Estimation of the microstructure and properties of ferritic creep-resistant steels

Creep resistant steels must be reliable over very long periods of time in severe environments. Their microstructures have to be very stable, both in the wrought and in the welded states. This paper reviews the quantitative methods for the design of steels for elevated temperature applications. A methodology is described for the calculation of complex precipitation reactions over periods extending many tens of years. However, microstructure alone is not enough in the design of alloys. The estimation of the creep rupture stress using a neural network technique is described in the second part of this review The calculation of the influence of solute-elements on the self-diffusivity of iron, which features in many creep equations, is an emerging area in alloy design. The methodology for such calculations is reviewed in the final section of the paper.