In the present work, studies have been carried out on the variations in the microstructure and hardness of P91 base-metal and welded joint. This variations result from the grit blasting and thermal cycle experienced during the thermal spraying process. The microstructural effects have been analyzed in terms of the depth of the deformation zone. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Xray diffraction were used as characterization techniques. The grit blasting carried out prior to thermal spraying has resulted in the highest change in sub-surface hardness of the heat affected zone (HAZ). However, flame treatment further reduced the subsurface hardness of the heat affected zone. The depth of deformation zone was highest for inter-critical heat affected zone (IC-HAZ). The overall coating process resulted in an increase in subsurface hardness of various regions of HAZ and fusion zone (FZ). The base metal showed a 7% increase in subsurface hardness due to the overall coating process. The IC-HAZ showed maximum variation with 36% increase in subsurface hardness. The coarse grained heat affected zone (CG-HAZ) and FZ did not show any change in subsurface hardness. As a whole, the hardness and microstructure of the welded joint was observed to be more sensitive to the thermal spray coating process as compared to the base metal.

The welding of nuclear grade P91 and P92 steel plate of thickness 5.2 mm were performed using the autogenous tungsten

inert gas (TIG) welding process. The welded joint of P91 and P92 steel plate were subjected to the varying post weld heat-treatment

(PWHT) including the post weld heat treatment (PWHT) and re-austenitizing based tempering (PWNT). A comparative study was

performed related to the microstructure evolution in fusion zone (FZ) of both the welded joint using the scanning electron microscope

and optical microscope in a different condition of heat treatment. The hardness test of the FZ for both joints was also conducted in

a different condition of heat treatment. P92 steel welded joint have observed the higher tendency of the δ ferrite formation that led

to the great variation in hardness of the P92 FZ. The homogeneous microstructure (absence of δ ferrite) and acceptable hardness

was observed after the PWNT treatment for both the welded joint.

In present work, two nuclear grade steel (P91, P92) are joined using the arc welding process. The welded joints were subjected to the heat treatment in order to restore the mechanical properties and overcome the heterogeneity across the joints. The weldments were studied for microstructure evolution and mechanical behavior under different condition of heat treatment. The variation in mechanical behavior obtained for the welded joints were tried to relate the microstructural evolution. After the normalizing based heat treatment, homogeneity with negligible δ ferrite across the welded joints was observed.

Maintenance of assets and equipment in power plants is essential for their safety and is required to help the plant stay active. In this paper, the specimens manufactured from a pipe of X10CrMoVNb9-1 (P91) power engineering steel in the as-received state and after operating for 80000 h at internal pressure of 8.4 MPa and temperature of 540ºC were subjected to tests using electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) under static loading of up to 2.5 kN. Such a procedure enables assessment of strain and stress distribution maps to compare material integrity in the as-received state and after exploitation in its elastic range. The measurements conducted showed no effect of long time operation on the mechanical response of P91 steel under the power installations conditions since the field strain distributions for each type of specimen were found to be similar.

In order to improve the efficiency of power generation system and reduce CO2 emissions power plants work at high temperature and pressure. Under such conditions modified steel 9Cr, which fulfils the requirements concerning creep resistance, is used. However, Cr2O3 formed on the steel does not protect the construction material in the atmosphere which contains CO2 and SO2. The aim of the experiment was to study the behaviour of P91 steel in CO2 atmosphere with the addition of 1% and 5 vol.% of SO2 at different temperatures (700, 800 and 900°C). It was concluded that the corrosion rate of P91 steel is increasing with a rise in temperature. Scales formed in CO2 atmosphere at 900°C contain a mixture of iron oxides in the outer layer and chromium-iron spinel in the inner layer. The FeS and Ni were found in the inner zone of scales formed in SO2 atmosphere.