Abstract
The irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel steels was studied on surrogate samples of A710 ferritic steels, which is rich in copper. Dislocations and coherency strain caused by the copper-rich precipitates, as a function of aging time, were studied by small-angle neutron scattering, diffraction line-broadening analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and Eshelby inclusion method. Aging has induced copper-rich precipitate nucleation and growth, thus impeding the dislocation motion and hardening the steels. The precipitates are coherent with the matrix up to about 3.5 nm in radius, when they become semi coherent with the ferritic matrix, thus relaxing strains/stresses and softening it. There is good agreement between all experimental techniques used and the Eshelby inclusion model.
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