Fatigue crack growth behavior of reactor pressure vessel steels in air and high-temperature water environments

Fatigue tests under constant amplitude load were conducted on CT specimens of A533B3 steels with four levels of sulfur content at different temperatures in air and high-temperature water environments. A modified capacitance-type COD gauge was shown to be suitable for fatigue crack length measurement at high temperatures in air. The observation that the Young's moduli measured at a strain rate of 4 × 10−3 s−1 for the A533B3 steels at 150 °C and 300 °C did not decrease with an increase in temperature seemed to be related to the presence of dynamic strain aging. The fatigue crack growth rates at 150 °C and 300 °C in air were about two and half times slower than those tested at 400 °C, because dynamic strain aging prevailed at 150 °C and 300 °C. Fractographic examination results suggested that inclusions embedded in secondary cracks enhanced the fatigue crack initiation rather than the fatigue crack growth. The fatigue crack growth rates taken in the oxygen-saturated water environment were one order of magnitude faster than those obtained in air.