The effect of non-metallic inclusions on the fracture toughness master curve in high copper reactor pressure vessel welds

The fracture toughness of two high copper reactor pressure vessel welds having low upper shelf energy was evaluated in accordance with the master curve method of ASTM E1921. The resultant data were correlated to the metallurgical factors involved in the brittle fracture initiation to provide a metallurgical-based understanding of the master curve. The tests were performed using pre-cracked Charpy V-notched specimens and the master curve was made with an average of T0 values determined at different temperatures. In all specimens, the cleavage fracture initiated at non-metallic inclusion ranging from 0.7 to 3.5 μm in diameter showing a scatter with the specimens and testing temperatures. Temperature dependency of the triggering particle size was not found. The fracture toughness (KJC) was inversely proportional to the square root of the triggering inclusion diameter (di) at respective temperatures. From this relationship, we determined median KJC values which correspond to the average value of triggering inclusion diameter of all tested specimens and defined them as a modified median KJC (K′JC(med)). The obtained K′JC(med) values showed quite smaller deviation from the master curve at different temperatures than the experimental median KJC values. This suggests that the master curve is on the premise of a constant dimension of key microstructural factor in a material regardless of the testing temperature. But the inclusion size at trigger point played an important role in the absolute position of the master curve with temperature and the consequent T0 value.