• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.80-82
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• 1998

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.243.2-243.2
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.84-87
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• 1999

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.367.1-367.1
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• 2003

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.2399-2408
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• 2002

A prediction procedure has been developed to evaluate the microtructures and material properties of heat affected zone (HAZ) in pressure vessel steel weld, based on temperature analysis, thermodynamics calculation and reaction kinetics model. Temperature distributions in HAE are calculated by finite element method. The microstructures in HAZ are predicted by combining the temperature analysis results with the reaction kinetics model for austenite grain growth and austenite decomposition. Substituting the microstructure prediction results into the previous experimental relations, the mechanical material properties such as hardness, yielding strength and tensile strength are calculated. The prediction procedure is modified and verified by the comparison between the present results and the previous study results for the simulated HAZ in reactor pressure vessel (RPV) circurnferential weld. Finally, the microstructures and mechanical material properties are determined by applying the final procedure to real RPV circumferential weld and the local weak zone in HAZ is evaluated based on the application results.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.12
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• pp.771-779
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• 2008

An effective way of increasing the strength and fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel steels is to change the material specification from that of Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel(SA508 Gr.3) to Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel(SA508 Gr.4N). In this study, we evaluate the effects of alloying elements on the microstructural characteristics of Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel. The changes in the stable phase of the SA508 Gr.4N low alloy steel with alloying elements were evaluated by means of a thermodynamic calculation conducted with the software ThermoCalc. The changes were then compared with the observed microstructural results. The calculation of Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steels confirms that the ferrite formation temperature decreases as the Ni content increases because of the austenite stabilization effect. Consequently, in the microscopic observation, the lath martensitic structure becomes finer as the Ni content increases. However, Ni does not affect the carbide phases such as $M_{23}C_6 $ and $M_7C_3$. When the Cr content decreases, the carbide phases become unstable and carbide coarsening can be observed. With an increase in the Mo content, the $M_2C$ phase becomes stable instead of the $M_7C_3$ phase. This behavior is also observed in TEM. From the calculation results and the observation results of the microstructure, the thermodynamic calculation can be used to predict the precipitation behavior.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.9
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• pp.533-541
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• 2009

Materials used for a reactor pressure vessel(RPV) are required high strength and toughness, which determine the safety margin and life of a reactor. Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel shows better mechanical properties than existing RPV steels due to higher Ni and Cr contents compared to the existing RPV steels. The present study focuses on effects of Ni, Cr contents on the cleavage fracture toughness of Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steels in the transition temperature region. The fracture toughness was characterized by a 3-point bend test of precracked Charpy V-notch(PCVN) specimens based on ASTM E1921-08. The test results indicated that the fracture toughness was considerably improved with an increase of Ni and Cr contents. Especially, control of Cr content was more effective in improving fracture toughness than manipulating Ni content, though Charpy impact toughness was changed more extensively by adjusting Ni content. These differences between changes in the fracture toughness and that in the impact toughness were derived from microstructural features, such as martensite lath size and carbide precipitation behavior.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.210-210
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• 1998

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.1E
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• pp.7-12
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• 1999

In relation to a non-destructive evaluation of irradiation damages, the changes in the hysteresis loop and Barkhausen noise amplitude and the harmonics frequency due to a neutron irradiation were measured and evaluated. The Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel of RPV was irradiated to a neutron fluence of 2.3 ×10/sup 19/ n/㎠ (E ≥1 MeV) at 288℃. The saturation magnetization of neutron irradiated metal did not change. The neutron irradiation caused the coercivity to increase, whereas susceptibility to decrease. The amplitude of Barkhausen noise parameters associated with the domain wall motion were decreased by a neutron irradiation. The spectrum of Barkhausen noise is analysed with an applied frequency of 4 Hz and 8 Hz, sampling time of 50 μ sec and 20 μ sec. The harmonic frequency shows 4 Hz, 8 Hz, 12 Hz and 16 Hz reflected from an unirradiated specimen. On the contrary, the harmonic frequency disappeared on the irradiated specimen. In addition to the amplitude, the harmonic frequency of Barkhausen noise is taken into accounts as a promising tool for monitoring the irradiation induced degradation of the reactor materials such as a SA508 of PWR-RPV steel and a Zr₄ of HANARO-CNH.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.293-297
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• 2019

Quasi-nano-hardness and corrosion behaviors of neutron-irradiated reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels such as 15Ch2MFA (Ni<0.4, 2.520 n/㎠ (En>1.0 MeV) for 32 days. Quasi-nano-hardnesses of the 15Ch2MFA and 15Cr2NHFA steels were 183.8 and 179.8 Hv, respectively. Their corrosion rates and corrosion potentials were 2.4×10^-4Acm^-2, -515.9 mV_SHE and 6.8×10^-4 Acm^-2, -523.6 mV_SHE in NACE standard TM0284-96 solution at room temperature, respectively. 15Ch2MFA steel showed better quasi-nano-hardness and corrosion resistance than 15Cr2NHFA steel in this test condition.