Post Irradiation Fracture Properties of Precipitation-Strengthened Alloy D21

摘要

The precipitation strengthened alloys have the potential for use in fuel cladding and duct applications for liquid metal reactors due to their high strength and low swelling rate. Unfortunately, these high strength alloys tend to exhibit poor fracture toughness, and the effects of neutron irradiation on the fracture properties of the material are of concern. Compact tension specimens of alloy D21 were irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II to a fluence of 2.7 x 10 sup 22 n/cm sup 2 (E > 0.1 MeV) at 425, 500, 550 and 600 deg C. Fracture toughness tests on these specimens wre performed using electric potential techniques at temperatures ranging from 205 to 425 C. The material exhibited low postirradiation fracture toughness which increased with either increasing test or irradiation temperature. The tearing modulus, however, increased with increasing irradiation temperature but decreased with increasing test temperature. Results wre analyzed using the J-integral approach. The fracture toughness of irradiated D21 was evaluated essentially following the procedure recommended in ASTM Test Method E813. It was found that the data elimination limits illustrated in E813 were too large for the specimens tested, although the thickness criterion was satisfied. The precautions needed to determine J/sub 1c/ based on a reduced data qualification range were disussed. (ERA citation 12:000435)