First Annual Progress Report on Radiation Tolerance of Controlled Fusion Welds in High Temperature Oxidation Resistant FeCrAl Alloys

The Analysis of the General Performance and Mechanical Behavior of Unirradiated FeCrAl Alloys Before and After Welding

“…Figure 16 shows the scan location (close to the fracture surface) and the corresponding inverse pole figure (IPF) map. The weldment before deformation had relatively coarse grains of random orientation, as follows from the previous report [11]. During straining, the grains inside the weldment experienced rotation, forming a strong [101] texture.…”

“…As discussed in a previous report [11] and briefly in Section 2 of this report, a set of FeCrAl alloys were conceptualized and fabricated and are under assessment for use within this research and development program for candidate nuclear-grade FeCrAl alloys. The alloy sub-classes are FeCrAl alloys with high-Al additions (6-7 wt % Al, designated as C36M and C37M), FeCrAl alloys with Laves precipitate dispersions (designated as C35MN), and FeCrAl alloys with TiC precipitate dispersions (designated as C35M01TC, C35M03TC, C35M10TC).…”

“…Alloy production and basic structure, as well as preliminary results on the mechanical properties, are given in detail in Field et al [11]. Table 1 provides the alloy compositions in the context of the present report; the modified alloys are discussed in terms of the two branches shown in Figure 1: the ME branch (with Al or Nb additions) and the TiC branch (with TiC additions).…”

“…Tensile specimens were extracted from the welds with the gauge length aligned to the rolling direction of the welded plate resulting in the weld bead being aligned in the centered of the gauge length. The full welding procedure including the extraction map is described in detail in a previous report [13]; initial microstructural observations, including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data, have also been previously reported [11]. Note that post-welding data are not available for the C36M alloy.…”

“…Another plausible reason is the processing routes for the two different alloying branches. Based on Table 1 and previous reports [11], the ME-branch specimens were vacuum induction melt (VIM) cast ingots before additional processing whereas the TiC-branch specimens were processed by arc-melting. This variance in ingot production could be introducing additional defects in the VIM-processed materials that lead to sudden fracture events.…”