TY - GEN
T1 - The influence of different chemical elements in the hardening-embrittlement of RPV-steels.
AU - Lambrecht, Marlies
AU - Al Mazouzi, Abderrahim
A2 - Malerba, Lorenzo
N1 - Score = 1
PY - 2008/7/25
Y1 - 2008/7/25
N2 - The hardening and embrittlement of RPV-steels is of great concern in the actual NPP life assessment. This embrittlement is caused by irradiation-induced damage. The current procedure to estimate material properties for the irradiated pressure vessels is based on Charpy-V tests. But the reason for the embrittlement of the materials is not yet known. The real nature of the irradiation damage should thus be examined as well as its evolution in time.
Fe-Cu binary alloys are often used to mimic the behaviour of such steels. More recently the influence of manganese and nickel in low-Cu RPV-steels has become a significant topic. Thus in contrast with the existing models in the literature, where it is predicted that the hardening saturates after a certain dose, alloys containing nickel and manganese irradiated at SCK•CEN showed a continuing increase of the hardening. PAS-analyses show that the main objects causing hardening are most probably interstitial clusters decorated with manganese in the Cu-free alloy. While in the RPV-steel and Fe-CuMnNi alloy, the main effect is still due to Cu-rich precipitates at low dose, but the role of manganese becomes pre-dominant at high dose.
AB - The hardening and embrittlement of RPV-steels is of great concern in the actual NPP life assessment. This embrittlement is caused by irradiation-induced damage. The current procedure to estimate material properties for the irradiated pressure vessels is based on Charpy-V tests. But the reason for the embrittlement of the materials is not yet known. The real nature of the irradiation damage should thus be examined as well as its evolution in time.
Fe-Cu binary alloys are often used to mimic the behaviour of such steels. More recently the influence of manganese and nickel in low-Cu RPV-steels has become a significant topic. Thus in contrast with the existing models in the literature, where it is predicted that the hardening saturates after a certain dose, alloys containing nickel and manganese irradiated at SCK•CEN showed a continuing increase of the hardening. PAS-analyses show that the main objects causing hardening are most probably interstitial clusters decorated with manganese in the Cu-free alloy. While in the RPV-steel and Fe-CuMnNi alloy, the main effect is still due to Cu-rich precipitates at low dose, but the role of manganese becomes pre-dominant at high dose.
KW - RPV-steel
KW - positron annihilation spectroscopy
KW - irradiation-induced hardening
UR - http://ecm.sckcen.be/OTCS/llisapi.dll/open/ezp_93322
UR - http://ecm.sckcen.be/OTCS/llisapi.dll/open/ezp_93322_2
UR - http://knowledgecentre.sckcen.be/so2/bibref/5417
M3 - In-proceedings paper
SN - 9789264048065
T3 - Nuclear Science
SP - 457
EP - 466
BT - Structural Materials for Innovative Nuclear Systems (SMINS)
CY - Paris, France
T2 - Workshop on Structural Materials for Innovative Nuclear Systems (SMINS)
Y2 - 4 June 2007 through 6 June 2007
ER -