Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10142000 | Materials Science and Engineering: A | 2018 | 30 Pages |
Abstract
To understand the contribution of the long term thermal ageing to Reactor Pressure Vessel embrittlement a series of weld materials containing systematic variations of Ni has been thermally aged for times up to 100,000â¯h at 330â¯Â°C and 365â¯Â°C. Microstructural characterisation using Atom Probe Tomography was performed. Thermal ageing produced a high number density of nano-scale Cu-enriched clusters. Ni has a strong influence on Cu precipitation, enhancing the homogeneous nucleation of Cu clusters. The nanometre size Cu clusters have a Ni-Mn-Si rich interface which was found to be wider in steels with higher bulk Ni content. This interface reduces the interfacial energy of the Cu-enriched clusters through a combination of the minimising of unfavourable Fe-Cu bonds and reduction in lattice strain. Matrix Cu levels after ageing for 90,000-100,000â¯h were found to be around 0.06-0.08â¯at%, close to the expected solubility limits for Cu in Fe.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Materials Science (General)
Authors
Paul D. Styman, Jonathan M. Hyde, Andrew Morley, Keith Wilford, Nick Riddle, George D.W. Smith,