Summary: | Creep rupture tests of 9Cr-3W-3Co steel were conducted in the range of 120 to 200 MPa at 650 °C. The influence of stress on microstructure evolution was investigated in detail. In the high stress regime, a large density of dislocation was generated and induced precipitation of fine and dispersive particles. However, at lower stresses, a transformation from martensite laths to large size subgrains and a coarsening of precipitates took place due to significant recovery and loss of pinning effect during long term exposure. Thermodynamic results revealed decreasing tungsten content effectively retarded the coarsening behavior of M<sub>23</sub>C<sub>6</sub> and Laves phase, hence further improvement of creep rupture time was achieved experimentally.
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