InertStrain: Long term creep strain measurement at high temperature using inert gas

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Long term creep monitoring in steam pipes is of crucial importance to the safe operation of power plants. The InertStrain proposal aims to develop an innovative creep strain measurement technique which can be applied to power plants. The central idea is to use inert gas to protect the inspection area of a component from oxidation and other contamination on the original surface of a high temperature pipe up to 650°C so that accurate creep strain measurement can be made over a prolonged period of time in a power plant environment. A patent application (GB1411277.5) has been filed to protect the concept. The main innovation of this proposal lies on the implementation of this patent, i.e. to research and validate that air-tight sealing using inert gas such as Argon can be achieved to protect the inspection area over prolonged time, so that accurate creep strain can be measured by digital image correlation technique. The sealing must survive numerous cycles between ambient temperature and operating temperature up to 650°C in a power plant over many months, years or even decades.