Analysis of microstructure and performance of temper bead welded joints for SA508-3 steel by Quenching and Tempering mode

The HAZ microstructure and performance of Quenching and Tempering mode temper bead welding and general welded joints which were made on SA508-3 steel of 60 mm thickness were compared in this article. The result shows that tempering sorbite which has excellent overall performance was obtained in both modes. The microstructure of Quenching and Tempering mode welded joints got more fine grain. Even though the hardness of tempering bead welded joints is higher than the general one,it still meets the standards which is lower than 350 HV. The impact absorbing energy of each district of tempering bead welded joints HAZ reached 170 J,which is equal to general one.

Mechanical and fatigue properties of SA508-Ⅳ steel used for nuclear reactor pressure vessels

The mechanical and fatigue properties of SA508-Ⅳ steel with martensite and granular bainite, respectively, were studied. The mechanical tests results showed that the ultimate tensile strength and impact toughness of the specimen with martensite were 830 MPa and 158 J, respectively, and those of the specimen with granular bainite were 811 MPa and 115 J, respectively. The former had higher tensile strength and impact toughness than the latter. The impact tests results showed that the former belonged to typical dimple fracture, while the latter belonged to brittle fracture. The fatigue tests results showed that the fatigue life of the specimen with martensite was 2717 cycles, and that of the specimen with granular bainite was 1545 cycles under the strain amplitude of ± 0.45%. The specimen with martensite had fewer crack initiation points, narrower fatigue striations separation, and larger volume fraction of high-angle grain boundaries than the latter. The fewer crack initiation points meant fewer fatigue cracks, the narrower fatigue striations separation meant slower crack propagation rate, and the larger volume fraction of high-angle grain boundaries could more effectively hinder fatigue crack propagation. Based on these facts, the fatigue life of the specimen with martensite was higher than that of the specimen with granular bainite.

Numerical Simulation of Microstructure Evolution for SA508-3 Steel during Inhomogeneous Hot Deformation Process

Based on hot compression tests by a Gleeble-1500D thermo-mechanical simulator, the flow stress model and microstructure evolution model for SA508-3 steel were established through the classical theories on work hardening and softening. The developed models were integrated into 3D thermal-mechanical coupled rigid plastic finite element software DEFORM3D. The inhomogeneous hot deformation （IHD） experiments of SA508 3 steel were designed and carried out. Meanwhile, numerical simulation was implemented to investigate the effect of temperature, strain and strain rate on microstructure during IHD process through measuring grain sizes at given positions. The simulated grain sizes were basically in agreement with the experimental ones. The results of experiment and simulation demonstrated that temperature is the main factor for the initiation of dynamic recrystallization （DRX）, and higher temperature means lower critical strain so that DRX can be facilitated to obtain uniform fine microstructure.

Effect of strain rate and temperature on the serration behavior of SA508-Ⅲ RPV steel in the dynamic strain aging process

Dynamic strain aging （DSA） effect on SA508-III reactor pressure vessel （RPV） steel was investigated. The SA508-III RPV steel was subjected to tension tests at different strain rates （1.1× 10-5 s-1 and 6.6× 10-5 s-1） and different temperatures （500 and 550 ℃） to evaluate the influence of strain rate and temperature on the serrated flow behavior, which is the repetitive and discontinuous yielding phenomenon on the stress-strain curves. The higher temperature leads to the higher density of precipitates, M23C6 carbides and needle-like Mo2C carbides. It was found that the samples under tension test of 6.6 × 10-5 s-1 and 500 ℃ possess superior mechanical properties and mainly show A-type serrations on the tension test curves. Then, the local regress method was used to filter the DSA curves, thus to show the real trend of the curves. It has been found that the less time of interaction between dislocations and precipitates under higher strain rates leads to a higher strength of the sample. The more tiny-stress drops on the 550 ℃ serration curve can be attributed to the hardening phase, M23C6 carbides and needle-like Mo2C carbides. The higher percentage of the small stress drops on the serration curves represents the higher mechanical strength.