IRRADIATION EFFECTS ON THE TENSILE BEHAVIOR OF SELECTED REFERENCE AUSTENITIC STEELS FOR FUSION-REACTOR APPLICATIONS

Tensile specimens of EC reference 316 stainless steel, the US reference 316 stainless steel, the US prime candidate alloy (PCA) and the Japanese prime candidate alloy were irradiated, after solution annealing or cold working, to displacement levels of up to 10 dpa in the Oak Ridge HFIR and in the Petten HFR reactors. Both the irradiated and the unirradiated specimens were tested at a strain of 4.6×10-5 s-1 at the respective temperature of irradiation in the range 523-673 K. The results are analyzed to determine the role of chemistry, neutron spectrum, mechanical or thermal history and the temperature in modifying the deformation behavior (yield strength, work hardening rate and ductility) of these materials due to irradiation. An attempt is also made to correlate these and other experimental observations on the deformation behavior after irradiation to the microstructural changes expected due to irradiation.