Abstract
The factors that govern the life of boiler components include creep, creep-fatigue, fatigue and corrosion. Among them creep and creep-fatigue are important and dominant failure mechanisms for high temperature components, and various researches and development in creep life assessment have been extensively carried out. Presently the creep damage detecting method and life assessment technique based on physical properties have not yet been completely established, however the metallographic techniques have become available and widely used for the detection fo creep damages and life assessment. This paper reviews recent progress and status in various life assessment methodologies including nondestructive metallographic evaluation, physical evaluation, creep modeling and destructive evaluation as well as the practical experiences with creep damages and materials degradations.
