Masters Theses

Annealing of irradiated ASTM A533B pressure vessel steel

Abstract

"Hardness measurements were used to determine the post-irradiation annealing response of A533B Class I plate reactor pressure vessel steel. Specimens were annealed at temperatures of 343°C (650°F), 399°C (750°F), and 454°C (850°F) and for durations of up to one week (168 hours). Hardness measurements were made to chart recovery of preirradiation hardness as a function of time and temperature. The material was irradiated in the TRIGA Reactor Facility operated by the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado. It was irradiated to a fluence of 1 x 10¹⁹ n/cm² (E > 1 MeV) at 150°C (302°F). Rockwell hardness measurements indicated that the material had hardened by 6.6 points, from 93.8 to 100.4, on the Rockwell B scale (-15.4 ksi) during irradiation (±5.0 RHB). This corresponds to a decrease in upper shelf energy (USE) of 11.4 J and an increase in ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) of 76°C'. Specimens annealed at the highest temperature (454°C) recovered the fastest, fully recovering within 144 hours. This is in agreement with the results of annealing done on similar material by other researchers in which full recovery was observed after 150 hours. Full recovery is defined as the achievement of pre-irradiation hardness. Specimens annealed at 399°C recovered within 168 hours, whereas specimens annealed at the lowest temperature, 343 °C, were the slowest to recover, recovering only -71% of the irradiation-induced increase after 168 hours"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Kumar, A. S. (Arvind S.)
Newkirk, Joseph William

Committee Member(s)

Kohser, Ronald A.

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering

Comments

This research was partially supported by the Associated Western Universities, Inc., Northwest Division under Grant DE-FG06-89ER-75522 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The work was substantially supported by a contract from Sandia National Laboratories (Contract number: 18-0559).

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Fall 1996

Pagination

viii, 69 pages

Rights

© 1996 David Eric Reinhart, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Citation

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 7212

Print OCLC #

36458896

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