Fracture toughness behavior of unirradiated and irradiated 2 1/4 Cr-1 Mo steel plate and weldment

Journal Article · Tue Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1984 · Nucl. Technol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6315569

Mills, W J

The J /SUB Ic/ fracture toughness behavior of unirradiated and irradiated 2 1/4Cr-1 Mo steel plate and weldment was characterized by the multiple-specimen R curve technique using 0.577 in.-thick (T), 1-T, and 2-T compact specimens. At room temperature, the unirradiated plate exhibited limited plastic deformation and then failed catastrophically due to unstable crack growth in the transition temperature regime. At 427/sup 0/C, the 2 1/4Cr-1 Mo base metal failed in a stable crack growth mode, and the J /SUB Ic/ value was twice that obtained at room temperature (145 versus 70 to 90 kJ/m/sup 2/). The weldment was found to be very resistant to unstable tearing at both 24 and 427/sup 0/C. Its J /SUB Ic/ response, 175 kJ/m/sup 2/ at 24/sup 0/C and 116 kJ/m/sup 2/ at 427/sup 0/C, was superior to that of the plate at room temperature, but slightly lower than the base metal toughness at 427/sup 0/C. The effect of specimen size on the elastic-plastic fracture toughness response of the plate and weldment was characterized at 427/sup 0/C. The 0.577-T and 2-T plate specimens were found to yield comparable J /SUB Ic/ values; however, the smaller specimen exhibited a steeper R curve and higher tearing modulus. The 0.577-T and 1-T weld specimens yielded comparable fracture toughness properties. The J /SUB Ic/ fracture toughness for both the plate and weldment was reduced by about 20% as a result of irradiation to total fluences of 3.2 X 10/sup 21/ to 5.0 X 10/sup 21/ n/cm/sup 2/. The tearing resistance of the plate was found to be insensitive to irradiation, but a fourfold degradation in the tearing modulus was observed in the irradiated weldment.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Hanford Company, Richland, Washington
• OSTI ID: 6315569
• Journal Information: Nucl. Technol.; (United States), Journal Name: Nucl. Technol.; (United States) Vol. 64:2; ISSN NUTYB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360106* -- Metals & Alloys-- Radiation Effects
ALLOYS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CHROMIUM STEELS
CHROMIUM-MOLYBDENUM STEELS
CRACK PROPAGATION
DEFORMATION
DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
ELASTICITY
FRACTURE PROPERTIES
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
JOINTS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PLASTICITY
RADIATION EFFECTS
STEELS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TESTING
WELDED JOINTS