SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1990
STP49448S

SANS and DENS Study of Irradiation Damage in a Reactor Pressure Vessel Material with a Systematic Variation of Irradiation Dose and Heat Treatments

Defect clusters in a commercial RPV material, generated by a series of four controlled irradiations in a test reactor, and their thermal evolution with different heat treatments were investigated by SANS, and the studies were completed by independent DENS experiments performed with a triple-axis neutron spectrometer. The mean radius of the particles increases with the fluence and saturates, at the value of 7–9 Å, beyond the dose 1.5 10 19 n / cm 2 . From the ratio of their magnetic versus nuclear contrasts, the copper content of the particles was determined; for the volume fraction of the particles, one obtains 0.15 to 0.18% beyond the lowest dose 5 × 10 18 n / cm 2 . The irradiated-annealed-reirradiated samples show a scattering pattern indicating a bimodal size distribution, with an “aged” kind of particle with radii of 20 to 30 Å and a higher copper content than those described by the main peak near 7 to 9 Å. The DENS data confirm the SANS scattering curves at small ( κ < 0.3 Å 1 ) momentum transfers, and add new information at the intermediate 0.3 to 0.6 Å−1 range; this allows a more reliable determination of the size distribution. A short discussion of the correlated “inherent” variances for the parameters of the logarithmic-normal distribution, as determined from the neutron cross section, is given.

Author Information

Solt, Georges
Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
Frisius, Friedrich
Research Center GKSS, Gcesthacht, Germany
Waeber, Waldemar, B.
Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
Bührer, Willi
ETH Zurich, c/o PSI, Villigen, Switzerland
Price: $25.00
Contact Sales
Related
Reprints and Permissions
Reprints and copyright permissions can be requested through the
Copyright Clearance Center
Details
Developed by Committee: E10
Pages: 154–164
DOI: 10.1520/STP49448S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-8887-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1266-7