Abstract
The degradation of low alloy pressure vessel steels in the presence of neutron irradiation is of fundamental importance in the nuclear industry. Numerous studies have been performed to evaluate the irradiation-induced changes in mechanical properties, and to a lesser extent, the changes in microstructure, of these pressure vessel materials. Irradiation results in an increase in the ductile to brittle transition temperature and a decrease in the upper shelf energy of the steels. The exact contribution of intergranular segregation to the concomitant degradation in mechanical properties is, however, unclear. To understand the microstructural changes caused by neutron irradiation and to clarify this contribution, it is important to fully characterize the material prior to irradiation. In this initial investigation, the techniques of analytical electron microscopy (AEM), high spatial resolution field emission gun scanning transmission electron microscopy (FEG-STEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) microanalysis have been employed to evaluate the microstructure of a low alloy steel as a first step in addressing this issue.
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