Strain-Rate Effects on Microstructural Deformation in Irradiated 316 SS

A series of studies have been performed to investigate the post-irradiation deformation and failure behavior of 12% cold-worked 316 stainless steel following irradiation to variety of doses and temperatures in the outer rows of the experimental breeder reactor II (EBR-II). In the current phase of these studies, three sets of samples with different radiation induced microstructures have been characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) following tensile testing to failure at a ‘fast’ strain-rate (1 x 10-3 s-1) and a ‘slow’ strain-rate (1 x 10-7 s-1). The samples were irradiated to doses between 9 and 41 dpa at temperatures between 383 and 443 degrees C. Tensile tests were conducted at a temperature of 430 degrees C and only regions outside of the necked region were examined. Over the parameters tested, strain-rate had a negligible effect on the deformation microstructure. In addition, there was no clear evidence of localized deformation behavior and the deformation appeared relatively homogeneous, characterized by unfaulting and incorporation of faulted dislocation loops into the general dislocation network structure. The influence of the defect microstructures and strain-rate on deformation behavior is discussed

Effect of neutron irradiation on the microstructure of modified SUS316 stainless steels

The microstructures, prior and posterior to volumetrically remarkable swelling, of heavily neutron-irradiated specimens of compositionally-modified SUS316 based steel were carefully studied and characterized by using transmission electron microscope(TEM) and high resolution TEM to make clear an onset mechanism of radiation-induced swelling as well as an effect of neutron irradiation on microstructure. As the results of TEM study, it was demonstrated that the microstructural evolutions, including radiation-induced swelling, depended strongly on the irradiation condition. The relationship between the onset of swelling and microstructural evolution is quite complicated but the effects of irradiation temperature on microstructural changes appear to be relatively large. The onset mechanisms of swelling at a specific temperature or temperature range are discussed from the viewpoint of microstructure in this paper

Mechanical Behavior of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steels Irradiated in JOYO

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels, which are candidate materials for water-cooled solid breeder blankets, were fabricated with several manufacturing parameters, and then irradiated in the experimental fast reactor JOYO to evaluate their irradiation behavior. Engineering stress strain curves of ODS steels irradiated at 673 K exhibited superior material response, i.e., increased tensile strength due to irradiation hardening and no loss of total elongation. Also, their temperature dependence of tensile properties indicated that degradation of the tensile properties at elevated temperature, which is closely related to phase stability during irradiation, could be avoided due to optimal combination of manufacturing parameters, such as chemical composition, types of inert gas during mechanical alloying, heat-treatment temperature and initial phases of the matrix

Mechanical properties and microstructural stability of 11Cr-ferritic/martensitic steel cladding under irradiation

The in-reactor creep rupture tests of 11Cr-0.5Mo-2W, V, Nb F/M steel were carried out in the temperature range from 823 to 943 K using Materials Open Test Assembly in the Fast Flux Test Facility and tensile and temperature-transient-to-burst specimens were irradiated in the experimental fast reactor JOYO at temperatures between 693 and 1013 K to fast neutron doses ranging from 11 to 102 dpa. The results of post irradiation mechanical tests showed that there was no significant degradation in tensile and transient burst strengths even after neutron irradiation below 873 K, but that there was significant degradation in both strengths at neutron irradiation above 903 K. On the other hand, the in-reactor creep rupture times were equal or greater than those of out-reactor creep even after neutron irradiation at all temperatures. This creep rupture behavior was different from that of tensile and transient burst specimens