Embrittlement of irradiated ferritic/martensitic steels in the absence of irradiation hardening

Irradiation damage caused by neutron irradiation below 425–450 °C of 9–12% Cr ferritic/martensitic steels produces microstructural defects that cause an increase in yield stress. This irradiation hardening causes embrittlement observed in a Charpy impact test as an increase in the ductile–brittle transition temperature. Little or no change in strength is observed in steels irradiated above 425–450 °C. Therefore, the general conclusion has been that no embrittlement occurs above these temperatures. In a recent study, significant embrittlement was observed in F82H steel irradiated at 500 °C to 5 and 20 dpa without any change in strength. Earlier studies on several conventional steels also showed embrittlement effects above the irradiation-hardening temperature regime. Indications are that this embrittlement is caused by irradiation-accelerated or irradiation-induced precipitation. Observations of embrittlement in the absence of irradiation hardening that were previously reported in the literature have been examined and analyzed with computational thermodynamics calculations to illuminate and understand the effect.