TRITIUM AGING EFFECTS ON THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS PROPERTIES OF FORGED STAINLESS STEEL

The fracture toughness properties of Type 21-6-9 stainless steel were measured for forgings in the unexposed, hydrogen-exposed, and tritium-exposed-and-aged conditions. Fracture toughness samples were cut from conventionally-forged and high-energy-rate-forged forward-extruded cylinders and mechanically tested at room temperature using ASTM fracture-toughness testing procedures. Some of the samples were exposed to either hydrogen or tritium gas (340 MPa, 623 K) prior to testing. Tritium-exposed samples were aged for up to seven years and tested periodically in order to measure the effect on fracture toughness of {sup 3}He from radioactive tritium decay. The results show that hydrogen-exposed and tritium-exposed samples had lower fracture- toughness values than unexposed samples and that fracture toughness decreased with increasing decay {sup 3}He content. Forged steels were more resistant to the embrittling effects of tritium and decay {sup 3}He than annealed steels, although their fracture-toughness properties depended on the degree of sensitization that occurred during processing. The fracture process was dominated by microvoid nucleation, growth and coalescence; however, the size and spacing of microvoids on the fracture surfaces were affected by hydrogen and tritium with the lowest-toughness samples having the smallest microvoids and finest spacing