Abstract
Bimetallic transition joints using aluminum alloy 6061-T6 and stainless steel 304 L are useful in providing reliable stainless steel welds on nuclear components at temperatures below 200 °C, while maintaining the attractive radiation tolerance of the aluminum alloy. The mechanical performance of inertia welded Al6061-T6:304LSS transition joints was evaluated after neutron irradiation up to 3.45 dpa at 100 °C (maximum) in the High Flux Isotope Reactor to determine the viability of using these transition joints for nuclear and reactor applications. Neutron radiation produced moderate hardening (Δσy≈90 MPa) with limited change in ductility. Tensile specimens were produced from multiple transition joints and no batch-to-batch variation was found. Tensile responses were found to align with typical responses of wrought Al6061-T6, indicating that the behavior of the joints was dictated by the Al6061-T6 section of the joint.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 348-353 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
| Volume | 508 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2018 |
Funding
Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). Neutron irradiation of the bimetallic transition joints at ORNL's HFIR user facility was sponsored by the ORNL plutonium-238 production program, which is funded through the Radioisotope Power Systems Operation mission that is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Science Mission Directorate , and the work was performed by UT-Battelle, LLC, under the Department of Energy contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 . The authors thank Dr. J. Burns for performing the dpa calculations of the irradiated samples, Drs. M. Gussev and L. Tan for their technical review of the pre-submitted manuscript, and Mrs. D. Counce for her assistance in preparing the final manuscript. Neutron irradiation of the bimetallic transition joints at ORNL's HFIR user facility was sponsored by the ORNL plutonium-238 production program, which is funded through the Radioisotope Power Systems Operation mission that is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Science Mission Directorate, and the work was performed by UT-Battelle, LLC, under the Department of Energy contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. The authors thank Dr. J. Burns for performing the dpa calculations of the irradiated samples, Drs. M. Gussev and L. Tan for their technical review of the pre-submitted manuscript, and Mrs. D. Counce for her assistance in preparing the final manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration Science Mission Directorate | |
| Radioisotope Power Systems Operation | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| UT-Battelle |
Keywords
- 6061
- Bi-metallic transition
- Radiation tolerance
- Weld