Effect of heat treatment and irradiation temperature on impact properties of Cr–W–V ferritic steels

Abstract

Charpy impact tests were conducted on eight normalized-and-tempered ferritic and martensitic steels irradiated in two different normalized conditions. Irradiation was conducted in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) at 393°C to ≈14 dpa on eight steels with 2.25%, 5%, 9%, and 12% Cr (0.1% C) with varying amounts of W, V, and Ta. The different normalization treatments involved changing the cooling rate after austenitization. The faster cooling rate produced 100% bainite in the 2.25Cr steels, compared to duplex structures of bainite and polygonal ferrite for the slower cooling rate. For both cooling rates, martensite formed in the 5% and 9% Cr steels, and martensite with ≈25% δ-ferrite formed in the 12% Cr steel. Irradiation caused an increase in the ductile–brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and a decrease in the upper-shelf energy (USE). The difference in microstructure in the low-chromium steels due to the different heat treatments had little effect on properties. For the high-chromium martensitic steels, only the 5Cr steel was affected by heat treatment. When the results at 393°C were compared with previous results at 365°C, all but a 5Cr and a 9Cr steel showed the expected decrease in the shift in DBTT with increasing temperature.