Tensile and Charpy Impact Properties of Irradiated Reduced Activation Ferritic Steels
SourceTensile tests were conducted on eight reduced-activation Cr-W steels after irradiation to 15–17 and 26–29 dpa, and Charpy impact tests were conducted on the steels irradiated to 26–29 dpa. Irradiation was in the Fast Flux Test Facility at 365 °C on steels containing 2.25–12% Cr, varying amounts of W, V, and Ta, and 0.1%C. Previously, tensile specimens were irradiated to 6–8 dpa and Charpy specimens to 6–8, 15–17, and 20–24 dpa. Tensile and Charpy specimens were also thermally aged to 20000 h at 365°C. Thermal aging had little effect on the tensile behavior or the ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), but several steels showed a slight increase in the upper-shelf energy (USE). After ≈7 dpa, the strength of the steels increased and then remained relatively unchanged through 26–29 dpa (i.e., the strength saturated with fluence). Post-irradiation Charpy impact tests after 26–29 dpa showed that the loss of impact toughness, as measured by an increase in DBTT and a decrease in the USE, remained relatively unchanged from the values after 20–24 dpa, which had been relatively unchanged from the earlier irradiations. As before, the two 9Cr steels were the most irradiation resistant.