Evaluating the Residual Life of Long-Term Equipment Made of Structural and Heat-Resistant Steel by Using the Structural–Mechanical Criterion.

The use of acoustic and magnetic methods of non-destructive testing to detect zones of stable localization of deformation in order to assess and predict the performance of long-term equipment is of scientific and practical interest at present. A structural–mechanical criterion was developed that reflects the relationships between the structural and substructural states, internal stress fields and stable localization of deformations with the characteristics of non-destructive tests in the metal of long-term equipment made of structural 0.2 C steel and heat-resistant 0.12C-1Cr-1Mo-1V steel. The values of the structural–mechanical criteria K_s.-m for structural 0.2 C steel and for heat-resistant 0.12C-1Cr-1Mo-1V steel, corresponding to the moment of stable localization of deformation, are established. At the same time, it is recommended to replace the checked equipment nodes due to the exhaustion of the resource. The proposed and justified approach to assessing and predicting the performance and residual life of long-term power equipment, based on the identified relationships between the structural and substructural states, internal stress fields and stable localization of deformations with the characteristics of non-destructive tests and the calculation of the structural–mechanical criterion, was applied at a number of power plants in the Kemerovo region—Kuzbass. A methodology was developed for evaluating the residual life, based on the identification and use of relationships between structural and substructural states, internal stress fields and stable localization of deformations with the characteristics of non-destructive tests and the calculation of a structural–mechanical criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]