Thermodynamic and kinetic modeling of Mn-Ni-Si precipitates in low-Cu reactor pressure vessel steels

Ke, Huibin; Wells, Peter; Edmondson, Philip D.; Almirall, Nathan; Barnard, Leland; Odette, G. Robert; Morgan, Dane

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2017.07.021

Title: Thermodynamic and kinetic modeling of Mn-Ni-Si precipitates in low-Cu reactor pressure vessel steels

Journal Article · Wed Jul 12 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2017.07.021· OSTI ID:1376331

^[1]; Wells, Peter ^[2];

^[3]; Almirall, Nathan ^[2]; Barnard, Leland ^[4]; Odette, G. Robert ^[2];

^[1]

Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Elysium Industries, Boston, MA (United States)

Formation of large volume fractions of Mn-Ni-Si precipitates (MNSPs) causes excess irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels at high, extended-life fluences. Thus, a new and unique, semi-empirical cluster dynamics model was developed to study the evolution of MNSPs in low-Cu RPV steels. The model is based on CALPHAD thermodynamics and radiation enhanced diffusion kinetics. The thermodynamics dictates the compositional and temperature dependence of the free energy reductions that drive precipitation. The model treats both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, where the latter occurs on cascade damage, like dislocation loops. The model has only four adjustable parameters that were fit to an atom probe tomography (APT) database. The model predictions are in semi-quantitative agreement with systematic Mn, Ni and Si composition variations in alloys characterized by APT, including a sensitivity to local tip-to-tip variations even in the same steel. The model predicts that heterogeneous nucleation plays a critical role in MNSP formation in lower alloy Ni contents. Single variable assessments of compositional effects show that Ni plays a dominant role, while even small variations in irradiation temperature can have a large effect on the MNSP evolution. Within typical RPV steel ranges, Mn and Si have smaller effects. Furthermore, the delayed but then rapid growth of MNSPs to large volume fractions at high fluence is well predicted by the model. For purposes of illustration, the effect of MNSPs on transition temperature shifts are presented based on well-established microstructure-property and property-property models.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; NE0000639; AC07-051D14517

OSTI ID:: 1376331

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1495890

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Vol. 138, Issue C; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 58 works

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