Abstract
Safe and reliable management of light water reactors demand a full understanding on their component materials properties throughout their service lives. In present work the effects of strain rate on low cycle fatigue behavior of ASTM A533B pressure vessel steels after long-term thermal aging at 673 K in air have been investigated in simulated BWR environments. It was found that the aging treatment led to a certain decrease in fatigue life. Environmental effect on the fatigue life of aged materials closely depended on strain rate. More strongly environmental effect appeared at low strain rate. The aging treatment enhanced the stain-rate dependence of the fatigue resistance of A533B steels. Comparison between ASME design fatigue curves and present results as well as some literatures’ data suggested that safety margins of the standard design curves tended to decrease with decrease in strain rate. Based on the above results, possible corrosion fatigue mechanisms of pressure vessel steels in high temperature water were discussed by taking into account the effects of inclusions, hydrogen embrittlement, dynamic strain aging and aging-induced material degradation as well as their combined actions.
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