Influence of the copper impurity level on the irradiation response of reactor pressure vessel steels investigated by SANS

Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steel, when exposed to neutron irradiation, induces the formation of nano-sized features. Using small angle neutron scattering (SANS) we have studied the neutron fluence dependence of the precipitate volume fraction for high-Cu and low-Cu materials separately. Cu-rich precipitates have long been recognized to play the dominant role in embrittlement of Cu-bearing RPV steels. In contrast, Mn–Ni-rich precipitates seem to govern embrittlement in the case of low levels of impurity Cu. The objective is to work out the resulting differences from the microstructural point of view. For low-Cu materials, the volume fraction was found to be within the detection limit of SANS at fluences below an apparent threshold fluence, whereas the slope increases considerably beyond. The relationship between irradiation-induced yield stress increase and precipitate volume fraction was also considered. We have derived estimates of the obstacle strength for Cu-rich precipitates and for Mn–Ni-rich precipitates.