Study on microstructural changes in thermally-aged stainless steel weld-overlay cladding of nuclear reactor pressure vessels by atom probe tomography

T. Takeuchi, J. Kameda, Y. Nagai, T. Toyama, Y. Nishiyama, K. Onizawa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of thermal aging on microstructural changes was investigated in stainless steel weld-overlay cladding composed of 90% austenite and 10% δ-ferrite phases using atom probe tomography (APT). In as-received materials subjected to cooling process after post-welding heat treatments (PWHT), a slight fluctuation of the Cr concentration was already observed due to spinodal decomposition in the ferrite phase but not in the austenitic phase. Thermal aging at 400 °C for 10,000 h caused not only an increase in the amplitude of spinodal decomposition but also the precipitation of G phases with composition ratios of Ni:Si:Mn = 16:7:6 in the ferrite phase. The chemical compositions of M23C6 type carbides seemed to be formed at the austenite/ferrite interface were analyzed. The analyses of the magnitude of the spinodal decomposition and the hardness implied that the spinodal decomposition was the main cause of the hardening.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)198-204
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Nuclear Materials
Volume415
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011 Aug 15

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering

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