Short-Term Mechanical Properties and Fracture Mode of the 12X18N10T Austenitic Stainless Steel After Low-Temperature Irradiation and Isochronous Annealing

5/18/2026 2026 - #02 Nuclear Materials

Porollo S.I. Dvoriashin A.M. Ivanov A.A. Shulepin S.V.

https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2026.2.13

The short-term mechanical properties and fracture mode of 12X18N10T austenitic stainless steel were studied after irradiation in the BN-350 reactor at temperatures ranging from 280 to 321°C with damage doses of 7.7 to 56 dpa. It was shown that after irradiation, 12X18N10T steel has high strength properties and retains a sufficiently large ductility. The maximum strength properties of the steel are observed at the minimum irradiation temperature of 280 to 286°C. With increasing irradiation temperature, the strength properties of the steel decrease, despite the increase in the damage dose. Annealing of irradiated samples to 500°C slightly reduces the strength characteristics of the steel, but at higher annealing temperatures, the strength of the material decreases significantly faster. The ductility of the samples as a result of annealing increases from 20.6 to 25%. Irradiated 12X18N10T steel exhibits a mixed fracture mode, which is a combination of transcrystalline ductile fracture and intergranular brittle fracture. Annealing the steel after irradiation at 600°C for 1 hour results in the disappearance of the brittle intergranular component.

References

1. Troyanov V.M., Likhachev Yu.I., Khmelevsky M.Ya., Cofin V.I., Shary N.V., Yuremenko V.P., Neustroev V.S., Prokhorov V.I. Evaluation and analysis of the thermomechanical behavior of WWER reactor internal components taking into account irradiation effects. Proc. of the V Conf. on reactor Materials Science. Dimitrovgrad, 8–12 september. Dimitrovgrad, 1998, vol. 2, part 1, p. 3–18.
2. Handbook of the properties of steels used in boiler and turbine construction. Moscow, Mashgiz, 1958.
3. Porollo S.I., Ivanov S.N., Shulepin S.V., Konobeev Yu.V. Investigation of the mechanical characteristics of the BR-5 reactor vessel material after 20 years of operation. Problems of atomic science and technology. Series: Materials Science and New Materials. 2023;2(118):7–17. EDN: QMFEQO.
4. Porollo S.I., Konobeev Yu.V., Dvoriashin A.M., Vorobjev A.N., Krigan V.M., Garner F.A. Void swelling at low displacement rates in annealed 12X18H9T stainless steel at 4–56 dpa and 280–332°C. J. Nucl. Mater. 2002;307–311:339–342. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3115(00)00342-1
5. Ivanov S.N., Porollo S.I., Alekseev Yu.V., Dvoriashin A.M., Konobeev Yu.V. Effect of Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation on the Corrosion resistance of 12Kh18N9T Austenitic Stainless Steel. Inorganic Materials: Applied Research. 2010;1:231–237. EDN: LATFDL.

radiation hardening embrittlement austenitic stainless steels mechanical properties fracture surface damage dose neutron irradiation

Link for citing the article: Porollo S.I., Dvoriashin A.M., Ivanov A.A., Shulepin S.V. Short-Term Mechanical Properties and Fracture Mode of the 12X18N10T Austenitic Stainless Steel After Low-Temperature Irradiation and Isochronous Annealing. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2026, no. 2, pp. 202-212; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2026.2.13 (in Russian).