Results of Charpy V-Notch Impact Testing of Structural Steel Specimens Irradiated at ~30°C to 1 x 1016 neutrons/cm2 in a Commercial Reactor Cavity
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
A capsule containing Charpy V-notch (CVN) and mini-tensile specimens was irradiated at ~30°C (~ 85°F) in the cavity of a commercial nuclear power plant to a fluence of 1 x 1016 neutrons/cm2 (>1 MeV). The capsule included six CVN impact specimens of archival High Flux Isotope Reactor A212 grade B ferritic steel and five CVN impact specimens of a well-studied A36 structural steel. This irradiation was part of the ongoing study of neutron-induced damage effects at the low temperature and flux experienced by reactor supports. The plant operators shut down the plant before the planned exposure was reached. The exposure of these specimens produced no significant irradiation-induced embrittlement. Of interest were the data on unirradiated specimens in the L-T orientation machined from a single plate of A36 structural steel, which is the same specification for the structural steel used in some reactor supports. The average CVN energy of five unirradiated specimens obtained from one region of the plate and tested at room temperature was ~ 99 J, while the energy of 11 unirradiated specimens from other locations of the same plate was 45 J, a difference of ~ 220%. The CVN impact energies for all 18 specimens ranged from a low of 32 J to a high of 111 J. Moreover, it appears that the University of Kansas CVN impact energy data of the unirradiated specimens at the 100-J level are shifted toward higher temperatures by about 20 K. The results were an example of the extent of scatter possible in CVN impact testing. Generic values for the CVN impact energy of A36 should be used with caution in critical applications.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (United States). Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464; 1886-8109-8L
- OSTI ID:
- 469114
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CR-6399; ORNL-6886; ON: TI97005912; TRN: 97:010326
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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