates the de-
layed coarsening of M23C6 particles in the high W steel.
However, the reduced coarsening rate of M23C6 particles in
the W containing steel cannot be explained simply by Eq.
(21), and a multicomponent, multiphase coarsening theory
is needed to interpret the coarsening in engineering
steels.77) It is widely accepted that B reduces the coarsening
rate of M23C6.7,14,49–51) The reduction is ascribed to the seg-
regation of B to M23C6.7,50,51) The segregation has been con-
firmed with AP-FIM.11,52) The slow growth of M23C6 stabi-
lizes fine subgrains and improves the creep strength of steel
with W and B.
The coarsening rate of MX particles is 1/10 of that of
M23C6.8) Their coarsening is described by Eq. (20) with
n55, suggesting the coarsening controlled by pipe diffu-
sion.28) The value of Kd of MX particles is small due to the
low solubility of Nb and V in the ferrite matrix.8) Addition
of W28) and B53,54) does not affect the coarsening of MX
particles. MX carbo-nitride is not an equilibrium phase, and
a Z phase is formed by the consumption of MX particles.
649
Fig. 17. Stress-rupture data to high Cr ferritic steel at 650°C.
The appearance of the Z phase has been reported in many
high Cr ferritic steels.5,6,8,10,53) The Z particles readily grow
and are not useful for strengthening.5,8) The formation of
the Z phase has to be prevented to keep fine MX particles
for long duration. The formation can be delayed by reduc-
ing Nb6,8) and Ni6) concentration.
The coarsening of particles in ferritic steels is accelerat-
ed by creep deformation. The acceleration of M23C6 parti-
cles has been reported in literature.6,8,9,30,55) The formation
of the Z phase is also promoted by creep deformation.10)
8. Loss of Creep Rupture Strength during Long-term
Service
8.1. Stress–Rupture Behavior
As shown in Fig. 17, creep rupture strength of 11Cr–
2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel decreases quickly at rupture
lives longer than 2 000 h. The steel is tempered at a lower
temperature (680°C) and has the higher creep rupture
strength than the 9Cr–1.8W–0.4Mo–VNb, 11Cr–2W–
0.3Mo–CuVNb and 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steels tempered at a
higher temperature (760–780°C). However, its superiority
in rupture strength disappears at 100 MPa. If this loss of
rupture strength is prevented by some means as is the case
in the 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoReVNb steel (680°C temper-
ing), then we can achieve a significant improvement of rup-
ture strength. The loss of creep rupture strength is more ev-
ident in the steel tempered at a lower temperature6,14,25,26,31)
or in the steel containing W of more than 2 %.56) However,
the loss has been reported on 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel which
does not contain W and is tempered at a higher tempera-
ture.57) Stress–rupture curves of the steel are drawn in Fig.
18(a), and the solid curves were predicted from the short-
term data at the higher temperatures. The long-term data
points at 600 and 650°C deviate from the prediction to
shorter rupture life. A similar loss of rupture strength has
been observed in 11Cr–2W–0.3Mo–CuVNb steel tempered
at 780°C.58)
Figure 19(a)14) is an example of the loss of rupture
strength reported in 12Cr steel (without W and tempered at
650°C (0.52 % Ni) or 675°C (1.15 % Ni)). This figure points
out another important feature. The quick decrease in rup-
ture strength ceases at further lower stresses, and the stress–
rupture data show the sigmoidal curves. Similar sigmoidal
© 2001 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6

(a)

(b)

Fig. 19. (a) Stress–rupture data of 12Cr–0.5Mo–VNb steel at

600°C. (b) Effect of Ni on the growth of M23C6 particles
in the steel at 600°C.

Fig. 18. (a) Stress–rupture data of 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel. (b) TEM

micrograph of the steel crept to rupture, tr534 141 h, at
600°C under 100 MPa.

behavior has been reported in other steel.6)

8.2. Causes of Loss of Creep Rupture Strength
Figure 18(b)57) shows a dislocation substructure of the
9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel crept at 600°C under 100 MPa. The
loss of rupture strength is evident in Fig. 18(a) under the
creep condition. Small subgrains remain in the grain interi-
or, but a completely recovered band without sub-boundary
is formed along the grain boundary. Such enhanced recov-
ery along grain boundaries is not seen when the loss of rup-
ture strength does not occur at high stresses. Kushima et
al.57) have proposed that the enhanced recovery is the origin
of the loss of rupture strength. The loss of rupture strength
and the band of enhanced recovery have been confirmed in
11Cr–2W–0.3Mo–CuVNb steels.58,59) Creep curves of the
steel tested under 100 MPa at two temperatures are drawn
in Fig. 20(a).59) The time scale at each temperature is con- Fig. 20. Creep curves tested at several temperatures under the
verted to 650°C according to the following equation: same stress. (a) 11Cr–2W–0.3Mo–CuVNb steel, and (b)
11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel.
t650°C5tT ė m, T /ė m, 650°C ........................(22)
where tT is the time at a temperature T, and ė m, T and ė m, 650°C fully ductile at 650°C.
are the minimum creep rate at T and 650°C. The reduction The above findings propose the following scenario of the
of area measured after creep fracture is given in the figure. loss of rupture strength. During long-term tests, the en-
The steel is brittle and the loss of rupture strength is evident hanced recovery of subgrain structure takes place along
at 650°C, whereas it is fully ductile and the loss does not grain boundaries. Strain concentration along the boundary
occur at 700°C. The curve converted from 700°C suggests regions forms grain boundary cracks. This results in the
that the rupture life is extended by three times if the steel is low ductility, the premature failure and the loss of rupture

© 2001 ISIJ 650

 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6
strength. In the 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel of Fig. 18, MX parti-
cles are consumed to form the Z phase, and the disappear-
ance of the MX particles accords with the start of the loss
of rupture strength.60)
The aforementioned scenario is not always true. Creep
curves of 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel under 98 MPa
at 650°C (with the loss of rupture strength) and 700°C
(without the loss) are given in Fig. 20(b). The time scale of
the creep curve at 700°C is converted to 650°C based on
Eq. (22). The curve of 700°C suggests a creep curve we can
expect if the loss of rupture strength does not occur. The
loss of rupture strength corresponds to the sudden accelera-
tion of creep rate at a low strain in both 11Cr–2W–0.3Mo–
CuVNb and 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steels. However,
the reduction of area was always 90 % and the enhanced re-
covery along grain boundaries was not observed in the lat-
ter at 650°C.59) This fact indicates that there are several
other causes that bring about the loss of rupture strength.
High Cr ferritic steel containing more than 2 % W show
the loss of rupture strength.56) The drop of rupture strength
starts when the precipitation of Fe2W has finished.28,56,61)
Coarsening of M23C6 carbides in the 12Cr–0.5Mo–VNb
steel is depicted in Fig. 19(b).14) Diameter dp of the parti-
cles is plotted against creep exposure time t according to
Eq. (20) with n53. The dp3–t curves change from quick to
slow coarsening at a critical time: 13104 h in 1.15 % Ni and
33104 h in 0.52 % Ni. The critical time accords with the
appearance of the sigmoidal behavior in Fig. 19(a). In the
steel, therefore, the loss of rupture strength accords with the
quick coarsening of M23C6.
8.3. How to Recover from Loss of Creep Rupture
Strength
The quick drop of creep rupture strength in Fig. 19(a)
shifts toward longer life when the coarsening of M23C6 par-
ticles is slow in the low Ni steel. This fact suggests that the
loss can be delayed when Ni, Mn and Si are removed to re-
duce self-diffusion coefficient in the ferrite matrix.
Figure 17 includes the result of 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–
CoReVNb steel with Re.62) The steel contains similar
amounts of alloying elements to the 11Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–
CoVNb steel except Re. The loss of rupture strength does
not occur in the Re containing steel, suggesting an impor-
tant role of Re. Reduction of impurities such as Al from the
11–Cr–2.6W–0.1Mo–CoVNb steel is also effective to pre-
vent the loss of rupture strength63) Re is an interesting ele-
ment that can improve creep strength of high Cr ferritic
steel.22,62,64,65) Recovery of the dislocation substructure is
delayed in Re containing steel. Most of Re atoms are in so-
lution,22,62) and they should contribute to the stable disloca-
tion substructure. However, the detailed mechanism of the
stabilization has not been clarified yet.
9. Summary of Roles of Major Alloying Elements
9.1. W
It is widely accepted that the addition of W to high Cr
ferritic steel improves its creep strength.66,67) Part of W
atoms in the steel form Fe2W particles and the rest are in
solution. Spacing of the Fe2W particles is wider than those
of M23C6 and MX particles, and the Fe2W particles con-
651
tribute little to creep strength. Cottrell atmosphere dragging
due to W atoms68) and the effect of W on self-diffusion co-
efficient69) cannot explain the strengthening by W addition.
Major roles of W in the strengthening mechanism are relat-
ed to dislocation hardening. The W addition lowers Ms
point and makes a fine subgrain structure. The fine sub-
grains remain for long duration,56,70) since the density of
M23C6 pinning particles is kept at a high level in W contain-
ing steel.48,67) W by itself plays many important roles.
However, each role can be played by other elements. The
B2 steel18) developed recently in Europe does not contain
W but provides similar creep strength to W containing steel
such as NF616 and HCM12A.
9.2. B
The addition of a very small amount of B to high Cr fer-
ritic steel significantly improves its creep strength.50,54,71) B
delays the coarsening of M23C6 particles7,14,49–51) and keeps
fine subgrains.14,72) Most of B atoms are in solution. They
may be combined with vacancies and reduce self diffusion
coefficient of ferrite matrix.8) They may form Cottrell at-
mosphere around dislocations and increase creep deforma-
tion resistance.71) However the roles of B in solution have
not been fully understood yet.
9.3. MX Particles
V and Nb are added to disperse fine and thermally stable
MX particles within grains. Although the density of MX
particles is low in the usual high Cr ferritic steel (see Table
2), the particles are necessary to keep fine subgrains and to
improve creep strength of the steel. A comparison is made
in Fig. 21 among stress–rupture curves of three ferritic
steels: 9Cr–1.8W–0.4Mo–VNb steel (0.16V, 0.06Nb, 0.11C
and 0.036N) with W and MX,31) 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel
(0.22V, 0.09Nb, 0.10C and 0.051N) with MX but without
W,36) and 9Cr–2W steel (0.08C) with W but without MX
particles.73) Although the 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel contains the
larger amounts of V, Nb and N than the 9Cr–1.8W–0.4Mo–
VNb steel, the former is inferior to the latter in creep rup-
ture strength because of the absence of W. However, the
rupture lives of 9Cr–2W steel is substantially shorter than
those of the 9Cr–1Mo–VNb steel in spite of W addition.
The important role of the MX particles is obvious, but their
strengthening mechanism has not been solved in detail.
9.4. Other Elements
The roles of the major alloying elements in the high Cr
ferritic steel are summarized in Table 4. A Cr content of
9–12 % has to be added to attain sufficient oxidation resis-
tance above 600°C. B, W and Co suppress the coarsening
of M23C6 pining particles, and keep fine subgrains for a
long duration. The reduction of Si, Mn, Ni, and Mo also
contributes to retain the fine subgrain structure. Re prevents
the drop of creep rupture strength after long-term use.
The presence of a d ferrite phase is harmful both to creep
strength and toughness of the high Cr ferritic steel. Co or
Cu is added to suppress the formation of the d ferrite. Alloy
design based on the d-election state is useful for the reduc-
tion of the d ferrite.47,48)
Igarashi et al.8) have proposed a new steel based on a dif-
ferent strengthening concept from the conventional high Cr
ferritic steel. They introduced coherent FePd precipitates
© 2001 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 6
Table 4.
Fig. 21. Stress-rupture data of three high Cr
ferritic steels at 650°C.
into the steel. The dislocation substructure and the MX par-
ticles typical of the conventional steel are not necessary if
the precipitates are thermally stable and their spacing is fine
enough. Kimura et al.79) have pointed out recently that fer-
ritic steel without the dislocation substructure is superior to
martensitic steel in long-term creep strength. This fact ad-
vises us against taking the conventional strengthening con-
cept based on the dislocation hardening. Further studies are
required to assess these proposals.
10. Concluding Remarks
High Cr ferritic steel is characterized by its fine and elon-
gated subgrain structure, and there is a high density of free
dislocations within the subgrains. The steel contains M23C6
and Fe2M particles on sub-boundaries and MX particles
within subgrains. The dislocation substructure is the most
densely distributed obstacle to dislocation motion in the
steel. It determines the athermal yield stress of the steel at
intermediate temperatures, and its recovery controls creep
rate and rupture life of the steel at elevated temperatures.
Improvement of creep strength of the high Cr ferritic steel
requires a fine subgrain structure with a high density of free
dislocations. Because of a large driving force for recovery
due to the high dislocation density, pinning particles (MX
in subgrain interior and M23C6 on sub-boundaries) and
solute atoms (such as W, Co and B) are necessary to keep
the fine subgrains. Coarsening and agglomeration of the
pinning particles have to be delayed by reducing Si, Ni and
Mn concentration.
Creep rupture strength of the high Cr ferritic steel de-
creases quickly after long-term tests. In the steel tempered
at high temperature, the enhanced recovery of the subgrain
structure along grain boundaries is the cause of the prema-
ture failure and of the consequent loss of rupture strength.
Disappearance of the MX particles triggers the enhanced
recovery. However, the scenario is not always applicable. A
significant improvement of creep rupture strength can be
achieved if we can prevent the loss of rupture strength.
Reduction of diffusion coefficient in the ferrite matrix, ad-
dition of Re and removal of Al from the high Cr ferritic
steel have been proposed to prevent the loss of rupture
© 2001 ISIJ
Roles of each alloying element in creep of high Cr ferritic steels.
strength. However, many things are left unsolved on this
crucial problem.
W, B and MX carbo-nitride are very important elements
in creep of the high Cr ferritic steel. The addition of W re-
duces the initial subgrain size. W and B delay the coarsen-
ing of M23C6 particles and consequently retain the fine sub-
grains for a long duration. The MX particles also help to
keep the fine subgrains. As a result, the high Cr ferritic
steel has achieved the excellent creep strength.
Acknowledgments
The present research was supported by a grant-in-aid
from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and
Culture, Japan (No. 10555225). The authors express their
gratitude to Nippon Steel Corporation and Iron and Steel
Institute of Japan for their financial support.
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