SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1996
STP16495S

The Dependence of Radiation Hardening and Embrittlement on Irradiation Temperature

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Assessments of the hardening and embrittlement of pressure vessel steels and welds as a function of neutron dose use trend curves derived from surveillance programmes and accelerated irradiation data. A temperature dependent factor is incorporated for assessing vessel locations operating at different temperatures. As hardening and embrittlement arise from the sum of matrix damage and copper impurity precipitation, the influence of irradiation temperature on each process needs to be established. For irradiations performed below ~300°C recent data shows that the dose-dependent growth of copper precipitates ceases at a mean diameter of about 2 nm that also corresponds to peak hardening and embrittlement by copper. For doses beyond this peak copper dose the property-dependence on irradiation temperature can be identified with that of matrix damage alone. An analysis of several experiments on plate steels, performed at differing irradiation temperatures, has permitted the temperature dependence of matrix hardening to be defined by the simple empirical factor FT=1.869-4.57×10-3T where T is the irradiation temperature. When a linear correlation between irradiation hardening and embrittlement is observed, then FT can be used to analyse the temperature dependence of matrix embrittlement. The validity of using FT in successfully correlating irradiation results has been demonstrated for several plate steels and welds with differing copper contents.

Author Information

Jones, RB
Nuclear Electric plc, Berkeley Technology Centre, Berkeley, Glos., United Kingdom
Williams, TJ
Fracture Technology, Rolls-Royce and Associates Limited, Raynesway, Derby, United Kingdom
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Details
Developed by Committee: E10
Pages: 569–590
DOI: 10.1520/STP16495S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5328-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-2016-7