The effects of hydrogen isotopes and helium on the tensile properties of 21-6-9 stainless steel

Conference · Sun Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5404829

Morgan, M J

High-energy-rate-forged (HERF) stainless steels are used as the materials of construction for tritium and deuterium reservoirs. Hydrogen and helium, the decay product of tritium, are known to embrittle stainless steels (1--4). The resistance to hydrogen and helium induced embrittlement is relatively good for HERF stainless steels when compared to annealed stainless steels due to their high number density of dislocations, which act as traps for hydrogen and helium. However, the degree of the embrittlement in these materials can vary considerably because of microstructure and yield strength variations introduced during the forging process. In this study the effect of hydrogen and tritium on the room temperature tensile properties of 21-6-9 stainless steel was measured as a function of HERF yield strength in the range of 500 to 918 MPa. The effect of a microstructures was studied also by conducting tensile tests with both HERF samples and annealed samples.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-89SR18035
• OSTI ID: 5404829
• Report Number(s): WSRC-MS-90-105; CONF-901008--14; ON: DE92011256
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
080200 -- Hydrogen-- Storage
Transport & Handling
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103* -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
ALLOYS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DUCTILITY
ELEMENTS
EMBRITTLEMENT
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAT AFFECTED ZONE
HELIUM
HIGH ALLOY STEELS
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TRITIUM
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
YIELD STRENGTH
ZONES