Severe embrittlement of neutron irradiated austenitic steels arising from high void swelling

Data are presented from BOR-60 irradiations showing that significant radiation-induced swelling causes severe embrittlement in austenitic stainless steels, reducing the service life of structural components and introducing limitations on low temperature handling especially. It is shown that the degradation is actually a form of quasi-embrittlement arising from intense flow localization with high levels of localized ductility involving micropore coalescence and void-to-void cracking. Voids initially serve as hardening components whose effect is overwhelmed by the void-induced reduction in shear and Young’s moduli at high swelling levels. Thus the alloy appears to soften even as the ductility plunges toward zero on a macroscopic level although a large amount of deformation occurs microscopically at the failure site. Thus the failure is better characterized as “quasi-embrittlement” which is a suppression of uniform deformation. This case should be differentiated from that of real embrittlement which involves the complete suppression of the material’s capability for plastic deformation.