• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.510-519
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• 2001

The tensile and fracture toughness tests have been conducted to investigate the degradations of mechanical properties induced mainly by neutron irradiations in Zr-2.5Nb CANDU pressure tube materials operated in Wolsung Unit-1. the tests were performed at room, 150, 200, 250, 300 $\^{C}$ for the irradiated and unirradiated specimens in hot cell. The specimens were directly machined from the tube retaining original curvature using specially designed electric discharge machine(EDM). From the tensile tests of the irradiated specimens, it was found that tensile strength was increased and total elongation was decreased compared to those of the unirradiated ones. The active voltages in the fracture toughness tests for the irradiated showed the discontinuous abrupt increases caused by crack jumping in lower temperature. In the crack resistance curves we found the stable crack growth in the unirradiated, whereas the unstable and three crack growth stages in the irradiated specimens due to the accumulated irradiation defects. The various fracture characteristic values in the irradiated are remarkably lower than those of the unirradiated. Through the fractography, we found in the irradiated that smaller dimple and shorter fissures than the unirradiated, and that the fractured surface had three regions that were flat, transition and slant/shear area. These can explain the difference in the crack growth characteristic values of the irradiated and the unirradiated ones.