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Effect of High-Temperature Water Environment on the Fracture Behaviour of Low-Alloy RPV Steels

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

The structural integrity of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of light water reactors (LWR) is of utmost importance regarding operation safety and lifetime. The fracture behaviour of low-alloy RPV steels with different DSA (dynamic strain aging) & EAC (environmental assisted cracking) susceptibilities and microstructures (base metal, simulated weld coarse grain heat affected zone) in simulated LWR environments was evaluated by elastic plastic fracture mechanics (EPFM) tests with different strain rates and by metallo- and fractographic post-test observations. These tests revealed some evidences of high-temperature water and hydrogen effects on the fracture behaviour and potential synergies with DSA and EAC.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for the SAFE-II project from the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to express their gratitude for the experimental contributions and helpful suggestions from H. Kottmann, D. Stammbach, B. Baumgartner, R. Schwenold, J. Bai and E. Mueller from Paul Scherrer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Nuclear Materials, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland

    Z. Que, H. P. Seifert, P. Spätig, G. S. Rao & S. Ritter

Authors
  1. Z. Que
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  2. H. P. Seifert
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  3. P. Spätig
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  4. G. S. Rao
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  5. S. Ritter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Z. Que .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, USA

    John H. Jackson

  2. Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Denise Paraventi

  3. Chalk River Laboratories, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, ON, Canada

    Michael Wright

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© 2019 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Que, Z., Seifert, H.P., Spätig, P., Rao, G.S., Ritter, S. (2019). Effect of High-Temperature Water Environment on the Fracture Behaviour of Low-Alloy RPV Steels. In: Jackson, J., Paraventi, D., Wright, M. (eds) Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04639-2_68

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