Mechanical properties of ARAA steel after electron beam welding

Highlights: • E-beam welding in ARAA plate. • Performed mechanical properties of ARAA for fabrication of KO HCCR TBM. • Evaluation of the tensile, Charpy impact, bend tests after PWHT. • Evaluation of the hardness and microstructure on the welded area before and after PWHT. - Abstract: Korea has designed a helium cooled ceramic reflector (HCCR) test blanket module (TBM) that includes a TBM shield, called a TBM set, that will be tested in ITER. The HCCR TBM is composed of four sub-modules and a back manifold. In addition, each sub-module is composed of a first wall (FW), a breeding box with a seven-layer breeding zone (BZ), and side walls with a cooling path. Korean RAFM steel was developed as a structural material for the HCCR TBM, and advanced reduced activation alloy (ARAA) was selected as the primary candidate from various program alloys. Welding technologies for fabrication of the HCCR TBM were developed using ARAA. Tensile, impact, bend tests were performed after post-weld heat treatment, and hardness, microstructure characteristics were determined before and after post-weld heat treatment to evaluate the welded specimen under the chosen welding conditions.