Long-timescale transformations of self-interstitial atom clusters of Cu using the SEAKMC method; The Effect of setting an activation energy threshold for saddle point searches

Hayakawa, Sho*; Yamamoto, Yojiro*; Okita, Taira*; Itakura, Mitsuhiro; Suzuki, Katsuyuki*

Computational Materials Science, 218, p.111987_1 - 111987_10, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2022.111987

The Role of silicon on solute clustering and embrittlement in highly neutron-irradiated pressurized water reactor surveillance test specimens

Takamizawa, Hisashi; Hata, Kuniki; Nishiyama, Yutaka; Toyama, Takeshi*; Nagai, Yasuyoshi*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 556, p.153203_1 - 153203_10, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2021.153203

Solute clusters (SCs) formed in pressurized water reactor surveillance test specimens neutron-irradiated to a fluence of 1 10 n/cm were analyzed via atom probe tomography to understand the effect of silicon on solute clustering and irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel steels. In high-Cu bearing materials, Cu atoms were aggregated at the center of cluster surrounded by the Ni, Mn, and Si atoms like a core-shell structure. In low-Cu bearing materials, Ni, Mn, and Si atoms formed cluster and these solutes were not comprised core-shell structure in SCs. While the number of Cu atoms in clusters was decreased with decreasing nominal Cu content, the number of Si atoms had clearly increased. The cluster radius () and number density () decreased and increased, respectively, with increasing nominal Si content. The shift in the reference temperature for nil-ductility transition (RT) showed a good correlation with the square root of volume fraction () multiplied by r (). This suggested that the dislocation cutting through the particles mechanism dominates the precipitation hardening responsible for irradiation embrittlement. The negative relation between the nominal Si content and RT indicated that increasing of nominal Si content reduces the degree of embrittlement.

Grain-boundary phosphorus segregation in highly neutron-irradiated reactor pressure vessel steels and its effect on irradiation embrittlement

Hata, Kuniki; Takamizawa, Hisashi; Hojo, Tomohiro*; Ebihara, Kenichi; Nishiyama, Yutaka; Nagai, Yasuyoshi*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 543, p.152564_1 - 152564_10, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152564

Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels for pressurized water reactors (PWRs) with bulk P contents ranging from 0.007 to 0.012wt.% were subjected to neutron irradiation at fluences ranging from 0.3 to 1.210 n/cm (E 1 MeV) in PWRs or a materials testing reactor (MTR). Grain-boundary P segregation was analyzed using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) on intergranular facets and found to increase with increasing neutron fluence. A rate theory model was also used to simulate the increase in grain-boundary P segregation for RPV steels with a bulk P content up to 0.020wt.%. The increase in grain-boundary P segregation in RPV steel with a bulk P content of 0.015wt.% (the maximum P concentration found in RPV steels used in Japanese nuclear power plants intended for restart) was estimated to be less than 0.1 in monolayer coverage at 1.010 n/cm (E 1 MeV). A comparison of the PWR data with the MTR data showed that neutron flux had no effect upon grain-boundary P segregation. The effects of grain-boundary P segregation upon changes in irradiation hardening and ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) shifts were also discussed. A linear relationship between irradiation hardening and the DBTT shift with a slope of 0.63 obtained for RPV steels with a bulk P content up to 0.026wt.%, which is higher than that of most U.S. A533B steels. It is concluded that the intergranular embrittlement is unlikely to occur for RPV steels irradiated in PWRs.

Bayesian uncertainty evaluation of Charpy ductile-to-brittle transition temperature for reactor pressure vessel steels

Takamizawa, Hisashi; Nishiyama, Yutaka; Hirano, Takashi*

Proceedings of ASME 2020 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP 2020) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2020-21698

no abstracts in English

User's manual and analysis methodology of probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis code PASCAL Ver.4 for reactor pressure vessel (Contract research)

Katsuyama, Jinya; Masaki, Koichi; Miyamoto, Yuhei*; Li, Y.

JAEA-Data/Code 2017-015, 229 Pages, 2018/03

JAEA-Data-Code-2017-015.pdf:5.8MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2017-015(errata).pdf:0.15MB

As a part of the structural integrity research for aging light water reactor components, a probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis code PASCAL has been developed in JAEA. The PASCAL code can evaluate the conditional failure probabilities and failure frequencies for core region in reactor pressure vessels under the pressurized thermal shock events. In this study, we improved many functions such as the stress intensity factor solutions, the fracture toughness models, or confidence level evaluation function by considering epistemic and aleatory uncertainties related to influence parameters in the structural integrity assessment. We also developed the analysis module PASCAL-Manager which calculates the failure frequency for the entire core region taking into consideration the failure probabilities obtained from PACAL-RV. Based on these improvements, the new analysis code is upgraded to PASCAL Ver.4. This report provides the user's manual and theoretical background of PASCAL Ver.4.

Bayesian statistical analysis on chemical composition contributing to irradiation embrittlement at high fluence region

Takamizawa, Hisashi; Nishiyama, Yutaka

Proceedings of 2016 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP 2016) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2016/07

http://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2016-63822

It has been accepted that neutron irradiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel is caused by irradiation-induced formation of solute clusters (SCs) and matrix damages (MDs). In the present study, to analyze the contribution of chemical composition contained in SCs to irradiation embrittlement at high fluence region, statistical analysis using the Bayesian nonparametric (BNP) method was performed for Japanese PWR surveillance data. The significance of P, Si and Mn contents, which are not necessarily included in embrittlement correlations unlike the Cu and Ni content, was evaluated. The BNP method can learn the complexity of the statistical model itself from the input data and infer the predicted data with individual probability distribution of predict condition. The result suggested that irradiation embrittlement was most affected by the Si content at high fluence region.

Microstructure property analysis of HFIR-irradiated reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels

Tanigawa, Hiroyasu; Hashimoto, Naoyuki*; Sakasegawa, Hideo*; Klueh, R. L.*; Sokolov, M. A.*; Shiba, Kiyoyuki; Jitsukawa, Shiro; Koyama, Akira*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 329-333(1), p.283 - 288, 2004/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2004.04.053

Reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels (RAFs) were developed as candidate structural materials for fusion power plants. In a previous study, it was reported that ORNL9Cr-2WVTa and JLF-1 (Fe-9Cr-2W-V-Ta-N) steels showed smaller ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) shifts compared to IEA modified F82H (Fe-8Cr-2W-V-Ta) after neutron irradiation up to 5 dpa at 573K. This difference in DBTT shift could not be interpreted as an effect of irradiation hardening, and it is also hard to be convinced that this difference was simply due to a Cr concentration difference. To clarify the mechanisms of the difference in Charpy impact property between these steels, various microstructure analyses were performed.

Studies of formation structures of ultrafine Cu precipitates in Fe-Cu model alloys for reactor pressure vessel steels using positron quantum dot confinement in the precipitates by their positron affinity, JAERI's nuclear research promotion program, H13-034 (Contract research)

Hasegawa, Masayuki*; Nagai, Yasuyoshi*; Tang, Z.*; Yubuta, Kunio*; Suzuki, Masahide

JAERI-Tech 2003-015, 137 Pages, 2003/03

JAERI-Tech-2003-015.pdf:9.03MB

no abstracts in English

Development of a diagnostic technique using ultrasonic wave for evaluation of irradiation embrittlement in reactor pressure vessel materials

Ishii, Toshimitsu; Ooka, Norikazu; Niimi, Motoji; Kobayashi, Hideo*

Kinzoku, 71(8), p.20 - 24, 2001/08

https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40000774420

no abstracts in English

Aging degradation of light water reactor materials; Reactor internal and pressure vessel materials

Tsukada, Takashi; Ebine, Noriya

Nihon AEM Gakkai-Shi, 9(2), p.171 - 177, 2001/06

no abstracts in English