Developing Creep and Stress Relaxation Models to Assess the Service Life of an Additive Manufactured Industrial-Scale Recuperator Utilizing Inconel 625 and AISI 310S Materials

This work is focused on the development of creep and stress relaxation models on Inconel 625 and Stainless Steel 310 materials for additive manufacturing. At the end, the operational lifespan of an industrial-scale additive manufactured recuperator is evaluated. An industrial-scale recuperator for burners with a highly complex geometry is manufactured using Continuous Wave SLM and Pulsed Wave Selective Laser Melting techniques. The recuperator operates under steady but high thermal loads, reaching temperatures of up to 875 °C. Therefore, its service life is assessed, considering creep and stress relaxation phenomena. Two different materials are evaluated: Inconel 625 and Stainless Steel 310. Tensile testing has been conducted on samples at various temperatures to acquire material parameters, incorporating appropriately the anisotropic nature of the materials. Creep parameters were determined through creep experiments and data from the literature, and the recuperator response was simulated by FEA modelling. Analytical creep and stress relaxation models were proposed based on the simulation results for each material to predict their creep response. The service life was determined by applying a custom failure criterion based on the creep testing data. The Inconel 625 recuperator exhibits a service life that is significantly higher compared to any burner’s life, while the Stainless Steel 310 recuperator exhibits approximately 27 years of service life. Both materials are considered suitable; however, Inconel 625 offers higher resistance to creep according to creep tests, and due to its lower thermal expansion coefficient, the resulting thermal stresses are lower.