Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Residual lifetime analysis of power plant components requires information on the degree of degradation of the material. In case of hightemperature creep, material damage can be related to cavity formation or to the accumulated creep strain. At present, only metallographic replication technique is widely used for in-service inspection to detect creep cavitation. Other NDT-techniques like ultrasonic velocity and electrical resistivity, which have potential for detection of low pore concentrations, are being developed for practical application. The use of capacitive strain gages yields encouraging results for the long-time monitoring of creep deformation. Potential and limits of these NDT-techniques together with industrial needs for creep damage assessment are reviewed.