Estimate of thermal fatigue lifetime for the INCONEL 625lCF plate while exposed to concentrated solar radiation

A system for testing the thermal cycling of materials and components has been developed and installed at the DISTAL-I parabolic dish facility located at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA) in Spain. This system allows us to perform abrupt heating/cooling tests by exposing central solar receiver materials to concentrated solar radiation. These tests are performed to simulate both the normal and critical operational conditions of the central solar receiver. The thermal fatigue life for the INCONEL 625LCF (R) plate when subjected to concentrated solar radiation has been estimated with this system. We have also developed a numerical model that evaluates the thermal behavior of the plate material; additionally, the model yields the tensile-compressive stresses on the plate, which allow the estimation of the Stress-Life (S-N) fatigue curves. These curves show that the lifetime of the plate is within the High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) region at the operational temperatures of both 650 degrees C and 900 degrees C.