Influence of liquid lead and lead–bismuth eutectic on tensile, fatigue and creep properties of ferritic/martensitic and austenitic steels for transmutation systems

Dominique Gorse, Thierry Auger, Jean-Bernard Vogt, Ingrid Serre, Alfons Weisenburger, Alessandro Gessi, Pietro Agostini, Concetta Fazio, Anna Hojna, Fosca Di Gabriele, Joris Van den Bosch, Gunter Coen, Abderrahim Almazouzi, Marta Serrano, Serguei Gavrilov

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    Tensile, fatigue and creep properties of the Ferritic/Martensitic (F/M) steel T91 and of the Austenitic Stainless (AS) Steel 316L in lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) or lead, obtained in the EUROTRANS-DEMETRA project are reviewed. The results show a remarkable consistency, referring to the variety of metallurgical and surface state conditions studied. Liquid Metal Embrittlement (LME) effects are shown, remarkable on heat-treated hardened T91 and also on corroded T91 after long-term exposure to low oxygen containing Liquid Metal (LM), but hardly visible on passive or oxidized smooth T91 specimens. For T91, the ductility trough was estimated, starting just above the melting point of the embrittler (TM,E = 123.5 °C for LBE, 327 °C for lead) with the ductility recovery found at 425 °C. LME effects are weaker on 316L AS steel. Liquid Metal Assisted Creep (LMAC) effects are reported for the T91/LBE system at 550 °C, and for the T91/lead system at 525 °C. Today, if the study of the LME effects on T91 and 316L in LBE or lead can be considered well documented, in contrast, complementary investigations are necessary in order to quantify the LMAC effects in these systems, and determine rigorously the threshold creep conditions.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)284-292
    JournalJournal of Nuclear Materials
    Volume415
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 31 Aug 2011
    EventInternational DEMETRA Workshop on Development and Assessment of Structural Materials and Heavy Liquid Metal technologies for Transmutation Systems - FZK Karlsruhe, Berlin
    Duration: 2 Mar 20104 Mar 2010

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