Round-Robin NDE Testing for Charpy Impact Specimens of Cold-rolled and Thermally Aged Fe-1wt.Cu Alloys

摘要

Results are briefly shown for round-robin non-destructive evaluation (NDE) testing of Charpy impact specimens of cold-rolled and thermally aged Fe-Cu alloys, which were model specimens used to simulate irradiation embrittlement of nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels. Magnetic, thermoelectric and ultrasonic NDE measurements were performed using the same specimens. The coercive force was sensitive to change in the dislocation state, whereas thermoelectric power was sensitive to change in that matrix state. The velocity of ultrasound waves also seemed to be influenced by the matrix state. The combination of these techniques would utilize the advantages of the different methods and compensate for the weaknesses. This study suggests the importance of the combined usage in establishing reliable NDE procedures for the determination of degradation of irradiated RPV steels.