Effect of Copper Content on the Tensile Properties of Iron-Copper Alloys

Abstract

Miniature tensile specimens of high purity iron and iron-copper alloys containing 0.1 and 0.3 weight percent copper were irradiated at 150°C and 290°C in the HFIR to 0.025 and 0.1 dpa. Following irradiation, room temperature tensile tests were performed. The effect of copper content on the yield stress (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), uniform elongation (UE), and total elongation (TE) were examined for both unirradiated and irradiated specimens. For the unirradiated specimens, YS and UTS increased by 10% or less when copper in the amount of 0.1% was added, while UE decreased by about 30% and TE decreased by about 20% when copper in the amount of 0.1% was added to the pure iron. There was almost no further change in tensile properties when the copper content was increased from 0.1% to 0.3%. The effect of irradiation at 290°C to 0.1 dpa was to increase the strength and decrease the ductility of all the materials. Greater percent changes in tensile properties were observed in the Fe-XCu alloys after irradiation suggesting that copper contributes to the formation of extended defects at these temperatures.

Department(s)

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

Keywords and Phrases

Alloys; Channel Deformation; Copper; Flow Localization; Iron; Irradiation; Tensile Strength; Work Softening

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1546-962X

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2004 American Society for Testing and Materials, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2004

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