M.R. Govindaraju

Nondestructive evaluation of creep damage in power-plant steam generators and piping by magnetic measurements

Magnetic hysteresis measurements have been used to evaluate creep damage in power plant weldments. This method relies on the sensitivity of the magnetic properties of steels, such as coercivity, remanence and hysteresis loss, to microstructural changes occurring during creep. During high temperature creep there is a significant change in microstructure such as the formation of voids, dislocation networks and grain boundary cavities. The evolution of these defects during creep affects the magnetic properties by changing the impedance to magnetic domain wall motion and also by introducing internal demagnetizing fields associated with cavities. The present paper discusses results obtained from on-site inspection of creep damaged Cr-Mo steel welds at two thermal power plants. One of the objectives of this research was to establish whether there were any trends in the magnetic properties as a result of creep damage which could be used later as part of a more comprehensive screening procedure for monitoring the progress of creep damage.

The Dependence Of Magnetic Properties On Fatigue Behavior In A533B Nuclear Pressure Vessel Steels

Cyclic loading causes cumulative microstructural changes in materials. The magnetic properties of A533B steel are determined by both initial microstructures and microstructural changes induced by fatigue damage. From the results of a series of strain-controlled fatigue tests, the magnetic properties were found to change systematically with fatigue damage throughout the fatigue life. A linear relationship between magnetic remanence and mechanical modulus was observed. The fatigue lifetimes were also dependent on the initial microstructure, and a relationship between these lifetimes and pre-fatigue magnetic properties such as coercivity was observed. Therefore this study has demonstrated that magnetic measurements can be exploited to evaluate the progress of fatigue damage in steel.

Assessment of creep damage of ferromagnetic material using magnetic inspection

Results of inspection creep damage by magnetic hysteresis measurements on Cr-Mo steel are presented. It is shown that structure sensitive parameters such as coercivity, remanence and hysteresis loss are sensitive to the creep damage. Previous metallographic studies have shown that creep changes the microstructure of the material by introducing voids, dislocations, and grain boundary cavities. As cavities develop, dislocations and voids move out to the grain boundaries; therefore the total pinning sources for domain wall motion are reduced. This, together with the introduction of demagnetization field due to the cavities, results in the decrease of both coercivity and remanence. Numerical computations with a modified Jiles-Atherton model are presented which are consistent with the proposed mechanisms. >

Evaluation of fatigue damage in steel structural components by magnetoelastic Barkhausen signal analysis

This paper is concerned with using a magnetic technique for the evaluation of fatigue damage in steel structural components. It is shown that Barkhausen effect measurements can be used to indicate impending failure due to fatigue under certain conditions. The Barkhausen signal amplitude is known to be highly sensitive to changes in density and distribution of dislocations in materials. The sensitivity of Barkhausen signal amplitude to fatigue damage has been studied in the low‐cycle fatigue regime using smooth tensile specimens of a medium strength steel. The Barkhausen measurements were taken at depths of penetration of 0.02, 0.07, and 0.2 mm. It was found that changes in magnetic properties are sensitive to microstructural changes taking place at the surface of the material throughout the fatigue life. The changes in the Barkhausen signals have been attributed to distribution of dislocations in stage I and stage II of fatigue life and the formation of a macrocrack in the final stage of fatigue.

Monitoring neutron embrittlement in nuclear pressure vessel steels using micromagnetic Barkhausen emissions

In nuclear power plants, neutron embrittlement of pressure vessel steels has been one of the main concerns. The use of micromagnetic Barkhausen emissions is a promising method to monitor the variations in microstructural and subsurface stress states due to their influence on these emissions. Measurements of these emissions can reveal neutron irradiation degradation in nuclear power plant components. Samples which were irradiated at different neutron fluences and annealed at different temperatures were obtained from three reactor surveillance programs. The results of different neutron fluences and annealing procedures showed noticeable fractional changes in the magnetic Barkhausen effect signal parameter, ΔMBE/MBE, and in the mechanical properties of these specimens. For example, increased intensity of neutron fluence decreased the ΔMBE/MBE as well as impact energy and upper‐shelf energy, but increased Rockwell hardness and yield strength. Typical changes in this parameter were in the range from −20% to −4...

Influence of microstructure on micromagnetic Barkhausen emissions in AISI 4140 steel

The effects of microstructure on the micromagnetic Barkhausen signal emissions in AISI 4140 steel are reported. The Barkhausen signal amplitude is known to be highly sensitive to the type and distribution of microstructural inhomogeneities, such as grain boundaries, precipitates and dislocations. The Barkhausen measurements were taken on samples having pearlitic, spheroidized and bainitic microstructures. The Barkhausen emissions were measured in terms of rms voltage peak-to-peak voltage and number of events per cycle. It is shown that Barkhausen signals can be used to distinguish between pearlitic and bainitic microstructures.

Finite element modeling of creep damage effects on a magnetic detector signal for a seam weld/HAZ-region in a steel pipe

Creep damage in steel causes a reduction of magnetic properties. A mathematical model, previously formulated, accounts for this. Recently, this model was used in finite element modeling (FEM) of a magnetic C-core signal due to creep damage at a seam weld in Cr-Mo steam pipe. The FEM assumed unrealistically that in the absence of creep damage, the weld material and heat-affected zone (HAZ) and base metal all had the same magnetic properties, in this paper, new finite element simulations are presented for worst case relative permeabilities of 1271, 784 and 571 for base metal, HAZ, and weld material. Reduced permeability at the weld results in a considerably reduced emf at low probe magnetic fields. However, creep damage does produce an additional emf reduction that is large enough to be detected, even when the creep damage does not extend to the pipe wall surface. A method is suggested for calibrating the magnetic signal for weld, HAZ, and base metal effects.

Magnetic property variations in nickel caused by non-magnetic inclusions

A study of the effect of non-magnetic particles on the magnetic properties of nickel is reported. The presence of inclusions is known to affect the structure sensitive magnetic properties of materials. In this work, two kinds of inclusions, namely, alumina particles and voids were studied and their effects on the magnetic properties were investigated. Powder metallurgy techniques were used to produce nickel compacts with varying amounts of alumina present. While coercivity increased with the volume of inclusions present, initial permeability decreased. Other properties such as remanence and hysteresis loss did not show a significant variation due to their sensitivity to the demagnetizing effects of the inclusions. An attempt has been made in this paper to explain quantitatively the variation in the magnetic properties in terms of the amount of inclusions present. Magnetic property measurements could be a useful non-destructive technique for determining porosity in magnetic materials.

Magnetoelastic properties of terfenol composites (abstract)

Recent work was undertaken to identify the possibility of using composite Terfenol, consisting of Tb–Dy–Fe in a nonmagnetic, nonmetallic binder, for magnetoelastic sensor applications in which the material needs to be formed into complex shapes, and in which the high levels of magnetostriction obtained in Tb–Dy–Fe alone are unnecessary. Recent results reported by Sandlund et al.1 have indicated the possible use of such a material in high frequency applications. In this work we have studied the material for low frequency, or even dc applications, in which the material could be used to sense an applied torque. The results showed that these composite materials need magnetic fields of typically 800 kA/m to obtain the magnetostriction levels of 350 ppm reported elsewhere.2 Similar work by Peters3 needed fields of over 1 MA/m to obtain magnetostrictive strains beyond 100 ppm. Such field strengths are impractical for low power devices. From the present work, 38 μm Terfenol powder in an epoxy or polymer binder ga...

Effects of tensile stress on magnetic Barkhausen emissions in amorphous FeSiB alloy

Abstract Magnetic hysteresis and Barkhausen emissions have been measured for amorphous Fe 82 B 10 Si 8 samples with positive magnetostriction of λ s = 27 × 10 −6 under tensile stress of up to 35 MPa. The root mean square voltage of the Barkhausen signal and the number of events per cycle increased monotonically with the applied stress. The results are explained in terms of a theory which includes a stress-dependent hysteresis model and a stochastic process model for the Barkhausen emissions.