SEDL / STP / STP1447-EB / STP11238S

Hardening Mechanisms in Ferritic/Martensitic Steels

Baluc, N
Senior Scientists, Centre of Research in Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM - Swiss Confederation, Fusion Technology Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne,

Schäublin, R
Senior Scientists, Centre of Research in Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM - Swiss Confederation, Fusion Technology Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne,

Spätig, P
Senior Scientists, Centre of Research in Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM - Swiss Confederation, Fusion Technology Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne,

Victoria, M
Senior Scientists, Centre of Research in Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM - Swiss Confederation, Fusion Technology Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne,

Pages: 11    Published: Jan 2004

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Abstract

Reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels are promising materials for the first wall of the future fusion reactors that will suffer irradiation damage from 14 MeV fusion neutrons. They have proven to be a good alternative to austenitic steels for their higher swelling resistance and their lower accumulation of damage. Unfortunately, most of these steels exhibit low temperature irradiation-induced hardening, which imposes a severe restriction on the reactor applications at temperatures below about 400°C. In the present paper, the irradiation-induced microstructures of a number of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels are reviewed in order to identify the key elements to hardening mechanisms.