Estimation of mechanical properties of neutron-irradiated 08Ch18N10T steel from hardness testing

Through-thickness Vickers hardness of a neutron-irradiated small segment of the core barrel made from 08Ch18N10T austenitic stainless steel was characterized experimentally and results were compared to ones simulated numerically with assumption of Ludwik’s form of hardening equation and neutron dose dependent material parameters according to work of Sorokin. Simulated values of hardness trace the lower bound of scattered experimental data. Based on the same material input data and on the correlation with measured hardness profile, increase of the material yield strength of the core barrel due to reactor operation was estimated.