Mechanical Properties and Microstructures of the HAZs of 11Cr F/M Steel for Gen-IV Nuclear Power Station

The weldability of a newly developed 11Cr ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steel to be used in Pb-Bi liquid cooled ADS for the fourth generation nuclear power station was studied by experiments and numerical simulation. In this work, an appropriate method for obtaining simulated heat-affected zones (HAZs) was developed. HAZs, including CG-HAZ, FG-HAZ, and IC-HAZ, were successfully simulated by Gleeble at heating rates of 209, 176, and 149 °C/s and peak temperatures of 1314, 1138, and 998 °C, respectively. Results of tension and impact tests indicated that the simulated HAZs had much higher strength and poorer toughness than the base metal. The poor toughness is caused by high carbon, silicon contents, and quenched martensitic microstructures. The tempering treatment is necessary for the developed steel before application in nuclear reactor.