Experimental study of elastoplastic mechanical properties of coke drum materials

Coke drums are vertical pressure vessels used in the delayed coking process in petroleum refineries. Significant temperature variation during the delayed coking process causes the useful life of coke drums to be shortened. In order to better understand the failure mechanisms, a experimental study of elastic/plastic mechanical properties and deformation behaviors of typical coke drum materials was performed.;A new biaxial thermal-mechanical material testing system has been successfully developed. Basic characterization of mechanical properties of coke drum materials is achieved through uniaxial monotonic and cyclic loading tests. In addition, strain-rate dependence and creep of coke drum materials were further experimentally investigated. Complex thermal-mechanical cyclic tests were conducted. The experimental findings help us to understand the damage mechanisms of coke drums such as bulging. In addition, experimental data serve as benchmark data to verify the predictions of the temperature dependent elastoplastic constitutive model.