SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1990
STP49488S

The Swelling Behavior of Titanium-Stabilized Austenitic Steels Used as Structural Materials of Fissile Subassemblies in Phénix

The global behavior of CW 316Ti and CW 15-15Ti steels irradiated as fissile pins are compared, and the major variables acting on swelling and irradiation creep resistance of cold-worked (CW) 316Ti clads, wrappers, and pressurized tubes are examined in more detail. The irradiation creep modulus derived from pressurized tubes results allows a good prediction of the plastic deformations observed on the wrappers, but not on the clads. Fissile pin cladding swells more and the data scatter is larger than for wrappers or experimental specimens. Flux or primary stress differences can not be invoked to explain this difference. On the other hand, the thermal gradient in the thickness of the components appears to be a significant parameter. In fissile pins the thermal gradient causes a swelling gradient which can be observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This swelling gradient must be taken into account when comparing to the wrapper. As compared to CW 316Ti, CW 15-15Ti is an important improvement because its incubation dose for swelling is beyond 100 dpa. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of swelling is less in 15-15Ti than in 316Ti, so that the 15-15Ti steel should be less sensitive to thermal gradients.

Author Information

Seran, Jean-Louis
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Sacley, GIF-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
Touron, H.
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Sacley, GIF-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
Maillard, A.
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Sacley, GIF-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
Dubuisson, P.
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Sacley, GIF-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
Hugot, J., P.
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
Boulbin, E., Le
COGEMA/Centrale Phenix, Bagnols sur Ceze, France
Blanchard, P.
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Cadarache, St. Paul lez Durance, France
Pelletier, M.
Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Cadarache, St. Paul lez Durance, France
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Details
Developed by Committee: E10
Pages: 739–752
DOI: 10.1520/STP49488S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-8887-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1266-7