Irradiation Response of the Ferrite Phase in CF3 Cast Stainless Steel

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2017 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:23047434

Yang, Yong; Li, Zhangbo ^[1]

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1. University of Florida, 549 Gale Lemerand Dr., Gainesville, FL, 32611 (United States)

Extending service of Light Water Reactors (LWRs) to beyond 60 years will demand a high integrity of materials and components in reactors. The accurate evaluation and prediction of materials performance under anticipated operation conditions are of particular importance for ensuring the safe operation of nuclear power plants over their extended lifetime. The duplex structure stainless steels including cast austenitic stainless steels (CASS) and welds of austenitic stainless steels are widely used in LWRs. The CASS alloys are mainly used in LWRs primary pressure boundary and for some limited core structural components. The type 308/309 welds are used for welding the reactor components made of 304 and 316 stainless steels and as a cladding layer on the inner surface of reactor pressure vessel. The core support columns made of CF8 CASS in a B and W design PWR are expected to be exposed to a fluence of between 1x10{sup 21} and 1x10{sup 22} n/cm{sup 2}, E>1.0 MeV, and the austenitic stainless steel welds can potentially receive a fluence up to 5x10{sup 22} n/cm{sup 2}, E>1.0 MeV. In addition to the thermal aging effect, the radiation induced fracture toughness in those duplex structure stainless steel components located in the high neutron fluence regions in LWRs hasn't be fully evaluated. Previous studies showed that the spinodal decomposition in the delta ferrite phase in CASS or type 308/309 welds is the primary embrittlement mechanism, and the G-phase precipitates were also identified but with less impact on the reduction of fracture toughness. It is generally agreed that the irradiation induced fracture toughness decrease in CASS and weld steels saturates after 10 dpa (∼1x10{sup 22} n/cm{sup 2}, E>1.0 MeV). Nevertheless, there are not enough high dose data points to confirm the lower bound in measured fracture toughness as the reported doses are limited to 15 dpa. The work in this paper is to present a more comprehensive study on the microstructural evolution in the ferrite phase in a CF3 CASS, and the results provide a scientific basis for extrapolating the change of fracture toughness to a high dose range.

• OSTI ID: 23047434
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 116; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ATOMIC DISPLACEMENTS
AUSTENITIC STEELS
CLADDING
EMBRITTLEMENT
FERRITE
FERRITES
FRACTURE PROPERTIES
IRRADIATION
MEV RANGE
MICROSTRUCTURE
NEUTRON FLUENCE
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PRESSURE VESSELS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION DOSES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR OPERATION
STAINLESS STEELS
WELDED JOINTS
WELDING