Stress state dependence of in-reactor creep and swelling. Part 2: Experimental results

Abstract

Irradiation creep constitutive equations, which were developed in Part I, are used here to analyze in-reactor creep and swelling data obtained ca. 1977–1979 as part of the US breeder reactor program. The equations were developed according to the principles of incremental continuum plasticity for the purpose of analyzing data obtained from a novel irradiation experiment that was conducted, in part, using Type 304 stainless steel that had been previously irradiated to significant levels of void swelling. Analyses of these data support an earlier observation that all stress states, whether tensile, compressive, shear or mixed, can affect both void swelling and interactions between irradiation creep and swelling. The data were obtained using a set of five unique multiaxial creep-test specimens that were designed and used for the first time in this study. The data analyses demonstrate that the constitutive equations derived in Part I provide an excellent phenomenological representation of the interactive creep and swelling phenomena. These equations provide nuclear power reactor designers and analysts with a first-of-its-kind structural analysis tool for evaluating irradiation damage-dependent distortion of complex structural components having gradients in neutron damage rate, temperature and stress state.