THE EFFECT OF TEMPERING AND AGING ON A LOW ACTIVATION MARTENSITIC STEEL

Tempering and aging studies were carried out on a martensitic stainless steel which was designed to have reduced long-life activation after exposure to neutrons. Nickel, molybdenum, and niobium additions were restricted in these low activation alloys. The composition of the steel in weight percent was 12 pct Cr, 0.1 pct C, 0.3 pct V, 0.9 pct W, 6.4 pct Mn, and 0.1 pct Si, where manganese is used to stabilize the steel against delta ferrite and tungsten is used for tempering resistance. The tempering conditions studied were 2 hours at 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C and 24 hours at 500 °C and 700 °C. The steel was aged for 1000 and 5000 hours at 365 °C, 420 °C, 520 °C, and 600 °C. Microhardness, optical metallography, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the samples. The results indicated that the Ac1 in this steel lies between 700 °C and 800 °C. During the 2-hour tempers at 400 °C and 500 °C, M3C formed. After 24 hours at 500 °C, the M3C was starting to be replaced by M23C6. At higher tempering temperatures and in all the aged samples, M23C6 was the only carbide found. A manganese-rich chi phase was also seen in the samples aged at 420 °C and 520 °C.