Effect of Tempering Temperature on Microstructure and Sulfide Stress Cracking of 125 Ksi Grade Casing Steel

• Published in: Materials Vol. 15; no. 7; p. 2589
• Main Authors: Luo, Ming, Zhou, Gao-Yang, Shen, Han, Wang, Xin-Tian, Li, Mou-Cheng, Zhang, Zhong-Hua, Cao, Guang-Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Aging; Backscattering; Casing; Cooling; Corrosion; Crack initiation; Crack propagation; Crack sensitivity; Dislocation density; Elections; Energy industry; Grain boundaries; High temperature; Hydrogen; Hydrogen embrittlement; Mechanical properties; Microstructure; Misalignment; Steel; Stress cracking; Stress intensity factors; Tempering; Yield strength; tempering temperature; mechanical property; 125 ksi; casing steel; sulfide stress cracking
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma15072589

The influence of tempering temperature on the microstructure of 0.5Cr0.4W steels was investigated by scanning electron microscope, and the roles of grain boundary character, dislocation, and Taylor factor in sulfide stress cracking (SSC) resistance were interpreted using the election backscattered diffraction technique. The 0.5Cr0.4W steels tempered at 690 °C, 700 °C, and 715 °C all showed tempered martensites. The specimen tempered at 715 °C exhibited a higher critical stress intensity factor (KISSC) of 34.58 MPa·m0.5, but the yield strength of 800 MPa did not meet the criterion of 125 ksi (862 MPa) grade. When the specimen was tempered at 690 °C, the yield strength reached 960 MPa and the KISSC was only 21.36 MPa·m0.5, displaying poorer SSC resistance. The 0.5Cr0.4W steel tempered at 700 °C showed a good combination of yield strength (887 MPa) and SSC resistance (KISSC: 31.16 MPa·m0.5). When increasing the tempering temperature, the local average misorientation and Taylor factor of the 0.5Cr0.4W steels were decreased. The reduced dislocation density, and greater number of grains amenable to slippage, produced less hydrogen transport and a lower crack sensitivity. The SSC resistance was, thus, increased, owing to the minor damage to hydrogen aggregation. Therefore, 700 °C is a suitable tempering temperature for 0.5Cr0.4W casing steel.