Development of reconstitution technique of irradiated specimen; Progress report for FY1993 on cooperated research between JAERI and IHI

Onizawa, Kunio; Fukaya, Kiyoshi; Nishiyama, Yutaka; Suzuki, Masahide; Shibata, Katsuyuki; Kosaka, Atsuo; Kaihara, Shoichiro*; Nakamura, Terumi*; Sato, Akira*; Yoshida, Kazuo*; et al.

JAERI-Tech 94-017, 58 Pages, 1994/09

JAERI-Tech-94-017.pdf:2.74MB

Regulatory codes require the surveillance test to evaluate the irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel during operation. However , it is anticipated that the number of those specimens is insufficient in case plant life is extended. Reconstitution techniques by electron beam weld, laser weld, arc stud weld as well as surface-activated joining (SAJ) have been investigated for the re-use of un-deformed parts from tested Charpy impact specimen. The important items for the reconstitution technique are to reduce the width of heat affected zone to maximize the material available, and to lower the maximum temperature of specimen during joining process to preclude the recovery of radiation damage. SAJ can be achieved from a removal pf surface contamination by rotating one-side specimen in vacuum with applying modest friction force. Therefore, SAJ method is expected to be suitable for specimen reconstitution in view of material heating and melting. This paper describes preliminary study to develop Charpy specimen reconstitution technique using reactor pressure vessel steel, A533B-1, by SAJ method. Test results showed that the SAJ method had a capability of joining affected zone less than 1.5mm in half width, and over-temperature region less than 3 mm in half width above reactor operating temperature during joining. It was also found that transition temperature from reconstituted Charpy specimen could be evaluated.