ISSN: 1546-962X
CODEN: JAIOAD
Published Online: 2 March 2007
Page Count: 9

Mechanical Property Changes in Reactor Vessel Materials Thermally Aged for 209 000 H at 260°C

Gunawardane, Heshan P.
Engineer, Materials and Structural Analysis, AREVA, Lynchburg, VA

Hall, J. Brian
Engineer, Materials and Structural Analysis, AREVA, Lynchburg, VA

Rosinski, Stan T.
Project Manager, EPRI, Charlotte, NC

(Received 27 May 2004; accepted 31 August 2005)

Abstract

Surveillance materials consisting of a SA-508 Class 2 forging, a Mn–Mo–Ni Linde 80 submerged-arc weld, and an SA-533, Grade B, Class 1, correlation monitor material were thermally aged on a commercial reactor pressure vessel. The materials were exposed to a thermal environment of 260°C for 209000h. This temperature is below the range (minimum of 370°C) where the effects of long-term thermal aging are typically considered relevant. Charpy impact, master curve transition temperature, upper-shelf fracture toughness, and tensile testing were conducted to evaluate the long-term thermal aging changes in material properties. Small changes in the impact properties were observed for all the materials, but were generally within the 95 % confidence bounds for typical Charpy data. Upper-shelf energy also showed small variations, but a general decrease for all materials was not seen. Fracture toughness testing at the upper shelf indicated that the upper-shelf toughness had increased, however the data is scattered. Master curve T0 testing in the transition region showed little change in the forging and plate results; however an improvement in the transition temperature of the weld metal was measured.

Keywords:
thermal aging, reactor vessel materials, Charpy, fracture toughness, transition temperature, tensile

Paper ID: JAI12430
DOI: 10.1520/JAI12430
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