Applicability of the fracture toughness master curve to irradiated highly embrittled steel and intergranular fracture...

The Heavy-Section Steel Irradiation (HSSI) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has evaluated a submerged-arc (SA) weld irradiated to a high level of embrittlement and a temper embrittled base metal that exhibits significant intergranular fracture (IGF) relative to representation by the Master Curve. The temper embrittled steel revealed that the intergranular mechanism significantly extended the transition temperature range up to 150�C above To. For the irradiated highly embrittled SA weld study, a total of 21 1T compact specimens were tested at five different temperatures and showed the Master Curve to be nonconservative relative to the results, although that observation is uncertain due to evidence of intergranular fracture.