Creep behaviour of AISI 316H stainless steel under stress-varying creep loading conditions: primary creep regeneration

Primary creep regeneration (PCR) is an important reported observation from creep under stress-varying conditions for several alloys. For a specimen deforming in the secondary creep regime, a stress reversal leads to an enhanced creep rate upon reloading due to reactivation of the primary creep regime (i.e. PCR). This paper focuses on an investigation of the PCR phenomenon during stress-varying creep loading for AISI 316H stainless steel at 650°C. The experimental observations clarify the influence of different parameters (e.g. forward creep stress level, reverse stress magnitude and forward and reverse accumulated inelastic strain) on the extent of PCR activation. In addition, a correlation between the extent of PCR activation and inelastic strain accumulation during the reverse loading period was found, which was employed to develop an empirical–phenomenological model for prediction of the creep behaviour of the alloy after stress transients (e.g. stress reversals).