(13-0015)Effects of solutes on microstructure evolution in neutron irradiated reactor pressure vessel model alloys following thermal ageing

摘要

The embrittlement of nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels under neutron irradiation is of increasingly crucial concern for the safe and economical long-term operation of nuclear reactors. This embrittlement is partly caused by nanometer-size solute clusters. The growth of existed clusters and nucleation of new clusters can be expected in RPV steels under conditions of long-term operation. The work is to study the material variables which control the evolution of solute clusters during long-term operation of RPV steels and the mechanisms. For this purpose, the alloys with different solute contents are thermally aged to maximum hardness at high temperature to accelerate the formation of large density of solute clusters, and then neutron irradiated to study the evolution of solute clusters.