SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1990
STP49470S

Evaluation of Irradiation Embrittlement by Instrumented Impact Testing

Four ferritic steels in the form of plate (A 533B) and weldments (A 533B plate and A 508 forging) were irradiated at 563 K to a nominal fast fluence of 1 × 10 19 n / cm 2 ( E > 1 Me V ) to explore the effective use of instrumented impact testing to determine the irradiation-induced changes in the dynamic properties. The copper, phosphorous, and nickel contents in these steels varied from 0.01 to 0.12 wt%, from 0.007 to 0.015 wt%, and from 0.56 to 0.93 wt%, respectively.

Load-temperature diagrams developed from the respective load-time traces were used to estimate the ductile brittle transition temperature ( T G Y ), dynamic yield strength, and cleavage fracture strength. Energy-temperature diagrams were used to estimate the energy corresponding to various stages of fracture processes.

The irradiation-induced temperature increases in T G Y in these steels were typically 20 to 30 K, and correspond well with the increases in the C V 41 J transition temperature, except in one steel. The dynamic yield strength of all these steels increased with neutron irradiation at all temperatures tested. The cleavage fracture strengths decreased with neutron irradiation for the two weldments.

The lateral expansion and time to brittle fracture values of these steels showed a linear correlation, and 0.89 mm of lateral expansion was found to correspond to 0.63 ms of brittle fracture time. The irradiation-induced increases in transition temperatures using these two approaches were found to be in good agreement.

Author Information

Chatterjee, Subrata
Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Bombay, India
Anantharaman, S.
Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Bombay, India
Viswanathan, U., K.
Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Bombay, India
Sivaramakrishnan, K., S.
Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Bombay, India
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: 496–514
DOI: 10.1520/STP49470S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-8887-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1266-7