Evaluation of impact properties of weld joint of reactor pressure vessel steels with the use of miniaturized specimens

Abstract

The effects of specimen size and location of V-notch on the Charpy impact properties were investigated with different sizes of specimens, standard, CVN-1/2, CVN-1/3, and CVN-1.5 mm, for A533B steel, low Mn, high Cu, high phosphorus (P), and high Cu/P steel weld joint. A part of the specimens was irradiated with neutron at 563 K up to 8 × 1019 n/cm2. The heat affected zone (HAZ) specimen is the best in the impact properties among the specimens of base metal, HAZ, and weld metal in the steels with 0.003 wt.% P, while it is the worst in the steels with ∼ 0.3 wt.% P. This indicates that the surveillance test of HAZ specimen can be represented by base metal in the case of A533B steels with lower P content (∼ 0.003 wt.%). The effects of notch location and chemical contents on ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) are almost independent of specimen size within an error of ±5 K, indicating that the miniaturized Charpy specimens are applicable and effective in the surveillance tests of reactor pressure vessel steel of extended operation period. After irradiation, the highest DBTT was observed for the specimen with V-notch in base metal in the case of A533B steel and high Cu steel with 0.003 wt.% P.